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Title: The Colonization of North America - 1492-1783
Author: Bolton, Herbert Eugene, Marshall, Thomas Maitland
Language: English
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Marc D'Hooghe
THE COLONIZATION OF NORTH AMERICA
1492-1783
BY
HERBERT EUGENE BOLTON, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AND
THOMAS MAITLAND MARSHALL, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1920
PREFACE
This book represents an attempt to bring into one account the story of
European expansion in North America down to 1783. Text-books written in
this country as a rule treat the colonization of the New World as the
history, almost solely, of the thirteen English colonies which formed
the nucleus of the United States. The authors have essayed to write a
book from a different point of view. It has been prepared in response to
a clear demand for a text written from the standpoint of North America
as a whole, and giving a more adequate treatment of the colonies of
nations other than England and of the English colonies other than the
thirteen which revolted. This demand is the inevitable result of the
growing importance of our American neighbors and of our rapidly growing
interest in the affairs of the whole continent, past as well as present.
The book is divided into three main parts: I. The Founding of the
Colonies; II. Expansion and International Conflict; III. The Revolt of
the English Colonies. The keynote is expansion. The spread of
civilization in America has been presented against a broad European
background. Not only colonial beginnings but colonial growth has been
traced. This method accounts for the development of all geographical
sections, and shows the relation of each section to the history of the
continent as a whole. When thus presented the early history of
Massachusetts, of Georgia, of Arkansas, of Illinois, or of California is
no longer merely local history, but is an integral part of the general
story. The colonies of the different nations are treated, in so far as
practicable, in the chronological order of their development, the desire
being to give a correct view of the time sequence in the development of
the different regions.
A principal aim of the authors has been to make the book comprehensive.
The activities of the Dutch and Swedes on the Atlantic mainland are
given a large setting in both Europe and the New World. The account of
French expansion in North America has been extended beyond the
conventional presentation to embrace the West Indies, the founding of
Louisiana, and the advance of the French pioneers across the Mississippi
and up its tributaries, and up the Saskatchewan to the Rocky Mountains.
The story of English expansion embraces not only the thirteen colonies
which revolted, but also the Bermudas, the West Indies, Hudson Bay,
Canada, and the Floridas. The treatment of the new British possessions
between 1763 and 1783 aims to present in one view the story of the
expansion of the whole English frontier, from Florida to Hudson Bay.
The Spanish colonies of North America, in particular, have been accorded
a more adequate treatment than is usual in textbooks. To writers of
United States history the Spaniards have appeared to be mere explorers.
Students of American history in a larger sense, however, know that Spain
transplanted Spanish civilization and founded vast and populous
colonies, represented to-day by some twenty republics and many millions
of people. The notion, so widely current in this country, that Spain
"failed" as a colonizer, arises from a faulty method. In treating
Spain's part in the New World it has been customary, after recounting
the discovery of America, to proceed at once to territory now within the
United States--Florida, New Mexico, Texas--forgetting that these regions
were to Spain only northern outposts, and omitting the wonderful story
of Spanish achievement farther south. This book being a history of the
colonization of North America, Spain's great colonies in South America,
now powerful nations, fall beyond our geographical limits.
When approached from a new viewpoint many familiar things appear in a
new light. Hitherto, for example, the inter-colonial wars in North
America have been regarded mainly as a struggle between France and
England, and as confined chiefly to the Canadian border. By following
the larger story of European expansion, however, it becomes plain that
there was an Anglo-Spanish and a Franco-Spanish, as well as a
Franco-English struggle for the continent, not to mention the ambitions
and efforts of Dutch, Swedes, Russians, and Danes. In nearly all the
general inter-colonial wars the Caribbean area and the Carolina-Florida
frontier were scenes of frequent conflicts quite as important as those
waged on the Canadian border. Between France and Spain a border contest
endured for more than a century and extended all the way from the Lesser
Antilles to the Platte River. The Anglo-French contest ended in 1763;
but the Anglo-Spanish conflict, which began in the sixteenth century,
endured to the end of the eighteenth and, in the hands of the American
offspring of Spain and England, to the middle of the nineteenth century.
Some teachers may for special reasons wish to treat the development of
the colonies of a single nation as a continuous movement, or in longer
periods, less frequently broken by happenings in the colonies of other
nations. This can be done conveniently by grouping the chapters in the
desired order. A continuous account of Spanish expansion is given in
Chapters II, III, XIII, XVI, and XXI. A connected story of French
America is told in Chapters IV, XIV, XV, XX. By omitting these and
Chapter IX a continuous narrative of English expansion is obtained.
August, 1920.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLONIES
I. THE BACKGROUND AND THE DISCOVERY
Growth of Geographical Knowledge
Portuguese Discoveries
Columbus and the Discovery of America
II. THE FOUNDING OF NEW SPAIN (1492-1543)
Spain during the Conquest
The Occupation of the West Indies
Beginnings of Colonial Administration and Policy
Exploration of the Mainland Coasts and the Search for a Strait
The Mayas and the Nahuas
The Conquest of Central America
The Conquest of the Valley of Mexico
The Spread of the Conquest
Explorations in the Northern Interior and on the Pacific
The Establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Spain
III. THE EXPANSION OF NEW SPAIN (1543-1609)
Old and New Spain under Philip II
The Mines of Northern Mexico
The Settlement of the Atlantic Seaboard
Foreign Intrusions in the Atlantic
The Philippines and California
The Founding of New Mexico
Spanish Achievements in the 16th Century
IV. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH COLONIES (1500-1700)
The French Background
Early Explorations and Colonizing Efforts
Acadia
The St. Lawrence Valley
Reorganization and the Iroquois Wars
The West Indies
Opening the Upper Lake Region and the Mississippi Valley
V. THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH EXPANSION (1485-1603)
The Tudor Period
Commercial Expansion
The Elizabethan Sea-dogs
The Search for a Northwest Passage
Attempts at Colonization
VI. THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND INSULAR COLONIES (1603-1640)
England under the Early Stuarts, 1603-1640
The Colonial Administrative System of the Early Stuarts
The Founding of Virginia
The Founding of Maryland
The Bermudas
Guiana
The Lesser Antilles
The Providence Island Company
VII. THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND (1606-1640)
The Puritan Movement in England
The Plymouth Colony
Colonizing Activities on the New England Coast
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
Expansion of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Rhode Island
Settlements in the Connecticut Valley
VIII. THE ENGLISH COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1640-1660)
Politics, Administration, and Expansion
New England Development
Virginia and Maryland
IX. THE DUTCH AND SWEDISH COLONIES (1609-1664)
Dutch Expansion
New Netherlands
The Dutch and the Swedes on the Delaware
Absorption of New Netherlands by the English
X. THE OLD ENGLISH COLONIES UNDER THE LATER STUARTS (1660-1689)
Colonial Policy and Administration
Machinery of Government
Misrule and Rebellion in Virginia
Discontent in Maryland
Royal Interference in New England
XI. EXPANSION UNDER THE LATER STUARTS (1660-1689)
New York
The Jerseys
Pennsylvania
The Insular Colonies
The Carolinas
Western Trade and Exploration
Hudson's Bay Company
XII. THE ENGLISH MAINLAND COLONIES AT THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY
New England
New York and East New Jersey
Colonies along Delaware River and Bay
The Chesapeake Bay Region
South Carolina
EXPANSION AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
XIII. THE SPANISH ADVANCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Spain and the Colonies in the Seventeenth Century
Frontier Administration
The Missions
The Jesuits in Sinaloa and Sonora
Efforts to Occupy Lower California
The Settlement of Chihuahua
New Mexico in the Seventeenth Century
Coahuila Occupied
First Attempts in Eastern Texas
The Struggle with Rivals in the West Indies
The Struggle with the English on the Carolina Border
XIV. THE WARS OF THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH SUCCESSIONS (1684-1713)
The Preliminary Struggle for the Northern Fur Country.
The War of the English Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession
The Peace of Utrecht
XV. THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA AND THE FAR NORTHWEST (1699-1762)
The Founding of Louisiana
Louisiana under the Company of the Indies
Louisiana under the Royal Governors
The Trans-Mississippi West
The Advance Toward New Mexico
The Far Northwest
XVI. TEXAS, PIMERÍA ALTA, AND THE FRANCO-SPANISH BORDER CONFLICT
(1687-1763)
Northeastward Advance of the Spanish Frontier
The Founding of Texas
War with France
The Expansion of Texas
The Franco-Spanish Border
Pimería Alta
The Jesuits in Lower California
XVII. THE ENGLISH ADVANCE INTO THE PIEDMONT (1715-1750)
The Westward Movement
Defence of the Northern Frontier
Reorganization of the Carolinas
The Founding of Georgia
The German and Swiss Migration
The Scotch-Irish
Significance of the Settlement of the Piedmont
XVIII. ENGLISH COLONIAL SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
General Features
New England Industry
The Middle Colonies
The Southern Colonies
Labor Systems
Features of Society
Barbados, the Leeward Isles, and Jamaica
XIX. THE ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM (1689-1763)
The First Reorganization of William III
William's Second Reorganization
The Colonial System During the Reign of Anne
The Colonial System Under the Whigs
XX. A QUARTER-CENTURY OF CONFLICT: THE EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH
(1715-1763)
Spain and the Powers, 1715-1739
The War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of the Austrian Succession
The Approach of Another Conflict
The French and Indian War
XXI. THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE: THE OCCUPATION OF ALTA CALIFORNIA AND
LOUISIANA BY SPAIN (1763-1783)
Readjustment in Spanish North America
The Russian Menace
The Founding of Alta California
Northern Explorations
Louisiana under Spain, 1762-1783
XXII. THE NEW BRITISH POSSESSIONS (1763-1783)
Provisions for Defence, Government, and the Fur Trade
The Occupation of the Floridas
Military Occupation of the Illinois Country
Land Speculation and Plans for Western Colonies
Trans-Alleghany Settlement
The Province of Quebec
The Northern Fur Traders
THE REVOLT OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES
XXIII. THE CONTROVERSY OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES WITH THE HOME
GOVERNMENT (1763-1775)
The Background of the Contest
Reforms of the Grenville Ministry
Repeal of the Stamp Act
The Townshend Acts
Beginning of Organized Resistance
The Tea Controversy
Lord North's Coercive Policy
The First Continental Congress
XXIV. FROM LEXINGTON TO INDEPENDENCE (1775-1776)
The Opening of Hostilities
The Second Continental Congress
Progress of the War
The Loyalists
The Declaration of Independence
XXV. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MIDDLE STATES (1776-1777)
The Contest for New York
The New Jersey Campaign
The Struggle with Burgoyne
The Contest for Philadelphia
XXVI. THE WAR AS AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEST (1778-1781)
The French Alliance
The War in the West
Spain in the War
The War on the Sea and the Dutch Alliance
XXVII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION (1778-1783)
The War in the South
The Yorktown Campaign
The Treaty of Peace
XXVIII. GOVERNMENTAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE REVOLUTION
The Second Continental Congress
Financial Affairs
State Governments during the Revolution
The Articles of Confederation
Governmental Reorganization
LIST OF MAPS
Portuguese Expansion and Magellan's Voyage
The Four Voyages of Columbus
The Unification of Spain
The Development of the West Indies, 1492-1519
The Development of Central America, 1500-1543
The Development of Southern Mexico, 1519-1543
Explorations in the Northern Interior, 1513-1543
The Advance into Northern Mexico, 1543-1590
Spanish Florida
Explorations on the California Coast, 1542-1603
New Mexico in Oñate's Time
Cartier's Explorations, 1534-1542
The French in Canada in the Seventeenth Century
The Caribbean Area in the Seventeenth Century
La Salle's Colony on the Texas Coast, 1684-1689
Settlements in Virginia, 1634
Settlements in Maryland, 1634
The Bermudas
Principal Settlements in Massachusetts, 1630
Settled Areas in New England, about 1660
Settled Areas in Virginia and Maryland, about 1660
Van Der Donck's Map of New Netherland, 1656
New Sweden
The Delaware River Region, 1665-1774
The Southern Colonies, 1607-1735
Hudson's Bay Company Posts
Settled Areas in New England and on Long Island, about 1700
Settled Areas in the Middle Colonies, about 1700
Settled Areas in the Southern Colonies, about 1700
Sinaloa and Sonora in the Seventeenth Century
A Dutch Map Illustrating the Insular Theory of California's Geography
(1624-1625)
New Mexico in the Seventeenth Century
The Beginnings of Coahuila and Texas
The Intercolonial Wars
The French in Louisiana and the Far Northwest
Texas in the 18th Century
Father Kino's Map of Pimería Alta
Mainland Regions occupied by the English, 1700-1760
Principal Areas of German Settlement before 1763
The Areas Largely Populated by Scotch-Irish before 1763
The Western English Frontier, 1763
Alta California Settlements
The Spanish Frontier in the Later Eighteenth Century
The New British Possessions, 1763-1783
Boston with Environs During the Revolution
Northern New Jersey, New York and Its Environs during the Revolution
The Region of Burgoyne's Invasion (1777)
Morristown, New Jersey, to Head of Elk, Maryland (1777)
The War in the South (1778-1781)
THE COLONIZATION OF NORTH AMERICA
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLONIES
CHAPTER I
THE BACKGROUND AND THE DISCOVERY
The fifteenth century witnessed the culmination of the Renaissance, the
rise of the Turkish Empire, the shifting of the commercial center from
the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, the discovery of America and the
opening of the Cape route to India. Portugal and Spain started on their
careers as great commercial and colonizing nations, the former destined
for a time to control the commerce of the Far East, the other to possess
more than half of the Americas and to dominate the Pacific.
GROWTH OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE
Classical ideas of the world.--The discoveries of the century completely
transformed the conceptions of geography. Greek and Roman scholars had
agreed that there were three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa,
encircled by the ocean. Aristotle, Strabo, and others accepted the
theory that the earth was a sphere, but they usually underestimated its
size. Ptolemy, the greatest of the ancient geographers, made two
fundamental errors, which most of the Arab and Christian scholars
accepted. He depicted the Indian Ocean as an inland sea, and greatly
extended Africa until it filled the entire southern hemisphere, China
and Africa being connected.
Arab theories and Christian scholars.--The Arabs believed that the earth
was a disc or ball, which was the center of the universe. The center of
the earth's surface they called Arim, meaning the cupola of the earth.
At the eastern extremity stood the pillars of Alexander, at the western
the pillars of Hercules, while the north and south poles were equally
distant from Arim. The Ptolemaic idea of Africa was accepted by most of
the Arabs, but many of their later map makers decreased its size,
cutting it off in the neighborhood of Cape Bojador on the African coast,
and calling the region beyond the "Green Sea of Darkness." Others
sketched in a great southern continent below Africa. The "Green Sea of
Darkness" was filled with terrors, whirlpools ready to destroy the
adventurous mariner, a sea of mist, fog, and vapor, peopled by monsters.
If he escaped these as he ventured southward, he would come to a zone of
torrid heat where no man could survive. Roger Bacon, the great Christian
scientist, accepted the Arabian theories but supplemented them by a
study of the classics. He believed that the habitable world was more
than half of the whole circuit, an idea which was repeated in the _Imago
Mundi_ of Pierre d'Ailly, a work which may have influenced Columbus.
Early Asiatic contact with America.--Some scholars believe that the
western coast of North America was visited by Asiatics long before the
eastern shores were reached by Europeans. In 499 a Buddhist priest
returned from a voyage claiming to have been to a country called Fusang,
lying far to the east. The location of Fusang has interested numerous
students, whose conjectures have been marshalled by Vining to prove that
it was Mexico. Some have attributed the remarkable sporadic growth of
cypress trees below Monterey, California, to this episode. The trend of
opinion accepts ethnographic and linguistic similarities as of greater
conclusiveness than recorded Chinese history. Belief in early Japanese
contact with America rests on a similar basis.
The Northmen.--The first Europeans to venture far out on the Atlantic
were the Northmen, a people but little touched by classical, Arabic, or
Christian culture before their great period of expansion. The western
sea to them had no terrors. Near the close of the eighth century they
appeared in England; in 860 they sighted Iceland and in 874 commenced
its colonization. Three years later they discovered Greenland, but it
was not until 986 that Eric the Red colonized it. In the year 1000,
Leif, the son of Eric, went in quest of a land to the west, of which he
had heard report. The result of the voyage was the discovery of
Vinland, the exact whereabouts of which has been one of the puzzles of
history, some scholars claiming it to have been Nova Scotia, others New
England. Wherever it may have been, it probably played no part in the
Columbian discovery of America, for though the settlements in Greenland
continued until early in the fifteenth century, scientists and mariners
remained in almost complete ignorance of the far-off activities of the
Northmen.
Mediæval travelers.--During the period of the Crusades, travel became
more and more extensive. Returning crusaders told of their adventures
and of the lands which they had visited. Pilgrims returning from the
East increased the store of geographical knowledge and repeated
marvelous tales of Russia, China, and India, although none of them had
first-hand knowledge. But during the thirteenth century accurate
information was obtained. John de Plano Carpini, a Neapolitan
Franciscan, went as a legate of Pope Innocent IV to the Great Khan in
Tartary. His _Book of the Tartars_ is the first reliable account of the
empire of the Great Mogul. A few years later William de Rubruquis was
sent by St. Louis of France to the same court, and returned to tell a
tale of wonders.
Between 1255 and 1265 two Venetians, Nicolo and Matteo Polo, were
trading in southern Russia, and eventually they visited the court of
Kublai Khan in Mongolia, later returning to Europe. In 1271 they again
visited the Far East, this time accompanied by their nephew, Marco,
whose account of their journeyings is the most famous book of travel.
Marco became an official at the Mongol court and was sent on various
missions which carried him over a large part of China. He also learned
of the wonders of Cipango or Japan. In 1292 the Polos left China,
visited Java, India, and Ceylon, and eventually returned to Europe.
Their travels made known a vast region which had previously lain almost
outside the reckoning of geographers, and gave to Europeans a fairly
accurate as well as a fascinating account of the Far East.
Early maritime activities on the African coast.--While the Polos were in
Asia, mariners were beginning to explore outside the Pillars of
Hercules. In 1270 the Canaries were discovered by Malocello and a few
years later Genoese galleys reached Cape Nun. In 1341 the Canaries were
again visited, this time by an expedition from Lisbon, and in 1370 an
Englishman, Robert Machin, who had eloped from Bristol with Anne
d'Arfet, was driven from the French coast in a storm and came to Madeira
where they both died from exposure. Some of the crew, however, returned
to tell the tale. In 1402 a Norman, De Béthencourt, reached the Canaries
and several of the islands were soon colonized.
Advance of maritime science.--As sea voyaging progressed, maritime
science was also advancing. A large number of coast charts called
Portoláni were made, which plotted with remarkable accuracy the coast
lines of Europe and northern Africa. Over four hundred of these charts
are still in existence. Their accuracy was largely due to the use of the
compass and astrolabe, which are known to have been invented before
1400.
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
The rise of Portugal.--In the work of geographical and commercial
expansion Portugal now took the lead. The little kingdom, from a small
territory to the north of the Douro, had gradually extended its domain
to the southward by driving out the Moors. Its commercial importance
began by the opening of a trade with England. From 1383 to 1433 Portugal
was ruled by John the Great, and during his reign the oversea expansion
of the country began.
Henry the Navigator.--The greatness of Portugal was largely due to one
of King John's sons, Prince Henry. He was born in 1394 and at an early
age became interested in furthering trade with the interior of Africa.
In 1410 or 1412 he is said to have sent caravels down the coast. In 1415
he assisted in the capture of the Moorish stronghold of Ceuta, where he
gained great military renown. In 1419 he was made governor of Algarve,
the southern province of Portugal. He established himself at Sagres, on
Cape St. Vincent, where he enlarged the old naval arsenal, built a
palace, chapel, study, and observatory, and here it was that he spent
the greater portion of his life.
Henry had three main objects: first, to open trade with the interior of
Africa; second, to found a colonial empire; third, to spread the
Christian faith. A tale was current that somewhere in Africa lived a
Christian king called Prester John, who was cut off from the world by
Islam. To find his kingdom and unite with him in the overthrow of the
Mohammedans was a natural ambition in a prince who had already assisted
in the capture of Ceuta.
Henry gathered about him a group of trained mariners, some of whom were
Italians, made a study of geography and navigation, instructed his
captains, and sent them out from Lagos to find new markets. Between 1420
and 1430 Cape Blanco was discovered and the first slaves were brought
back, this being the beginning of an extensive traffic. Four years later
Cape Verde was reached, and in 1455 the Cape Verde Islands were
discovered and the coast of Senegal explored. The results of the
Portuguese explorations under Prince Henry were incorporated in a map of
the world, made by Fra Mauro in the convent of Murano, near Venice.
Discovery of a route to India.--During the sixty years which followed
the death of Prince Henry, 1460-1520, the Portuguese completed the
exploration of the west coast of Africa, discovered a route to India,
explored a considerable part of the eastern coast of North and South
America, and founded a colonial empire. In 1486 Bartholomew Díaz passed
the Cape of Good Hope and in 1498 Vasco da Gama, spurred on by the
discoveries of Columbus, crossed the Indian Ocean to Calicut.
It has been customary to ascribe the diversion of trade from the eastern
Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope route to the rise of the Turkish
Empire, which was supposed to have cut the old lines of communication to
the Far East. Recent investigation has shown that such is not the case.
As Professor Lybyer says, "They [the Turks] were not active agents in
deliberately obstructing the routes.... Nor did they make the discovery
of new routes imperative. On the contrary they lost by the discovery of
a new and superior route." This superiority was due to the fact that the
Cape route was an all-water route which did not require the rehandling
of goods and expensive caravan transportation. Not the Turk, but cheap
freight rates, diverted trade from the Mediterranean to the Cape route.
[Illustration: Portuguese Expansion and Magellan's Voyage.]
COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
Early life of Columbus.--Meanwhile America had been discovered by
Christopher Columbus, in the service of Spain. Much that was formerly
believed to be true concerning the early life of Columbus recent
research has proved to be false or to rest upon doubtful evidence. He
was born at or near Genoa, probably in 1452, and was the son of a woolen
weaver. Little is known of his education, but in some manner he acquired
a knowledge of Latin, read the principal geographical works then
accessible, and acquired a wide knowledge of navigation. Three books
which he studied with care were the _General History and Geography_ by
Æneas Sylvius, the _Imago Mundi_ of Pierre d'Ailly, and the _Travels_ of
Marco Polo.
He entered the marine service of Portugal, probably lived for a time on
the island of Porto Santo, one of the Madeiras, visited the coast of
Guinea, and sailed as far north as England. He married Felipa Moniz, a
niece of Isabel Moniz, whose husband was Bartholomew Perestrello, who
served under Prince Henry. It is probable that a correspondence occurred
between Columbus and the Florentine geographer, Toscanelli, who is said
to have suggested to the navigator the possibility of reaching the
Indies by sailing west and to have sent him a copy of a chart which he
had prepared. The Toscanelli map has not come down to us, the so-called
reproduction of it being an adaptation of Behaim's globe of 1492.
Through these various influences Columbus conceived the plan of seeking
new lands in the Atlantic and became convinced of the feasibility of
opening a western route to the Indies.
His sojourn in Spain.--After unsuccessfully urging his views in
Portugal, in 1484 Columbus went to Spain, where he presented himself at
the court and made the acquaintance of many influential persons. He also
sent his brother Bartholomew to obtain assistance in western exploration
from Henry VII of England. Columbus met with slight encouragement in
Spain, and decided to seek French aid, but just as he was making his
departure he was recalled, Queen Isabella having been brought to a
favorable decision by Fray Juan Pérez, a former confessor, by Luis de
Santangel, the treasurer of Aragon, by the Count of Medina-Celi, and by
the Marquesa de Moya.
His commission.--Columbus was given a commission authorizing him to
explore and trade. It said nothing of a route to the Indies. The
enterprise of discovery was essentially a new one, and it was natural
that the first patent should contain only general provisions. Indeed,
the document was so brief and incomplete that many supplementary orders
had to be issued before the expedition was ready. In return for services
and to provide a representative of Spanish authority in anticipated
discoveries, Columbus was ennobled and made admiral, viceroy, and
governor-general in such lands as he might add to the Castilian realm.
These offices were patterned after well-known institutions then in use
in Spain. The titles were to be hereditary in Columbus's family. The
admiral was to have a tenth of the net profits of trade and precious
metals within his discoveries. By contributing an eighth of the expense
of commercial ventures, he was entitled to an additional eighth of the
profits from trade. To encourage the expedition all duties on exports
were remitted.
Outfitting the expedition.--The story that Isabella pawned her jewels to
equip the expedition is now disproved, the royal share of the money
apparently being loaned to the Castilian treasury by Luis de Santangel.
The total cost of outfitting was probably somewhat less than $100,000,
of which Columbus or his friends furnished an eighth. Three vessels, the
_Santa Maria_, the _Pinta_, and the _Niña_, were provided. The number
who sailed is variously estimated at from ninety to one hundred and
twenty men.
The discovery.--In August, 1492, the three vessels sailed from Palos to
the Canaries, those islands then being a possession of Spain which she
had acquired from Portugal in 1479. During the entire colonial period
they were an important factor in navigation, being a place for refitting
before the long trans-Atlantic voyage. The vessels left the Canaries on
September 6 and sailed almost due west. They met with fair weather, but
the length of the voyage caused much complaint, which resulted in a plot
to get rid of Columbus. The Admiral succeeded in quelling the mutiny,
however, and shortly afterward land was sighted.
On the evening of October 11 a light in the distance was twice seen by
the commander, and before morning the moonlight disclosed to the lookout
of the _Pinta_ a sandy beach. The landfall was a small coral island of
the Bahamas, which Columbus named San Salvador and which was probably
the one now called Watling's Island. Believing that he had reached the
Indies, he called the inhabitants Indians, a name which has clung ever
since to American aborigines.
[Illustration: The Four Voyages of Columbus.]
Sojourn in the West Indies.--Through all of his sojourn in the West
Indies, Columbus was filled with the idea that he had found the Indies.
Hearing of Cuba and believing that it was Cipango, he planned to visit
the mainland and go to the city of Guisay, the Quinsai of Marco Polo.
From the Bahamas he proceeded to Cuba and explored the eastern third of
its northern coast. He despatched an interpreter to the Grand Khan, but
instead of a mighty city, an Indian village was discovered. There
Europeans first saw the smoking of tobacco. From Cuba the expedition
went to Haiti, which Columbus named Española (Little Spain), corrupted
in English to Hispaniola, and there the _Santa Maria_ was wrecked.
The return voyage.--Having built a fort on the northern shore of
Española not far from its westernmost point, which he named La Navidad
(the Nativity) because the neighboring harbor was entered on Christmas
day, Columbus left forty-four of the crew with ample provisions,
implements, and arms, and began the return voyage on January 4, 1493.
Two violent storms were encountered, but both were weathered, and on
March 4 the vessels came to anchor in the mouth of the Tagus.
His reception.--In Lisbon the news of the discovery created great
excitement. The King of Portugal invited Columbus to court and
entertained him royally. On March 13 he sailed for Spain, arriving at
Palos two days later. The citizens adjourned business for the day; bells
were rung, and at night the streets were illumined with torches. From
there he proceeded to Seville and then to the court at Barcelona, where
the greatest honors were bestowed upon him. He was allowed to be seated
in the presence of the sovereigns, who showed the keenest interest in
his specimens of flora and fauna, pearls and golden trinkets, but
especially in the Indians whom he had brought from Española. The theory
that he had reached the outlying parts of the Indies was readily
accepted, and the sovereigns at once prepared to take possession of the
newly discovered lands.
The line of Demarcation.--The king of Portugal, jealous of Spain's
triumph, is said to have planned to send a fleet across the Atlantic to
dispute the Spanish claims. Ferdinand and Isabella hurried a messenger
to Rome asking the pope to confirm their rights to the new discoveries.
Accordingly, on May 4, 1493, Pope Alexander VI assigned to Spain all
lands west of a meridian one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape
Verde Islands. King John was not satisfied, and a year later, by the
treaty of Tordesillas, a division line was fixed at 370 leagues west of
Cape Verde Islands. This change gave Portugal title to her later
discoveries on the Brazilian coast, though it lessened her possessions
in the Orient.
READINGS
GROWTH OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE
Beazley, C.R., _The Dawn of Modern Geography; Prince Henry the
Navigator_, 1-105; Fischer, J., _The Discoveries of the Northmen in
America_; Fiske, John, _The Discovery of America_, I, 151-255, 363-381;
Hovgaard, W., _The Voyages of the Norsemen to America_, 221-255; Marco
Polo, _The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian_, Yule ed.; Olson, J.E.,
and Bourne, E.G., eds., _The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot (Original
Narratives of Early American History)_, 3-84; Vining, E.J., _An
Inglorious Columbus; or evidence that Hwi Shan ... discovered America in
the Fifth Century_; Winsor, Justin, _Narrative and Critical History of
America_, I, 1-58; Fossum, A., _The Norse Discovery of America_;
Steensby, H.P., _The Norsemen's Route to Wineland_; Larson, L.M., "The
Church in North America (Greenland) in the Middle Ages," in _The
Catholic Historical Review_, V, 175-194.
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
Beazley, C.R., _Prince Henry the Navigator_, 123-307; Bourne, E.G.,
"Prince Henry the Navigator," in _Essays in Historical Criticism_,
173-189; Cheyney, E.P., _European Background of American History_,
60-70; Helps, Arthur, _The Spanish Conquest in America_, I, 1-54; Jayne,
K.G., _Vasco da Gama and his Successors_, 7-240; Lybyer, A.H., "The
Ottoman Turks and the Routes of Oriental Trade," in _The English
Historical Review_, XXX, 577-588; Major, R.H., The Discoveries of Prince
Henry the Navigator; Martins, J.P.O., _The Golden Age of Prince Henry
the Navigator_, 66-84, 205-231; Stephens, H.M., _Portugal_, 115-248;
Vander Linden, H., "Alexander VI., and the Demarcation of the Maritime
and Colonial Dominions of Spain and Portugal," in _American Historical
Review_, XXII, 1-20.
COLUMBUS
Biggar, H.P., "The New Columbus," in Am. Hist. Assoc., _Ann. Rpt.,
1912_, pp. 97-104; Bourne, E.G., _Spain in America_, 8-32; Channing,
Edward, History of the United States, I, 14-25; Hart, A.B., _American
History told by Contemporaries_, I, 28-48; Helps, Arthur, _The Spanish
Conquest in America_, I, 55-88; Herrera, Antonio, _Historia General_;
Las Casas, Bartholomew, _Historia de las Indias_; Major, R.H., _Select
Letters of Columbus_; Markham, Clements, _Life of Columbus_; Navarrete,
M.F., _Colección de los Viages y Descubrimientos_; Olson, J.E., and
Bourne, E.G., eds., _The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot (Original
Narratives)_, 80-383; Peter Martyr, _De Orbe Novo_ (F.A. McNutt,
trans.); Richman, L.B., _The Spanish Conquerors_, 1-63; Thacher, J.B.,
_Columbus_; Vignaud, Henry, _Toscanelli and Columbus_: Winsor, Justin,
_Columbus_.
CHAPTER II
THE FOUNDING OF NEW SPAIN (1492-1543)
SPAIN DURING THE CONQUEST
The discoveries of Columbus opened to Spain the opportunity to found a
great colonial empire in the new world. For this work Spain had been
prepared by the welding of the nation which was perfected during the
reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.
The Christian reconquest.--In the eighth century the Mohammedan Berbers
had overthrown the Visigothic kingdom, the unconquered Christian princes
retiring to the mountain regions of the north. Gradually they
reconquered the country. By 910 they had established the kingdoms of
León and Navarre, and the county of Barcelona. By 1037 León and Castile
had united and conquered a wide tract south of the Douro River. Aragon,
originally a Frankish country, had also become an independent kingdom.
By 1150 almost two-thirds of the peninsula had been conquered; Portugal
now extended from the Minho River to the Tagus; Castile occupied the
central region, and Aragon had incorporated Barcelona and Catalonia.
During the next two centuries the rest of the peninsula, except the
small kingdom of Granada, was conquered, and Aragon established her
power in the Balearic Isles, Sardinia, and southern Italy. In 1469
Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon, thus uniting the two
great states. In 1481 they made war upon Granada, completing its
conquest in the year of the discovery of America. All of these changes
had been chiefly of rulers, the great body of the people remaining of
the original Iberian stock.
Lack of unity.--But there was neither unity of speech, customs, nor
institutions. There were three main religious groups, Christians,
Mohammedans, and Jews. The people were also divided into social classes,
nobility, clergy, common people, and slaves. The ranks and privileges of
the nobility varied greatly, some having immense estates and almost
sovereign powers, others being landless soldiers of fortune. Castile
was the land of castles. The nobles were turbulent and warlike. They
delighted in chivalry, which probably attained a higher development in
Spain than in any other country. Furthermore, there were three great
military orders, which had grown in strength during the Moorish wars;
these were the Knights of Santiago, of Calatrava, and of Alcántara, at
the head of each of which was a grand master. The orders, the landed
nobility, and the church owned about one-third of the land and
controlled large military forces. The cities were also powerful; they
were strongly fortified, regulated their own affairs, and many of them
had great fleets and extensive commerce. Life outside of the cities was
largely pastoral, wool, growing being the principal industry. Both
Castile and Aragon contained governing bodies called _Cortes_, to which
some of the larger cities sent representatives, but they were of little
importance, most of the work of lawmaking being done by the sovereign
acting with his Council of State.
Establishment of unity.--To bring the entire country into religious and
political unity was the great task of Ferdinand and Isabella. This was
accomplished partly through the _Hermandad_ and the organization of
several royal councils. The _Hermandad_, originally a local police, was
organized as a state police; captured offenders were punished before
local officers of the crown called _alcaldes_. Turbulent nobles and
brigands were made to feel the long arm of the royal power. The nobles
were also curbed by transferring the grand masterships of the military
orders to the crown and the sovereigns resumed control of many estates
which had been granted to churches and nobles. The royal council of
twelve had been the principal governing body. Under Ferdinand and
Isabella it was divided into three councils, justice, state, and
finance. Other councils were added from time to time; among these was
the Council of the Inquisition, whose business it was to stamp out
heresy. By its efforts unbaptized Jews and Moors were expelled. The
rulers also sent royal officers called _corregidores_ into the local
communities, who gradually extended the powers of the crown at the
expense of local government. Thus were laid the foundations of an
absolute monarchy, which, in the sixteenth century, became the most
influential in Europe.
Charles V.--The prestige of Spain was greatly enhanced in the
sixteenth century by the Emperor Charles V, the grandson of Ferdinand
and Isabella. From his mother he inherited Spain, Naples, and Sicily,
and possessions in the new world and the Far East; from his father the
Netherlands; from his grandfather, Maximilian I, the Hapsburg
inheritance in Germany. By election he became Holy Roman Emperor. The
larger part of the reign was occupied by three great European contests;
a series of struggles with Francis I of France for the control of Italy,
the Reformation in Germany, and the curbing of the westward advance of
the Turks. The almost constant wars of the Emperor kept him away from
Spain nearly his entire time, but he used the centralized system of
Ferdinand and Isabella to supply him with soldiers and money. The
constant drain of treasure overtaxed the resources of Spain, but the
rich mines of the new world furnished the surplus for his vast
undertakings. The fact that Charles was successful in retaining his
power in Italy, coupled with his struggle against the Protestants and
the Turks, made him the recognized protector of the Catholic church. His
reign, marked by many sad failures in Europe, witnessed a phenomenal
expansion of Spain's colonies.
[Illustration: The Unification of Spain. (Based on Maps in Shepherd,
W.R., _Historical Atlas_, pp. 82-83.).]
THE OCCUPATION OF THE WEST INDIES
The rule of Columbus in the Indies.--When Columbus discovered a new
world for Spain, that country was placed in a new situation, and a
settled colonial policy was developed only with experience. A department
of Indian affairs was created at once and put in charge of Fonseca, a
member of the royal council. A combined interest in commerce, religion,
and colonization was shown in all the arrangements for a second voyage
by Columbus, but commerce was the primary object. At first it was
planned to send a thousand colonists, but so eager were the applicants
that fifteen hundred embarked. The expedition was equipped at the
queen's expense, and most of the colonists were in her pay.
Reaching Española in November, 1493, Columbus found Navidad destroyed by
Indians; he accordingly established a new settlement, named Isabella, at
a point farther east. Leaving his brother Diego in charge, Columbus
explored the southern coast of Cuba, discovered Jamaica, and
circumnavigated Española. Complaints being made against his
administration, in 1495 Columbus returned to Spain to defend himself.
Shortly after his departure, gold being found in the southern part of
Española, the new town of Santo Domingo was founded there and became the
capital. Other men were eager for commercial adventure, and, in response
to their demands, in 1495 trade in the Indies was opened to all
Spaniards, at their own expense. Columbus regarded this an infringement
upon his rights, and on his return to Spain he protested, but to little
purpose.
In 1498 Columbus sailed on a third voyage, taking some two hundred
colonists. On the way he discovered the mainland of South America near
the Orinoco River, and, farther west, valuable pearl fisheries. During
his absence a civil war had occurred in Española, and, at the end of two
years of trouble with the contending factions, Columbus was sent to
Spain in chains by Bobadilla, a royal commissioner, who remained to
govern in his place. The charges against Columbus were dismissed, but he
was not restored to his rule in the Indies. In 1502 Nicolás de Ovando
was sent to replace Bobadilla, taking with him 2500 new colonists.
Spread of settlement in the West Indies.--After 1496 Santo Domingo
became the chief town of Española and the seat of Spanish rule in
America. In rapid succession posts and mining camps were established in
various parts of the island, and by 1513 there were seventeen chartered
towns in Española alone. Santo Domingo at that time had a population of
fifteen hundred persons. It was some fifteen years after the settlement
of Española before the other islands began to be occupied, attention
being first given to making cruises along the southern mainland. Ovando
began the conquest of the other islands, however, and Diego Columbus,
his successor, prosecuted the work with more vigor. In 1508 Ponce de
León was sent to conquer Porto Rico, and in 1511 the present city of San
Juan was founded. The settlement of Jamaica was begun in 1509 by
Esquivel, under orders of Diego Columbus. Several towns were soon
established, and a shipyard opened. In 1537 Jamaica became a possession
of the family of Columbus, with the title of Marquis till 1557, then of
Duke of La Vega. In 1508 Ocampo circumnavigated Cuba and in 1511
Velasquez began the conquest of the island. Santiago was founded in
1514 and Havana a year later. Thus the West Indies became the nursery of
Spanish culture and institutions in America.
[Illustration: The Development of the West Indies, 1492-1519.]
Gold mining was important in Española for a time, but the mines were
soon exhausted. In all the islands cotton, sugar, and cattle raising
soon acquired some proportions, but the native population rapidly
decreased, negro slaves were expensive, and rich profits attracted the
settlers to the mainland; consequently, after the first quarter century
the islands declined in prosperity and Porto Rico was for a time
actually abandoned.
BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY
The Casa de Contratación.--For ten years Fonseca remained at the head of
American affairs, being in effect colonial minister. In 1503 the Casa de
Contratación or House of Trade was established at Seville, to direct
commerce, navigation, and all related matters of the Indies. In charge
of the Casa was a board of officials, including factors, treasurer,
auditor, and notary. They maintained a warehouse for receiving all goods
and treasure going to or from the islands. They were required to keep
informed of the needs of the Indies, assemble and forward supplies,
organize trading expeditions, and instruct and license pilots. Later on
a professorship of cosmography was established for the purpose of
instructing pilots, who were required to keep diaries of their voyages.
This provision resulted in the accumulation of a vast amount of
historical and geographical information in the government archives, much
of which is still extant.
The Council of the Indies.--Spanish America was a possession of the
sovereigns of Castile, as heirs of Queen Isabella, under whose patronage
America had been discovered. At first, legislative and political matters
relating to the Indies had been considered by the sovereigns in
consultation with Fonseca and other personal advisors, but to supervise
these matters a new board was gradually formed. In 1517 it was formally
organized, among the members being Fonseca and Peter Martyr, the
historian. In 1524 the board was reorganized as the Council of the
Indies. This body was the supreme legislative and judicial authority,
under the king, of Spanish-America. The Casa de Contratación was
subordinate to the Council, which likewise supervised all civil and
ecclesiastical appointments in the colonies. Usually some of the members
of the Council had served in the Indies.
The governors-general and the audiencia.--Ovando ruled in Española until
1509, when Diego Columbus, son of Christopher, after a struggle for his
hereditary rights, was made admiral and governor-general of the Indies.
Complaint against Diego's administration led to the establishment at
Santo Domingo of a superior court with appeals from the decisions of the
governor-general. This was the germ of the Audiencia of Santo Domingo,
which, for a time, was the administrative head of the greater part of
the Indies. By decree of September 14, 1524, the Audiencia was formally
established, with a president, four judges, a fiscal, a deputy
grand-chancellor, and other officers.
The towns.--In the early sixteenth century the colonial towns showed
some political activity. In 1507 the municipalities of Española sent
delegates to Spain to petition for the rights enjoyed by Spanish towns.
The request was granted, and, among other privileges, fourteen towns
were granted coats-of-arms. Conventions of delegates from the towns were
often held in these early days, to consider common needs and to draw up
memorials to the home government. In 1530 Charles V decreed that such
conventions should not be held without his consent, and the tendency
thereafter was toward stronger absolutism and away from local political
life. But there never was a time when the right of petition was not
freely exercised, and with great effect on actual administration. In the
sixteenth century the towns sometimes elected proctors to represent them
before the Council of the Indies. In the seventeenth century they
sometimes employed residents of Spain for this purpose.
In the colonial towns, both Spanish and native, there was some degree of
self-government. Each Spanish town had its _cabildo_ composed of
_regidores_. In 1523 the _regidores_ were made elective, but the
tendency was to secure the office by purchase or inheritance, as was the
case in Spain. The functions of the _cabildos_ were similar to those of
a New England town council, embracing legislation, police matters, care
of highways, sanitation, and analogous functions.
Emigration.--The notion sometimes voiced that Spain did not "colonize"
America is unfounded. Emigration to America was encouraged by subsidies
and other means, and in early days large colonies were sent by
government authority. It has been seen, for example, that on his first
three voyages Columbus took over about 100, 1500, and 200 colonists
respectively, and that Ovando took 2500. During the entire sixteenth
century the emigration to America averaged from 1000 to 2000 persons per
year. In general, emigration was restricted to Spaniards of undoubted
orthodoxy, hence Jews, Moors, and recent converts were excluded.
Naturalization was relatively easy, however, and by means of it many
foreigners were admitted. Portuguese, for example, were numerous in the
Indies, especially among the seamen. Charles V adopted the liberal
policy of opening the Indies to subjects of all parts of his empire, but
Philip II returned to the more exclusive practice. Later on, as the
trade monopoly broke down, it became necessary to admit foreign traders
to American ports, but they were required to return within specified
periods.
Married Spaniards emigrating from Spain were urged or even required to
take their families but the emigration of unmarried Spanish women was
discouraged. Intermarriage of Spaniards with native women was favored by
the authorities and, as a large majority of the immigrants were single
men, the practice was common, either with or without formal sanction. An
effort to supply the lack of women by sending white slaves to the
islands failed, and in 1514 marriage with Indian women was approved by
royal order. With the opening of Mexico and Peru the island colonies
were in danger of depopulation. To prevent this from happening,
migration to the mainland was forbidden under heavy penalties
(1525-1526), and the recruiting of new conquering expeditions in the
islands was prohibited. To secure settlers for Española, in 1529
attractive feudal lordships were offered to founders of colonies.
Agriculture.--Agriculture in the West Indies was encouraged by all means
available. Duties on imports were remitted for a term of years. In 1497
the sovereigns ordered a public farm established to provide loans of
stock and seed, to be paid back by colonists within a term of years.
Free lands were granted to settlers, with a reservation of the precious
metals to the crown. Special orders were given for mulberry and silkworm
culture. These efforts to promote agriculture in the West Indies,
however, were made largely nugatory by commercial restrictions and the
superior attractions of the mainland.
Indian policy.--Columbus found Española inhabited, it was estimated, by
a quarter of a million of Indians, and the other islands similarly
populated. He was instructed to treat the natives well and to do all in
his power to convert them. The sovereigns frequently repeated these
orders, and commanded that the natives be treated as free men and paid
for their work. But the shortage of a labor-supply and the relative
position of the two races led quickly and almost inevitably to the
practical enslavement of the weaker.
Encomiendas.--Following the rebellion of 1495, the subdued natives were
put under tribute in the form of specified amounts of products,
commutable to labor. In 1497 a practice was begun of allotting lands to
Spaniards, the forced labor of the natives going with the land.
Complaint being made by priests and seculars that the Indians could
neither be made to work, nor be taught or converted without restraint,
in 1503 it was ordered that they should be congregated (_congregados_)
in permanent villages and put under protectors (_encomenderos_), who
were obliged to teach and protect them, and were empowered to exact
their labor, though for pay and as free men. This provision contained
the essence of the encomienda system, which was designed to protect and
civilize the native, as well as to exploit him. But there was always
danger that the former aim would yield to the latter, and, contrary to
royal will, the condition of the natives fast became one of practical
slavery.
Depopulation of the islands.--Moreover, in a very short time the islands
became nearly depopulated of natives. Many were slain in the wars of
conquest and during rebellions, or died of starvation while in hiding.
Perhaps a greater number died of smallpox, measles, and other diseases
brought from Europe. The result was that by 1514 the native population
of Española was reduced to 14,000. A similar reduction of native
population occurred in the other islands as they were successively
occupied.
Indian slavery.--Indian slavery was not generally allowed in theory.
But the Lesser Antilles, the Bahamas, and Florida were found to be
inhabited by hostile cannibals, who were regarded as fair prize for
enslavement. As early as 1494 Columbus suggested that permission be
given to sell Caribs. In 1498 he took a cargo of six hundred of them to
Spain. Soon it became an accepted legal principle that cannibals and
rebellious Indians could be enslaved. The idea was encouraged by the
lack of Spanish laborers, and by the disappearance of the native
population of Española. Slave-hunting was soon extended, therefore, to
the coasts of Florida, Pánuco, and other parts of the mainland. The
practice was continued, as the frontier advanced, to the eighteenth
century when, for example, Apaches of Texas and Pawnees of Kansas were
often sold to Work on plantations in Louisiana or Cuba.
Las Casas.--Numerous prominent Spaniards in the Indies early opposed
encomiendas on moral grounds. Among them the most aggressive was Father
Bartolomé de las Casas. He had come to the Indies as a layman, had held
an encomienda after becoming a priest, but in 1514 had renounced it. In
the following year he went to Spain, secured the appointment of a
commission of Geronymite friars to enforce the laws regarding Indians in
the islands, and was himself made Protector of the Indians. In 1516 he
returned to Española, but, being dissatisfied with the work of the
commission, he returned to Spain, where he favored negro slavery as a
means of sparing the natives. In 1521 he tried to found a Utopian colony
on Tierra Firme, to furnish an humane example, but through unfortunate
circumstances it failed completely.
EXPLORATION OF THE MAINLAND COASTS AND THE SEARCH FOR A STRAIT
Voyages toward the South.--The discovery by Columbus (1498) of pearls on
the southern mainland, combined with the Portuguese successes in India,
gave new incentive to voyages, and within the next few years many
thousands of miles of coastline of South and Central America were
explored in the interest of trade, discovery, and international rivalry.
In 1499 Ojeda explored from near Paramaribo to the Gulf of Maracaibo. In
1500 Pinzón and DeLepe sailed north to the Pearl Coast from points near
8° and 10° south, respectively, and Bastidas made known the coast from
the Gulf of Maracaibo to Nombre de Diós, on the Isthmus of Panamá. The
chain of discoveries was carried in 1502 from the north shore of
Honduras to Nombre de Diós by the fourth voyage of Columbus, made
primarily in search of a strait through the troublesome lands which he
had discovered. In 1504 La Cosa and Vespucius, during a trading voyage
on the Gulf of Urabá, ascended the Atrato River two hundred miles by a
route which has since been proposed as an interoceanic canal. Meanwhile
numerous other voyages were made to the Pearl Coast for commercial
purposes. They added little more to geographical knowledge, but led to
colonization on the southern mainland.
Portuguese competition.--Spanish efforts to find a passage to the Indian
Ocean by going to the southward were stimulated by the Portuguese
voyages in the same direction. In 1500 Cabral, on his way to India, took
possession for Portugal at a point near 18° south latitude on the
Brazilian coast. In the following year a Portuguese expedition, in which
Americus Vespucius was pilot, explored the coast from 5° to 32° south
latitude, discovering the La Plata River on the way. It was to this
voyage of Vespucius, made in the interest of Portugal, that America owes
its name. First applied to South America, it was soon extended to the
northern continent. A Portuguese voyage made in 1503 by Jaques, in
search of a passage to the East, is said to have reached 52° south.
Establishment of the Portuguese Empire in the East.--Gama's voyage was
promptly followed by the founding of Portuguese colonies in the East.
The chief actor in this work was Alburquerque, who accompanied an
expedition to India in 1503 and became viceroy in 1509, an office which
he held until his death in 1515. During his rule the Portuguese
established themselves at Goa, which gave them control of the Malabar
coast, and at Malacca, from which point they were able to control the
trade of the Malay Peninsula and the Spice Islands. Ormuz was captured,
making them supreme in the commerce of the Persian Gulf. In succeeding
years they acquired Ceylon and established trading settlements in Burma,
China, and Japan.
Continued quest for a strait.--These Portuguese successes were an
incentive to further Spanish efforts to find the strait. In 1506 Vicente
Yáñez Pinzón, accompanied by Juan de Solís, in search of a passage
explored the Gulf of Honduras and eastern Yucatán from Guanajá Islands,
the western limit of Columbus's voyage, to the Island of Caría. In 1509
Solís, in the service of Spain, reached 42° south, while in search of
the desired route. The discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Balboa in 1513
aroused Spain to renewed efforts to find the strait. Exploration was at
once undertaken on the southern shores of Panamá, and in 1515 Solís
again was sent down the Brazilian coast. Reaching the La Plata River, he
was killed and eaten by the savages.
Magellan and Elcano.--The solution of the problem of the southern strait
was left for Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese who had seen service in
the Far East. Returning to Portugal, he proposed to the king the opening
of a route to the East by going west. His offer being refused, like
Columbus he turned to Spain, where his plan found favor. Sailing with
five vessels in 1519, he discovered the Straits of Magellan and crossed
the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines, where he was killed in 1521. Part
of the crew, led by Elcano, continued round the world and reached Spain
in September, 1522, after one of the most remarkable voyages in all
history.
The mapping of the Gulf coast.--Meanwhile the outlines of the Gulf of
Mexico had been made known, and by 1525 the continued search for the
strait and efforts to settle on the mainland had carried Spanish,
explorers nearly the whole length of the North Atlantic coast. In 1508
Ocampo had circumnavigated Cuba. Sailing from Porto Rico in 1513 Juan
Ponce de León, who was interested in slave-hunting and exploration,
discovered and coasted the Peninsula of Florida.
Four years later Córdova, under a license from Velásquez, governor of
Cuba, explored Yucatán, finding signs of large cities and of wealth. The
reports aroused new interest in the mainland, and Velásquez sent out
Grijalva, who coasted the shore from Yucatán to Pánuco River, securing
on the way twenty thousand dollars' worth of gold. To take advantage of
Grijalva's discoveries, Velásquez organized another expedition and put
it in charge of Hernando Cortés. Garay, governor of Jamaica, also sent
out an expedition, under Pineda, with instructions to seek new lands and
look for a strait. Sailing north to the mainland in 1519, Pineda
completed the mapping of the Gulf by coasting from Florida to Vera Cruz
and back. On the way west he discovered the Mississippi River, which he
called Río del Espíritu Santo. On the strength of Pineda's discoveries,
Garay now secured a patent to the northern Gulf shore, and undertook to
colonize the province of Amichel.
The North Atlantic coast.--The exploration of the North Atlantic coast
soon followed. In 1513 De León had rounded the Peninsula of Florida.
Eight years later Gordillo, sailing from Española in the employ of
Ayllón, and Quexos, a slave hunter whom Gordillo met on the way, reached
the mainland at 33° 30', near Cape Fear in a region called Chicora.
Ayllón in 1523 secured a patent authorizing him to seek a strait in the
north and found a colony. In Ayllon's employ, Quexos in 1525 coasted
north perhaps to 40°. In the same year Stephen Gómez, under contract to
seek a northern strait, descended the coast from Nova Scotia to Florida.
Over the northern part of his route he had been preceded by the English
explorer John Cabot (1497). With the return of Gómez the entire Atlantic
shore from the Straits of Magellan to Nova Scotia had been explored by
expeditions made in the name of Spain.
THE MAYAS AND THE NAHUAS
A Double Movement.--Having subdued the islands and run the eastern
coastline, the Spaniards proceeded to take possession of the mainland.
To the southward they were attracted by trade, rumors of gold, and the
hope of finding a strait leading to the East. To the westward they were
drawn by the semi-civilized Nahuas and Mayas, who lived in substantial
towns, possessed accumulated wealth, had a stable population used to
hard labor, and were worth exploiting. The advance into the interior was
a double movement, one proceeding north from a base on the Isthmus of
Panamá, the other radiating in all directions from the Valley of Mexico.
Two Civilizations.--The Nahuas occupied Mexico south of a line drawn
roughly from Tampico through Guadalajara to the Pacific Ocean. The Mayas
lived principally in Yucatán and Guatemala. The Nahuas had acquired
much of their culture from the Mayas, and the cultural areas overlapped.
These peoples had several features in common. They lived in substantial
pueblos, or towns, and practiced agriculture by means of irrigation,
raising extensively maize, beans, potatoes, and tobacco. Maguey was a
staple crop in the Valley of Mexico and henequén in Yucatán. Mayas and
Nahuas both lacked important domestic animals. They were dominated by a
powerful priesthood and practiced slavery and human sacrifice.
Maya Characteristics.--Certain features distinguished the two
civilizations. The Mayas had imposing architectural structures devoted
to religion, notably at Palenque, Uxmal, and Chichén Itza. They had made
considerable advance toward written records in the form of ideograms.
More than 1500 Maya manuscripts, written on henequén, have been
preserved but are as yet in the main undeciphered.
The Nahuas.--The Nahuas had made remarkable progress in astronomical
calculations, and their worship was closely connected with the planetary
system. The most notable religious monuments were the pyramids which are
widely scattered over the country. Some of these, it is believed, are of
Maya origin. Calendars of great perfection had been devised, the famous
Calendar Stone now preserved in the National Museum at Mexico being one
of the rare treasures of archæology. The Nahuas had achieved a more
highly developed agriculture than the Mayas, had a stronger military and
political organization, and larger and better constructed towns. Of
these the most notable was Mexico (Tenochtitlán). It was built in a lake
in the center of the great valley of Anáhuac, and had a population of
perhaps 60,000 when the Spaniards came.
Nahua History.--The Nahuas had come from the north about the time when
the Germanic tribes were overrunning southern Europe. According to their
own traditions the first Nahua tribe, the Toltecs, entered the Valley of
Mexico in 596 A.D., and were overpowered by the barbarians whom they
found there, but civilized them. In succeeding centuries they were
followed by other Nahua tribes, whose names are now borne by numerous
cities in the Valley of Mexico. Among the late comers were the Aztecs,
who, according to tradition, founded their lake-city in 1325 A.D. Their
military stronghold was the crag of Chapultepec, where the presidential
mansion of Mexico now stands.
The Triple Alliance.--Among the numerous cities or pueblos built by
these struggling tribes four emerged into prominence. First
Atzcapotzalco, then Tezcuco, then Mexico acquired supremacy. Placing
itself at the head of a triple alliance (Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tacuba),
Mexico in the fifteenth century engaged in a series of conquests which
carried the Aztec power to the Gulf of Mexico, to the Pacific Ocean, and
well into the Maya regions of Central America. War became a national
impulse, closely identified with the religion of which human sacrifice
was a central feature. The "empire" was but a military overlordship,
however, and had for its chief objects tribute and human beings for
sacrifice.
The hegemony was not secure, nor did it embrace all of the
semi-civilized peoples. The Tarascans and other tribes to the west had
resisted its power, and shortly before the advent of the Spaniards the
Tlascalans to the east had defeated the Aztecs in battle. At the coming
of the Europeans the "empire" was losing its hold. The subject peoples
were becoming more restless under the burden of tribute; and the ruler,
Montezuma II, was a superstitious fatalist. The Spanish conquerors
arrived at the opportune moment for success.
THE CONQUEST OF CENTRAL AMERICA
Castilla del Oro.--At the same time that the islands other than Española
were being occupied, beginnings of settlement were made in Central
America. In 1503 Christopher Columbus had attempted to establish a
colony on the Veragua coast, but had failed. After several successful
trading voyages had been made, however, two colonies were planned for
the southern mainland. Ojeda received a grant called Urabá, east of the
Gulf of Darién, and Nicuesa obtained a grant called Veragua, lying west
of that Gulf. Ojeda founded a colony at San Sebastián (1509), which was
shortly afterward moved to Darién, where Vasco Nuñez de Balboa soon
became the leading figure and governor _ad interim_ (1511). Nicuesa's
colony was founded at Nombre de Diós (1510), but it did not flourish.
The Darién region became known as Nueva Andalucía, and in 1513 the
whole southern mainland, excepting Veragua, Honduras and Yucatán, to the
west and Paria, to the east, was reorganized into one grand jurisdiction
called Castilla del Oro, and made independent of Española.
Balboa.--Hearing of gold and a sea toward the south, Balboa led a band
of men in 1513 across the Isthmus of Panamá and discovered the Pacific
Ocean. The discovery was an important factor in leading to Magellan's
great voyage, already recounted, and it set in motion a wave of
explorations both up and down the Pacific coast, and led to the conquest
of Peru. Balboa had made enemies, and he fell under the suspicion of the
new governor of Castilla del Oro, Pedrárias de Ávila, who arrived at
Darién in 1514 with a colony of fifteen hundred persons; but a
conciliation occurred, and in 1515 Balboa was made Adelantado of the
Island of Coíba, in the South Sea. To explore that water he built
vessels on the north coast and had them transported across the Isthmus
on the backs of Indians. The vessels proved unseaworthy, and while
Balboa was building two more at the Isle of Pearls, he was summoned by
Pedrárias, charged with treason, and beheaded (1519).
Exploration on the South Sea.--Balboa was succeeded by Espinosa in
charge of the southern coast. He at once began plundering raids westward
by land, seeking gold and slaves. The South Sea now became the chief
center of interest, and, to provide a better base, in 1519 Pedrárias
founded Panamá, moved his capital thither, refounded Nombre de Diós, and
opened a road across the Isthmus between the two places.
Rapidly now the conquerors and explorers, under Pedrárias, pushed their
way westward, by water and by land. With two of the vessels built by
Balboa, in 1519 Espinosa sent an expedition under Castañeda which
reached the Gulf of Nicoya, some five hundred miles from Panamá. In 1522
Andrés Niño and Gil González Dávila fitted out a joint expedition,
planning to sail west one thousand leagues, to seek spices, gold, and
silver. After sailing one hundred leagues westward, González proceeded
west by land, while Niño continued with the fleet. González reached and
conquered the country bordering on the Gulf of Nicoya and Lake
Nicaragua, places so named from local chieftains. Niño sailed west to
Fonseca Bay, thus coasting the entire length of Nicaragua. When the
commanders returned to Panamá they reported thirty-two thousand
baptisms, and presents in gold and pearls worth more than $112,000.
[Illustration: The Development of Central America, 1509-1543.]
The Conquest of Costa Rica and Nicaragua.--These profitable explorations
stimulated renewed interest, and were followed by conquest and
settlement in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. González desired to return at
once to occupy the country which he had explored, and, meeting hindrance
from Pedrárias, he went to Española to organize another expedition,
while awaiting royal consent. Meanwhile Pedrárias set about conquering
Nicaragua for himself. With funds borrowed from Francisco Pizarro and
others, he equipped a small expedition and sent it under Francisco
Hernández de Córdova. One of the commanders was Hernando de Soto, who
later became famous in Peru and Florida. Proceeding westward, in 1524
Córdova founded Bruselas, on the Gulf of Nicoya, and parceled out the
natives among the settlers. Continuing into Nicaragua, he founded the
cities of León and Granada. In the struggle which followed, Bruselas was
abandoned and the settlement of Costa Rica proceeded slowly.
González in 1524, having secured royal permission, entered Honduras from
the northeast, with an expedition destined for Nicaragua. De Soto, sent
against him by Córdova, was easily subdued, but González was defeated by
the agents of Cortés, who was now engaged in the conquest of Mexico. In
Nicaragua Córdova revolted against Pedrárias and was executed. In 1527
Pedrárias became governor of Nicaragua, where he ruled till 1531. During
all these wranglings the Indians were the chief sufferers. They were
granted in encomienda, employed as beasts of burden, or branded and sold
as slaves in Panamá, Peru, or the West Indies.
Guatemala, San Salvador, and Honduras.--Meanwhile the north-moving
conquerors who went out from Panamá had met and struggled in Guatemala,
San Salvador, and Honduras with the companions of Cortés, moving
southward from Mexico. The history of the conquest of these disputed
regions, therefore, becomes a part of the story of the exploits of
Cortés and his lieutenants, recounted below.
Exploration of San Juan River.--One of the acts which relieve the bloody
story of the career of Pedrárias was the sending in 1529 of an
expedition under Estete to find the outlet to Lake Nicaragua. Estete
descended the San Juan River until a glimpse was had of the sea, but
hostile Indians prevented him from reaching it. It was believed that the
lake and river drained a country rich with gold, and explorations
continued. In 1536 the San Juan, with tributary branches, was explored
by Alonso Carrero and Diego Machuco, under orders from the new governor
of Nicaragua. Soon the lake and river became the principal highway from
Nicaragua to the Atlantic Ocean, and to the Porto Bello fairs.
The Dukedom of Veragua.--It was a long time after Nicuesa's failure in
1510 before another attempt was made to settle Veragua, one reason being
that the region was tenaciously claimed by the heirs of Columbus. In
1535 Alonso Gutiérrez was made governor of Veragua, as agent of the
widow of Diego Columbus, but misfortune attended his efforts to found a
colony. Shortly afterward (1537) the discoverer's grandson, Luis, was
made Duke of Veragua; several attempts to colonize it failed, however,
and in 1556 the region was surrendered for a small pension.
Continued struggle in Central America.--These conquests were but the
beginning of a long struggle of the Spaniards with the natives in
Central America. The first stages of the conquest were over by the
middle of the sixteenth century, but many parts of the country were
still unconquered at the end of the seventeenth. Some tribes, indeed,
are unsubdued and uncivilized to this day.
THE CONQUEST OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO
The revolt of Cortés.--In the very year of the founding of Panamá
Hernando Cortés entered Mexico. The return of the expeditions of Córdova
and Grijalva to the Mexican coast had caused excitement in Cuba.
Governor Velásquez prepared an expedition to follow them up, and
appointed Cortés to lead it. Becoming distrustful of his lieutenant,
Velásquez sent messengers to recall him, but Cortés set forth,
nevertheless. In defiance of the governor, on February 18, 1519, he left
Cuba, a rebel, with eleven vessels, some six hundred men, and sixteen
horses. Proceeding to Tabasco and up the coast, he founded Vera Cruz,
by whose _cabildo_ he was chosen captain-general and _justicia mayor_,
and his position was thus given the color of legality. By this act
Cortés placed himself under the immediate protection of the king.
The march to Mexico.--On the way and while at Vera Cruz Cortés had
learned that the Aztec "empire" was honeycombed with dissension, and
that the subject peoples were burdened with tribute and filled with
hatred for Montezuma, the native ruler at the city of Mexico. He
therefore assumed the rôle of deliverer, and the Indians rallied to his
standard. At Cempoalla he connived at a revolt against Montezuma's tax
gatherers. Scuttling his ships and thus cutting off all chance for
retreat, in August he set out for Mexico. His march was a succession of
audacious deeds. At Cempoalla he threw down heathen idols and imprisoned
the chiefs. At Tlascala he was attacked by several thousand warriors,
but his genius changed them into allies in his train. At Cholula,
discovering a conspiracy, he raked the streets with cannon shot and
burned the leaders at the stake. In triumph he entered the great pueblo
of Tenochtitlán or Mexico. While lodged as a guest of Montezuma in the
center of the city, he seized the Aztec ruler and held him prisoner.
The loss and recapture of the city.--In the spring of 1520 Cortés
learned that Pánfilo de Narváez had arrived at Vera Cruz with nearly a
thousand men, under orders from Velasquez to arrest him. Leaving Pedro
de Alvarado in charge, he hastened to the coast, won over most of
Narváez's men, and then hurried back to Mexico. During his absence the
Aztecs had revolted, through the rashness of Alvarado. Soon after the
return of Cortés the natives rose again, killed Montezuma, and replaced
him by Cuauhtemoc, a more vigorous leader. Cortés now sought safety in
flight, but during the night retreat he lost more than half his men.
This "unfortunate night" became known as "Noche Triste." But the defeat
was only temporary. Raising new allies, Cortés conquered the towns round
about Mexico, built a fleet at Tlascala, launched it on Lake Tezcuco,
besieged the city, and by a combined attack, by land and water, on
August 13, 1521, he recaptured Mexico, the most important native town in
all America.
Cortés's contest with Velásquez.--Knowing that Velásquez would oppose
him, Cortés, while at Vera Cruz in 1519, had at once sent agents,
bearing rich presents, to represent him at the court of Charles V. Then
began a three-year contest with the agents of the Cuban governor. The
delay was fortunate for Cortés, for in the course of it he won favor by
his remarkable feats of conquest. Through the influence of Fonseca,
Velásquez secured the appointment of Cristóbal de Tápia, an official of
Española, as governor of New Spain, to take charge of the government and
investigate Cortés. But Cortés got rid of him as he had disposed of
Narváez. Arriving at Vera Cruz in December, 1521, Tápia was met by a
council of delegates from the conqueror and practically driven from the
country, on the ground that new orders were expected from the king.
Cortés made Governor and Captain-General.--Before this Cortés had sent
Avila to the Audiencia of Santo Domingo to obtain its favor. Scarcely
had Tápia been ejected when Avila returned with tentative authority for
Cortés, subject to royal approval, to continue his conquests and to
grant encomiendas. This greatly strengthened Cortés's position. Having
succeeded so well in Española, Avila was now sent to Spain. Here he
triumphed also, for on October 15, 1522, the emperor approved the acts
of Cortés and made him governor and captain-general of New Spain. The
victory of Cortés was as complete as the discomfiture of Velásquez and
Fonseca.
Mexico rebuilt. Encomiendas granted.--The work of conquest on the
mainland was accompanied by the evolution of government and the
establishment of Spanish civilization, just as had been the case in the
West Indies during the earlier stages of the struggle. Wherever the
Spaniards settled, they planted their political, religious, economic,
and social institutions. Mexico was rebuilt in 1522 as a Spanish
municipality, Pedro de Alvarado, the most notable of Cortés's
lieutenants, being made first _alcalde mayor_. In the regions subdued
the principal provinces were assigned to the conquerors as encomiendas.
Much of the actual work of control was accomplished through native
chiefs, who were assigned Spanish offices and held responsible for good
order and the collection of tribute. This method was later adopted by
the British in India.
[Illustration: The Development of Southern Mexico, 1519-1543.]
THE SPREAD OF THE CONQUEST
The semi-civilized tribes.--With the fall of the city the first stage of
the conquest had ended. Within the following decade most of the
semi-civilized tribes of southern Mexico and Central America were
brought under the dominion of Spain. During this period Spanish
activities were directed from the Valley of Mexico to the eastward,
southward and westward. From the south came rumors of gold and reports
of the South Sea, while to the north, among the barbarian tribes, there
was little, at this stage of the conquest, to attract the conquerors.
Factors in the conquest.--Several factors explain the marvelous rapidity
with which Spanish rule was extended. The conquerors were looking for
gold and accumulated treasure; not finding it in one place they hastened
to another, led off by any wild tale of riches. The fame of the
Spaniards preceded them and paralyzed resistance. They were everywhere
aided by great armies of allies, eager to help destroy their hated
enemies. Finally, Cortés, himself a genius, was assisted by an able body
of lieutenants; in the spread of the conquest Cortés remained the
central figure, but the actual work fell mainly to Orozco, Alvarado,
Olid, Sandoval, Chico, Avalos, Montejo and other subordinates.
Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, and Tehuantepec.--In the fall of 1520 Sandoval, in
search of gold and to punish rebellious Indians, invaded southern Vera
Cruz with a handful of soldiers, aided by thirty thousand Indian allies.
To hold the district he founded the towns of Medellin and Espíritu
Santo. Before the expulsion of Cortés from the city, goldseekers had
been sent to Oaxaca and Tehuantepec and were well received, but the
"Noche Triste" was followed by a reaction. Orozco was sent, therefore,
to subdue Oaxaca, which he reported to be rich in gold. In 1522 an
attack by hostile neighbors called Alvarado to Tehuantepec. Gold was
found, and as the district bordered on the South Sea, settlements were
formed to hold it.
Olid in Michoacán.--The same year, 1522, marks the extension of Spanish
rule into Michoacán, the territory of the hitherto independent
Tarascans. The cacique Tangaxoan visited Cortés and made submission, and
in return Olid was sent to found a settlement at Pátzcuaro on Lake
Chápala. Before the end of the year part of the settlers moved to the
seacoast and settled at Zacatula, in the modern state of Guerrero, where
a post had been established.
Colima and Jalisco.--From Michoacán the conquest at once spread north
into Colima and Jalisco. Gold being reported in Colima, Avalos and
Chico, lieutenants of Olid entered the country, but were defeated by the
natives. Thereupon Olid followed, subdued the mountain region by force,
and founded the town of Colima (1524), which became a base for new
advances. On his return to Mexico, Olid brought samples of pearls from
Colima, and reports of an Amazon Island ten days up the coast, where
there were said to be great riches. To investigate these reports, in
1524 Francisco Cortés was sent north. He reached Río de Tololotlán, and
secured the allegiance of the "queen" of Jalisco, but found little gold
and no Amazon Island.
Amichel and Pánuco.--In 1522 the Huasteca country, to the northeast,
came under the control of Cortés. It was three years before this that
Pineda, as representative of Garay, governor of Jamaica, had visited the
region. Garay applied for a grant of a province called Amichel,
extending from Florida to Mexico, and set about colonizing it. In 1520,
before the patent was secured, a party of his men met disaster near
Pánuco River. Hearing of Garay's operations, in 1522 Cortés led forty
thousand allies into the country, subdued it, and founded San Estéban,
on Pánuco River. In 1523 Garay led a colony to the same region, but
found himself forestalled by Cortés, by whom he was sent to Mexico,
where he soon died. The rivalry of the Spaniards encouraged an Indian
revolt, but Sandoval, as agent of Cortés, put down the disturbance with
extreme cruelty. In 1527 the Pánuco district, under the name of Victoria
Garayana was separated from Mexico, Nuño de Guzmán being made governor,
while the region called Florida, further north, was assigned to Pánfilo
de Narváez. Guzmán's rule of six months was characterized by attempts to
extend conquests northward into Narváez's territory, by wars with the
Huasteca chieftains, and by constant slave-hunting raids, through which
the country was nearly depopulated.
Alvarado in Guatemala and San Salvador.--By this time the conquests of
Cortés and his lieutenants had extended into Central America, where they
encountered, the agents of Pedrárias. In 1522 embassies from the large
cities of Utatlán and Guatemala had visited Cortés and made submission.
In the following year Alvarado, with four hundred Spaniards and twenty
thousand allies, entered the region and conquered the Quichés and
Cakchiquels. This task partially completed, he continued south and
extended his conquests into San Salvador (1524).
Olid and Casas in Honduras.--Cortés believed that Honduras was rich, and
that a strait lay between it and Guatemala. Moreover, Gil González and
the agents of Pedrárias had begun to operate there. Consequently, at the
same time that Alvarado went to Guatemala, Olid was despatched to
Honduras. Reaching there in 1524 he tried to imitate his master's
example by making a conquest for himself. He succeeded in defeating
González, as has been seen, but was in turn beheaded by Francisco de las
Casas, who was sent by Cortés to overthrow him. During this struggle the
city of Trujillo was founded.
The march of Cortés to Honduras.--In doubt as to the wisdom of sending
Las Casas after Olid, in October, 1524, Cortés set out for Honduras in
person, with about one hundred and forty Spaniards and three hundred
Indians in his train, the latter led by three famous Aztec chiefs. In
his rear was driven a herd of swine. The route lay through southern Vera
Cruz, Tabasco, and Chiapas, to Golfo Dulce, his way being obstructed by
vast morasses, swollen streams, and flint-strewn mountains. In a single
province fifty bridges had to be constructed in a journey of as many
miles. In Chiapas it became necessary to bridge with trees a channel
five hundred paces wide. On the way the Aztec chieftains, including the
noble Cuauhtemoc, being charged with conspiracy, were hanged, an act
which is variously characterized as a "necessary punishment" and a "foul
murder." Leaving his cousin, Hernando Saavedra, in command as
captain-general in Trujillo, Cortés sent his men home by way of
Guatemala and returned by sea to Mexico in May, 1526. After attempting
for two years to explore on the South Sea, in 1528 he went to Spain to
refute his enemies, chief of whom was Nuño de Guzmán, now president of
the recently established Audiencia of Mexico. He returned two years
later.
Yucatán.--The conquest of Yucatán was begun in 1527 by Francisco de
Montejo, an agent of Cortés. Initial success was followed by native
revolts, and it was 1541 before the conquest was made secure. There were
frequent rebellions thereafter, but never again united resistance.
Las Casas in Guatemala.--Thus far the conquest had been one of force.
But now an example of the power of gentleness was furnished by Father
Las Casas, the Dominican friar who had opposed encomiendas so vigorously
in Española. About 1532 he entered Nicaragua as a missionary, where he
attacked the ill-treatment of the Indians. Being opposed by the
governor, in 1536 he went to Guatemala. Shortly before this he had
written a treatise to prove that conversion by force was wrong, and that
only persuasion should be used. To test his views he was granted sole
control for five years of a hostile region known as "the Land of War,"
and by mild means he and his companions soon converted the district into
a land of True Peace (Vera Paz), as it is still called.
Guzmán in Sinaloa.--While Cortés was in Spain Guzmán, fearing his own
downfall, and hoping to save himself by offering new provinces to the
king, undertook the conquest of northern Jalisco and of Sinaloa. Leaving
Mexico in December, 1529, with ten thousand allies, he marched through
Michoacán and Jalisco, leaving behind a trail of fire and blood, for
which he has ever since been execrated. Part of Sinaloa was explored,
and Culiacán was founded as an outpost in 1531. The region subdued by
Guzmán was named Nueva Galicia, of which the conqueror became governor
and Compostela the capital.
Buffer province of Querétaro.--At the coming of the Spaniards the
country north of the valley of Mexico had never been conquered by the
Aztecs. The Spaniards, in turn, adopted the policy of entrusting its
subjugation to native caciques, treating the region as a buffer Indian
state. The leading figure in the conquest was a Christianized Otomi
chief, named Nicolás de San Luis. By Charles V he was made a knight of
the Order of Santiago and a captain-general in the army. Another Otomi
cacique who played a similar though less conspicuous part was Fernando
de Tapia. The most notable event in the conquest was the reduction of
Querétaro in 1531. For thirty years San Luis served the Spaniards in the
control of the Querétaro border.
The Mixton War.--The first half century of expansion toward the north
was closed by a widespread native uprising in Nueva Galicia which for a
time checked advance in that direction and even caused a contraction of
the frontier. Guzmán had left Nueva Galicia in a deplorable condition.
After several minor uprisings, the rebellious natives broke forth in
1541, during the absence of Governor Coronado and his army in New
Mexico. The Indians refused to pay tribute, killed their encomenderos
and the missionaries, destroyed the crops, and took refuge in the
_peñoles_ or cliffs of Mixton, Nochistlán, Acatic, and other places near
Guadalajara. The defence fell to Cristóbal de Oñate, lieutenant governor
of Nueva Galicia. Pedro de Alvarado, who chanced to arrive from
Guatemala at Navidad with a force of men, led them against Nochistlán
and lost his life in the encounter. Viceroy Mendoza at last took the
field with four hundred and fifty Spaniards and thirty thousand allies,
and crushed the revolt.
EXPLORATIONS IN THE NORTHERN INTERIOR AND ON THE PACIFIC
_FLORIDA_
De León.--While some conquerors were struggling in Central America,
Mexico, and Peru, others were trying to subdue the vast northern region
called Florida. In 1514 Juan Ponce de León secured a patent to colonize
Florida and Bimini, which he had explored in the previous year. Instead
of proceeding to the task, however, he engaged in a war against the
Caribs, and it was not until 1521 that he attempted to carry out his
project. In that year he led a colony of two hundred men to the
Peninsula, landed on the west coast, and tried to establish a
settlement. But he was attacked by natives, and driven back to Cuba,
mortally wounded.
Ayllón's colony on the Carolina coast.--To carry out his contract to
colonize Chicora, in July, 1526, Ayllón sailed from Española with six
vessels and a colony of five hundred men and women, Dominican friars,
and supplies, prepared to find a new home in Carolina. But the
experiment was doomed to be another failure. Landing was first made on
the river called the Jordan, perhaps Cape Fear River. On another
stream; perhaps the Peedee, the settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape was
begun. But supplies gave out, and at the end of two years Ayllón died
(October, 1528). Quarrels ensued, and in midwinter the survivors, only
about one hundred and fifty now, returned to Santo Domingo.
Narváez.--At the same time the conquest of Florida was attempted by
Pánfilo de Narváez, the man who had been sent to Vera Cruz to arrest
Cortés. In 1526 he secured a patent to the lands of Ponce de León and
Garay. Raising a colony of six hundred persons in Spain, in 1528 he
reached Florida, landing near Tampa Bay. Hearing of a rich province
called Apalachen (Apalache), he sent his vessels along the coast and
himself marched up the peninsula at the head of three hundred men to
find the Promised Land. He found the place sought near modern
Tallahassee, but it proved to be a squalid Indian village of forty huts.
A few weeks having been spent in exploration and warfare, Narváez went
to the coast near St. Marks Bay, built a fleet of horse-hide boats, and
set out for Pánuco. After passing the mouth of the Mississippi a storm
arose, and all were wrecked on the coast of Texas.
Cabeza de Vaca.--In a short time most of the survivors of Narváez's
party died of disease, starvation, and exposure, or at the hands of the
savages. Having passed nearly six years of slavery among the Indians,
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, the treasurer of the colony of Florida, with
three companions, escaped westward, crossed Texas, Coahuila, Chihuahua,
and Sonora, and in 1536 reached Culiacán, the northern outpost of
Sinaloa, after a most remarkable journey.
De Soto.--Vaca went to Spain (1537) to apply for the governorship of
Florida, but it had already been conferred on Hernando de Soto, who had
taken a prominent part in the conquest of both Central America and Peru.
In 1539 De Soto reached Florida with a colony of six hundred persons.
Landing at Tampa Bay, as Narváez had done, he soon set out to look for a
rich province called Cale. This was the beginning of an expedition
lasting nearly four years, during which the Spaniards were led on by
tales of gold and treasure from one district to another, hoping to
repeat the exploits of Cortés and Pizarro. As he passed through the
country De Soto imitated those captains by capturing the chiefs,
holding them as hostages, and compelling them to provide food and men to
carry the baggage. Going to Apalachen he wintered there, meanwhile
discovering Pensacola Bay. From Apalachen he went to the Savannah River,
thence northwest to the North Carolina Piedmont, south toward Mobile
Bay, northwest to the Mississippi near modern Memphis, westward across
Arkansas into Oklahoma, thence down the Arkansas River to its mouth,
where he died, in May, 1542, being buried in the Mississippi.
Moscoso in Arkansas and Texas.--De Soto's followers, led by Luis de
Moscoso, now set out for Pánuco, crossing Arkansas to the Red River,
then turning southwest through eastern Texas, perhaps reaching the
Brazos River. Giving up the attempt by land, they returned to the
Mississippi, built a fleet of boats, descended the river, and skirted
the Texas coast, reaching Pánuco in 1543. Thus ended the fourth attempt
to colonize Florida.
_CÍBOLA AND QUIVIRA_
Cortés on the South Sea and in California.--Another line of advance
toward the northern interior had been made by way of the Pacific slope.
The discovery of the South Sea was followed immediately by exploration
along the western coast. Balboa himself had begun that work, before his
death in 1519. Espinosa had reached Nicaragua in 1519, and three years
later Niño had reached Guatemala. By this time Cortés had also begun
operations on the South Sea by building a shipyard at Zacatula, hoping,
to discover a strait, find rich islands and mainland, reach India by way
of the coast, and open communication with the Moluccas. In 1527 he sent
three vessels under Saavedra across the Pacific: The operations of a new
fleet built by him were hindered by the Audiencia of Mexico, but in 1532
he sent an expedition north under Hurtado de Mendoza, which reached Río
Fuerte in northern Sinaloa. In the following year another expedition
sent by Cortés, under Jiménez discovered Lower California, which was
thought to be an island and where pearls were found. The discovery of an
island with pearls confirmed the geographical ideas of Cortés, and in
1535 he himself led a colony to La Paz, but within a few months it was
abandoned. This was the first of a long series of efforts to colonize
California.
[Illustration: Explorations in the Northern Interior, 1513-1543.]
Friar Marcos discovers Cíbola.--Interest in the north country, both in
Spain and America, was greatly quickened by the arrival of Cabeza de
Vaca in Mexico after his journey across the continent. He had seen no
great wonders, but he had heard of large cities to the north of his
path, and it was thought that they might be the famed Seven Cities. The
viceroy took into his service the negro Stephen, one of Vaca's
companions, and sent him with Friar Marcos, a Franciscan missionary, to
reconnoitre. In March, 1539, they set out with guides from Culiacán.
Going ahead, Stephen soon sent back reports of Seven Cities, called
Cíbola, farther on. Friar Marcos hastened after him, and reached the
border of the Zuñi pueblos in western New Mexico, where he learned that
Stephen had been killed. Returning to the settlement, he reported that
Cíbola was larger and finer than Mexico. This story, of course, was the
signal for another "rush," like that to Peru a few years before.
Ulloa rounds the peninsula of California.--Rivalry between Cortés and
the viceroy regarding exploration was now keen, and about the time of
the return of Fray Marcos, Cortés, hoping to forestall his competitor,
sent three vessels north to explore under Francisco de Ulloa. One of the
vessels was lost, but with two of them Ulloa succeeded in reaching the
head of the Gulf of California, and learned that California was a
peninsula. Descending the Gulf he proceeded up the outer coast of
California to Cabo del Engaño.
The contest for leadership.--While Ulloa's voyage was still in progress,
Cortés hurried to Spain to present his claim of exclusive right to
conquer the country discovered by Fray Marcos and Ulloa. He never
returned to Mexico. Other contestants arose. The agents of De Soto, who
at the time was in Florida, claimed Cibola as a part of the adelantado's
grant. Guzmán claimed it on the basis of explorations in Sinaloa. Pedro
de Alvarado claimed it on the ground of a license to explore north and
west, for which purpose he had prepared a fleet.
The Coronado expedition.--But the royal council decided that the
exploration should be made on behalf of the crown, in whose name the
viceroy had already sent out an expedition under Francisco Vásquez
Coronado, governor of Nueva Galicia. To coöperate with Coronado by
water, Alarcón was sent up the coast from Acapulco with two vessels.
In February, 1540, Coronado left Compostela with some two hundred
horsemen, seventy foot soldiers, and nearly one thousand Indian allies
and servants. So eager were the volunteers that it was complained that
the country would be depopulated. The expedition was equipped at royal
expense with a thousand horses, fine trappings, pack-mules, several
cannon, and with droves of cattle, sheep, goats, and swine for food.
From Culiacán Coronado went ahead with about one hundred picked men and
four friars. Following behind their leader, the main army moved up to
Corazones, in the Yaqui River valley, where the town of San Gerónimo was
founded and left in charge of Melchor Díaz.
Zuñi, Moqui, the Colorado, and the Rio Grande.--In July Coronado reached
the Zuñi pueblos, which he conquered with little difficulty. But the
country was disappointing and the expedition resulted only in
explorations. These, however, were of great importance. At Culiacán
Alarcón procured a third vessel, then continued to the head of the Gulf,
and ascended the Colorado (1540) eighty-five leagues, perhaps passing
the Gila River. Shortly afterward Melchor Díaz went by land from San
Gerónimo to the Colorado to communicate with Alarcón, but failed and
lost his life. During the journey, however, he crossed the Colorado and
went some distance down the Peninsula of California.
Hearing of the Moqui pueblos, to the north of Zuñi, in July Coronado
sent Tobar to find them, which he succeeded in doing. Shortly afterward
Cárdenas went farther northwest and reached the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado. Moving to the Rio Grande, Coronado visited the pueblos in its
valley and camped at Tiguex above Isleta. In the course of the winter
the Indians revolted and were put down with great severity.
Gran Quivira.--Meanwhile Coronado heard of a rich country northeastward
called Gran Quivira, and in April, 1541, he set out to find it. Crossing
the mountains and descending the Pecos, he marched out into the
limitless buffalo-covered plains, the "Llanos del Cíbola," inhabited by
roving Apaches. Near the upper Brazos he turned north, crossed the Texas
Panhandle and Oklahoma, and reached Quivira in eastern Kansas. It was
probably a settlement of Wichita Indians. Disappointed, and urged by
his men, Coronado now returned to Mexico. Three fearless missionaries
remained to preach the gospel, and soon achieved the crown of martyrdom.
Coronado had made one of the epochal explorations of all history.
The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico.--Coronado found large parts of New
Mexico and adjacent regions inhabited by Indians who dwelt in
substantial towns (pueblos) and possessed a civilization similar to that
of the Aztecs. Their terraced dwellings, which were also fortifications,
were built of stone or adobe, and were several stories high. The
inhabitants lived a settled life, practiced agriculture by means of
irrigation, and raised cotton for clothing. They were constantly beset
by the more warlike tribes all about them, and were already declining
under their incursions. At the time of the conquest there were some
seventy inhabited pueblos, whose population may have been from 30,000 to
60,000. The principal pueblo regions were the upper Rio Grande, the
upper Pecos, Ácoma, and the Zuñi and Moqui towns. Remains of prehistoric
pueblos occupy a much wider range in the Southwest, and are now the
scene of important archaeological research.
_CALIFORNIA AND THE PHILIPPINES_
Alvarado's fleet.--Shortly after Coronado left New Mexico, two important
expeditions were despatched by Viceroy Mendoza to explore in the
Pacific. Magellan's voyage had been a signal for a bitter conflict
between Spain and Portugal in the East, in which Portugal long had the
upper hand. After the failures of Loaisa (1525) and Saavedra (1527)
Charles V sold Spain's claims on the Moluccas to Portugal, but continued
to claim the Philippines. In spite of former disasters to eastern
expeditions, both Cortés and Pedro de Alvarado planned discoveries in
the South Sea. In 1532 Alvarado made a contract for the purpose, but was
led off by the gold "rush" to Peru. In 1538 he obtained a new grant,
authorizing him to explore "in the west toward China or the Spice
Islands," or toward the north at the "turn of the land to New Spain."
Early in 1539 he left Spain with equipment nor a fleet, which he
transported across Honduras and Guatemala on the backs of natives. On
hearing of the discoveries of Fray Marcos, he hastened north with his
fleet, but stopped in Mexico, where he and Mendoza, who had already sent
out Coronado, made an agreement, as mutual insurance, to divide the
profits of their respective explorations. Before continuing his
expedition Alvarado was killed in the Mixton War (1541). This left the
fleet in Mendoza's hands, and with it he carried out Alvarado's plans by
despatching two expeditions, one up the California coast, the other
across the Pacific.
Cabrillo and Ferrelo.--The coast voyage was conducted by Juan Rodríguez
Cabrillo, and was especially designed to look for a northern strait.
Leaving Navidad in June, 1542, Cabrillo explored the outer coast of the
Peninsula, discovered San Diego Bay, reached Northwest Cape (latitude
38°31'), descended to Drake's Bay, and then returned to the Santa
Barbara Channel, where he died. Sailing north again in 1543, his pilot,
Ferrelo, reached the Oregon coast (42 1/2°), returning thence to
Navidad. Cabrillo and Ferrelo had explored the coast for more than
twenty-three degrees, but had missed both San Francisco and Monterey
bays.
Villalobos.--The other expedition was led by López de Villalobos, who
was instructed to explore the Philippines and to reach China, but not to
touch at the Moluccas. Sailing in November, 1542, he took possession of
the Philippines, but, being forced to leave on account of native
hostility, he was captured by the Portuguese. Villalobos died in the
Moluccas, where the enterprise went to pieces. The expeditions of
Coronado, De Soto, Cabrillo, and Villalobos brought to an end a
remarkable half century of Spanish expansion in North America and in the
Pacific Ocean.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VICEROYALTY OF NEW SPAIN
Cortés as administrator.--Cortés was not a mere conqueror. He appointed
officers, and issued general ordinances affecting nearly all lines of
activity. Encomenderos were required to equip themselves for defense and
to promote agriculture. Cortés himself became a great planter, notably
at Oaxaca. He introduced agricultural implements, opened a port at Vera
Cruz, and established markets in Mexico City. In 1523 the king had
forbidden encomiendas, but Cortés made so strong a protest on the
grounds of policy and royal interest that the order was withdrawn.
Royal officials arrive.--In 1524 a corps of royal officials arrived to
take the places of those appointed by Cortés. Estrada came as treasurer,
Salazar as factor, Albórnoz, as contador, and Chirinos as veedor. They
came empowered to interfere in the government of Cortés, especially in
matters of finance, a policy quite in keeping with the general Spanish
practice of setting one officer to watch another.
The powers of Cortés curtailed.--The new officials were not slow to make
trouble for Cortés. While he was in Honduras his enemies set about
undermining him, both in Mexico and Spain. Salazar and Chirinos usurped
authority, persecuted the conqueror's partisans, confiscated his
property, and spread reports that he was dead. At last the friends of
Cortés rebelled, overthrew the usurpers, Salazar and Chirinos, and sent
for Cortés to return from Honduras. In May, 1526, he reached Vera Cruz.
Two years of investigation and persecution by other crown officials
followed.
In response to complaints in Spain, Luis Ponce de León was sent early in
the same year as governor and to hold a _residencia_ of Cortés, while
the latter's jurisdiction as captain-general was lessened by the
appointment of Nuño de Guzmán as governor of Pánuco. Ponce de León died
in July, leaving Aguilar as governor. Aguilar died early in 1527 and
Estrada became governor. He interfered with Cortés's explorations in the
South Sea, and banished him from Mexico City as dangerous, but the
breach was soon healed when both were threatened by the usurpations of
Guzmán. It was at this time that Cortés, finding his position
unbearable, went to Spain for redress and to answer charges.
The first Audiencia of New Spain.--In view of the disturbed conditions
in New Spain, in 1528 Charles V created an Audiencia or supreme court
for Mexico, and empowered it to investigate the disorders and hold the
_residencia_ of Cortés. It was composed of four _oidores_ and a
president. To the latter office was appointed Nuño de Guzmán. He proved
to be an extreme partisan against Cortés, and so avaricious that he soon
won the hatred of almost everyone except a few favorites. The old
friends of Cortés stood by him and he secured the support of Bishop
Zumárraga.
Cortés made Marquis of the Valley.--The arrival of Cortés in Spain
caused his detractors to slink from sight, and he was conducted to court
with almost royal honors. In consideration of his brilliant services, in
1529 he was granted twenty-two towns, with twenty-three thousand
vassals, with full civil and criminal jurisdiction and rentals for
himself and his heirs. With these honors he was given the titles of
Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, captain-general of New Spain, and
governor of such islands as he might still discover in the South Sea. In
1530 he returned to New Spain, where he was acclaimed by the people,
though opposed by the Audiencia.
The second Audiencia.--The abuses of the first Audiencia led to its
replacement in 1530 by a new corps of judges, of whom the president was
Sebastián Ramirez de Fuenleal. The oidores appointed were Salmerón,
Maldonado, Ceynos, and Quiroga. They were especially instructed to hold
the _residencias_ of their predecessors, restore the estates of Cortés,
and consider the abolition of encomiendas. To replace control by
encomenderos, local magistrates called _corregidores_ were introduced. A
few of these functionaries were appointed, but the colonists raised such
a cry that little change was accomplished, and the Audiencia confined
itself, in this particular, to checking abuses of the encomienda system.
Quiroga later became bishop and civilizer of Michoacán, where he is
still gratefully remembered.
The viceroyalty established.--The difficulties of government and the
spread of conquests made closer centralization necessary, and New Spain
was now made a viceroyalty. The first incumbent of the office of viceroy
was Antonio de Mendoza, a nobleman of fine character and ability. He
arrived in 1535. As viceroy he was president of the Audiencia, governor,
and captain-general, personally representing the king in all branches of
government.
The Audiencias of Panamá and Guatemala.--Alvarado served as governor and
captain-general of Guatemala through appointment by Cortés till 1528,
when he was commissioned directly by the emperor. Though frequently
absent, he continued in office till his death in 1541. In 1537 Panamá
and Veragua were erected into the Audiencia of Panamá, which was later
attached to the viceroyalty of Peru, because the commerce of Peru
crossed the Isthmus. Six years later the Audiencia of the Confines of
Panamá and Nicaragua was established. After various changes, by 1570
Guatemala became the seat of an Audiencia embracing all of Central
America except Panamá, Veragua, and Yucatán.
The New Laws.--Las Casas and others continued to oppose the encomienda
system. In 1539 the great missionary returned to Spain to conduct the
fight. While there he wrote his celebrated works called _The Destruction
of the Indies_ and the _Twenty Reasons_ why Indians should not be
enslaved. His pleadings were not in vain, for in 1542 the Council issued
a new Indian code called the _New Laws_, which provided that encomiendas
should be abolished on the death of the present holders. But so great
was the opposition that in 1545 the vital clauses of the ordinance were
repealed. In Peru the attempt to enforce the laws even led to bloodshed.
Mendoza sent to Peru.--Viceroy Mendoza continued to rule for fifteen
years. He proved to be a wise, able, and honest administrator, who tried
to improve the condition of both the colonists and the helpless natives.
He prohibited the use of the Indians as beasts of burden. In 1536 he
established the printing press in Mexico, the first book published on
the continent appearing in 1537. In that year he founded the college of
Santa Cruz de Tlatelalco for the education of noble Indians. He opened
roads from Mexico to Oaxaca, Tehuantepec, Acapulco, Michoacán, Colima,
Jalisco, and other distant points. In 1550 he was sent to rule in
troubled Peru, where the Spaniards were duplicating the brilliant
exploits of Cortés and his followers.
READINGS
SPAIN DURING THE CONQUEST
Armstrong, E., _The Emperor Charles V._; Bourne, E.G., _Spain in
America_, Ch. I; Chapman, Charles E., _A History of Spain_, 1-246,
especially Chapters X-XXII; Cheyney, E.P., _European Background of
American History_, Ch. V; Hume, M.A.S., _Spain, its Greatness and
Decay_; Hume, M.A.S., _The Spanish People_; Lane-Poole, S., _The Moors
in Spain_; Lowery, W., _Spanish Settlements within the present limits of
the United States_, 1513-1565, pp. 79-101; Merriman, R.B., _The Rise of
the Spanish Empire_; Prescott, W.H., _Ferdinand and Isabella_; Haring,
C.H., _Trade and Navigation between Spain and the Indies in the Time of
the Hapsburgs_.
THE WEST INDIES, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND MAGELLAN
Altolaguirre y Davale, D. Angel de, _D. Pedro de Alvarado, Conquistador
de Guatemala y Honduras_; _Vasco Nuñez de Balboa_; Bancroft, H.H.,
_Central America_, I, 183-247, 321-412, 478-511; Bourne, E.G., _Spain in
America_, 20-53; 115-132; Fiske, John, _The Discovery of America_, I,
465-512, II, 184-212; Fortier, A., and Ficklen, J.R., _Mexico and
Central America_, 1-102; Guardia, R.F., _History of the Discovery and
Conquest of Costa Rica_; Guillemand, F.H.H, _Life of Magellan_; Helps,
Arthur, _The Spanish Conquest_, I, 89-142, 193-320; Lowery, Woodbury,
_Spanish Settlements within the present Limits of the United States_,
102-122; Richman, L.B., _The Spanish Conquerors_, 64-91, 139-154;
Wright, L.A., _The early History of Cuba_, 1492-1586.
CORTES AND HIS FOLLOWERS
Bancroft, H.H., _Central America_, I, 522-643; Díaz del Castillo,
Bernal, _True History of the Conquest of New Spain_; Fortier and
Ficklen, _Mexico and Central America_, 181-238; Helps, Arthur, _Life of
Cortés_; _Life of Las Casas_; _The Spanish Conquest_, III, 23-67,
164-289; McNutt, F.A., _Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico_, 43-67; _The
Letters of Cortés to Charles V._; Prescott, W.H., _The Conquest of
Mexico_, Bks. II-IV; Bolton, H.E., The Spanish Borderlands; Means, P.A.,
_History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatán and of the Itzas_.
EXPLORATIONS TO THE NORTH AND IN THE PACIFIC
Bancroft, H.H., _History of California_, I, 64-81; Bandelier, A.D.F.,
_The Gilded Man; Journey of Cabeza de Vaca (Trail Makers' Series)_;
Blair and Robertson, _The Philippine Islands_, I-II; Bolton, H.E.,
_Spanish Exploration in the Southwest, 1542-1706 (Original Narratives
Series)_, 1-39; Bourne, E.G., _Spain in America_, 158-174; _Narratives
of the Career of Hernando de Soto (Trail Makers' Series)_; Brittain,
Alfred, _Discovery and Exploration_, 343-361; Hodge, F.W., and Lewis,
T.H., _The Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1528-1543
(Original Narratives Series)_; Irving, Theodore, _The Conquest of
Florida_; Lowery, Woodbury, _Spanish Settlements within the present
Limits of the United States_, 130-350; Richman, L.B., _California under
Spain and Mexico_, 3-11; Schafer, Joseph, _Pacific Coast and Alaska_,
3-23; Winship, G.P., _The Coronado Expedition_ (Bureau of American
Ethnology, _14th Report_, Part I.); _The Journey of Coronado (Trail
Makers' Series)_, Richman, I.B., _The Spanish Conquerors_, 91-139.
CHAPTER III
THE EXPANSION OF NEW SPAIN (1543-1609)
OLD AND NEW SPAIN UNDER PHILIP II
Philip's inheritance.--Charles V's stormy reign came to a close in 1556,
when he abdicated in favor of his son, Philip II, who inherited Spain
with its colonies, Naples, Milan, Franche Comté, and the Netherlands.
The imperial office and the Hapsburg possessions went to Charles's
brother, Ferdinand I.
The Protestant movement.--The Protestant movement, which began in
Germany and Switzerland, spread into France, England, Scotland, the
Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries. The Catholic church saw
itself in danger of losing the religious supremacy in Europe, and put
forth all its power to check it. Its three great agencies in the
Counter-Reformation were the Council of Trent, the Jesuits, and Philip
II.
The Revolt of the Netherlands.--The Spanish king devoted all his
resources to stamping out Protestantism in the Netherlands, France, and
England. To the wealthy Dutch burghers Philip was a foreigner; they
resented the quartering of his soldiers and they objected to his regent,
the duchess of Parma, the king's half sister. The Inquisition had been
introduced into the Netherlands by Charles V. and it became more active
under his son. In 1566 the Dutch nobles headed a revolt, which was
furthered by the Protestant preachers. The Duke of Alva was sent with an
army to suppress it. William of Orange and other leaders fled the
country, as did many Flemish weavers. Alva established a special court
which became known as the Council of Blood; a reign of terror followed,
thousands being executed. William of Orange, known as the Silent, in
1568 collected a small army and began the struggle for independence.
After many years of warfare the Protestant provinces in the north gained
their autonomy.
The Defeat of the Armada.--In France the Protestant leader, Coligny,
attempted to unite both Catholics and Protestants in a national war
against Spain. This was frustrated by the Guises. Later, when they
intrigued to place Mary Queen of Scots upon the English throne, Philip
entered into their designs, but was prevented from giving much
assistance by the revolt in the Netherlands. The English retaliated by
raiding the Spanish Main. The culmination of the struggle was the defeat
of the Spanish Armada, in 1588, which freed England from the danger of
invasion. In Spain Philip carried out his policy of expelling the rest
of the Moors, the most industrious and enlightened of his subjects, and
by rigorously pushing the work of the Inquisition.
Spanish weakness.--The reign of Philip II had witnessed a vast change in
Europe. England had become a Protestant country. In France the wars of
religion had culminated by Henry IV ascending the throne. In the
Netherlands the northern half had risen into an independent state.
Portugal had become a Spanish province. In Spain the expulsion of the
Moors, the constant drain upon the country to carry on Philip's foreign
enterprises, and the commercial losses inflicted by the English, had
weakened the country to such an extent that it could no longer be looked
upon as preëminent in Europe. Nevertheless, the Spanish colonies
continued to develop and expand. The story of that expansion is the
subject of this chapter.
Luis de Velasco, second viceroy (1551-1564).--Viceroy Mendoza was
succeeded by Luis de Velasco, a member of a noble Castilian family, who
took possession in Mexico in 1551 and ruled till 1564. Velasco installed
his rule by releasing 160,000 natives from forced labor in the mines. To
put down disorder and protect the natives in 1552 he established in
Mexico the Tribunal de la Santa Hermandad. A year later the royal
University of Mexico was founded, the first in North America. During
Velasco's rule the great canal of Huehuetoca for draining the City of
Mexico was begun, 6000 Indians being employed in the work. Velasco was
an expansionist, and vigorously promoted the colonization of Florida,
the Philippines, and Nueva Vizcaya.
Martin Cortés, second Marquis of the Valley.--At the same time with
Velasco came Martin Cortés, son of the conqueror, and second Marquis of
the Valley of Oaxaca. He possessed city property in Mexico, Oaxaca,
Toluca, and Cuernavaca, and his estates were the richest in New Spain.
Other encomenderos looked to him as their protector against the royal
officials and induced him to conspire for an independent crown. He
yielded, but with six others was arrested in 1568. Two of the
conspirators were executed, Cortés and the rest being sent to Spain.
Expansion of the frontiers.--Having exploded for the time being some of
the notions of great wonders in the far distant interior, the Spanish
pioneers fell back on the established frontiers, and by a more gradual
and rational process extended them northward, much as the English a
century later slowly pushed their settlements from the Atlantic
shoreline across the Tidewater and up into the Piedmont.
On the Atlantic seaboard Spanish outposts were advanced from the West
Indies into what are now Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and,
momentarily, into Virginia. In Mexico, missions, mines, farms, and stock
ranches advanced northward in regular succession or side by side.
Between the return of Coronado and the end of the century the frontiers
of actual occupation moved forward, roughly speaking, from Guadalajara,
Querétaro, and Pánuco, to a line drawn irregularly through the mouth of
the Rio Grande westward to the Pacific, with many large spaces, of
course, left vacant to be filled in by subsequent advances. The Spanish
pioneers, like those of England and France, recorded their home
attachments by the place names given their new abodes, and thus the
whole northern district of Mexico was comprised within the three
provinces of New Galicia, New Vizcaya, and New León. During the same
period the Philippine Islands had been occupied as an outpost of Mexico.
The Adelantados.--The latter sixteenth century was still within the age
of the _adelantados_, when the development of the Spanish frontiers was
left largely to men of means, obligated to bear most of the expense of
conquering and peopling the wilderness, in return for wide powers,
extravagant titles, and extensive economic privileges. As types of these
proprietary conquerors of the period there stand out Ibarra in Nueva
Vizcaya, Menéndez in Florida, Legazpi in the Philippines, Carabajal in
Nuevo León, and Oñate in New Mexico. The period likewise was still
within the age of the _encomienda_, when the right to parcel out the
natives was inherent in the privilege of conquest. With the turn of the
century the custom practically ceased, a fact which sharply
distinguishes Florida and New Mexico from the later frontier Spanish
provinces of Texas, California, and Louisiana.
A new spirit.--The age of wanton bloodshed, too, had largely passed. The
New Laws, promulgated in 1543, stood for a new spirit, and royal
authority had by now become somewhat established on the frontiers. In
proportion as the _encomenderos_ were discredited for their abuses and
as their power over the Indians was checked, a larger and larger place
was found on the frontier for the missionaries, to whom passed much of
the actual work of subduing and controlling the natives.
THE MINES OF NORTHERN MEXICO
Audiencia and diocese of Nueva Galicia.--In 1544 Compostela became the
seat of the new diocese of Nueva Galicia. Four years later the new
Audiencia of Nueva Galicia was established there. About 1550 Guadalajara
became the seat of both jurisdictions, and the judicial and
ecclesiastical capital of all the country to the north and northeast, a
position which it long occupied. The Audiencia district was subdivided
into _corregimientos_, each under an alcalde, subject to the Audiencia.
Within the _corregimientos_ were Indian _partidos_, each under a native
alcalde, subject to the encomenderos or the missionaries.
The Zacatecas mines.--In spite of the check caused by the Mixton War,
northward expansion in Mexico was soon stimulated by the discovery of
rich mines, and by the ambitions of the new viceroy. Mines developed in
southern Nueva Galicia were soon eclipsed by those of Zacatecas, which
were opened in 1548 by Juan de Tolosa, Cristóbal de Oñate, Diego de
Ibarra, and Baltasar Treviño. These men soon became the richest in
America, and Zacatecas the first mining town in New Spain. The fame of
the "diggins" spread, and other parts of the country were for a time
nearly depopulated by the rush of miners.
Francisco de Ibarra.--Inspired by the "boom" at Zacatecas, the Audiencia
of Nueva Galicia planned to subdue the districts of Sinaloa and Durango.
Ginés Vázquez de Mercado, sent for this purpose in 1552, wasted his
energies in a fruitless search for a fabled mountain of pure silver, and
was defeated by the Indians near Sombrerete. Martin Pérez, sent by the
Audiencia to the same district in 1558, came into conflict with
Francisco de Ibarra, agent of the viceroy. In 1554 Ibarra began a series
of explorations by means of which, in the course of eight years, he and
his men opened in northern Zacatecas the mines of San Martin, San Lucas,
Sombrerete, Chalchuites, Aviño, Fresnillo, and other places. To make
these expeditions, he equipped himself at his own or his uncle's expense
with soldiers, horses, Negro slaves, Indian servants, and droves of
stock for food. He attracted miners and settlers by furnishing them with
outfits and by giving them free use of mineral deposits.
Nueva Vizcaya founded.--In 1558 Velasco planned to send Ibarra northward
to pacify a region called Copala, but his departure was delayed by the
sending of the De Luna expedition to Florida. In 1562 Ibarra was made
governor and captain-general of a new province called Nueva Vizcaya,
comprising the unconquered districts beyond Nueva Galicia, to which
Zacatecas remained attached. In the following year he founded Nombre de
Diós and Durango, the latter of which became and long remained the
military capital of all the northern country. In the same year Rodrigo
del Rio de Losa was sent with soldiers and miners to open the mines of
Indé, and of Santa Barbara and San Juan in southern Chihuahua. The
shortage of Indian labor in the mines there resulted by 1580 in slave
hunting raids down the Conchos River and across the Rio Grande into
modern Texas.
Ibarra on the Pacific slope.--Amid extreme hardships in 1564 Ibarra
crossed the mountains to the westward, and conquered Topia, which he had
hoped would prove to be "another Mexico." Disappointed in this, he spent
two or three years in developing Sinaloa. Beyond Culiacán, on the Río
Fuerte (then called Río Sinaloa) he founded the Villa of San Juan. From
here with new recruits from Mexico and Guadalajara, in June, 1567, he
set out northward. Ascending the Yaqui valley, at Zaguaripa he defeated
the very Indians who had destroyed Coronado's town of San Gerónimo.
Crossing the sierra eastward, he emerged on the plains at the river and
ruined pueblo of Paquimé (Casas Grandes) in northern Chihuahua. Turning
back along the eastern slope of the Sierras, he recrossed them, with
terrible hardship, into the lower Yaqui valley. Returning to Chiametla,
he died about 1570, after twenty years of exploring, mining,
colonizing, and administration. He was one, of the ablest of the second
generation of colonizers in New Spain.
[Illustration: The Advance into Northern Mexico, 1543-1590.]
Development of Nueva Vizcaya.--Shortly after Ibarra left Sinaloa the
Indians of San Juan revolted, drove out the encomenderos, and murdered
the friars; the settlement was therefore moved to the Petatlán (Sinaloa)
River, and named San Felipe. In the last decade of the century a
presidio and an Aztec-Tlascaltec colony were founded at San Felipe, and
Jesuit missions were planted in the vicinity. East of the mountains, in
Durango and southern Chihuahua, mining, stock raising, and agriculture
developed side by side. In 1586, for example, Diego de Ibarra branded
33,000 head of cattle, and Rodrigo del Rio, then governor, 42,000 head.
Several new mining districts were opened before the end of the century.
In 1574 Nueva Galicia and Nueva Vizcaya (including Zacatecas and
Sinaloa) had a population of 1500 Spanish families, perhaps 10,000
persons living in some thirty settlements, about half of which were
mining camps. Guadalajara had a population of one hundred and fifty
families and Culiacán about thirty. The Franciscan missionaries had
played an important part in the founding of Nueva Vizcaya. They
accompanied or went before the explorers and established themselves at
the principal mining camps and towns. In 1590 the custodia of San
Francisco de Zacatecas embraced ten monasteries east of the Sierras. In
1591 the Jesuits entered the province.
Querétaro, Guanajuato, and Aguas Calientes.--For twenty years after the
battle at Querétaro (1531) the Chichimec border was left practically
unsettled, under the control of native leaders. But the need of
communication with the Zacatecas veins made its complete subjugation
necessary, and Viceroy Velasco undertook the task. In or about 1550 the
town of Querétaro was founded, and Silao three years later. The
marvelous Guanajuato mines were now opened; in 1554 the city of Santa Fé
de Guanajuato was founded; and shortly afterward rich veins were opened
at Aguas Calientes. These "strikes" caused "rushes," just as those in
Zacatecas had done, but they were offset by others in Durango, where
Ibarra was operating. To secure further the roads to the mines, new
towns and presidios were established along the way, and thus San Miguel
el Grande (Allende), San Felipe, Santa Maria de Lagos, Aguas Calientes,
Ojuelos, Portezuelos, Jérez, and Celaya came into being. To supplement
the presidios, strong houses (_casas fuertes_) were provided as camping
stations for travelers and silver trains, and parties were equipped with
fortified wagons or movable strong houses.
San Luis Potosí and Southern Coahuila.--For some time the region of
Charcas, now called San Luis Potosí, was a sort of No-man's-land between
the westward, eastward, and northward moving columns of frontiersmen. It
was the home of the powerful but savage Guachichiles. The definite
conquest of the region, already known to explorers and missionaries, was
begun about 1550 by Francisco de Urdiñola, who operated under Velasco's
orders, and who is said to have reached the vicinity of Saltillo and
Monterey. The settlement of the district soon followed. Matehuala was
founded in 1550, San Gerónimo in 1552, Charcas in 1564, and the San
Pedro mines about 1568. By 1576 San Luis Potosí, the site of rich ores,
had become a villa, and before long was the seat of an _alcaldía mayor_.
Mining developments spread northeastward from Zacatecas to Mazapil and
Saltillo. By 1568 Mazapil was the seat of an _alcaldía mayor_, under the
Audiencia of Nueva Galicia. In that year Francisco del Cano, sent by the
"very magnificent alcalde mayor," went north and discovered the "Lake of
New Mexico," perhaps Laguna de Parras. In 1575 Francisco de Urdiñola,
son of the former conqueror, is said to have settled sixty families at
Saltillo, within the jurisdiction of Nueva Vizcaya. As early as 1582 a
Franciscan monastery was established there, and in 1592 Saltillo was
created a villa.
The Tlascaltecan colonies.--Querétaro had been the scene of one
interesting experiment in utilizing the natives as agents of control; in
San Luis Potosí another was now tried. As a means of reducing the great
central region, the plan was devised of planting in it colonies of
Tlascaltecan Indians, to defend the settlers and to teach the rude
tribes the elements of civilization. The Tlascaltecans had proved their
loyalty in the days of Cortés, and this loyalty was insured by their
exemption from tribute and by other privileges. The practice of using
them as colonists in San Luis Potosí seems to have been begun as early
as 1580. In 1591 four hundred families were sent northward, most of
them being distributed at various places in modern San Luis Potosí, but
eighty families were established at Saltillo in a separate pueblo called
San Estéban. Thence in later days little colonies were detached to all
parts of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Texas.
Parras; Urdiñola the Younger.--In 1594 Jesuits from Durango founded the
mission of Santa Maria de Parras, and shortly afterward a colony of
Spaniards and Tlascaltecans was established there. Of this district
Urdiñola the Younger, lieutenant-governor of Nueva Vizcaya, became the
magnate. He opened mines, subdued Indians, established immense ranches,
and was veritable feudal lord. His principal hacienda was at Patos, but
he had others, as at Parras and Bonanza. In 1594 he secured a commission
to conquer New Mexico which was subsequently rescinded. A female
descendant of his became the wife of the first Marquis of San Miguel de
Aguayo, a title created in 1682 and long held by the leading men of the
northeastern frontier.
Nuevo León.--A new jurisdiction was now carved out on the Gulf coast. In
1579 Luis de Carabajal, a Portuguese of Jewish extraction, secured a
patent naming him governor and captain-general of the Kingdom of Nuevo
León, a region extending two hundred leagues north and west from Pánuco,
and delimiting Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Galicia on the north and east.
Carabajal's was the first conquistador's patent issued for New Spain
based on the general ordinance of 1573 regulating new conquests. He was
made governor and alguacil-mayor "for two lives," with a salary of
20,000 pesos and two encomiendas for himself. He had authority to grant
encomiendas, and was obligated to make new conquests and settlements.
Raising two hundred men in Spain and Mexico, he established headquarters
for a time at Pánuco, whence he made exploring, gold hunting, and slave
hunting expeditions.
León and Monterey.--Discovering minerals in the Sierra de San Gregorio,
near the Rio Grande, in (or by) 1583, Carabajal founded there the city
of León (now Cerralvo). Securing other families from Saltillo, in 1584
he founded San Luis, near the later Monterey, and appointed Castaño de
Sosa alcalde mayor. Slave hunting expeditions from León proved so
profitable that soon two hundred or more adventurers were attracted to
the place, for the slaves found ready market at the mines of the
interior. When the viceroy checked the abuse, León was gradually
abandoned. With another colony from Saltillo, Carabajal founded Nuevo
Almadén, near the present Monclova. While thus engaged he was charged
with heresy, arrested, and condemned by the Inquisition together with
almost his entire family. In 1596 Luis de Montemayor,
lieutenant-governor of the province, founded Monterey with families from
León and Saltillo. Three years later Montemayor was made governor,
directly under the viceroy. In 1603 a Franciscan monastery was founded
at Monterey, and became a new missionary center. Conflicts of
jurisdiction between Nuevo León and Nueva Vizcaya became chronic and a
serious hindrance to prosperity.
THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD
Fray Luís Cancer.--Meanwhile Florida and the Philippines had been
conquered and colonized. Shortly after Coronado returned from New
Mexico, the Moscoso party reached Pánuco. Viceroy Mendoza, in spite of
previous failures, was willing to try his hand in ill-fated Florida, and
he offered to equip Moscoso and his men for another attempt, but they
declined. Florida had been "running with the blood of Indians," but Fray
Luís Cancer, a disciple of Las Casas, offered to try to subdue it by
peaceful methods. With a royal license he equipped a vessel at Vera
Cruz, and with a few companions went in 1549 to Florida to convert the
natives. He was murdered by them, however, and his companions returned.
De Luna and Villafañe.--But Florida was thought to be rich, especially
at Coca, in northern Alabama, and new attempts at settlement were made.
In 1558 the new viceroy was ordered to colonize Santa Elena, the scene
of Ayllón's failure on the Carolina coast, and some other point not
specified, the missionary work to be entrusted to the Dominicans. In the
following year, therefore, Velasco sent Tristán de Luna, Coronado's
second in command, from Vera Cruz with thirteen vessels and 1500
soldiers and colonists. Of the six captains three had been with De Soto,
a fact which indicates the continuity of frontier interests.
The expedition landed at Pensacola Bay. Three vessels sent on to Santa
Elena were storm-driven and returned to Vera Cruz. Establishing a
garrison at Pensacola (Ichuse), De Luna moved about a thousand colonists
inland to Nanipacna on the Alabama River, whence an expedition was sent
north to Coça. In 1560 the colony returned to Pensacola, where De Luna
was replaced by Villafañe, who had been sent with supplies from Mexico.
In the following year Villafañe went with most of his colony to Santa
Elena, but failed to make a settlement, and the Pensacola garrison was
soon withdrawn. In view of these repeated disasters, in 1561 Philip II
declared that for the present no further attempt should be made to
colonize Florida.
The French in Florida.--Notwithstanding this decision, there were
reasons why Florida should be occupied. The route of the treasure and
merchant ships lay through the Bahama channel, and French and English
pirates had begun to attack them. To lessen the danger, vessels were
ordered to go in company, and as early as 1552 a fleet of war vessels
was sent to escort them to Havana. But a port was needed to give aid
against the pirates, as well as to provide refuge from the violent
storms on the Florida coast. Moreover, the French were operating on the
northern Atlantic, and it was feared that they would occupy this region.
This fear was realized in 1562 when Jean Ribaut led a French Huguenot
colony to Port Royal, South Carolina. The colony miserably failed, but
in 1564 another, led by Laudonnière, settled on St. John's River and
built Fort Caroline. Just as Laudonnière was about to abandon the place,
Ribaut arrived with a third colony, bearing instructions to fortify a
position that would enable him to command the route of the Spanish
treasure fleets.
Menéndez de Avilés, and the expulsion of the French.--Philip decided now
to eject the French and colonize Florida, and entrusted the task to
Menéndez de Avilés, a great naval officer. He was made adelantado of
Florida, and promised a private estate twenty-five leagues square, or
some 300,000 acres. In return he agreed to take a colony of five hundred
persons to Florida, build at least two fortified towns, and expel
foreign "settlers and corsairs." In September, 1565, Menéndez reached
Florida and founded St. Augustine. Ten days later he marched overland
against Fort Caroline, surprised and captured it, and mercilessly slew
most of its defenders. On the spot the garrison of San Mateo was
established.
[Illustration: Spanish Florida.]
Menéndez's relentless deed caused an outburst of indignation in France,
and perhaps only Catherine's reliance on Philip in her troubles with the
Huguenots prevented war. Vengeance was left to a private individual,
Dominique de Gourgues. Getting up an expedition ostensibly to trade, in
1567 he went to Florida, and slew the garrison at San Mateo. The
prisoners taken were hanged "not as Spaniards" but "as traitors,
robbers, and murderers."
New settlements in Florida.--Menéndez planned great things. He would
fortify the Bahama Channel, occupy Santa Elena and Chesapeake Bay, and
in the latter seek the northern strait. As a base for expanding toward
Pánuco, he would occupy the Bay of Juan Ponce, and he had great hopes of
agricultural prosperity.
To carry out these plans, active steps were taken. Before Menéndez
returned to Spain in 1567, several new Spanish posts were founded
between the point of the peninsula and South Carolina. San Mateo was
reoccupied. At Charlotte Bay Menéndez made an alliance with the
much-feared Chief Carlos by marrying his sister, and founded there the
presidio of San Antonio. Other garrisons were established on the
peninsula at Ays, Santa Lucía, Tocobaga, and Tegesta. At Santa Elena, in
South Carolina, Menéndez founded the colony of San Felipe, and in Guale
(northern Georgia) he founded a presidio.
Explorations in the Alleghanies.--In November, 1566, Menéndez sent Juan
Pardo from Santa Elena "to discover and conquer the interior country
from there to Mexico," to join the two frontiers. Going northwest, he
reached the snow covered Alleghanies in western North Carolina,
established two garrisons on the way, and returned. Boyano, left at one
of the garrisons, made expeditions into the mountains, and in 1567
marched southwest to Chiaha near Rome, Georgia. Being joined there by
Pardo, they set out "in the direction of Zacatecas and the mines of San
Martin," in Mexico, but were turned back by Indian hostility. On his way
to San Felipe Pardo left two garrisons, which were soon massacred by
Indians.
The Jesuit missions in Florida.--In 1566 Menéndez secured three Jesuit
missionaries for Florida. Another band arrived in 1568, and went to
Santa Elena, Orista, and Guale, where they founded missions. At first
they were successful, but in 1570 they were driven out by native
opposition. By this time the garrison at Tocobaga had been massacred and
those at San Antonio and Tegesta withdrawn on account of Indian
hostility.
The Virginia mission.--Father Segura, the Jesuit superior, now
transferred his efforts to Chesapeake Bay, whither he went in 1570 with
six missionaries. They founded a mission, perhaps on the Rappahannock,
but soon all were slain. In 1571 Menéndez went in person to avenge the
outrage. Two years later his nephew explored the entire coast from the
Florida Keys to Chesapeake Bay. In 1573, the year before his death,
Menéndez's grant was extended west to Pánuco.
Franciscans on the Georgia coast.--The martyrdom of Father Segura and
his band caused the Jesuits to abandon the field for Mexico, but in 1573
Franciscans began work in the province. Twenty years later (1593) twelve
more arrived under Father Juan de Silva. From the central monastery at
St. Augustine they set forth and founded island missions all up the
Florida and Georgia coast, on Amelia, Cumberland, St. Simon, San Pedro
and Ossabua islands. Fray Pedro Chozas made inland explorations, and
Father Pareja began his famous work on the Indian languages. Owing to an
Indian uprising in 1597 the missions were abandoned for a time, but were
soon restored as a check against the English, who now entered Virginia.
FOREIGN INTRUSIONS IN THE ATLANTIC
The Spanish trade monopoly.--The French had been expelled from Florida,
and the coast occupied up to Port Royal Sound, but freebooters continued
to prey on treasure and merchant vessels. Spain undertook to preserve
the trade and wealth of the Indies as an absolute monopoly. All trade
must be conducted by Spaniards in Spanish vessels, from specified
Spanish ports to specified American ports. This monopoly was
objectionable not only to the traders of other nations but to the
Spanish colonists as well. To this economic grievance was added the
bitter hatred felt by Protestant Frenchmen, Englishmen and Dutchmen for
Catholic Spain, whose subjects were regarded as lawful prey.
The merchant fleets.--To prevent the plundering of commerce in the
Indies, by French, English, and Dutch, Spain was forced to adopt a
system of fleets sailing periodically and protected by convoys of armed
galleons. After 1561 it became unlawful for vessels to sail alone to the
Indies, except under special circumstances. Two fleets left Spain each
year, one for Tierra Firme and Nombre de Diós (later Porto Bello) and
the other for Vera Cruz. In the later sixteenth century the Nombre de
Diós fleet comprised as many as forty armed galleons, but thereafter the
number was much smaller, as foreigners cut into Spanish trade. The Vera
Cruz fleet comprised fifteen or twenty merchantmen convoyed by two
galleons. At Nombre de Diós goods and treasure from Peru and Chile were
taken on. At Vera Cruz were gathered the exports from New Spain, the
cargo from the Manila galleon brought overland from Acapulco, and the
ten or twelve million dollars of royal revenues from the mines and
taxes.
The freebooters.--This arrangement was an improvement, but French,
Dutch, and English freebooters hung in the wake of the fleets to plunder
any vessel which fell behind the galleons, while smuggling and
town-sacking grew in frequency with the growing jealousy and hatred of
Spain. The prototype of the English freebooters was John Hawkins, whose
fleet was destroyed by the Spaniards at Vera Cruz in 1567. More famous
was Francis Drake, who in 1585, during his third marauding expedition,
went to the West Indies with twenty-five vessels, captured Santo
Domingo, held Cartagena for ransom, and in May, 1586, sacked and burned
St. Augustine, Florida. Hawkins and Drake were only two of a score of
English freebooters who in the later sixteenth century harried Spanish
commerce and plundered the coast towns. In the list are the names of
Oxenham. Raleigh. Grenville. Clifford, Knollys, Winter, and Barker. The
last exploit of the century was Clifford's capture of San Juan, Porto
Rico, in 1598.
The English in the north Atlantic.--The voyages of Frobisher. Davis, and
Gilbert in the northern Atlantic between 1576 and 1587, in search of the
northwest passage, caused uneasiness for the security of Florida and of
the northern strait. Equally disturbing were the efforts of Raleigh and
his associates to colonize Roanoke Island and Guiana.
Decline of the West Indies.---The raids of the freebooters, the
restrictions placed on commerce, the decline of mining and of the native
population, and the superior attractions of Peru, Central America, and
Mexico, had greatly reduced the prosperity of the West Indies. In 1574
Española had ten towns with 1000 Spanish families, and 12,000 negro
slaves. The native population had dwindled to two villages. Santo
Domingo, seat of the Audiencia and of the archdiocese, had seven hundred
families. Cuba was less prosperous than Española, and population was
still declining. The island had eight Spanish towns with a total
population of some three hundred families and about an equal number of
Indians. Santiago, once with a population of one thousand families, now
had thirty. Havana, somewhat larger, was the residence of governor and
bishop. Jamaica had three Spanish settlements and no Indians. Porto
Rico, with three Spanish towns, had a population of some two hundred and
eighty families, of whom two hundred lived at San Juan. The principal
industries in all of the islands were sugar and cattle raising. There
being no Indians in the West Indies now, there were no encomiendas.
THE PHILIPPINES AND CALIFORNIA
A new attempt in the East.--At the same time that Menéndez was
establishing the province of Florida, the right wing of the Indies,
Legazpi was conquering the Philippines, the left wing. The principal
result of the Villalobos expedition (1542) had been to give the name of
the Philippines to the Lazarus, or Western Islands. For nearly two
decades thereafter nothing was done to advance the interests of Spain in
the Far East, but Portuguese profits in the spice trade were tempting to
both sovereign and subject, and the king set about making a new effort
to share in these advantages.
The obvious base for such a trade was Mexico, and in 1559 Philip ordered
Velasco to equip two vessels for discovery in the western islands, to
test the chance for profits and the possibility of a return voyage
across the Pacific. This order was issued just at the time when Spain
was attempting to occupy the Carolina coasts, with a view, in part, to
finding a northern strait leading to the Spice Islands. Thus were all
these widely separated enterprises unified.
The Legazpi expedition.--To lead the expedition, Miguel López de Legazpi
was chosen, with Fray Andrés de Urdaneta as chief navigator. The
spiritual work was entrusted to Urdaneta and a band of Augustinians.
Owing to many delays it was November, 1564, when the fleet left Navidad.
In February, 1565, seven months before Menéndez reached Florida, Legazpi
reached the Philippines. Three of the vessels were sent back with
Urdaneta on board to discover a return route to New Spain. Instead of
sailing east against wind and current, he turned northward beyond the
trade belt, and entered that of the westerly winds. After a long and
hard voyage he reached the American continent off the northern
California coast, which he descended to Mexico. At last the Spaniards
had discovered a way to return from the East safe from the Portuguese
attacks.
Meanwhile Legazpi had occupied Cebú. Portuguese resistance caused a
removal to Panay, but in 1571 Cebú was reoccupied and Manila founded. In
the previous year Legazpi had received a commission as adelantado of the
Islands, subject to the viceroy of Mexico. When Legazpi died in 1572 the
conquest of the principal islands had been effected and with little
bloodshed. In 1583 the Audiencia of Manila was established, subordinate
to Mexico.
The Manila galleon.--In 1580 Portugal was united with Spain, and, until
1640, when Portugal regained her independence, Manila was an important
center for the commerce of the combined Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
A regular trade was established from Manila to Mexico and Spain, but was
restricted to one or two annual galleons each way between Manila and
Acapulco.
New interest in the California coast.--The development of the Philippine
trade, the necessity of protecting it from other nations, continued
interest in the Northern Mystery, and the opening of pearl fisheries in
the Gulf of California, led to renewed exploration of the northern
Pacific coasts and to renewed attempts to settle and develop California.
The regular course of the east-bound Manila galleon lay along the path
marked out by Urdaneta northeastward from Manila to about latitude 42,°
thence across the Pacific to the American continent off Cape
Mendocino, and down the coast to Acapulco. The voyage was arduous. By
the time the vessels reached the American coast half of the
scurvy-afflicted crew and passengers were dead, and the vessels needed
repairs. Hence a port of call was gravely needed for the Manila
galleons.
The Strait of Anian.--Moreover, Spanish interests in the Pacific, were
insecure. The Portuguese were no longer rivals, but French and English
freebooters were active on the Atlantic and might venture upon the
Pacific. Besides, there was the fear that the French, English, or Dutch,
operating in the northern Atlantic, would discover the Strait of Anian
and secure control of the direct route to the Spice Islands, just as
Portugal had monopolized the African route.
Drake and Cavendish.--These fears were made realities in 1579 when Drake
appeared on the California coast. In 1577 he had passed through the
Straits of Magellan. Reaching the Pacific with only one vessel of the
five with which he had started, he proceeded up the coast of South
America, plundering as he went. In the harbour now known as Drake's Bay,
just north of San Francisco, he refitted, claiming the country for
England and calling it New Albion. Drake then sailed to the East Indies,
obtained a cargo of spices, crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape
of Good Hope, and reached Plymouth in November, 1580. He claimed to have
discovered the Strait of Anian, and this further disturbed the minds of
the Spaniards. For his daring voyage he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
In 1586 Thomas Cavendish followed Drake's course. Reaching the point of
California, he plundered the Manila galleon, the Santa Ana, and burned
it to the water's edge. The voyages of Drake and Cavendish were soon
followed by the formation of the British East India Company (1600) and
by conflicts with the Spanish merchants in the Orient. In the wake of
the English came the Dutch, who had passed the Straits of Magellan
before the end of the sixteenth century.
Gali and Cermeño.--With the needs of the Pacific coast in, view. Viceroy
Moya Contreras (1584-1585) instructed Francisco de Gali to explore the
northwestern coasts of America on his return from Manila in the galleon.
Nothing came of Gali's orders, and Moya's successor discouraged further
exploration. The second Viceroy Velasco (1590-1595), however, took up
Moya's plan, and in 1595 Sebastian Rodríguez Cermeño undertook to carry
out the project on his return from Manila. He was wrecked at Drake's
Bay, however, and his crew made their way to Mexico in an improvised
craft. The plan of reconnoitering the coast with laden Manila galleons
was now given up for one of exploring in light vessels sent out from the
ports of Mexico.
Vizcaíno's colony.--Royal interest in the protection of California was
now combined with private interest in the pearl-fisheries of the Gulf of
California. Occasional expeditions had been made for this purpose since
the days of Cortés and Alarcón. In 1595 Sebastián Vizcaíno, who had been
engaged in the Manila trade, and, indeed, had been on the _Santa Ana_
when it was captured by Cavendish, secured a contract authorizing him to
gather pearls, in return for subduing and colonizing California. Leaving
Acapulco late in 1596 with three vessels and a good-sized company, he
established a colony at La Paz and explored some distance up the Gulf.
But disaster soon followed, and early in 1597 the survivors returned to
Mexico.
Vizcaíno's exploring expedition.--Vizcaíno attributed his failure to
ignorance of the seasons, and proposed making another attempt at
settlement and pearl fishing. While this question was being discussed,
the king in 1599 ordered the outer coast of California explored again,
with a view to finding a port for the Manila galleons. To conduct the
expedition Vizcaíno was chosen. Leaving Acapulco in May, 1602, with
three vessels, he ran all the coasts covered by Cabrillo and Ferrelo
sixty years before. At Magdalena Bay, Cerros Island, San Diego Bay, and
Santa Catalina Island extensive explorations were made. The capital
event of the expedition, however, was the exploration of the Bay of
Monterey (probably entered by Cermeño) and its designation as the
desired port. One of the vessels reached Cape Blanco, but San Francisco
Bay was missed, as before.
Plans to Occupy Monterey Bay.--Plans were now made for occupying the
port of Monterey, but delays ensued and a new viceroy concluded that a
port in the mid-Pacific was more needed than one on the California
coast. Accordingly, in 1611 Vizcaíno was sent to explore certain islands
called Rica de Oro and Rica de Plata, but the expedition failed.
THE FOUNDING OF NEW MEXICO
Renewed exploration of New Mexico.--The expansion of Nueva Vizcaya and
renewed activities on the Pacific coast in the later sixteenth century
stimulated a new advance into New Mexico. Coronado's expedition had
proved disappointing, and for four decades no further explorations had
been made in the region. Nevertheless, the tales of great cities had not
been forgotten, and in the meantime a new line of approach to New Mexico
had been opened by way of the central plateau. By 1580 mines and
missions had reached Santa Bárbara, while slave hunting expeditions had
descended the Conchos to the Rio Grande. Through reports given by the
outlying tribes, a new interest in the Pueblo region was aroused.
Rodríguez and Espejo.--To follow up these reports, with a view to
missionary work, trade, and exploration, an expedition was organized at
Santa Bárbara in 1580 by Fray Augustin Rodríguez, a Franciscan lay
brother, and Francisco Sánchez Chamuscado. In the next year the party of
three friars and nine soldiers and traders descended the Conchos River,
ascended the Rio Grande to the Pueblo region, visited the buffalo
plains, Ácoma, and Zuñi, and returned, leaving two friars at Puaray, one
having been killed. In the following year a rescue and trading party was
led to New Mexico over the same trail by Fray Bernaldino Beltrán and
Antonio de Espejo. The friars had already been slain by the natives, but
before returning Espejo went to Zuñi, Moqui, and western Arizona, where
he discovered mines, returning to Santa Bárbara by way of the Pecos
River.
Plans to colonize New Mexico.--The expeditions of Rodríguez and Espejo
aroused new zeal for northern exploration and settlement, and there were
dreams now, not only of conquering New Mexico, but of going beyond to
colonize Quivira and the shores of the Strait of Anian. The king ordered
a contract made for the purpose, and soon there was a crowd of
applicants for the honor. While these men were competing for the desired
contract, Castaño de Sosa in 1590 led a colony from Nuevo León up the
Pecos to the Pueblos and began their conquest, but was soon arrested and
taken back. Some three years later two men named Leyva and Gutiérrez de
Humana led an unlicensed expedition from Nueva Vizcaya to New Mexico,
whence Gutiérrez went to northeastern Kansas, and apparently reached the
Platte River.
Oñate and the founding of New Mexico.--The contract to colonize New
Mexico was finally assigned in 1595 to Juan de Oñate, son of Cristóbal,
one of the founders of Zacatecas. In accordance with the ordinances of
1573 he was made governor, adelantado, and captain-general, granted
extensive privileges, lands, and encomiendas, while his colonists were
given the usual privileges of first settlers (_primeros pobladores_). It
was February, 1598, when Oñate left northern Nueva Vizcaya with his
colony. It included one hundred and thirty soldiers, some with their
families, a band of Franciscans under Father Martinez, and more than
seven thousand head of stock. Previous expeditions had followed the
Conchos, but Oñate opened a more direct route through El Paso. Without
difficulty he secured the submission of the tribes, settled his colony
at San Juan, and distributed the friars among the pueblos.
Oñate's explorations.--Having established his colony, Oñate turned to
exploration in the east and the west. In the fall of 1598 Vicente
Zaldivar was sent to the Buffalo Plains, while the governor set out for
the South Sea. At Moqui he turned back, but Marcos Farfán continued west
with a party, and staked out mining claims on Bill Williams Fork. Ácoma
rebelled at this time and as a punishment was razed. In 1599 Zaldivar
was sent to the South Sea and seems to have reached the lower Colorado.
Early in 1601 Oñate, with seventy men, descended the Canadian River and
crossed the Arkansas to an Indian settlement called Quivira, apparently
at Wichita, Kansas. During Oñate's absence most of the colonists
deserted, but they were brought back, with reinforcements. Still bent on
reaching the South Sea, in 1604 Oñate descended Bill Williams Fork and
the Colorado to the Gulf of California, where he got the idea that
California was an island. He had reëxplored most of the ground covered
by Coronado and had opened new trails. But he had lost the confidence
and support of the authorities, and in 1608 resigned and was displaced
by a royal governor.
Santa Fé founded.--In 1609 Santa Fé was founded and became the new
capital. This event, which occurred just a hundred years after the
occupation of Darién, may be regarded as the culmination of a century of
northward expansion.
[Illustration: New Mexico in Oñate's Time (From Bancroft, _Arizona and
New Mexico_, p. 137).]
SPANISH ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
Population and industries.--The heroic age of Spanish colonization had
now passed. The surprising results achieved in the New World during the
first eighty years, not counting the work of exploration, are set forth
in a description of the colonies in 1574 written by López de Velasco,
official geographer. At that time there were in North and South America
about two hundred Spanish towns and cities, besides numerous mining
camps, haciendas, and stock ranches. The Spanish population was 32,000
families, or perhaps from 160,000 to 200,000 persons. Of these about
five-eighths lived in North America. In the two Americas there were 4000
encomenderos, the rest being mainly miners, merchants, ranchers, and
soldiers, with their families. The population included 40,000 negro
slaves, and a large element of mulattoes and mestizos. About 1,500,000
male Indians paid tribute, representing a population of 5,000,000. In
many parts occupied by Spaniards there were no encomiendas, for the
Indians had died out. Mining, commerce, cattle ranching, grain and sugar
raising had been established on a considerable scale.
Cities and towns.--Before the end of the sixteenth century most of the
present-day state capitals and other large cities in Spanish North
America had been founded. Mexico City had a population of over 2000
Spanish families (perhaps 15,000 persons), Santo Domingo, Puebla, and
Guatemala 500 families each, Trinidad (in Guatemala) and Panamá 400
each, Oaxaca 350, Zacatecas 300, Toluca, Zultepec, Vera Cruz, Granada,
Chiapas, and Nombre de Diós 200 each, Guadalajara and San Salvador 150
each, and many others lesser numbers.
Administrative divisions.--Spanish America was now divided into two
viceroyalties, New Spain and Peru. New Spain included all of the
American mainland north of Panamá, the West Indies, part of the northern
coast of South America, the Islas del Poniente, and the Philippines. It
comprised the four audiencias of Española, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nueva
Galicia, the Audiencia of Panamá being a part of the viceroyalty of
Peru. The four northern audiencia districts were subdivided into
seventeen or eighteen gobiernos or provinces, corresponding closely to
the modern states. The provinces were divided into _corregimientos_
embracing Indian _partidos_. North America embraced twelve dioceses and
the two archdioceses of Santo Domingo and Mexico.
Churches and monasteries.--Many fine churches, some of them still
standing, had been built in the larger towns. The Franciscans,
Dominicans, and Augustinians were well established in New Spain, and the
Jesuits had just begun their work. The friars were subject to their
chapters and the Jesuits to their general in Spain. The Franciscans
already had four provinces in New Spain, the Dominicans and Augustinians
only one each. Hundreds of monasteries had been established, especially
wherever there were Indians in encomienda. The expense of erecting them
was borne jointly by king, encomenderos, and Indians.
The Universities.--"Enthusiasm for education characterizes the earliest
establishment of the Spanish colonies in America. Wherever the priests
went, a school was soon established for the instruction of the natives
or a college for its clericals who were already at work as well as for
those who were soon to take holy orders. From the colleges sprang the
universities which, in all the Spanish dominions, were founded at a very
early date for the pursuit of the 'general studies' which were at that
time taught in the great peninsular universities of Alcalá and
Salamanca. Half a century before Jamestown was founded by the English,
the University of Mexico was conferring degrees upon graduates in law
and theology. Before the seventeenth century closed, no less that seven
universities had been erected in Spanish America, and their graduates
were accepted on an equality with those of Spanish institutions of like
grade." (Priestley.)
READINGS
THE REIGN OF PHILIP II
Chapman, Charles E., _A History of Spain_, Chapter XXXIII; Gayarré,
C.E.A., _Philip II of Spain_; Hume, M.A.S., _Philip II of Spain_; Hume,
M.A.S., _Spain, Its Greatness and Decay_; Hume, M.A.S., _The Spanish
People_; Lea, H.C., _A History of the Inquisition of Spain_; Merriman,
R.B., _The Rise of the Spanish Empire_; Prescott, W.H., _History of the
Reign of Philip the Second_; Cheyney, E.P., _European Background of
American History_, Chapter X.
ADVANCE INTO NORTHERN MEXICO
Bancroft, H.H., _History of Mexico_, II, chs. 22, 24, 34; _North Mexican
States and Texas_, I, ch. 5; Cavo, Andrés, _Tres Siglos de Mexico_;
Coroléu, José, _America, Historia de su Colonización_; Frejes, Fr. F.,
_Conquista de los Estados_; Gonzales, J.E., _Colleción de Noticias_;
_Historia de Nuevo León_; León, A., _Historia de Nuevo León_; Mota
Padilla, M., _Historia de Nueva Galicia_, ch. 23; Ortega, Fr. Joseph,
_Apostólica Afanes_.
SETTLEMENT OF FLORIDA
Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the South_, chs. 1-2; Lowery,
Woodbury, _Spanish Settlements_, I, ch. 8, II; Shea, J.G., _The Catholic
Church in Colonial Days_, pp. 100-183.
SETTLEMENT OF NEW MEXICO
Bancroft, H.H., _Arizona and New Mexico_, 74-146; Bandelier, A.D.F.,
_Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the Southwestern
United States_ (Papers of the Archæological Institute of America,
III-IV); Benavides, Memorial on New Mexico (Mrs. E.E. Ayer, trans.);
Bolton, H.E., ed., _Spanish Exploration in the Southwest_, 135-278;
Davis, W.H.H., _Spanish Conquest in New Mexico_, 234-407; Farrand,
Livingston, _The Basis of American History_, 176-187; Lummis, C.F.,
_Spanish Pioneers in the Southwest_, 125-143; Prince, L.B., _Historical
Sketches of New Mexico_, 149-166; Twitchell, R.E., _Leading Facts of New
Mexican History_, I, 7-45, 252-333; Vulagrá, Gaspar de, _Historia de
Nuevo Mexico_.
THE PHILIPPINES AND CALIFORNIA
Barrows, D.P., _A History of the Philippines_; Blair and Robertson,
_Philippine Islands_, II, 23-330; Bolton, H.E., _Spanish Exploration in
the Southwest_, 41-133; Carrasco y Guisasola, Francisco, _Documentos
Referentes al Reconocimiento de las Costas de las Californias_; Hittell,
T.H., _History of California_, I, 79-111; Richman, L.B., _California
under Spain and Mexico_, 12-24; Robertson, J.A., "Legazpi and Philippine
Island Colonization," in American Historical Association, _Rpt., 1907_,
I, 145-165; Zárate, Salmerón, "Relation," in _Land of Sunshine_, XI,
336-346, XII, 39-48, 104-114, 180-187.
CHAPTER IV
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH COLONIES (1500-1700)
THE FRENCH BACKGROUND
Mediæval France and the Italian wars.--The history of Mediæval France is
largely the story of the struggle of the French kings to overthrow the
feudal nobility and to perfect the governmental machinery of absolutism.
The process which began with the accession of Hugh Capet in 987 was
practically completed by the end of the reign of Louis XI, in 1483.
During the reigns of Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francis I, the great
ambition of the French monarchs was to get control of Italy, a policy
which brought them into conflict with Spain. The wars were barren of
results as far as conquests in Italy were concerned, but the dangers to
which France was exposed united the French people into a great nation,
which was destined to be the leading continental power.
The religious wars.--The Reformation spread into France, Calvinism being
the form of Protestantism which there took root. Calvin's religious
system had three distinguishing features: (1) the church was to be
independent of any temporal power, (2) laymen and ministers were to join
in the government of the church, and (3) a strict moral discipline was
to be enforced. This program was distinctly democratic, and was certain
to come into conflict with the absolutism of the crown. France became
divided into two great parties. The Huguenots, as the French Protestants
were called, were found mainly among the rich burghers of the towns and
the nobles of the country districts, their chief power being in
southwestern France. They were also strong in Dauphiné and Normandy.
Their great leaders were Coligny and the Bourbon princes, the most
distinguished of whom was Henry of Navarre. The Catholic party was
headed by the Guises and Catherine de Medici. The kings during this
period were mere puppets, who were used by the leaders to further their
political ends.
War broke out in 1562 and continued with occasional intermissions until
1596. The most important events were the assassination of Francis of
Guise in 1563, the ascendency of Coligny, during which he tried to unite
the nation in a war against Spain, the massacre of St. Bartholomew's in
1572, the organization of the Catholic League headed by Henry of Guise,
his assassination in 1588, and the murder of Henry III the following
year, which made the way clear for Henry of Navarre to ascend the
throne. In 1593 he accepted Catholicism. The last resistance in France
was overcome in 1596, but war with Philip II continued two years longer.
In 1598 Henry issued the Edict of Nantes, which secured toleration to
the Huguenots.
Reforms of Henry IV.--During the religious wars, the nobles had regained
some of their former power, and the ravages of war had almost ruined the
industries of the country. Henry set to work to repair these conditions.
The lesser nobles were forced to submit and the privileges of the more
powerful were purchased. The king's great minister, Sully, carried out
many of the economic reforms. The land tax called the _taille_, which
rested most heavily upon the peasants, was more equitably distributed,
and the hunting privileges of the nobles were decreased. New lines of
agriculture were introduced, marshes were reclaimed, and restrictions on
the marketing of grain were removed. The king encouraged manufactures,
especially of the more expensive fabrics, glass, and metal work.
Commerce was stimulated by securing safe transportation along the post
roads, by a system of canals connecting the Seine and the Loire, and by
commercial treaties with foreign states. Attempts were also made to
stimulate commerce and colonization by the formation of mercantile
companies, and from this period date the first successful French
colonies in America.
Richelieu.--Henry IV was assassinated in 1610, and his son, who ascended
the throne as Louis XIII, was a child of nine years. During the regency
of his mother, Mary de Medici, the nobles again became turbulent, the
Huguenots revolted, and the policy of hostility toward Spain was
reversed. The regent was under the influence of favorites who looted the
treasury. Under such conditions a strong leader was greatly needed; the
man of the hour was Richelieu. In 1624 he was placed in control of
public affairs, and for the next twenty years practically ruled France.
His policy aimed to make France the first power in Europe. To accomplish
this he worked at home to strengthen the power of the crown. Abroad he
aimed to weaken the power of the Hapsburgs, to extend the boundaries of
France, and to build up a colonial empire.
The chief steps by which his policy was carried out were as follows: La
Rochelle, the great Huguenot stronghold, was captured and the power of
the Protestants was curbed effectually; the intrigues of Mary de Medici
were thwarted; an alliance was made with Sweden, and to weaken the
Hapsburgs the power of France was used to assist the Protestants in
Germany in the Thirty Years' War; a navy was built and important ports
were fortified; to extend commerce and colonies, colonial enterprises
were entrusted to exclusive corporations. During the administration of
Richelieu the French hold upon eastern Canada was strengthened,
settlements were made in Guiana and the West Indies, and an attempt was
made to occupy Madagascar.
The Council of State.--The work of strengthening the crown at the
expense of the nobility was continued. The power of the nobles was
maintained by their fortified castles and by their position as governors
of provinces. An edict was issued for the destruction of all but the
frontier fortifications. Most of the work of administration was centered
in the _conseil d'état_, or council of state, which was the highest
judicial tribunal. It also issued edicts, made peace or war, determined
the amount and method of taxation, and acted as a high court of justice.
In appearance this body was supreme, but in reality the power centered
in the king and the chief minister, the other ministers being merely
advisers. Local administration was taken from the nobles and was placed
almost wholly in the hands of _intendants_, who were officers of
justice, police, and finance.
Mazarin.--Richelieu died in November, 1642, and Louis XIII a few months
later. Louis XIV was a child of five years and his mother, Anne of
Austria, became regent. Mazarin, who was probably secretly married to
her, was to rule France during the troubled minority of the king. It was
a period of civil and foreign war, in which the minister found no time
to devote to the development of colonies. The importance of the period
lies in the fact that the great nobles were effectually quelled, that
the absolutism of the crown was completely established, and that France
proved herself superior to the power of Spain and the Hapsburgs. When
Louis XIV took the reins of power in 1661 he was the most absolute and
most powerful monarch in Europe.
Colbert.--Colonial development during the reign of Louis XIV was due
mainly to Colbert, who was given charge of the finances, of the navy,
and of the colonies. The finances had become deranged under Mazarin, and
Colbert attacked the abuses. To stimulate commerce and manufactures, he
established a protective system, furnished governmental aid to
companies, and granted monopolies. The royal navy and mercantile marine
were greatly increased. To develop foreign trade, corporations were
granted monopolies of the commerce of the West Indies, the East Indies,
Senegal, and Madagascar. Colonies were fostered by paternalistic
regulations. The system of Colbert, as time proved, was founded on
mistaken principles, for monopoly and overregulation stifled the growth
of trade and of the colonies. Although a vast area was brought under
control, the colonies never attracted a large population, or were
allowed a free growth of institutions.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND COLONIZING EFFORTS
First French voyages.--The first Frenchmen who visited America appear to
have been Norman and Breton fishermen, who engaged in fishing off the
Newfoundland coast perhaps as early as 1500. Sailors from Dieppe also
visited the coasts of North and South America. Vague accounts have come
down to us of attempts to explore the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1506 and
1508, and of an unsuccessful colony on Sable Island in 1518. The first
expedition under the government sanction was that of the Florentine,
Verrazano, sent out by Francis I in 1524. The details of the voyage are
somewhat obscure. He probably explored the coast from Cape Fear to
Newfoundland.
Cartier and Roberval.--The wars between Francis I and Charles V
prevented the French king from giving further attention to exploration
until 1534, when Cartier was sent out with two ships from St. Malo. He
sighted land on the Labrador coast, passed through the straits of Belle
Isle, and explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence, locating the Bay of
Chaleurs, Cape Gaspé, and Anticosti Island, thence returning to France.
In 1535 he again visited America in search of a passage to China. He
sailed along the northern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and entered
the mouth of the river, soon becoming convinced that the passage did not
lead to the Far East. He stopped at the site of Quebec and later
proceeded to the La Chine rapids, and to a hill which he named Montreal.
He wintered at Quebec where twenty-five persons died of scurvy. The
return to France was made the following summer.
Exploration was again interrupted by the wars, and it was not until 1541
that Cartier's third expedition sailed. Francis I had granted a
commission to Roberval, a Picardy nobleman, as viceroy and
lieutenant-general in Canada, Newfoundland, Labrador, and neighboring
lands, this being the first time that the name Canada was officially
used. In the king's proclamation Canada was mentioned as the extremity
of Asia. The objects of the expedition were discovery, settlement, and
conversion of the Indians. Cartier was appointed captain-general. He
sailed in 1541, but Roberval remained in France to collect supplies and
materials for defence. Cartier wasted six weeks in Newfoundland and then
proceeded to Quebec, where the winter was spent in great hardship.
The colonists started to return to France, but at St. Johns,
Newfoundland, they met Roberval, who ordered them to return to Quebec.
Cartier, however, disobeyed, and returned to France. Roberval proceeded
to Quebec, where habitations were erected and the forts of Cartier
repaired. Supplies, however, ran short, and during the following winter
a third of the settlers died. A mutiny threatened and Roberval checked
it with great harshness. After lingering a little longer, the
unfortunate remnant returned to France. In 1543 Francis I declared the
Western Sea to be open to his subjects, but advantage of it was not
taken, and it was over a half century before another attempt was made to
colonize in the St. Lawrence Valley.
[Illustration: Cartier's Explorations, 1534-1542.]
Ribaut and Laudonnière.--The next colonizing efforts were of Huguenot
origin, and were made at the suggestion of Coligny. In 1555 an attempt
was made to found a colony in Brazil, but it was destroyed by the
Portuguese. When Coligny developed his plan for an attack upon Spain, he
determined to found a colony in the region then known as Florida. A
Huguenot from Dieppe named Jean Ribaut was placed in command of the
expedition, which set sail from Havre in 1562. Land was seen not far
from the site of St. Augustine; they sailed northward and planted a
settlement on Port Royal Sound, where thirty men were left. Ribaut
explored the coast as far as the fortieth degree and returned to France.
Misfortune beset the colonists, and after great suffering they built a
rude vessel and succeeded in getting back to Europe.
In 1564 a large expedition was sent out under Laudonnière, which erected
Fort Caroline on St. John's River. Dissensions and starvation played
havoc with the colony, and when the English Captain John Hawkins offered
to sell them a ship and provisions, they eagerly embraced the
opportunity. When they were about to depart, Ribaut with seven vessels
and six hundred soldiers hove in sight, and the idea of returning to
France was abandoned.
Philip II learned of the French colony, probably from Catherine de
Medici, and in 1565 sent an expedition of nineteen vessels and fifteen
hundred men under Menéndez to destroy it. Ribaut's fleet was found near
the mouth of the river but the larger craft escaped and Menéndez,
finding the rest in a secure position, proceeded southward about fifty
miles and founded St. Augustine.
Ribaut followed but failed to attack, and shortly afterwards a hurricane
dispersed the fleet. Taking advantage of the misfortune, Menéndez
marched overland and surprised and captured Fort Caroline, putting most
of the prisoners to the sword. A little later Ribaut and his followers
fell into the hands of Menéndez, and most of them were put to death. To
avenge the butchery, the Chevalier de Gourgues, at his own expense,
fitted out three small ships in 1567 and attacked the Spanish forts on
the St. John's. They were captured and the garrisons slain. His force
being too small to risk an attack on St. Augustine, De Gourgues returned
to France, and Florida ceased to be a scene of French activity.
ACADIA
Colonization renewed.--The scene of the next colonization by the French
was the region about the Bay of Fundy. After the religious wars, in
1598, the Marquis de la Roche landed two shiploads of colonists on Sable
Island. Going in search of a site on the mainland, he encountered severe
storms and returned to France. Five years later the survivors were
rescued.
The fur monopoly.--In 1600 a partnership was formed between Pontgravé, a
St. Malo mariner, and two Huguenot friends of Henry IV, Chauvin, a
merchant of Harfleur, and Sieur de Monts, the associates being granted a
fur-trading monopoly. A settlement was made at Tadoussac, on the lower
St. Lawrence, but it did not prosper; two trading voyages, however,
proved profitable. Shortly afterward the company was reorganized, the
king making De Chastes, the governor of Dieppe, his representative. An
expedition commanded by Pontgravé was sent out in 1603. Associated with
him was Samuel de Champlain, who had already gained fame by a voyage to
Spanish America and by his writings. A profitable trade in furs was
carried on, and the St. Lawrence was explored as far as the La Chine
rapids. Champlain also examined the Acadian coast as far as the Bay of
Chaleurs.
Port Royal.--Upon the return of the traders, De Chastes having died, the
king issued a patent to De Monts granting him viceregal powers and a
trade monopoly between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees. Settlements
were to be founded and the savages were to be instructed in
Christianity. In 1604 De Monts and Champlain sailed for Acadia. An
unsuccessful attempt at settlement was made at St. Croix Island and
later the survivors moved to Port Royal. De Monts then returned to
France to defend his rights against those who objected to his patent,
and Champlain busied himself with the exploration of the New England
coast, on one expedition rounding Cape Cod. In 1607 it became known that
De Monts's patent had been revoked, and Champlain returned to France.
Acadia, 1610-1632.--In 1610 Poutrincourt reëstablished Port Royal and
soon afterward his son, Biencourt, was placed in command. The coast was
surveyed as far as the Kennebec. Pontgravé had a trading post at St.
John, and this Biencourt captured. In 1613 Port Royal was taken and
burned by a Virginia expedition under Argall, but was soon rebuilt. In
1623 or 1624 Biencourt died and his lieutenant, Charles de la Tour,
succeeded him. Before his powers could be confirmed, Acadia, in 1628,
fell into English hands, but was restored in 1632.
Charnisay and La Tour.--Isaac de Rezilly was sent to receive the
submission of the English, being shortly afterward succeeded by
Charnisay. La Tour soon afterward received from the company of New
France a grant at the mouth of the St. John's River, where he built Fort
St. Jean. A civil war broke out in which La Tour finally secured aid
from Boston. For a time he was successful, but Charnisay obtained help
from France and La Tour was defeated. From 1645 to 1650 Charnisay was
supreme in Acadia. Upon his death La Tour was made governor and
lieutenant-general, and the animosities of the past were dissipated by
his marriage to Charnisay's widow.
English Rivalry.--In 1654 an English fleet captured the French forts,
and Acadia remained under English rule until 1667, when it was restored
to France by the treaty of Breda.
THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY
The founding of Quebec.--In 1608 De Monts obtained a renewal of his
patent for one year, and, after consulting Champlain, he decided to
found a settlement at Quebec. Champlain was appointed his lieutenant
with full powers, and with two vessels he arrived at Quebec on July 3. A
storehouse and dwelling were built surrounded by a palisade and ditch.
Of the twenty-eight men who began the settlement, only eight survived
the first winter, but considerable reinforcements arrived in the spring.
In the summer of 1609 Champlain accompanied a war party of Algonquins
and Hurons up the Richelieu River to the lake which bears his name,
where a successful attack was made upon the Iroquois. The consequences
of this act were far reaching, for from that time the Iroquois
confederation was hostile to the French, crippling the colony for many
years.
A new company formed.--De Monts's exclusive privileges were not renewed,
but he was allowed to retain his position of king's representative.
Seeing no chance for profit, he withdrew from further activities in the
New World. Another company was at once formed, composed of traders of
Rouen and St. Malo. Champlain was retained by the new company.
Champlain's explorations.--In 1613 Champlain explored the Ottawa River
to a point about one hundred miles above the modern capital of Canada.
In 1615 four Recollet friars were induced to come to Quebec, this being
the beginning of missionary activities in New France. The same year
Champlain joined a Huron war party, passed up the Ottawa to Lake
Nipissing, thence by the French River to Georgian Bay, being the first
white man to find the way which eventually became the regular fur
trader's route to the interior. Lake Ontario was also seen and crossed
for the first time on this expedition. Fur trading was actively carried
on, but because of dishonest dealings the company gradually lost
influence with the Indians, a condition which also hampered the
missionaries. As the Recollets met with little success, in 1625 the
Jesuits were induced to send out five representatives, thus beginning
the activities of that order in New France.
The Company of the Hundred Associates.--In spite of all the efforts
which had been made, the financial results were trifling. So badly were
affairs going that Richelieu determined to change the organization; in
1627 he established the Company of the Hundred Associates, who were to
send out annually from two to three hundred settlers and a sufficient
number of clergy to meet the needs. The company was to possess all lands
between Florida and the Arctic Circle, and from Newfoundland as far west
as it was able to take possession. With the exception of the cod and
whale fisheries, the company was granted a complete monopoly of trade.
The English occupation.--Before the company could land colonists,
difficulties arose between France and England, and a fleet of privateers
under Captain David Kirke raided the French possessions off Gaspé,
capturing eighteen vessels which were carrying colonists and supplies to
Quebec; after destroying the settlements in Acadia, Kirke sailed for
England. The following year he landed at Tadoussac and sent three
vessels to Quebec to demand its surrender. The place capitulated and
over a hundred of the inhabitants were sent to England. Upon their
arrival, it was found that peace had been made. Negotiations were
terminated in 1632, Canada and Acadia being restored to France.
Last years of Champlain. Nicolet.--Upon his return Champlain immediately
repaired the buildings at Quebec, and established a fort at Three Rivers
to protect the Hurons against the Iroquois. From time to time Champlain
had heard of a great waterway in the west. Believing that it might be a
route to China, in 1634 he sent Nicolet on an exploring expedition.
Nicolet passed up the Ottawa, traversed Georgian Bay, and reached Sault
Ste. Marie. He then explored the south shore of the upper peninsula of
Michigan, and reached the southern extremity of Green Bay. From the
Winnebagoes he learned of a "great water" three days' journey toward the
south. After visiting the Illinois country, he returned without having
reached the Mississippi. In 1635 Champlain died; there was no master
mind to direct operations, and the colony languished.
The Jesuits.--The first Jesuit superior was Father Le Jeune, who in 1632
was stationed at Quebec in the residence of Notre Dame des Anges, the
parent establishment of the missions of New France. Le Jeune ministered
to the Algonquins of the neighborhood. In 1633 Bréboeuf headed a group
of missionaries to the Huron villages at the southern end of Georgian
Bay, and in 1641 a mission was founded at Sault Ste. Marie, but it was
not permanent. Pestilence and the war parties of the Iroquois gradually
destroyed the Hurons; the Jesuits toiled amid scenes of famine, disease,
and death, several succumbing to the hardships, others suffering
martyrdom. So constant were the attacks of the Iroquois, that in 1649 it
was determined to establish a more sheltered mission on the Island of
St. Joseph in Georgian Bay. The missions on the mainland being destroyed
by the Iroquois, and the Hurons having been greatly reduced in numbers,
in 1650 the Jesuits abandoned that region. Attempts to establish
missions among the Iroquois also failed completely at this time. In the
settlements the Jesuits were the most important social factor, until
1665 practically controlling the life of the people. At Quebec they
established schools for Huron and French boys, and at their suggestion
the Ursulines opened a convent. Private endowments made possible a
school for girls near Quebec and a hospital at Montreal.
[Illustration: The French in Canada, 17th Century.]
The founding of Montreal.--For the purpose of founding an evangelical
colony, a group of religious persons at Paris formed an association
called the Association of Montreal. The island on which the city now
stands was purchased, and in 1641 De Maisonneuve, with a Jesuit priest
and thirty-seven laymen, sailed from La Rochelle. After taking formal
possession of the island, the party wintered at Quebec, and the
following spring founded the town of Montreal.
The New Company.--The Hundred Associates not having fulfilled their
agreement regarding settlers, and the colony having proved a financial
failure, an arrangement was made in 1645 between the company and the
inhabitants acting as a corporation, henceforth known as the New
Company. The old company retained its governmental rights, but the fur
trade was thrown open to the New Company on condition that it would
assume the expenses of civil administration, defence, and religion, that
it would bring in twenty settlers annually, and would pay to the old
company a thousand pounds of beaver skins every year.
Coureurs de bois.--Up to this time the fur trade had been carried on
mainly at the settlements, but after the New Company was formed a larger
number of men began to frequent the forests, giving rise to the type
known as _coureurs de bois_. These were of two classes, those who merely
traded with the Indians for peltries, and those who attached themselves
to native tribes. This latter class lapsed into barbarism and became a
lawless element which gave great annoyance to the officials. Later a
third class of traders appeared when the governors were allowed to grant
licenses to frequent the forests. Great abuses crept into the fur trade,
large quantities of spirits being sold to the Indians, who were roundly
cheated when intoxicated. It was the intention of the French government
to restrict the trade to the settlements, but the officials usually
winked at violations of the law, and some of them shared in the illicit
trading. The most famous of the fur traders of this period were Radisson
and Groseilliers, who, in 1658-1659 and possibly earlier, traded and
explored in the country at the western end of Lake Superior.
REORGANIZATION AND THE IROQUOIS WARS
A centralist system established.--As complaints arose regarding the last
governmental arrangements, the king changed the form of control,
creating a council to consist of the governor, any ex-governor who might
be in the country, and the superior of the Jesuits, who was later to
give way to a bishop when one was appointed; these were to select for
membership two inhabitants, or three if no ex-governor was in the
colony. Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers were each to select a syndic,
who could hold office for three years and could deliberate with but
could not vote in the council. The centralist system, which Mazarin was
perfecting in France, was thus established in Canada.
Laval.--New France had been attached to the archbishopric of Rouen, and
De Queylus, a Sulpician priest at Montreal, had acted as vicar-general
for the whole colony. His followers hoped that he would be created
bishop, but instead, in 1659 a Jesuit, the Abbé Laval, was appointed
vicar-apostolic and Bishop of Petraea _in partibus_. After a spirited
contest with De Queylus, Laval was successful in establishing his
supremacy, the power of the Jesuits thus being assured.
War with the Iroquois.--The following year witnessed a serious Iroquois
outbreak. News arrived that twelve hundred warriors had gathered to wipe
out the settlements. A young nobleman, popularly known as Dollard,
conceived the quixotic scheme of intercepting a large force of Iroquois
who had wintered on the Ottawa. With sixteen enlisted men and a few
Hurons and Algonquins he proceeded to a palisade at the great rapids of
the Ottawa, and there met the Indians. Dollard and his followers were
slain to a man, but so stubborn had been their resistance that the
Iroquois retired to the forests and New France was saved. A regiment was
sent out to protect the colony, forts were established along the
Richelieu, and two expeditions were sent into the Iroquois country, the
result being that a peace was made with the Indians which lasted for
several years. Later an expedition was sent to the outlet of Lake
Ontario to impress the savages with the power of France.
The West India Company.--In 1663 the company of New France surrendered
its rights to the king, who created a council to consist of the
governor, bishop, and five councillors chosen by them jointly. The
following year, at the suggestion of Colbert, he chartered a new
corporation known as the West India Company, to which was given a
monopoly of all the trade of New France and the west coast of Africa,
with the privilege of nominating the governor of Canada. The office of
intendant was also created to act as a check upon the governor. This
official was to act as a legal and financial officer who was to report
directly to the crown. The first intendant was Talon, who was a
prominent figure for several years. The governor who was the military,
political, and administrative agent of the king, the intendant, and the
bishop were the real rulers of New France. Their divided authority and
jealousies later led to frequent disputes, which greatly retarded the
development of the colonies.
Talon.--It was Talon who first realized the possibilities of New France.
To promote commerce he built a vessel which he despatched to the West
Indies with a cargo of fish, staves, and lumber. He planned an overland
road to Acadia and urged the occupation of the Hudson River Valley,
projects, however, which were not realized. At Quebec he erected a
brewery and tannery. Young women were brought from France as wives for
the colonists and soldiers, and bounties were offered for the birth of
children. In 1666 the total population was 3418; five years later it had
increased to 6000.
Seignorial grants.--To aid in colonization and protection Talon
established a type of feudalism. Along the Richelieu River as high up as
Chambly and along the St. Lawrence from the neighborhood of Montreal to
a point several miles below Quebec, most of the lands were portioned
out. The majority of these seignorial grants were made to officers of
the regiment of Carrigan, which had been stationed in Canada. Discharged
soldiers were settled on the grants as tenant farmers. The seignorial
holdings varied in size from half a league to six leagues on the river
and extended back from half a league to two leagues. The buildings of
the seigniory were the "mansion," which was usually a log house, a fort,
chapel, and mill. The poverty of the proprietor, however, frequently
prevented the erection of some of the buildings, the mill sometimes
being lacking or serving the double duty of fort and mill; on other
grants chapel, mill, and fort were never built. In the more exposed
localities the houses of the tenants were built together in palisaded
villages. On other grants the dwellings lined the shore, forming what
were called _cotes_. Near Quebec Talon laid out a model seigniory and
three model villages, each village being provided with a carpenter,
mason, blacksmith, and shoemaker. But the settlers did not profit by the
example and continued to build near the rivers. With the exception of
Talon's villages, one could have seen nearly every house in Canada by
paddling a canoe up the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu. One of the most
famous seigniories in Canada was that of the Le Moyne family.
THE WEST INDIES
The Company of St. Christopher.--In 1625 a small brigantine commanded by
Pierre d'Esnambuc and Urbain de Roissey, "the pirate of Dieppe," sailed
to the West Indies. After escaping from a Spanish galleon near Jamaica,
they proceeded to St. Christopher, where a settlement was begun. The
following year the Company of St. Christopher was formed, and three
vessels with over five hundred men set sail from France in 1627, but
only half of them survived the voyage. Two settlements were formed, one
at each end of the island, the English having already occupied the
middle. In 1628 and 1629 about five hundred more were sent out, and in
the latter year ten vessels were despatched to defend the colonists. In
spite of this a Spanish fleet broke up the settlements; the fugitives
fled to St. Martin, and after a vain attempt to settle Antigua and
Montserrat, most of them returned to St. Christopher, which had been
abandoned by the Spanish. Only three hundred and fifty survived.
Santo Domingo.--A few of them went to the northern coast of Santo
Domingo, whence they carried on buccaneering enterprises against the
Spaniards. After the Spanish attack the company did little to assist,
and the colony was left to its own devices. Trade with the Dutch
immediately sprang up and the settlers began to make a profit from
tobacco.
Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Tortuga.--In 1634 the Company of St.
Christopher was bankrupt, and the following year it was reorganized as
the Company of the Isles of America. Guadeloupe and Martinique were
immediately occupied. In 1640 the English were expelled from Tortuga,
and the island was occupied by Levasseur, who soon broke loose from the
control of the company and conducted a pirate haven. Several of the
smaller islands were also occupied. The French West Indies soon
attracted a considerable immigration, in 1642 the population being
estimated at more than seven thousand. The tobacco business not
continuing profitable, sugar began to take its place as the staple
product. Due mainly to the clash of authority among officials, a
condition which led to anarchy, by 1648 the company was bankrupt.
Other Islands occupied.--Between 1649 and 1651 the various islands were
sold to proprietors who ruled them until 1664. Between 1648 and 1656
settlements were made on St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, St. Croix, The
Saints, Marie Galante, St. Lucia, and Granada, and by 1664 the French
flag floated over fourteen of the Antilles. The sugar business proved to
be exceedingly profitable and cultivation of the cane made slave-labor
desirable. Population increased rapidly, in 1655 the whites numbering
about fifteen thousand and slaves being almost as numerous. During the
period of the proprietors there was little restriction on commerce, most
of the carrying trade passing into the hands of the Dutch.
The Crown assumes control.--Colbert became controller-general of the
finances in 1662, one of his functions being the control of the
colonies. He determined to send a representative to assert the king's
authority; in 1663 De Tracy was made lieutenant-general in all the
French colonies and was given supreme executive and judicial powers. The
following year he sailed with De La Barre who was about to establish a
colony at Cayenne. De Tracy soon established the king's authority and
corrected abuses in the West Indies, and then proceeded to Quebec, where
he remained until 1667.
[Illustration: The Caribbean Area in the Seventeenth Century.]
The West India Company.--In 1664 Louis chartered the great company which
was granted the mainland of South America from the Orinoco to the
Amazon, the island of Cayenne, the French West Indies, Newfoundland,
Acadia, Canada, the rest of the mainland of North America as far south
as Florida, and the African coast from Cape Verde to the Cape of Good
Hope. Former proprietors were to be compensated, and with the
exception of the fisheries of Newfoundland, the company was to have a
monopoly of trade and colonization for forty years. After considerable
opposition the company succeeded in establishing its authority in the
islands, but the war which broke out in 1666 between France, and England
and Holland proved disastrous, a French fleet which was sent to protect
the Antilles being destroyed by the English. Colbert assisted the
company financially, but it failed to become a profitable undertaking
and in 1674 was dissolved. The inhabitants, however, continued to
prosper, mainly because of the increasing number of independent
merchants who traded with the islands and the growing importance of the
sugar industry.
OPENING THE UPPER LAKE REGION AND THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Two Lines of Approach.--The French had now established themselves firmly
in the lower St. Lawrence basin and in the Caribbean area. From these
two bases they now proceeded to the Mississippi Valley and the northern
Gulf littoral. From the St. Lawrence they made their way over the
portages to the tributaries of the Father of Waters. From the West
Indies the Gulf of Mexico served as a highway.
Occupation of the upper lakes.--After the failure of the Huron missions,
the Jesuits extended their field of operations to the shores of Lake
Superior and Lake Michigan. The mission at Sault Ste. Marie was revived;
in 1665 La Pointe mission near the western end of Lake Superior was
established by Father Allouez, who was succeeded by Marquette four years
later. Between 1670 and 1672 St. Ignace, at Michillimackinac, and St.
Xavier on Green Bay (at De Pere) were established. In 1670 Talon
despatched Saint Lusson to take possession of the Northwest; at a
meeting of the tribes at Sault Ste. Marie the following year the
sovereignty of the king over that region was proclaimed. Albanel was
also sent to open communication between the St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay.
Marquette and Joliet.--In 1672 Count Frontenac became governor and
lieutenant-general of New France. Shortly after his arrival at Quebec,
at the suggestion of Talon, he sent the fur trader Joliet to find the
Mississippi. At Michillimackinac he met the missionary Marquette, who
decided to accompany him. On May 17, 1673, they started westward; after
reaching Green Bay, they followed the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the
Mississippi, which they descended to the mouth of the Arkansas, just at
the time when Father Larios was founding Spanish missions near the Rio
Grande. Being convinced that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of
Mexico, and fearing that they might fall into the hands of the
Spaniards, they determined to turn back. The return was by the
Mississippi, the Illinois, and Chicago rivers and the western shores of
Lake Michigan. Father Marquette returned to work among the Illinois, but
was soon forced by illness to abandon the field. On his way north he
died at the site of Ludington. His work among the Illinois was taken up
by others, among them being Fathers Allouez and Hennepin.
Fort Frontenac.--While Joliet and Marquette were exploring the
Mississippi, the governor was engaged in founding Fort Frontenac, on the
northern shore of the outlet of Lake Ontario, near modern Kingston, his
purpose being to overawe the Iroquois, and to divert their trade and
allegiance from the English. With the governor was La Salle, who later
became commandant of the new fort.
Frontenac's quarrels.--Shortly after Frontenac became governor the king
again changed the form of government. The council was increased to seven
members who held office directly from the king. Its chief function was
judicial. A minor court called the _prévôté_, having original
jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, was reëstablished, appeals
being taken from the _prévôté_ to the council. Frontenac, who was of an
imperious nature and exceedingly jealous of his authority, quarreled
with the officials and clergy of Montreal, with Laval who had recently
been made Bishop of Quebec, with the new intendant Duchesneau, and with
the council. Regulation of the fur trade and questions of authority were
the fruitful sources of disagreement. Under such conditions the colony
did not advance rapidly. As Le Sueur says in his life of Frontenac, "The
great trouble in Canada was that it was an overgoverned country.... What
these people needed in the first place was freedom to seek their living
in their own way, and secondly, an extremely simple form of government."
The constant bickering finally exhausted the patience of the home
government, and in 1682 both Frontenac and Duchesneau were recalled.
La Salle's fur trade monopoly.--During Frontenac's administration La
Salle was engaged in the exploration of the Illinois country and the
Mississippi. Having secured a royal patent to build forts and engage in
the fur trade in the interior, La Salle, with a party which included
Tonty, an Italian soldier of fortune, and the Recollet Hennepin, erected
a fort at Niagara Falls and built a vessel called the _Griffon_, on
which in 1679 they sailed up the lakes to Green Bay. The boat was sent
back with a cargo of furs, but never reached its destination. The shores
of Lake Michigan and the Illinois country were explored and Fort
Crêvecœur was erected near the site of Peoria. From there Accau and
Hennepin were sent to explore the upper Mississippi. La Salle then
returned to Fort Frontenac, crossing lower Michigan and following Lake
Erie and Lake Ontario.
Exploration of the Mississippi.--While La Salle was gone, Tonty occupied
Starved Rock, later known as Fort St. Louis, but a mutiny and an
Iroquois invasion forced the French to return to Green Bay, so that when
La Salle returned he found the country abandoned. After a fruitless
search, he heard from the Indians of Tonty's whereabouts and hastened
north to meet him. Together they returned to Fort Frontenac. Nothing
daunted, they again sought the Mississippi. On December 21, 1681, they
were again at Fort Miami, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River. On
February 6, 1682, they reached the Mississippi, and arrived at its mouth
in April, when they took formal possession of the great valley, naming
it Louisiana in honor of the king. By the end of September they were
back at Fort Miami, and in 1683 the leader returned to Quebec.
La Salle's Colony on the Gulf.--La Salle now planned a colony at the
mouth of the Mississippi River, as a means of developing the fur trade,
controlling the Mississippi Valley, providing a base for commanding the
Gulf, and, in case of war, for attack on the coveted mines of New Spain.
France and Spain were on the verge of war, and in 1683 French buccaneers
three times sacked the Spanish settlement of Apalache. La Salle's
proposals were favored, therefore, by Louis XIV. In the summer of 1684
La Salle left France with a colony of some four hundred people. In the
autumn he reached the West Indies, the ketch _St. François_ having been
captured by the Spaniards on the way. Continuing the voyage in November,
La Salle missed the mouth of the Mississippi and landed on the Texas
coast at Matagorda Bay. Tonty descended the Mississippi to coöperate
(1686), but did not find his chief. On the way he built a small post on
the Arkansas.
[Illustration: La Salle's Colony on the Texas Coast, 1684-1689.]
Failure.--The expedition rapidly went to pieces. One vessel was wrecked
in landing, and Beaujeu, the naval commander, returned to France with a
second, and part of the men and supplies. La Salle moved his colony
inland to the Garcitas River, near the head of the Lavaca Bay, where he
founded Fort St. Louis, and then began a series of expeditions
northeastward in the hope of finding the Mississippi River. While
engaged in exploring, the last of his vessels was wrecked. Through
desertion and sickness the colony rapidly dwindled. On his third
expedition northeastward, in 1687, La Salle reached the Hasinai (Cenis)
Indians, east of the Trinity River. On his fourth expedition he was
murdered by his companions near the Brazos River. The remainder of his
party, led by Joutel, made their way to the Arkansas post and to Canada.
In the fall of 1689 Tonty, in an effort to rescue La Salle's colonists,
descended the Mississippi River, and made his way to the Cadodacho and
Hasinai villages. Meanwhile the colony on the Gulf had been completely
wiped out by an Indian massacre which occurred early in 1689. La Salle's
occupation of Matagorda Bay later became a basis of the claim of the
United States to Texas.
Explorers in the Southwest.--The failure of La Salle's colony did not
put an end to exploration in the Southwest. Interest in a passage to the
South Sea was perennial, and no tale of Spanish treasure was too
guttering to find credence on the French frontier. Mathieu Sagean told
of a golden country of the Accanibas, and Baron La Hontan of a Long
River. The _coureurs de bois_ were ever led west and southwest in their
fur trading operations. The result was that in this western country
traders from Canada roamed far and wide at an early date. A Canadian is
known to have reached the Rio Grande overland before 1688 and by 1694
Canadian traders were among the Missouri and Osage tribes.
The upper Mississippi--Duluth.--While La Salle was operating in the
Illinois country, others were at work in northern Wisconsin and
Minnesota. In 1678 Duluth, a cousin of Tonty, left Montreal for the
west. For several years he traded among the tribes west of Lake
Superior. Hearing in 1680 that Frenchmen were near, he went in search of
them, and found Accau and Hennepin, who had explored the upper
Mississippi. Duluth went to France, where he secured a license to trade
with the Sioux. In 1683 he returned to Wisconsin with thirty men,
proceeded to the north shore of Lake Superior, and built forts near Lake
Nipigon and Pigeon River. The highway from Brulé River to the St. Croix
became known as Duluth's Portage. In 1686 he erected a temporary fort
near Detroit to bar the English traders.
Le Sueur.--Between 1683 and 1700 Le Sueur, a prominent fur trader,
operated in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1683 he was at St. Anthony's
Falls. The Fox Indians of Wisconsin opposed the passage of the French to
the Sioux and practically cut off their trade route. For this reason Le
Sueur protected the Brulé-St. Croix highway. To effect this, in 1693 he
built a fort at Chequamegon Bay, on the south shore of Lake Superior,
and another on the Mississippi near the mouth of the St. Croix. This
post became a center of commerce for the western posts. In 1697 Le Sueur
was in France, where he secured permission to work copper mines near
Lake Superior. In 1699 he went from France to Louisiana with Iberville.
Thence, with twenty-nine men, he ascended the Mississippi to Blue River,
Minnesota, and built Fort L'Huiller (1700) at Mankato, where he traded
with the Sioux.
Perrot.--In 1685 Nicholas Perrot, who had been in Wisconsin as early as
1665, and had acquired great influence over the western tribes, was made
"commander of the west" and sent among the Sioux. In 1686 he built Fort
St. Antoine on the Mississippi near Trempealeau, Wisconsin. Other posts
established by him were Fort Perrot on the west side of Lake Pepin, Fort
Nicholas at Prairie du Chien, and one farther down the Mississippi near
the Galena lead mines, which he discovered and worked.
The Illinois and Detroit.--In the Illinois country the French Jesuits
labored from the time of Marquette, among his successors being Fathers
Allouez and Hennepin. In 1699 a Sulpician mission was established at
Cahokia and in 1700 the Jesuits moved down the Illinois River to
Kaskaskia. A year later Detroit was founded to protect the route from
Lake Erie to Lake Huron, cut off English trade with the Indians, and
afford a base for the Illinois trade. Missionaries entered the region of
the lower Mississippi and the lower Ohio, where Tonty and other
Frenchmen maintained a considerable trade.
Traders on the Tennessee.--Because of Iroquois control of the country
south of the Great Lakes and as far as the Tennessee River, the French
in La Salle's time had little knowledge of the Ohio and its tributaries.
At that period the Shawnee of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers were
declining under Iroquois attacks. On the upper Tennessee lived the
Cherokees. In spite of the Iroquois, however, by the end of the century
several _coureurs de bois_ of Canada had ascended the Ohio and Tennessee
Rivers, crossed the divide, and descended the Savannah River into South
Carolina, in defiance of the government, which tried to maintain a trade
monopoly. Their activities brought them into rivalry with the English on
the Carolina frontier.
Couture and Bellefeuille.--Among these pathfinders was Jean Couture, who
had been left by Tonty at the Arkansas post. As early as 1693 he
deserted the French colony and made his way overland to the English. In
1699 he was on the Savannah, where he proposed to lead the English to
certain mines in the west. Returning, he led a party of English traders,
sent by Governor Blake of South Carolina, up the Savannah, and down the
Tennessee and Ohio, in an attempt to divert the western trade from
Canada to the English. In February, 1700, they reached the Arkansas
River, where they were met by Le Sueur on his way up the river to
Minnesota. At the request of Iberville, the new governor of Louisiana,
the government now permitted Illinois traders to sell their peltry in
Louisiana, to prevent them from earning it over the mountains to the
English. In 1701 a party of Frenchmen under Bellefeuille and Soton
crossed the mountains to South Carolina, and attempted to open up trade.
Returning they descended the Mississippi and visited Biloxi. It was now
proposed, in order to stop the road to Carolina, that posts be
established on the Miami and the lower Ohio. For this purpose Juchereau
de St. Denis established a post at Cairo in 1702. Through the
establishment of Louisiana and the opening of trade with Canada, this
danger was largely averted.
READINGS
EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND COLONIZING EFFORTS
Baird, C.W., _Huguenot Emigration_; Brevoort, J.C., _Verrazano the
Navigator_; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 90-112;
De Costa, B.F., _Verrazano the Explorer_; French, B.F., _Historical
Collections of Louisiana and Florida_, 117-362; Hamilton, P.J., _The
Colonization of the South_, 27-41; Hart. A.B., _Contemporaries_, I,
102-112; Leacock, Stephen, _The Mariner of St. Malo_; Lescarbot, Marc,
_History of New France_; Munro, W.B., _Crusaders of New France_, 11-32;
Murphy, H.C., _Voyage of Verrazano_; Parkman, Francis, _The Pioneers of
France in the New World_, 1-228; Shea, J.G., in Winsor, _Narrative and
Critical History_, II, 260-283; Tracy, F.B., _Tercentenary History of
Canada_, I, 20-37; Winsor, Justin, _Cartier to Frontenac_, 1-47; Biggar,
H.P., _The Precursors of Jacques Cartier_.
ACADIA AND THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY
Biggar, H.P., _Early Trading Companies of New France_; Bourne, E.G.,
_Voyages and Explorations of Champlain (Trail Makers' Series)_;
Champlain, Samuel, _Œuvres_ (Laverdière, ed.); Colby, C.W., _The
Founder of New France_; Dionne, N.E., _Champlain_; Grant, W.L., _Voyages
of Champlain (Original Narratives Series)_; Kingsford, William, _The
History of Canada_, I, 147-294; Le Sueur, W.D., _Frontenac_, 1-60;
Marquis, T.G., _The Jesuit Missions_; Parkman, Francis, _Old Régime in
Canada_, 3-168; _Pioneers of New France_, 324-454; _The Jesuits in North
America_; Thwaites, R.G., _France in America_, 10-48; Tracy, F.B.,
_Tercentenary History of Canada_, I, 41-279; Winsor, Justin, _From
Cartier to Frontenac_, 77-183; Munro, W.B., _Crusaders of New France_.
REORGANIZATION AND THE WEST INDIES
Chapais, Thomas, _The Great Intendant_; Haring, C.H., _The Buccaneers in
the West Indies in the XVII Century_; Mims, S.L., _Colbert's West India
Policy_; Munro, W.B., _The Seigneurs of Old Canada_; Parkman, Francis,
_The Old Régime_, 169-330.
THE UPPER LAKES AND THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Bolton, H.E., "The Location of La Salle's Colony on the Gulf of Mexico,"
in _Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, II, 165-182; Charlevoix,
P.F.X., _Histoire Générale de la Nouvelle France_ (J.G. Shea, trans.):
Cox, I.J., _Journeys of La Salle (Trail Makers' Series)_; Folwell, W.W.,
_Minnesota_, 59-65; Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the South_,
187-196; Kellogg, L.P., ed., _Early Narratives of the Northwest
(Original Narratives Series)_: Le Sueur, W.D., _Frontenac_, 61-169; Ogg,
F.A., _The Opening of the Mississippi_, 59-163; Parish, J.C., _The Man
with the Iron Hand_; Parkman, Francis, _La Salle and the Discovery of
the Great West_; Phelps, Albert, _Louisiana_, 6-20; Shea, J.G.,
_Exploration of the Mississippi Valley_; Thwaites, R.G., _France in
America_, 48-71; _Wisconsin_, 40-71; Winsor, Justin, _Cartier to
Frontenac_, 183-295.
CHAPTER V
THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH EXPANSION (1485-1603)
THE TUDOR PERIOD
Periods of English activities.--While the French were colonizing Canada
and the West Indies, and the Spaniards were opening mines and ranches in
northern Mexico, the English were founding still more vigorous
settlements on the Atlantic seaboard, in the islands, and in the region
of Hudson Bay.
The history of English activities in America before 1783 may be divided
into four periods: (1) The Tudor epoch (1485-1603), which was a period
of commercial expansion, exploration, and attempted colonization; (2)
the Stuart and Cromwellian era (1603-1689), the period of colony
planting; (3) the international struggle for territory (1689-1763); and
(4) the struggle of a part of the English colonists for independence
(1763-1783).
Henry VII.--When Henry Tudor ascended the throne of England a new era
was ushered in. The continental possessions except Calais had been swept
away in the Hundred Years' War. The Wars of the Roses had broken the
power of the feudal barony, and the middle class Englishman had become
the most important political element in the nation. The general form of
the constitution had become fixed, the functions of the three branches
of the government, the king and his council, parliament, and the courts,
having become fairly well defined. The work of Henry Tudor was to
restore the finances, to build up commerce and industry, to keep England
at peace, and at the same time, by a series of marriage alliances and by
adroit diplomacy to raise England to her former position as a great
European power. He also built up the kingship at the expense of a
subservient parliament.
The English Reformation.--During the three succeeding reigns, England
played little part in exploration. While Spain was founding her vast
colonial empire, the attention of Englishmen was centered on the
European situation created by Charles V and on the great religious
controversy, which resulted in the break with Rome and the establishment
of the Anglican church.
Queen Elizabeth.--With the accession of Queen Elizabeth a new situation
arose. To the Catholic powers, Elizabeth had no right to the throne of
England. Philip II of Spain hoped to restore the country to the Catholic
fold; his first wife was Queen Mary of England, and under his influence
a short-lived Catholic reaction had been produced; if Elizabeth could
now be induced to turn Catholic and marry Philip, England might be won
back to the Roman church. Elizabeth, however, followed an independent
course, dangling before the eyes of the Spanish ambassador the
possibility of a marriage with Philip, while perfecting the organization
of the Anglican church, increasing her hold upon the affections of her
subjects, strengthening her treasury, army, navy, and defences, and
stimulating industry and commerce. Her path was beset with additional
difficulties, for the powerful Catholic party in France was intriguing
to place Mary Stuart, the queen of Scotland, on the English throne. To
weaken her foes, Elizabeth aided the Huguenots, assisted the Dutch in
their war against Spain, and connived with English mariners to raid the
Spanish Main. In 1588 the patience of Philip was exhausted, and he
sought to humble the haughty queen by sending the Invincible Armada
against England. A running fight occurred in the Channel and several of
the galleons were sunk or driven on shore. The Armada entered the roads
of Calais but a great storm shattered the fleet. Of the original one
hundred and thirty vessels only one-third returned to Spain. The defeat
of the Armada marks a turning point in Spanish and English history. From
that time Spain was thrown on the defensive and her power on the
continent gradually declined, though her colonies continued to expand.
England followed up her success by taking the offensive; an era of
greater commercial activity followed, and she soon entered upon her rôle
of a colonizing nation.
COMMERCIAL EXPANSION
John Cabot.--The discovery of new lands in the west soon became known in
England, and when the Venetian citizen, John Cabot, applied for letters
patent to go on a western voyage, Henry VII readily complied. In May,
1497, his single ship with eighteen men set sail from Bristol and
crossed the north Atlantic. It is impossible to state with certainty
what part of the coast was visited, but it appears to have been in the
neighborhood of Cape Breton Island. The idea that Sebastian Cabot
accompanied his father is generally rejected by the best authorities.
The importance of the voyage lies in the fact that it was used at a
later date to strengthen the English claim to a large part of North
America. The following year John Cabot sailed for the new found land but
never returned.
The Newfoundland fisheries.--Cabot's voyage had another important
result. He had discovered a convenient trade route to the fisheries of
Newfoundland, and English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese fishing
vessels soon swarmed the region. English ships are thought to have
traded there regularly after 1502. Expeditions are known to have been
made thither in 1527 and 1536, and before 1550 fishing fleets went from
southern England to Newfoundland every spring and autumn.
The Muscovy Company.--The latter half of the Tudor period witnessed the
formation of great companies which reached out for foreign trade. In
1553 a group of London merchants decided to make an attempt to reach
China and the East Indies by a northern route. Under the command of
Willoughby and Chancellor, three ships sailed along the Norway coast and
rounded the North Cape. Willoughby and the crews of two of the ships
perished on the coast of Lapland, but Chancellor entered the White Sea
and penetrated to Moscow, where he was promised trading privileges by
Ivan the Terrible. In 1555 the merchants who were interested in the
expedition were granted a royal charter, the company being familiarly
known as the Muscovy Company. Annual fleets were despatched to the White
and Baltic seas; warehouses were established at various points in
Russia, and the agents of the company extended their activities to the
Caspian Sea, to Bokhara, and to Persia. In 1580 the Turks cut them off
from the region outside of European Russia. Occasional unsuccessful
attempts were also made by the company to reach China by the northern
route. In 1579 the Eastland Company, a rival organization, was chartered
to trade in the Baltic, and developed an extensive trade in Poland.
The Levant Company.--English merchants also turned their attention to
the Mediterranean to renew a trade which had formerly been of some
importance. In 1581 a charter was issued to the Levant Company, which
engaged in trading with the Turkish ports along the southern and eastern
shores of the Mediterranean. The same year a charter was granted to the
Venetian Company and in 1592 the two were combined as the Levant
Company. Among those interested in the Mediterranean commerce were Sir
Thomas Smythe and Sir Walter Raleigh, both of whom were important
figures in the colonization of Virginia. Other groups of merchants
opened trade with Morocco, and the Senegambia and Guinea coasts. In all
of these enterprises Englishmen were reaching out for the trade with the
East Indies, which had long been monopolized by the Portuguese. In 1581,
the year in which the Levant Company was chartered, Portugal was
incorporated with Spain, and hostility to that power added another
incentive to reach the East.
THE ELIZABETHAN SEA-DOGS
John Hawkins.--Among those interested in the African trade was William
Hawkins, who filled the important positions of mayor of Plymouth and
member of parliament. He made three voyages to Guiana and Brazil. His
son, John Hawkins, became one of the most famous mariners of his time.
In 1562 he sailed for Africa to obtain slaves, which he disposed of in
Española. In 1564-1565 he engaged in a second voyage which resulted in
great profit. A third voyage in 1567-1568 ended disastrously. The
Spanish government had sent a fleet to stop the traffic; but in spite of
it he forced an entrance to the West Indian ports and disposed of his
cargo. Being driven by a storm into the harbor of Vera Cruz, he was
attacked by a Spanish fleet and but two of the English vessels escaped.
Drake and Cavendish.--Francis Drake, a nephew of John Hawkins, had
accompanied him on his third expedition and had suffered the loss of his
investment. He soon began a series of reprisals. In 1572 he made an
unsuccessful attack on Nombre de Diós and ascended the Chagres River
where he waylaid a train of mules laden with bullion. The example set by
him was frequently followed by raids of English mariners in the
following decade. In 1577 another fleet sailed under Drake's command.
After capturing several Spanish and Portuguese vessels on the African
coast, the fleet crossed the Atlantic and attempted to pass through the
Straits of Magellan. Only one vessel reached the Pacific. Drake
proceeded up the western coast, plundering as he went. In a harbor known
as Drake's Bay, north of San Francisco Bay, he refitted, and claimed the
California region for the queen, calling it New Albion. He then sailed
to the East Indies where a cargo of spice was obtained. From Java, Drake
crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and proceeded
to England, entering the harbor of Plymouth in November, 1580, having
completed the first English circumnavigation of the globe. In 1586
Thomas Cavendish followed almost the same course, plundered the Spanish
commerce in the Pacific, and in 1588 completed the circumnavigation of
the world. Besides Hawkins, Drake, and Cavendish a score of English
mariners engaged in raiding the Spanish Main. They were assisted
financially by the queen and by many of her councillors who considered
the raiding of Spanish commerce good business as well as good state
policy.
East Indian trade.--A party of English merchants had also succeeded in
penetrating from the Syrian coast to India. The report of their journey
and the voyages of Drake and Cavendish stimulated the desire to open
trade with the Far East. The result was that in 1591 an expedition was
fitted out which rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Ceylon,
India, and the Malay Peninsula. Reports of the successes of the Dutch in
the East Indies increased the interest of the English merchants, and in
1600 the East India Company was formed.
SEARCH FOR A NORTHWEST PASSAGE
Frobisher.--The unsuccessful attempts of the Muscovy Company to reach
the East by a northeast passage led to the search for a northwestern
route. The great exponent of the idea was Martin Frobisher. After vainly
seeking many years for a patron who would furnish funds, in 1574 he
received the support of Michael Lock, a member of the Muscovy Company,
and the following year a royal license was granted to undertake the
work.
In June, 1576, Frobisher sailed from England in command of three small
vessels, only one of which reached America. The vessel passed along the
Labrador coast, crossed the entrance of Hudson Strait, and coasted
Baffin Land, entering the inlet now known as Frobisher's Bay. Upon his
return to England, Frobisher took back a large stone, which an assayer
claimed contained gold. In consequence the queen and many influential
men subscribed liberally for another voyage. The Company of Cathay was
formed which was to have a monopoly in all lands to the westward where
Englishmen had not traded before. Expeditions in search of gold were
sent out under Frobisher in 1577 and 1578, but the rocks which were
brought back proved to be worthless.
Gilbert.--Among those interested in the search for a northwest passage
was Raleigh's half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who believed that a
colony might be established on the American coast. In 1578 he obtained a
six-year monopoly of discovery and settlement in America. A fleet was
equipped, but being twice scattered by storms, the attempt was
abandoned. In 1583 Gilbert made a second venture. Arriving at St. Johns,
Newfoundland, Gilbert informed the crews of the fishing fleet of his
commission, and took possession in the name of Elizabeth. On the return
voyage the _Squirrel_ with Gilbert and all on board was lost in a storm
just north of the Azores.
Davis.--In 1584 John Davis, Walter Raleigh, and others were granted a
charter to explore a route to China and to trade in lands which might be
discovered. Command of an expedition was given to Davis, who sailed from
Dartmouth in 1585. The southern coast of Greenland was explored and
Davis Strait was crossed, but the illusive opening was not found. In
1586 and 1587 Davis sought the passage but without success.
ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION
Raleigh and the attempted colonization of Virginia.--England's struggle
with Spain for empire did not end with an attack on her fleets and her
colonies. Men soon arose who dared to dispute Spain's monopoly by
planting colonies in the lands claimed by His Catholic Majesty. The
leader in the enterprise was Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1584 he received a
patent similar to that of Gilbert. Two vessels were soon despatched
under Amadas and Barlowe. They followed the southern route by the
Canaries and the West Indies, and finally landed on Roanoke Island,
taking possession of that region, which was named Virginia in honor of
Elizabeth, a name which was soon applied to the country from the Spanish
settlements to Newfoundland. In April of the following year Grenville
commanded a second expedition which took out the first colonists, who
made a settlement on Roanoke Island. In 1586 supply ships were sent out,
but they found the settlement deserted. Wearied by the hard winter, the
settlers had accepted an offer from Sir Francis Drake, who had been
raiding in the Caribbean, to carry them back to England.
In 1587 another group of colonists including almost a hundred men,
seventeen women, and several children, was sent out under Governor John
White and landed at Roanoke. White returned to England, but owing to the
naval war with Spain and other difficulties he was unable to go to
Virginia again until 1591, when he found only deserted ruins. News of
the English intrusion caused alarm on the Spanish frontier, and the
governor of Florida in person led a counter expedition up the coast as
far as Chesapeake Bay. To this day the fate of the Roanoke colony is a
mystery, but light on the matter may yet be shed by the Spanish
archives.
Raleigh's Orinoco expedition.--The discoveries of the Spaniards in
Mexico and Peru spurred the Englishman to attempt to find similar lands
of treasure. A story became current that in the interior of South
America on the upper waters of the Amazon and the Orinoco was a great
kingdom, which contained a powerful city called Manoa. It was also
believed that in the interior there was a mountain of sapphire and a
land ruled by female warriors called Amazons. After the failure of the
Roanoke enterprise, Raleigh became interested in this land of wonders,
and in 1594 sent a vessel to the Guiana coast to obtain information. The
following year Raleigh himself made an exploration of the delta of the
Orinoco and ascended the main stream a considerable distance. But the
city of Manoa proved elusive, supplies ran short, and the expedition
returned to England.
READINGS
CABOT
Bourne, E.G., _Spain in America_, 54-61; Channing, Edward, _History of
the United States_, I, 33-42; Fiske, John, _Discovery of America_, II,
2-15; Markham, C.R., _Columbus_, 226-233; Olson, J.E., ed., _The
Northmen, Columbus and Cabot_.
COMMERCIAL COMPANIES
Cheyney, E.P., _A History of England from the Defeat of the Armada to
the Death of Elizabeth_, I, 309-348, 375-422, 433-459; Cunningham,
William, _The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern
Times--The Mercantile System_, 214-279; Scott, W.R., _The Constitution
and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to
1720_, II, 3-11, 36-52, 83-89; Tilby, A.W., _The English People
Overseas_, I, 38-43.
SEA ROVERS, THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE, AND RALEIGH
Buchan, J., _Sir Walter Ralegh_; Channing, Edward, _History of the
United States_, I, 115-140; Cheyney, E.P., _A History of England from
the Defeat of the Armada to the Death of Elizabeth_, I, 349-374,
423-459; Corbett, J.S., _Drake and the Tudor Navy; Sir Francis Drake_;
Hume, M.A.S., _Sir Walter Ralegh_; Nuttall, Zelia, _New Light on Drake_;
Payne, E.J., _Elizabethan Sea-men_; Scott, W.R., _The Constitution and
Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720_,
II, 76-82, 241-245; Tilby, A.W., _The English People Overseas_, I,
24-38; Woodward, W.H., _A Short History of the Expansion of the British
Empire_, 17-63; Wood, W., _Elizabethan Sea-Dogs_.
CHAPTER VI
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND INSULAR COLONIES (1603-1640)
ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY STUARTS, 1603-1640
James I.--When James Stuart came to the throne, he had an exalted idea
of the kingship, believing that he ruled by divine right. The Tudors had
wielded almost absolute power, the privy council overshadowing
parliament. James naturally intended to rule in a similar manner, and
resented any legislative action which tended to decrease his
prerogative. He also stood as a staunch supporter of the English church.
His foreign policy was based upon a sincere desire for peace. With this
in view he ended the war with Spain and projected a marriage between his
son and a Spanish princess. In the latter part of James' reign, when the
Thirty Years' War broke out, the king hoped to become the arbiter of
Europe. Though he failed in this, he at least had the satisfaction of
keeping his country out of war.
Charles I.--The Parliamentarians who had nursed their wrath during the
reign of James, soon clashed with his successor. Charles I was a man of
staunch self-righteousness, who had little of pliability and much of
stubbornness in his nature. His idea of the royal prerogative was fully
as exalted as that of his father. From the beginning of the reign, king
and parliament clashed. When a war, which broke out with France and
Spain, went badly, the unpopularity of the king increased. When he
summoned parliament in 1628 to ask for supplies, he found that body
unwilling to comply with his demands until he had signed the Petition of
Right.
The experience which the king had with parliament determined him to rule
without it, and from 1629 to 1640 he carried on a personal government.
Acting through his privy council, the king ruled England. His chief
difficulty was to secure sufficient revenue to carry on the government.
Ancient feudal laws were resurrected and put into force. So long as no
extraordinary emergency arose the king was able to carry on the
government. During this period the religious controversy was also
becoming acute, the tyranny of Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
constantly adding fuel to the fire. Puritans and Parliamentarians found
a common ground of opposition. When the king attempted to force the
English prayer book and church organization on the Scotch Prebysterians,
war broke out. Charles found it necessary to summon parliament,
whereupon he found religious and political opponents united against him.
THE COLONIAL ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM OF THE EARLY STUARTS
Early experiments.--During the reigns of the first two Stuarts a
colonial administrative policy was developed. With James I permanent
settlements began. They were regarded as dependent upon the crown rather
than as an integral part of the state. The king created a Council of
Virginia which was to have general control over settlements between 34°
and 45° north latitude. But the council was short lived and the privy
council soon became the center of the colonial system. The connecting
links between the settlers and the crown were the corporations which
were granted jurisdiction over more or less definite areas. Both king
and parliament claimed to have jurisdiction over the colonies, but the
first two Stuarts were able to keep control in their hands.
The privy council in charge.--The charters of the commercial companies
could be annulled by the courts in suits brought by the crown. Such was
the method followed when the charter of the Virginia Company was
revoked; the work of administration then passed into the hands of the
privy council. As this council was large and its duties numerous, the
actual work was usually done by committees, such a committee being
appointed to look after Virginia. Late in the reign of James I the crown
also appointed commissioners to examine the state of the colony, and
report on a form of government.
Policy of Charles I.--Under Charles I, though the commissioners
continued to attend to some business, most of the work of administration
devolved upon the privy council. In 1631 the commission was revived, but
in 1634 it was superseded by another at whose head was Archbishop Laud.
This was made up of the highest officers of church and state, and it was
given jurisdiction over all dependencies. Its chief acts required the
approval of the crown, and as this could only be obtained through the
privy council, it was responsible to that body. A standing committee of
the privy council for foreign plantations was also appointed, the
membership of this committee and the commission headed by Laud being
identical. Sub-committees composed of men of lower rank but who had
expert knowledge of colonial affairs were also appointed to assist the
higher bodies.
Special administrative bodies.--From time to time special bodies were
created for aiding the development of commerce and industry. In 1622
James constituted a council of trade for investigating commerce,
shipping, and industry. Charles I, in 1625, created a similar council,
but it did not become very active, and soon its duties devolved upon a
committee of the privy council, which investigated all phases of
economic activity, the regulation of the tobacco industry of Virginia
being one of the important subjects which occupied its attention.
THE FOUNDING OF VIRGINIA
Opposition of the Early Stuarts to Spain.--The settled policy of Spain
was to maintain a territorial and commercial monopoly in all the lands
west of the line of the treaty of Tordesillas. During the reign of
Elizabeth, the mariners of England had struck at Spanish commerce and
had made unsuccessful attempts at colonization; in the reigns of the
first two Stuarts, serious attempts were made by Englishmen to wrest
from the Spanish colossus some of his island possessions, and to occupy
Guiana and portions of North America. The attitude of James I toward
these enterprises depended upon the state of his negotiations with
Spain. In 1604 a treaty was signed which brought the long war between
the countries to an end. By the treaty the English crown surrendered the
right of trade to the Indies. The English mariners snapped their fingers
at the treaty and continued to visit the Indies, either running the
chance of being taken as pirates, or registering their vessels under the
flags of Holland or Savoy. The difficulties besetting this trade led
some of the merchants to invest their capital in enterprises of
colonization.
[Illustration: Settlements in Virginia, 1634.]
The charter of 1606.--Between 1602 and 1606 several voyages were made to
America, the most important being that of George Weymouth, who visited
the New England coast in 1604; his favorable report greatly stimulated
the desire to plant colonies. In April, 1606, a charter was drawn up
which provided for two companies; one composed of men from London,
familiarly known as the London Company, which was to operate between the
thirty-fourth and forty-first degrees of latitude; the other made up of
men from Plymouth, Bristol, and Exeter, known as the Plymouth Company,
which was to plant colonies between the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth
degrees. Each company was to have control of fifty miles both north and
south of its first settlement, a hundred miles out to sea, and a hundred
miles inland. Neither was to settle within one hundred miles of the
other. Each company was to have a council of thirteen persons, and each
was to have the right to mine gold, silver, and copper; the king was to
receive one-fifth of all the precious metals and one-fifteenth of the
copper. No import duties were to be levied for seven years. The charter
also provided that the Christian religion was to be spread among the
natives. Colonists who went to the New World were guaranteed all the
privileges of Englishmen.
Founding of Jamestown.--In August, 1606, Henry Challons was sent ahead
in the _Richard_ to select a site for the London Company, but was
captured off Florida by a Spanish fleet and taken a prisoner to Seville.
In December, three vessels, which belonged to the Muscovy Company, the
_Susan Constant_, the _Godspeed_, and the _Discovery_, sailed for
Virginia under the command of Sir Christopher Newport. They followed the
southern route by the Canaries and the West Indies, arriving in
Chesapeake Bay in May, 1607. Of the hundred and twenty colonists who had
embarked, sixteen died during the voyage. Sealed instructions had been
sent for the government and management of Virginia. When opened, they
disclosed the names of the members of the council, a body possessed of
executive, legislative, and judicial powers, presided over by a
president. A site was to be selected on an island in a navigable river,
marshy or heavily wooded ground to be avoided. Contrary to instructions,
the site selected was on a swampy peninsula, located near the mouth of
the James River. Near the western end of the peninsula a triangular log
fort was laid out. The settlement was in the district known to the
Spaniards as Axacan, and not far from the site of the Jesuit mission
founded in 1570. While the fortification was being built, Newport
explored the James River as far as the site of Richmond. While he was
gone, the Indians attacked the fort but were driven off. Besides the
fortification, a church and storehouse were erected. In July Newport
sailed for England, taking with him worthless specimens of rock which
were believed to contain gold.
Early difficulties.--Shortly after the departure of Newport the
colonists began to suffer from famine, malaria, and Indian attacks.
President Wingfield husbanded the stores left by Newport, an action
which angered the settlers, and he was soon deposed. John Smith was sent
to secure food from the Indians, and succeeded in obtaining a
considerable supply. When Newport returned in January, 1608, he found
only forty survivors. During 1608 and 1609 the little settlement was
barely able to hold its own. The few additional settlers who came merely
offset the ravages of disease and starvation. During this period John
Smith appears to have been the chief factor in keeping the colony alive.
So precarious had conditions become by May, 1609, that he dispersed the
colonists in groups, one being sent to live among the Indians, another
to fish at Point Comfort, and a third to obtain oysters. In July a
vessel commanded by Samuel Argall arrived with supplies, bringing the
news that the first charter had been repealed and a new one granted.
Charter of 1609.--The lack of success in the original venture had caused
those interested to make an effort to enlarge the company. The
incorporators of the charter of 1609 were fifty-six of the guilds and
companies of London, and six hundred and fifty-nine persons, among whom
were included twenty-one peers, ninety-six knights, eleven professional
men, and fifty-three captains. The new company was to have the land two
hundred miles north and two hundred miles south of Point Comfort and
stretching from sea to sea west and northwest, and the islands within
one hundred miles of the coast. The government was vested in a council,
which was given power to appoint its own officers, to make laws for the
government of the colony, and to take in new stockholders. The English
church was established as the religion of the colony.
The starving time.--In June, 1609, nine vessels commanded by Newport
sailed from England with the new governor, Sir Thomas Gates, and about
five hundred emigrants. Beset by pestilence and storms, many died on the
voyage, about four hundred being landed at Jamestown in August. The
vessel carrying the governor was stranded in the Bermudas, and he did
not arrive at Jamestown until May, 1610. There he found the colonists in
a frightful condition, dissensions among the officers, Indian attacks,
disease, and starvation having brought the colony to the brink of
destruction. Gates decided to give up the ill-fated attempt, and taking
all the settlers on board, sailed down the James River, but met a vessel
bearing the news that a new governor, Lord Delaware, had arrived at
Point Comfort with supplies and a hundred and fifty emigrants. Gates
immediately returned to Jamestown. Of the nine hundred persons who had
been landed in Virginia during the first three years, only one hundred
and fifty were alive upon the arrival of Delaware.
Spanish resistance.--Spain regarded the Jamestown colony as an intruder,
and both Spaniards and Englishmen considered it as a menace to Spain's
northern outposts, and to her merchant fleets, which passed close by on
their homeward voyage. Dale remarked that the settlement "wyll put such
a byt in our ainchent enemyes mouth as wyll curb his hautynes of
monarchie." Zúñiga, Spanish ambassador to England, urged that "such a
bad project should be uprooted now, while it can be done so easily."
At Jamestown fear of a Spanish attack was almost constant, and Newport
sought aid in England lest the "all devouring Spaniard lay his ravenous
hands" upon the infant colony. Spanish resistance had already been felt
by way of vigorous diplomatic protest and through the capture of the
_Richard_ in 1606. In 1609 a Spanish expedition was sent to Jamestown
under Captain Ecija, commander of the garrison at St. Augustine. On July
24 Ecija entered Chesapeake Bay. Concluding that the settlement was too
strong to capture with one small vessel, he withdrew, but on his way
down the coast he conferred with the Indian tribes, and sent a
delegation of natives overland to spy upon the English. On Ecija's
return to St. Augustine another native delegation was sent to Virginia
from Florida by Governor Ybarra. The success of these embassies has been
inferred from the Indian massacres at Jamestown in the following winter.
Two years later another Spanish expedition was sent to Jamestown.
Captures were made on both sides and the episode was followed by a
demand at the English settlement for reinforcements.
Zúñiga continued to urge the destruction of the colony, but Philip III
temporized, allured by the hope of an English alliance and encouraged by
his informants to believe that the struggling colony would fail through
misery. Instead of dying out, however, as time went on Virginia waxed
stronger, and soon became a base for attacks on Spanish commerce, as had
been predicted. The founding of Jamestown in Axacan was the first
English nibble at the Spanish mainland possessions, a process which
continued for a century and a half.
Delaware's governorship.--Delaware remained in Virginia less than a
year, during which period new colonists arrived, the settlement at
Jamestown was rebuilt, the Indians were driven from Kecoughtan, and
forts Charles and Henry were established at the mouth of the James
River. An expedition was also sent to the falls in search of a gold
mine, but it found none. Delaware was unable to check the ravages of
disease, and during the summer a hundred and fifty died. The governor
left the colony in March, 1611, but remained in office until his death
in 1618, during which period the government was administered by deputy
governors.
Dale's strong hand.--Sir Thomas Dale was left in charge. He was a
brusque old soldier who had seen service in the Netherlands, and during
his administration, the colony was governed by military law. The men
were forced to work like slaves, and those who rebelled were punished
with the greatest severity, several captured runaways being burned at
the stake. The Indians along the James and York rivers were attacked;
Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, was captured, and the hostage was
used to force that powerful chief to make peace. Hearing of the French
occupation of Acadia, Dale sent Captain Argall to destroy the
settlements.
Charter of 1612.--During the administration of Dale, a change was made
in the charter, the powers of the council being considerably enlarged.
The Bermudas were also placed under its jurisdiction. The rights in the
islands, however, were subsequently sold to some of the members of the
London Company, who obtained a charter in 1614 under the name of the
Somers Island Company.
Change in the management of the company.--Sir Thomas Smythe had been the
moving spirit of the company, but in spite of his efforts, the colony
had proved a financial failure, and he was willing to let others carry
on the enterprise. The central figure in the company after 1618 was Sir
Edwin Sandys. Smythe had realized that it was necessary to change the
communal form of ownership to one of landed proprietorship, and had
issued instructions that fifty acres of land be assigned to every person
who would transport one person to the colony. This policy was carried
out by Sandys, and the "old colonists" were allowed to obtain larger
tracts of land.
House of Burgesses.--In April, 1619, Sir George Yeardley assumed control
as governor of Virginia. He brought out instructions by which the
inhabitants of each place and plantation were to elect two burgesses,
who were to meet at Jamestown in a general assembly. This first
representative assembly in America met in the church at Jamestown on
July 30. It was composed of the governor, councilors, and twenty-two
burgesses. At the first session, the assembly sat in the two-fold
capacity of law makers and court of law.
Agricultural development.--The original instructions had provided that
the products of labor should belong to the community instead of to the
individual, an arrangement by which the slothful profited at the expense
of the industrious. During the first season, only four acres were
cleared and planted. The insufficiency of the supply of grain made it
necessary to depend upon the Indians for maize. In 1608 John Smith
succeeded in getting forty acres of land broken, and the following year
this was planted to maize. Just before the arrival of Delaware, the
attempts at agriculture were abandoned, the colonists relying for
subsistence on roots, herbs, nuts, berries, and fish. Delaware
immediately set to work to right conditions, the hours of labor being
set from six to ten in the morning, and from two to four in the
afternoon.
When Dale took charge he forced the men to plant seed and assigned to
each a garden. Livestock had been imported, and were allowed to roam at
large in the woods. Dale erected a blockhouse on the mainland to protect
them, and warned the settlers against letting stock wander. Henrico was
selected as the site for another settlement and the town site of seven
acres he caused to be fenced in. Other palings back of the settlement
were erected and within the fenced areas corn was planted. On the south
side of the river fences were built which protected a circuit of twelve
miles, the enclosed land being used for a hog range. The lands of the
Indians near the mouth of the Appamatox River were seized, fenced, and
planted with maize.
In 1612 the cultivation of tobacco began, the first tobacco planter
being John Rolfe, who had married Pocahontas. Tobacco soon became the
only export, its cultivation absorbing the economic fife of the colony.
To make certain of the food supply, Dale commanded that no one should be
permitted to plant tobacco until he had planted two acres of grain. To
encourage industry, Dale allowed some of the "old colonists" to lease
three acres. He also put in force a rule that every man with a family
who arrived in the colony should be provided with a house free of rent,
tools, and livestock, and with subsistence for himself and family for
the first year. If he confined himself to the planting of grain and
vegetables, he was given twelve acres of fenced land. At the time of
Dale's departure in 1616 there were three hundred and fifty inhabitants
settled at Henrico, Bermuda, West and Shirley Hundreds, Jamestown,
Kecoughtan, and Dale's Gift.
Immigration.--In 1619 twenty negroes were brought into Virginia, the
first blacks to be introduced. Up to this time there were few women in
the colony, but the company succeeded in sending over several ship-loads
of unmarried women. Upon arrival there was à speedy courtship, and the
lucky swain gladly paid a hundred and twenty pounds of the best tobacco
for the cost of transportation. In general the type of settler was
excellent, but in the later years of the company convicted felons and a
large number of waifs and vagabonds from the streets of London were
sent. The emigrants who had no capital were usually indented servants,
the terms of indenture varying from two to seven years.
Growth of large estates.--In this early period began the formation of
great estates. The company retained twelve thousand acres for itself. As
new officers were created lands were set aside to support them. The
treasurer, marshal, and cape merchant were each granted fifteen hundred
acres, the physician and secretary five hundred acres each. The large
estates were worked by tenants, the number on each estate being fixed by
the company. Grants of large tracts were also made to groups of
capitalists who agreed to bring out settlers.
The Indian massacre of 1622.--The reaching out for new lands for tobacco
culture resulted in encroachment upon the fields of the Indians. Angered
by this the Indians suddenly attacked the outlying plantations, killing
between three and four hundred persons, nearly one-fourth of the entire
population. The planting of the crops was interrupted and a winter of
hardship followed. When the Indian maize crop was nearly ripe, the
settlers retaliated, almost exterminating the natives along the lower
courses of the James and York rivers.
Crown regulation of the tobacco industry.--To free himself from
parliamentary control and to regulate industry, James I granted
monopolies to private individuals. Royal commissioners were appointed to
inspect the tobacco and to prevent smuggling, and planting in England
was prohibited. In 1620 the London Company petitioned the king to do
away with the tobacco monopoly and as a result the London and Bermuda
companies were allowed to import fifty-five thousand pounds annually.
The companies immediately attempted to ship Virginia tobacco to Holland;
this led to a dispute with the privy council and the matter was
discussed in parliament, where Sandys defended the right of free
shipment. The dispute was settled by a compromise, by which the
companies agreed to ship the entire product to England, and no
restriction was placed upon the amount which they might import.
Neither side was entirely pleased with the arrangement and in November,
1622, an agreement was reached by the Lord Treasurer and the companies.
The companies were given the sole right for seven years to import
tobacco into England and Ireland; they were to pay into the royal
exchequer the net proceeds of one-third of all tobacco imported; no
tobacco was to be planted in England and Ireland, and a small amount of
Spanish tobacco was to be imported for three years. Like previous
arrangements, this did not meet with the approval of all, and it was
annulled in 1623, the companies being allowed the exclusive right to
import tobacco into England and Ireland, except a small amount of
Spanish tobacco, and to pay a duty of nine pence a pound.
End of the London Company.--The king had looked with scant favor upon
the administration of Sandys, for popular government was not to the
liking of James. Friction between the king and the company also added to
the royal displeasure. James, who was personally opposed to the use of
tobacco, was also trying to please the Spanish court, which made
frequent protests against the Virginia enterprise. Internal dissensions
also disturbed the company, a group headed by Sir Thomas Smythe being
opposed to the Sandys faction. Royal commissioners were appointed to
examine the condition of affairs, and as a result of their report, in
1624 the charter of the London Company was annulled, the colony passing
under the direct control of the crown.
Increase of population by 1625.--When Charles I came to the throne
Virginia contained about twelve hundred inhabitants, of whom nearly five
hundred were servants, and about a hundred were children. They were
scattered through nineteen settlements, the largest being Elizabeth
City, which contained two hundred and fifty-seven inhabitants. Jamestown
had thirty-three houses and a population of one hundred and
seventy-five.
Population in 1635.--By 1635 the population had increased to five
thousand. The country had been divided into shires, which later were
called counties. The six counties along the James River contained about
four thousand inhabitants; Charles River County on the York River five
hundred, and Accomac County on the opposite side of the bay four
hundred. By 1640 the population had increased to seven thousand five
hundred.
Tobacco lands.--The most desirable lands for tobacco were the bottoms
along the streams. Tobacco exhausted the soil rapidly, three years
being the usual life of a field. This made it necessary for the planter
to take up new lands and increased his desire for larger holdings. Land
patents were issued for large tracts, usually of from one hundred to
three hundred acres, although many obtained patents for a thousand
acres.
Charles I and the tobacco business.--Charles was opposed to the tobacco
business, but he realized that it was necessary to the colony. The king
favored Virginia by reducing the duty on tobacco and excluding the
Spanish leaf from England and Ireland. But in 1627, when parliament had
not granted adequate supplies to the crown, he renewed the monopoly. To
put it in force, a proclamation was issued which forbade the annual
importation of more than fifty thousand pounds of Spanish tobacco,
prohibited the growing of the plant in England and Ireland, and made
London the only port of entry. As the colonists objected to the
monopoly, the king issued another proclamation, which provided that no
colonial tobacco should be imported without special license and should
be delivered to tobacco commissioners, who were to have the sole right
of disposing of the product. The price was to be fixed by agreement
between the shippers and commissioners. Efforts were made to have the
colony engage in the production of more substantial commodities, the
planters being commanded to produce pitch, tar, potash, timber, iron,
and salt, to plant vines and grain, and to search for minerals. The
efforts of the king, however, were but partially successful, and tobacco
remained the great staple. It had also become the medium of exchange,
and though attempts were made to introduce a metallic currency, they did
not succeed, in spite of the fact that the fluctuating price of the
staple made financial transactions difficult.
Harvey's tobacco policy.--In 1630 Governor Harvey commenced his
administration. He immediately began to encourage the planting of grain
and the raising of stock. The low price of tobacco at this time assisted
him, and in 1631 the colony was able to export a large quantity of
grain. Efforts were also made to improve the quality of tobacco. A law
of the colonial legislature of 1632 provided for five points of
inspection. Storehouses were built where inspectors examined the stock
and condemned the poorer qualities. The number of plants to be raised by
each family was limited to two thousand, and not more than nine leaves
were allowed to be taken from a plant. In 1633 the number of plants per
family was reduced to fifteen hundred. English merchants trading to the
colonies purchased a considerable amount of tobacco, which they took in
exchange for other commodities, for which they charged abnormally high
prices. To right this and to increase the royal revenues, in 1634 the
king again renewed the monopoly. When Governor Harvey attempted to
contract for the crop, an acrimonious debate ensued. This, coupled with
the fact that the governor attempted to assist Lord Baltimore's
colonists, caused the council illegally to depose the governor.
Continued efforts to enforce the monopoly.--The king continued to make
efforts to enforce the monopoly. In 1638 he issued another proclamation,
stating that it was necessary to regulate tobacco planting, to decide
how much was to be imported, and to handle the product. The colony as
usual objected. Owing to the troublous times in England, the
proclamation was not strictly enforced and much tobacco was sold to
other than government agents.
THE FOUNDING OF MARYLAND
Calvert's attempted settlement in Newfoundland.--The northern end of
Chesapeake Bay was soon occupied by a rival tobacco colony, the
proprietary province of Lord Baltimore. In 1609 George Calvert became a
stockholder of the Virginia Company, and ten years later was made
secretary of state by James I. His new office gave him an opportunity to
begin an independent colony. In 1620 he bought the southeastern
peninsula of Newfoundland from Sir William Vaughan, to whom it had
previously been granted, and the following year sent out a few
colonists. In 1623 the king granted him a charter for his colony, which
was called Avalon. Two years later Calvert resigned the secretaryship.
In spite of the fact that he had recently become a Catholic, he was
raised to the Irish peerage with the title of Baron of Baltimore. In
1627 he visited Newfoundland with his family, but the inclemency of the
climate convinced him of the undesirability of Avalon.
Application for land in Virginia.--In 1629 Baltimore applied for a grant
in Virginia, to which colony he immediately proceeded. There he met
with a cold reception and shortly departed for England, where he made
every effort to obtain a charter. The Virginians opposed him strongly,
but in April, 1632, his suit was successful and the grant was made.
George Calvert died the same month and the charter was drawn in the name
of his son Cecilius.
[Illustration: Settlements In Maryland, 1634.]
The charter.--The province was named Maryland in honor of Henrietta
Maria, the wife of Charles I. In general it extended from the fortieth
parallel to the southern bank of the Potomac River, and from the
meridian which crossed the source of that river to the Atlantic; but the
description of boundaries was so indefinite, because of the lack of
precise geographical knowledge, that many disputes soon arose over
ownership of territory.
The government of Maryland was modeled upon that of the Palatinate of
Durham, a feudatory on the border of Scotland in which the bishop had
almost absolute powers; but the lord proprietor of Maryland was
restricted by several clauses in the charter. He was given the right to
ordain, make, and enact laws, provided they were approved by the freemen
of the province, or by a majority of them, or by their delegates, and
were not contrary to the laws of England. Baltimore was given very large
judicial powers, such as the creation of courts and the pardoning of
criminals. He was also given the right to make ordinances, provided they
did not deprive any person of use, limb, or property. The proprietor
could collect taxes, make grants of lands, and create manors, over which
the lord of the manor would have the rights of a feudal baron. The
proprietor was also given control of ecclesiastical matters such as the
power of appointing ministers and founding churches, which were "to be
dedicated and consecrated according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of our
Kingdom of England." The charter did not prohibit him from permitting
the establishment of other churches, an omission which Baltimore used to
assist the Catholics. The proprietor's motives, however, were not
entirely religious; he no doubt desired to found an asylum for people of
his own faith, but he was also a keen business man and desired to
increase his worldly goods.
The first settlers.--In October, 1633, Baltimore sent two small vessels,
the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, to Maryland. On board there were about twenty
gentlemen, most of whom were Catholics, and probably two hundred
laborers, the majority of whom were Protestants. Among the influential
members were the governor, Leonard Calvert, the brother of Lord
Baltimore, and the two councilors who were to assist him in the
government. Three Jesuit priests accompanied the expedition, which
arrived at the mouth of the Potomac in March, 1634. The site for a
settlement was selected nine miles up St. George's River, a small stream
which flows into the north side of the Potomac near its mouth, the place
being named St. Mary's. The location was favorable, for it was
surrounded by fields cleared by the Indians. The tribes in the
neighborhood had been at war with the Susquehannas, and were glad to
sell their lands and move across the Potomac.
Trouble with Virginia.--William Claiborne had been the principal
opponent of George Calvert, when he attempted to obtain the charter for
Maryland. In 1631 Claiborne had established a settlement on Kent Island
in Chesapeake Bay, which fell within the bounds of Maryland. In 1634
Governor Calvert informed Claiborne that he would not molest the
settlement, but that the owner of Kent Island must be considered as a
tenant of the proprietor. Claiborne laid the matter before the Virginia
council, which decided that the Maryland charter infringed upon the
rights of Virginia. A miniature war followed which was ended by a
decision of the king, who ruled that the Virginia charter of 1609 had
become null when the crown took over the colony in 1624, and that Kent
Island belonged to Maryland.
Religious, economic, and social life.--The religious life of the colony
was greatly influenced by the presence of the Jesuits. Father White and
his colleagues labored incessantly to convert the Protestant colonists
and to establish missions among the Indians. In 1641 the Catholics made
up about one-fourth of the population but included most of the
influential families. The economic life of the colony developed much
like that of Virginia, although unaccompanied by the great hardships of
the James River settlements. Nor did the Indians prove as troublesome,
although from 1639 to 1644 an expedition was sent against them each
year. Tobacco cultivation became the principal occupation. The
plantations developed along the rivers and the shore of the bay, for
many years extending but a few miles inland. The manors usually
contained from one thousand to two thousand acres, although a few
contained five thousand acres or more, the lords of the manors being
granted lands in proportion to the number of colonists they provided.
Many of the large grants were later divided, and small proprietors
increased in number. There was practically no town life, the seat of
government containing only a few houses. There were few mills and no
factories. Few roads were built, the water courses and the bay affording
the principal means of communication.
The government.--Cecilius Calvert never visited the colony, but he
appointed all the important officers, who resided in the province. The
chief of these was the governor, to whom the proprietor delegated most
of his powers. He was at the head of military affairs. As chancellor he
was the keeper of the seal and issued patents for land, commissions for
office, and other legal documents. As chief magistrate he appointed
officers for the preservation of peace and the administration of
justice, and had power to issue and enforce ordinances, to establish
ports, fairs and markets, to remit fines, and pardon all offenses except
high treason. He could summon the legislative assembly, prepare bills
for its consideration, assent to the laws, and dissolve the assembly. He
also acted as chief justice. Leonard Calvert occupied the position until
1647. Assisting the governor was a council. In 1636 it contained three
members, but was gradually increased in size in later years. Before this
body the governor brought matters of importance, such as the creation of
offices, establishment of courts, granting of pardons, levying of taxes,
issuing of ordinances, and military expeditions.
The legislative assembly at first was made up of all the freemen, but as
the colonists took up more distant lands, a custom of giving proxies
grew up. The first assembly met in 1635, but about all that is known of
it is that it attempted to initiate legislation, to which the proprietor
objected. The second assembly, which met in 1638, consisted of the
governor and council, freemen especially summoned by the governor,
freemen present of their own will, and proxies. The governor presented a
code approved by the proprietor, but it was rejected by the assembly.
The same year the proprietor temporarily yielded the right of initiating
legislation, authorizing the governor to consent to laws enacted by the
assembly until the proprietor could examine them. In 1639 the local
divisions, which were called hundreds, sent representatives. This
assembly fixed its own membership, which was to be composed of
councilors, persons especially summoned, and burgesses elected in
hundreds. The assembly sat at times as a law court, but most of the
cases were brought before the governor and his councilors, who acted as
associate justices, or before the local courts.
THE BERMUDAS
The Somers Islands Company.--Almost simultaneously with the occupation
of the Atlantic seaboard, the English had been establishing vigorous
colonies in the islands adjacent to North America. In 1609 a Virginia
supply ship commanded by Sir George Somers was wrecked on one of the
Bermuda Islands. Upon his return to England, he interested people in
the islands and in 1612 the Somers Islands Company was formed, most of
the stockholders being members of the Virginia Company.
Settlement and economic development of the Bermudas.--Settlers were
immediately sent out and the colony prospered from the first. In 1614 it
contained six hundred persons. Fortifications were built, some tobacco
was shipped, and a land survey begun which was completed in 1617. By
1625 the population had increased to between two and three thousand and
a larger supply of tobacco was being produced than in Virginia. As in
the James River settlements, there was considerable opposition to the
government monopoly of tobacco, and in 1628 a petition against it was
addressed to the crown. In 1631 the privy council decreed that only a
moderate amount of tobacco should be planted, and the company succeeded
in getting a complete monopoly of the trade. The low price of tobacco at
that time caused the colonists to devote themselves less exclusively to
that business, and corn, potatoes, hogs, fowls, and fruit were produced
in such quantities that the islands were able to export large amounts to
the colonies on the mainland. The cedar forests also began to be
utilized for ship-building. With the growth of the mainland colonies,
the Bermudas became of relatively less economic importance, but they
continued to be considered an important naval base.
Representative government.--The Bermudas were the second English colony
to receive representative government. Besides the governor and council
there was a general assembly, the first being held but a year after the
establishment of the Virginia house of burgesses.
[Illustration: The Bermudas.]
GUIANA
For a hundred years the Caribbean had been a Spanish sea. Hardy English
mariners had frequently penetrated it, but always at their peril, and
they had never seriously injured the Spanish colossus. To gain a
foothold on its shores and to appropriate a portion of the commerce of
tropical America became powerful forces in English activities.
Expeditions.--During the closing years of the reign of Elizabeth, many
English ships visited the coast of Venezuela to procure salt, and after
the treaty of 1604 with Spain, to obtain tobacco. Several attempts
were also made to explore and colonize Guiana. In 1604 Captain Charles
Lea planted a colony on the Wyapoco, but in two years abandoned the
enterprise. During 1606-1607 Sir Thomas Roe traded along the Guiana
coast and explored the swamps of the Cuyuni and Wyapoco. In 1608 Robert
Harcourt and two associates received a patent to lands between the
Amazon and Essequibo rivers. Harcourt with ninety-seven men landed in
Guiana, but after a sojourn of three years he returned to England. Part
of the settlers remained and scattered among the Indians. Harcourt
attempted to obtain more capital, and in 1616 another expedition was
sent out but without success.
Raleigh's last attempt.--Since the first year of the reign of James I,
Raleigh had been imprisoned on a charge of conspiring against the king.
But in 1616 he was released, and having obtained a commission as
admiral, sailed for Guiana the following year with a fleet of fourteen
vessels. Attacked by the Spaniards, he lost several vessels and returned
to England, where, upon complaint of the Spanish ambassador, Gondomar,
he was again imprisoned and soon after executed.
North's expedition.--In 1620 an attempt was made to reorganize Raleigh's
company, and Captain Roger North was sent with one hundred and twenty
men to Guiana, where they joined the remnant of Harcourt's colonists.
But the attempt again failed because of opposition of the Spanish
ambassador.
THE LESSER ANTILLES
The English occupation.--In a great half circle at the eastern end of
the Caribbean are the Lesser Antilles. After the failures on the South
American coast, the English grasped these outposts of the tropics and,
side by side with the French, were soon firmly established across one of
the principal highways of Spanish commerce. In 1623 St. Christopher was
temporarily occupied and was actually settled in 1625. The same year
(1625) Sir William Courten started the first colony in Barbados. In 1627
Lord Carlisle received a grant which covered the Caribbees, and the
following year the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery also obtained rights
to Trinidad. Tobago, and Barbados. In the contest between the claimants
Carlisle won. He ejected Courten's settlers and established his own
colonists. In 1628 Nevis was occupied. The following year the settlers
on St. Christopher and Nevis were evicted by the Spaniards, but upon the
retirement of the fleet the colonists returned to their plantations. In
1632 settlements were made on Antigua and Montserrat. As in the
Bermudas, tobacco became the leading crop, but later the production of
sugar cane superseded it. Barbados soon contained 6,000 inhabitants and
in 1639, when Virginia had a total population of about 7,000, there were
20,000 planters in the islands governed by Carlisle. In the Lesser
Antilles the proprietary form of government prevailed for half a
century.
THE PROVIDENCE ISLAND COMPANY
The Puritan leaders.--During the great struggle between king and
parliament, several of the merchant princes were on the Puritan side.
One of the most powerful of these was Robert Rich, Lord Warwick. He had
been an active member of the Virginia and Somers Islands companies, of
the Guinea and Guiana companies, and of the Council of New England.
Closely associated with Warwick were Lord Saye and Sele, Lord Brooke,
Sir Nathaniel Rich, and John Pym. As the parliamentary contest increased
in intensity, these leaders decided to plant a Puritan colony in the
Caribbean.
The Providence Island Company.--The site selected was on one of the
Mosquito Islands off the coast of Nicaragua. In 1629 a company was
formed which was granted the greater part of the Caribbean Sea, from
Haiti to the coast of Venezuela and to the mainland of Central America.
Besides Jamaica, then in the possession of Spain, the Caymán Islands
fell within these limits. The English fleet which was sent out in 1630
temporarily occupied Tortuga, where colonists from Nevis had recently
arrived, and the company asked that this island be included in the
patent. The request was granted, but the English were able to hold the
island only until 1635 when they were driven out by the Spaniards. The
islands along the Mosquito coast were occupied by the company, and a
project was formed to colonize the mainland. In 1635 Providence Island
was unsuccessfully attacked by a Spanish fleet, but in 1641 the
Spaniards succeeded in overcoming the colony, thus for the time ending
English operations on the Central American coast.
READINGS
VIRGINIA
Becker, Carl, _The Beginnings of the American People_, pp. 65-80; Beer,
G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 78-175; Brown,
Alexander, _Genesis of the United States; The First Republic in
America_; Bruce, P.A., _Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth
Century_, I, 189-330; _Institutional History of Virginia in the
Seventeenth Century_, II, 229-262; Channing, Edward, _History of the
United States_, I, 143-224; Doyle, J.A., _English Colonies in America_,
I, 101-184; Eggleston, Edward, _The Beginners of a Nation_, 25-97;
Fiske, John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, I, 40-222; Hamilton,
P.J., _Colonization of the South_, 55-119; MacDonald, William, _Select
Charters Illustrative of American History_, 1-23; Osgood, H.L., _The
American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, I, 23-97; Scott, W.R.,
_The Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish
Joint-Stock Companies to 1720_, II, 246-289; Tyler, L.G., _England in
America_, 34-103; Tyler, L.G., ed., _Narratives of Early Virginia_;
Wertenbaker, T.J., _Virginia under the Stuarts_, 1-84; Johnston, Mary,
_Pioneers of the Old South_; Flippin, P.S., _The Royal Government in
Virginia, 1624-1775_.
MARYLAND
Brown, W.H., _Maryland_, 1-50; Channing, Edward, _History of the United
States_, I, 241-268; Doyle, J.A., _English Colonies in America_, I,
275-296; Eggleston, Edward, _Beginners of a Nation_, 220-257; Fiske,
John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, I, 255-275; Hall, C.C., ed.,
_Narratives of Early Maryland_; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters_,
53-59; Mereness, N.D., _Maryland as a Proprietary Province_; Osgood,
H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, II, 58-79;
Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 118-132.
THE BERMUDAS AND THE CARIBBEAN
Beer. G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 12-20;
Cunningham, William, _The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in
Modern Times_, I, 331-339: Lucas, C.P., _A Historical Geography of the
British Colonies_, II, 5-14, 43-50; Newton, A.P.. _The Colonizing
Activities of the English Puritans_, 13-282; Scott, W.R., _The
Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish Joint-Stock
Companies to 1720_, II, 259-299, 327-337; Tilby, A.W., _Britain in the
Tropics_, 44-50.
CHAPTER VII
THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND (1606-1640)
THE PURITAN MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND
The Puritans.--While the planting of colonies on the shores of
Chesapeake Bay and on the Caribbean islands was in progress, other
settlements were being formed in New England by English Separatists and
Puritans. By the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth the Anglican church
was firmly established, but it was not long before groups within the
church began to show dissatisfaction. At first protests were made
against some of the ceremonies and formulas of the service. After 1570
the Puritans, as they were derisively called, began to object to the
episcopal form of government and to advocate the Presbyterian or
Calvinistic system, which was based upon the idea of a representative
form of church government. During the later years of the reign the
Puritans laid more and more stress on morals. They believed that life
should be sternly ascetic, that the Sabbath should be kept strictly, and
that pleasures and extravagance should be suppressed.
The Independents.--Most of the Puritans had no wish to withdraw from the
church, but desired to reform it. A more radical group, however, who
became known as Independents, looked upon the national church as an
unholy institution contrary to scripture. They wished to reëstablish the
church as it was believed to be in the days of the Apostles. There were
several groups of Independents or Separatists, the various groups being
named after their leaders, the followers of Robert Brown being known as
Brownists, those of Henry Barrow as Barrowists. They met in small groups
which were called conventicles. The English church, through the Court of
High Commission, proceeded with considerable severity against the
Puritans, whom they attempted to make conform, but against the
Separatists they showed no mercy, breaking up the conventicles,
imprisoning many, and hanging some of the leaders.
James I and the Non-Conformists.--Soon after James I became king, the
Puritans presented a petition asking for changes in the church. The king
called the Hampton Court Conference that he might hear the views of the
various parties. James soon found that many of the Puritans believed in
presbyteries, a form of government with which he had had unpleasant
experiences in Scotland, and he angrily ended the conference. Shortly
afterward, because of the so-called "Gunpowder Plot," the king became
convinced that he was personally in danger. From this time on he
supported the Anglican church. Severe laws were passed against the
Catholics, and the laws against Non-Conformists were enforced with
greater vigor.
PLYMOUTH COLONY
Failures of the Plymouth Company.--The Plymouth Company, which received
its charter in 1606, took immediate measures to occupy its territories.
In that year two unsuccessful attempts were made to found colonies. The
information brought back, however, so interested the company that
another expedition was fitted out the following year. Colonists were
landed at the mouth of the Kennebec River; but great hardships were
experienced during the winter, and in the spring the discouraged
settlers abandoned the enterprise.
Activity on the New England Coast, 1607-1619.--No successful settlement
in New England was made until 1620, but in the meantime the coast was
frequently visited. In 1613 Captain Argall attacked the French
settlements at Mount Desert, Port Royal, and St. Croix. The following
year John Smith explored and mapped the New England coast. In 1615 he
was made Admiral of New England by the Plymouth Company and he attempted
to found a colony, but it proved a failure. Several fishing and trading
voyages were also made under the direction of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, an
influential member of the Plymouth Company.
The Council for New England.--The failure of the company to plant a
colony led Gorges and others who were still interested to petition for a
new charter; on November 13, 1620, the document passed the seals
incorporating the Council for New England, which was given jurisdiction
over the territory from 40° to 48° north latitude.
Origin of the Pilgrims.--The first permanent settlement in New England
was not the work of the Council, but of a group of Independents.
Separatist congregations were located at Scrooby, Gainsborough, and
Austerfield, villages in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire.
In the Scrooby congregation were three men of unusual ability, Pastor
John Robinson, Elder William Brewster, and William Bradford. To avoid
persecution many Separatists had migrated to Amsterdam, and there in
1608 Robinson and his followers gathered, removing later to Leyden. From
time to time a few others joined them, among the late comers being John
Carver and Miles Standish. Most of the congregation found the making of
a livelihood among the Dutch extremely difficult. In spite of this, some
of them enrolled in the University of Leyden and Brewster set up a
printing press from which appeared several theological works.
Reasons for removal from Holland.--By 1617 the leaders determined to
seek new lands. Bradford in his _History of Plymouth Plantation_ gives
the following reasons for removal: (1) Daily life was so hard in Holland
that few cared to emigrate there and in consequence the congregation did
not grow; (2) many were growing old, and there was fear that the
congregation would soon break up; (3) life was too hard for the
children, and in addition many were slipping away, some becoming
soldiers and sailors; it was also found that the morals of the young
were endangered in the gay city of Leyden; (4) it was hoped to spread
the gospel in remote lands. In addition, intermarriage with the Dutch
had begun and it was evident that the little community would soon lose
its English identity.
Removal to America.--Guiana, New Netherlands, and Virginia were
discussed as possible places for settlement, the last named being the
final choice. A patent was obtained from the Virginia Company, and John
Carver was made governor. Seven thousand pounds were raised by Thomas
Weston and other merchant adventurers to back the enterprise. A portion
of the Leyden congregation sailed for England, and at Southampton met
with others from London, who had determined to join them. The company,
including Carver, Brewster, Bradford, and Standish, left England in the
_Mayflower_ and the _Speedwell_, but the latter proving unseaworthy,
about twenty abandoned the enterprise. The _Mayflower_ arrived at Cape
Cod in November, 1620.
The Mayflower Compact.--As the region was outside of the jurisdiction of
the Virginia Company, the colonists on their own initiative drew up what
is known as the Mayflower Compact, by which they combined into a civil
body politic, and agreed to enact such just and equitable laws as were
for the general welfare of the colony. After the signing of the compact,
Governor Carver was confirmed in his office. The Mayflower Compact marks
the origin of the English colony based upon a social compact the basis
of which was the will of the colonists rather than that of the
sovereign. Of a similar nature were Rhode Island, Connecticut, New
Haven, and New Hampshire in their inception, and in the latter half of
the eighteenth century, when the frontiersman had crossed the mountains
and freed himself from the restraints of the tidewater governments, the
social compact became the basis of western state making.
Settlement at Plymouth.--Exploring parties were sent along the shores of
Massachusetts Bay, and Plymouth was selected as the site for the colony,
but the classic story of the landing on Plymouth Rock is now known to be
only a romance. From the first, settlers suffered exceedingly. Bradford
describes the situation as follows: "But that which was most sadd and
lamentable was, that in 2. or 3. moneths time halfe of their company
dyed, espetialy in Jan: and February, being the depth of winter, and
wanting houses and other comforts; being infected with the scurvie and
other diseases...; so as ther dyed some times 2. or 3. of a day, in the
foresaid time; that of 100 and odd persons, scarce 50. remained. And of
these in the time of most distres, ther was but 6. or 7. sound persons."
Indians, fur trade and maize.--The region which the Pilgrims had
selected for their first settlement was almost deserted by the Indians,
many of them having been swept away by a plague. At some distance to the
southward lived the Wampanoags, whose chief was Massasoit. Shortly after
the arrival of the Pilgrims an Indian named Squanto, who previously had
been carried to Europe by one of Smith's captains, appeared in the
settlement. Squanto prevailed upon Massasoit to come to Plymouth, where
a treaty of peace was made which lasted for fifty years. This led to the
opening of a fur trade, which became the chief source of wealth for the
colony. Squanto proved to be of great service, teaching the settlers the
planting of maize and instructing them in hunting and fishing. Carver
died in the spring of 1621, and William Bradford was elected governor, a
position which he held almost continually until 1657. In the fall the
_Fortune_, poorly provisioned, arrived with thirty-five settlers, an
influx which led to another winter of hardship. The boat also brought a
patent from the Council for New England.
"Weston's rude fellows."--In May, 1622, sixty-seven persons arrived,
having been sent out by Thomas Weston, who had obtained a grant from the
Council for New England. Later they moved to Wessagusset, where they
lived a turbulent life. In 1623 the Indians to the northward planned to
exterminate the Wessagusset settlers, who appealed to Plymouth for aid.
Captain Miles Standish led a force against the Indians, who were so
severely punished that peace was established.
Expansion of Plymouth.--At first the wealth of the colony was held in a
common stock. Bradford determined to assign a tract of land to each
family, an experiment which greatly stimulated industry. From this time
the colonists were never in danger of starvation, and in a few years
they were able to pay off their debts to the English merchants. To
increase the fur trade, posts were established on Buzzard's Bay, on the
Kennebec River, at Penobscot, and at Machias Bay, the two latter posts,
however, being soon broken up by the French. A group of traders who
established themselves at Merry Mount under Thomas Morton shocked the
austere people of Plymouth, who in 1628 broke up Morton's establishment.
A trade was opened with the Dutch, and in 1636 a fur trading post was
established on the Connecticut River. In 1624 there were one hundred and
eighty settlers in the Plymouth colony, and in 1630 only three hundred;
but after that the number increased rapidly, by 1642 the population
being three thousand.
Government of the colony.--The first governor exercised executive and
judicial powers, and the same powers were vested in Bradford and an
assistant. The number of assistants was increased in 1624 to five and
in 1633 to seven. The freemen composed the legislative body, which was
called the General Court, one of its sessions being devoted annually to
the election of officers. In 1638 a representative system was
introduced, Plymouth being allowed four delegates and other towns two
each. Legally every freeman could vote, but in practice the suffrage was
restricted to church members. Pastors and elders were elected by the
adult males of each congregation, and attendance at church meetings was
vigorously enforced.
COLONIZING ATROCITIES ON THE NEW ENGLAND COAST
Land grants and settlements.--While Plymouth was developing, the Council
for New England was attempting to settle the New England coast. The
region from the Bay of Fundy to Narragansett Bay was divided among
twenty patentees. Captain John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges procured
a patent to lands between the Kennebec and Merrimac rivers; Mason
received lands between Salem and the Merrimac; Sir Robert Gorges ten
miles of coast lands along "the north east side of Boston Bay," and Lord
Sheffield and Lord Edward Gorges extensive tracts to the south of Sir
Robert Gorges's lands. Lord Warwick also received lands on Massachusetts
Bay. The grantees obtained the assistance of English merchants, who, in
1623 established small settlements at Portsmouth and Dover, within the
present state of New Hampshire, and at Saco Bay, Monhegan Island, and
Casco Bay, within the modern state of Maine. Sir Robert Gorges made an
unsuccessful attempt to plant a settlement at Weymouth, and a group of
Dorchester merchants planted a settlement on Cape Ann.
Lyford, Oldham, and Morton.--In 1624 a group of colonists, including a
minister named John Lyford, arrived at Plymouth. There he joined with
John Oldham to get control of the government. They were banished from
the colony and went to Weymouth, where they joined with Roger Conant and
others, and moved to Nantasket. The following year, on the invitation of
the Dorchester men, Lyford, Conant, and Oldham moved to Cape Ann. This
angered the Plymouth people, who had obtained a tract on Cape Ann from
Lord Sheffield. Difficulties over fishing rights soon developed, and
Miles Standish was sent to the cape with a troop of soldiers. A
compromise was effected, but the Plymouth men soon abandoned the
enterprise. The Dorchester men found little profit in the business and
in 1626 most of them departed. Oldham returned to Plymouth. Conant and
three others remained, but shortly afterward removed to Naumkeag, the
modern Salem. In 1625 a settlement was established a little north of
Weymouth, where Thomas Morton became the leader. He established the
Episcopalian service, set up a May-pole which became the scene of
gaiety, and engaged in the fur trade, but Plymouth men soon broke up the
settlement.
The Canada and Laconia companies.--When war broke out between England
and France in 1628, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason
organized the Canada Company to conquer the French fur-trading colonies
of Acadia and Canada, and in 1629 a fleet under Captain Kirke captured
the French colonies, but in 1632 they were restored to France. The Maine
proprietors also attempted to tap the fur trade of the Lake Champlain
region and accordingly, in 1629, obtained a grant embracing the lake
country and a thousand acres of sea coast land, the territory being
known as Laconia. A governor was appointed and attempts made to
penetrate the fur country in the interior, but the efforts proved
abortive.
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY
Rev. John White's association.--The Reverend John White of Dorchester
interested people in Lincolnshire and London, and formed an association,
which, through the assistance of Warwick, in 1628 procured a patent for
lands between the parallel which passed three miles north of the source
of the Merrimac to that which passed three miles south of the head of
the Charles River, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In September,
1628, John Endicott with about fifty followers arrived at Salem.
The Massachusetts Bay Company.--Trouble for the new association was
brewing in England. Members of the Gorges family attempted to interfere
with the new settlement, and Morton and Oldham joined with them. The new
association, however, succeeded in defeating the former patentees, and
in March, 1629, a royal charter was obtained which confirmed the grant
made to Endicott and his partners. The new corporation was called the
"Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England." The
administration was placed in the hands of a governor, deputy governor,
and eighteen assistants, who were to be elected annually by the freemen
or members of the corporation. Four times a year the officers and
freemen were to meet in a general court at which new freemen might be
admitted to membership, subordinate officers might be appointed, and
laws and ordinances enacted. On June 27, 1629, five ships with about
four hundred settlers arrived at Salem.
The Cambridge agreement.--At this time Laud had begun his persecution of
the Puritans and the king had started on his career of personal
government. Under these circumstances the Puritan leaders looked to the
New World for an asylum. John Winthrop, a wealthy gentleman of Groton in
Suffolk, who had been a follower of Warwick in parliament, now became
interested in the Massachusetts enterprise. Winthrop and several
prominent men of Cambridge met and agreed to emigrate to New England
provided the charter and government might be legally transferred to
America. The company decided to transfer the government. Winthrop was
made governor, and Thomas Dudley deputy governor.
The "Great Migration."--In June, 1630, eleven ships anchored at Salem
and before the winter six more arrived, bringing in all over a thousand
people. They found Endicott's followers in a deplorable condition. About
one-fourth had died during the previous winter; many of the survivors
were sick and there was a shortage of provisions. The new arrivals had
brought only a limited supply and for the first year famine stalked in
the land. The dreary prospect caused about a hundred of the newcomers to
return immediately to England. Winthrop and most of his followers
removed to Charlestown. By December two hundred had died. Believing that
the inadequate water supply at Charlestown was the main cause of
sickness, the settlers began to scatter, and before the new year
settlements had been started at Dorchester, Boston, Watertown, Roxbury,
Mystic, and Lynn.
The hardships endured by the followers of Endicott and Winthrop
prevented many from coming during 1631 and 1632, but in 1633 a new wave
of migration set in. Laud became arch-bishop in that year and began a
rigorous enforcement of the laws against nonconformists. Many ministers
with their congregations in consequence migrated. By the end of 1634
there were nearly four thousand settlers in Massachusetts. The migration
continued until the outbreak of war in 1642, by which time the
population had increased to about sixteen thousand.
The form of government.--The charter vested the government in the
governor, deputy governor, assistants, and freemen of the company but
not more than twelve of the colonists were legally eligible to
membership in the general court. Before disembarking this little group
decided that each of the assistants should exercise the same powers as
an English justice of the peace. The colony was to be governed by the
common law of England, which was to be supplemented by biblical law. At
the first general court, held at Boston, October 19, 1630, one hundred
and nine men applied for admission as freemen of the corporation. This
Winthrop and his associates hesitated to grant, but finally they agreed
to admit them, allowing them to elect assistants, but not to hold
office. It was also provided that in future no person should be admitted
as a freeman unless a member of some church within the colony. Though
Winthrop and his followers at first claimed to be members of the Church
of England, the necessities of the frontier soon asserted themselves,
and each community became a political, economic, and a religious unit.
The New England towns.--The New England towns were based upon the idea
of group settlement and wherever New Englanders migrated the local
organization was reproduced. As Professor Osgood says, "The settlement
of a town normally began with the laying out of a village plot and the
assignment of home lots. This to an extent determined the location of
highways, of the village common, and of some of the outlying fields. On
or near the common the church was built, and in not a few cases the site
that was chosen for this building went far toward determining the entire
lay-out of the town. The idea of a home lot was a plot of ground for a
dwelling-house and outbuildings, for a dooryard and garden, and usually
also an enclosure for feeding cattle and raising corn."
The first settlers located wherever they pleased, but the Massachusetts
general court soon took over the superintendence of town founding and
prescribed more or less definitely the boundaries of each town. The
grants were made in tracts of thirty-six square miles or more. Within a
town there were many common fields which were handled by associated
proprietors. The fields were surrounded by common fences and were
cultivated by a joint system. The herds were also held in common. The
original grantees and their legal heirs or successors made up the
commoners or proprietors. Originally the town and the proprietors were
approximately the same. An important function of the town meeting was in
allotting land. Soon each community began to receive newcomers who were
freemen but not proprietors. At first the proprietors were in control,
but as the freemen increased in number frequent struggles occurred over
the arrangement of town lands.
[Illustration: Principal Settlements in Massachusetts, 1630.]
The meeting house was the center of local life. There the town meeting
was held and there the people repaired on the Sabbath. In early days the
military stores and equipment were usually kept in the edifice and the
men attended service with arms in hand. The town constructed and took
care of the meeting house and the minister was supported by taxation.
One of the early acts of each town was to establish a school, the
meeting house frequently being used as a school-house.
A representative system introduced.--The governor and assistants soon
found their power challenged. In 1632 a tax was voted for fortifying
Newtown, the modern Cambridge. The tax caused considerable grumbling,
and the general court decided that, in future, the governor and
assistants should be advised in matters of taxation by two delegates
from each town, and that all magistrates should be elected by the entire
body of freemen. In 1634 a committee of two freemen from each town
demanded larger rights. The result was a representative system, each
town sending representatives according to its size to meet with the
general court. This system was in no sense a popular government, the
franchise continuing to be restricted to a limited number of church
members, the leaders of whom were distinctly aristocratic.
The struggle with Laud.--The patentees who had been deprived of their
rights found a ready listener in Archbishop Laud, who disliked the
Puritan commonwealth growing so lustily on the shores of Massachusetts
Bay. Grounds for accusation were found in the fact that the
Massachusetts magistrates expelled those who disagreed with their
religious ideas. Complaints were filed with the privy council by Gorges
and Mason, but a committee of the council in 1633 made a report which
was favorable to the colony. In 1634 the attack was renewed, and this
time with better success, for the king appointed the Commission for
Foreign Plantations, headed by Laud, to take over the general
supervision of all the colonies. Immediately a demand was made for the
charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Governor Dudley and the
assistants replied that the charter could not be returned except by
order of the general court, which was not in session. They immediately
fortified Castle Island, Dorchester, and Charlestown.
In 1635 the coast of New England was reapportioned, Sir Ferdinando
Gorges receiving the lands in Maine between the Penobscot and the
Piscataqua, Mason receiving New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts as
far as Cape Ann, and Lord Edward Gorges from Cape Ann to Narragansett
Bay. The same year the Council for New England resigned its charter, and
the king decided to seize the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company.
The pecuniary difficulties of the king, the destruction of a boat which
was built by Mason and Gorges, and the death of Mason combined to help
the colony. Though the charter was again demanded in 1638 by the lord
commissioners, the general court refused to recognize the order, and the
increasing difficulties of the king made it possible for the
Massachusetts authorities to continue their independent course.
EXPANSION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY
RHODE ISLAND
Roger Williams.--The power of the Massachusetts magistrates was
exercised to maintain the ideal of a biblical commonwealth, whose
principles were expounded by John Cotton of the Boston church. Those who
did not agree were in danger. Among the dissenters was Roger Williams, a
brilliant young student from Cambridge, who arrived at Boston in 1631,
where he was invited to become one of the ministers. He refused to
commune with those who had not broken with the English church and
repaired to Salem where he was invited to become the minister, but the
general court prevented his ordination. Williams soon departed for
Plymouth, where he devoted much time to the study of the Indians. He
concluded that the title to land belonged to the natives and that the
king had no right to grant it away, a view which somewhat disturbed
Brewster and Bradford.
He returned to Salem where, during the illness of Skelton, the pastor,
he occasionally preached; when Skelton died, Williams became the teacher
of the organization. In his sermons he argued that church and state
should be separate, and denied the right of the magistrates to regulate
churches. He also considered it a sin to follow the forms of the
established church. When the colony was attacked by Laud, the general
court ordered that a new oath of fidelity be taken. Williams objected to
enforced oaths, as he thought that they obliged wicked men to perform a
religious act, thus invading the freedom of the soul.
Providence plantation.--To punish Salem for harboring Williams, title to
its lands on Marble Neck was refused by the general court and the town
was denied the right of representation. Endicott yielded but Williams
remained obdurate. In a letter to the churches he protested against the
arbitrary act. Williams was summoned before the magistrates and in
October, 1635, was sentenced to banishment. The sentence was not
immediately enforced and at Salem he continued to be the center of a
group of Separatists, who proposed to remove in the spring to the shores
of Narragansett Bay. This again alarmed the magistrates, and they
decided to send Williams to England. Hearing of the project, he fled
from his persecutors and found refuge among the Narragansett Indians. He
was warned away from the territory of Plymouth, and in June, 1636,
settled at Providence, where he soon had a considerable following, this
being the first settlement in Rhode Island.
Title to the land was obtained from the Indians. As the Providence
people were outside of any special jurisdiction, they established a
government on democratic lines. Church and state were kept separate, no
one being forced to support religion. In 1640 an agreement was drawn up
which served as a form of government for several years. The governing
body was composed of five men called disposers, who were chosen four
times in each year. They disposed of the land and managed the common
stock. The freeholders retained the right to ratify or disavow, in
general meetings, the acts of the disposers. There was a lack of a
strong executive and judiciary. Disputes were usually settled by
arbitration, but as there was no authority to enforce the settlement,
disorders frequently occurred.
Anne Hutchinson.--No sooner had Williams been driven from Massachusetts
Bay Colony than a second controversy shook the commonwealth. In the
congregation of John Cotton was Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. She became popular
by ministering to the sick, and began to hold meetings for women, where
the sermons were discussed. Mrs. Hutchinson assumed the roll of teacher,
discussing the questions of "a covenant of works" and "a covenant of
grace," By the covenant of works she referred to the practice of the
Catholic church, which considered penance, confession, and pilgrimages
as means of salvation. By a covenant of grace she meant that condition
of mind of Protestant Christians which found peace in the thought of the
holiness of Christ. She believed that the divine spirit existed in every
true Christian. John Cotton and her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright,
were held up as examples of those who lived in the covenant of grace. To
many of the Boston leaders it seemed as if Mrs. Hutchinson claimed to be
inspired, and they feared that her teachings would endanger the
authority of the church.
The Boston congregation split into two factions. In Mrs. Hutchinson's
party was Governor Harry Vane. On the other side were John Winthrop and
the pastor, John Wilson. Cotton attempted to remain neutral but favored
the Hutchinsonian party. The question soon became a bitter political
quarrel between Winthrop and Vane. At the election in 1637 Vane was
defeated. Without the support of the chief executive the followers of
Mrs. Hutchinson soon lost power. A synod of ministers was held at
Cambridge to root out the heresies. Cotton succeeded in making his peace
with the magistrates, but Wheelwright was banished, as was Mrs.
Hutchinson. She was allowed to remain in the colony during the winter,
but early in the spring of 1638 Winthrop ordered her to depart.
Settlements on Rhode Island.--She found a temporary asylum at
Providence, but soon went to the island of Aquidneck, afterward called
Rhode Island, where she joined her husband and some of her friends. The
little group of nineteen settlers constituted themselves a body politic,
electing William Coddington chief magistrate. Many emigrants joined the
people of Portsmouth and in 1639 a new settlement was founded at
Newport.
SETTLEMENTS IN THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY
Early claimants.--One of the patentees who had received lands from the
Council of New England was the Earl of Warwick, whose grant covered a
large part of the Connecticut Valley. In 1631 he transferred his rights
to Lord Saye and Sele, Lord Brooke and others, who contemplated founding
a Puritan colony, but for several years they did nothing to settle their
domain. In 1633 the Dutch erected a fort where Hartford now stands, and
shortly afterward men from Plymouth built a trading post ten miles
farther up the river. In 1635 the English patentees, wearied with the
Providence Island project, sent out settlers under John Winthrop, Jr.,
who erected Fort Saybrook at the mouth of the river. Scarcely were the
cannon in place when a Dutch vessel appeared, but finding the English
strongly posted, the Dutch made no attempt to take possession.
The migration of 1635-36.--A more important movement came from
Massachusetts. Congregations from Watertown, Dorchester, and Cambridge,
desiring better lands, migrated to the rich Connecticut Valley. The
first Dorchester men arrived at Windsor in the summer of 1635. In June,
1636, the Rev. Thomas Hooker led the Cambridge people to Hartford, the
rest of the Dorchester congregation joined those already at Windsor, and
the people of Watertown settled at Wethersfield. By the end of 1636
eight hundred people were living in the three towns. Another
congregation from Roxbury settled at Springfield.
The Pequot War.--The Pequot Indians saw with chagrin the increasing
numbers of the whites. The settlers also angered them by purchasing
lands from the Mohegans, and ignoring the Pequot chiefs. In 1633 the
Pequots had murdered a Virginia sea-captain named Stone, and Governor
Winthrop had inquired concerning the homicide. In 1634, fearing the
Dutch and the Narragansetts, the Pequots had sought an alliance with
Massachusetts Bay Colony. As a price of forgiveness for Stone's murder
and for protection, Winthrop demanded heavy tribute. In 1636 John
Oldham, who had come to collect the tribute, was murdered at Block
Island. Though the Pequots were probably not guilty, Endicott led a
force against them, destroying several wigwams and seizing considerable
maize. Angered by the raid, the Pequots attempted to form an alliance
with the Narragansetts, but Williams prevented it, and in the ensuing
war Mohegans and Narragansetts fought on the white man's side. In the
spring of 1637 Pequots attacked Wethersfield. A general court was
immediately convened at Hartford to take measures for protection, and an
expedition was sent against the Pequot fort on the Mystic River, where
the defenders were exterminated. Another stronghold to the westward was
also destroyed. A remnant of the tribe was wiped out near New Haven by
Connecticut and Massachusetts troops and the captives were made slaves,
some being retained in New England, others being shipped to the West
Indies. The Indian menace was thus removed and the settlers were free to
push farther into the wilderness.
"The Fundamental Orders."--In 1639 Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield
formed a constitution, which provided that the freemen were to hold two
general meetings each year. At one of these meetings the governor and
assistants were elected, who, with four representatives from each town,
were to make up a general court with legislative and judicial powers.
New Haven.--The successful issue of the Pequot War opened the
Connecticut Valley to another important migration. This was led by Rev.
John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, who had come to New England to
plant a colony on purely theocratic lines. In 1638 they founded New
Haven, and the following year drew up a form of government. Citizenship
was restricted to church membership and an annual general court of
freemen was to elect a governor and assistants, who were to conduct all
governmental affairs, the only restriction on their authority being the
law of Moses. Guilford, Milford, and Stamford sprang up in the
neighborhood, and each adopted a similar form of government.
Settlement of Long Island.--English settlements also appeared on Long
Island. In 1632 Sir Edmund Plowden obtained a grant from Charles I of
Long Island and a portion of the adjoining coasts. Three years later the
Council for New England assigned Long Island to Sir William Alexander.
In 1640 settlers from New Haven obtained a title to Long Island from
Alexander's representative and settled at Southold. Others from
Massachusetts attempted a settlement opposite Manhattan, but, being
driven away by the Dutch, moved to Southampton at the eastern end of the
island.
READINGS
GENERAL
Andrews, C.M., _The Fathers of New England_, _passim_; Becker, Carl,
_The Beginnings of the American People_, 80-124.
THE PURITAN MOVEMENT AND THE PLYMOUTH COLONY
Adams, C.F., _Three Episodes of Massachusetts History_, I, 1-182; Arber,
Edward, _The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers_; Bradford, William, _History
of Plymouth Plantation_; Channing, Edward, _History of the United
States_, I, 271-321; Cheyney, E.P., _European Background of American
History_, 216-239; Dexter, Morton, _The England and Holland of the
Pilgrims_; _The Story of the Pilgrims_; Doyle, J.A., _The Puritan
Colonies_, I, 11-81; Eggleston, Edward, _The Beginners of a Nation_,
98-181; Fiske, John, _The Beginnings of New England_, 60-87; Griffis,
W.E., _The Pilgrims in their Three Homes_; Neal, D., _History of the
Pilgrims_; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth
Century_, I, 98-137; Palfrey, J.G., _History of New England_, I,
101-238; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 148-182; Weeden, W.B.,
_Economic and Social History of New England_, I, 8-45; Young, Alexander,
_Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers_; Usher, R.G., _The Pilgrims and
Their History_.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY
Buffington, A.H., "New England and the Western Fur Trade, 1629-1675," in
Colonial Society of Massachusetts, _Publications_, XXVIII, 160-192;
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 322-351; Doyle,
J.A., _The Puritan Colonies_, I, 83-112; Eggleston, Edward, _Beginners
of a Nation_, 188-215; Ellis, G.E., _The Puritan Age and Rule_; Fiske,
John, _The Beginnings of New England_, 88-111; Johnson, Edward,
_Wonder-Working Providence_; Newton, A.P., _The Colonizing Activities of
the English Puritans_; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the
Seventeenth Century_, I, 141-199, 424-467; Palfrey, J.G., _History of
New England_, I, 283-405; _A Compendious History of New England_, I,
91-133; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 183-209; Weeden, W.B.,
_Economic and Social History of New England_, I, 47-164; Winthrop, John,
_Journal_.
RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 362-411; Doyle,
J.A., _The Puritan Colonies_, I, 113-199; Eggleston, Edward, _Beginners
of a Nation_, 266-346; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the
Seventeenth Century_, I, 224-254, 301-370; Richman, I.B., _Rhode Island,
a Study in Separatism_, 13-61; _Rhode Island, its Making and its
Meaning_, 3-62; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 210-264; Weeden,
W.B., _Early Rhode Island_.
CHAPTER VIII
THE ENGLISH COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1640-1660)
POLITICS, ADMINISTRATION, AND EXPANSION
Attitude of the colonies during the Puritan Revolution.--The personal
rule of Charles I came to an end in 1641 and for eight years England was
convulsed with civil war. During the struggle both Royalists and
Parliamentarians claimed jurisdiction over the colonies, but neither was
able to exert authority, and each colony followed its own course. The
New England settlements were largely Puritan and naturally sided with
parliament. In Maryland two factions formed, one Protestant, the other
in favor of the Catholic proprietor. Virginia and the West Indies were
almost entirely on the king's side. Incapable of rendering assistance,
they attempted to maintain neutrality until the contest in England was
decided.
The Bermudas and expansion in the West Indies.--In the Bermudas the
colonists were divided, but the company leaders were Puritans. In 1643
the Independents seceded from the established Church, and two years
later parliament granted freedom of worship in the islands. Religious
feeling in the Bermudas led to a migration to a new asylum. In 1646
Captain William Sayle, who had been governor, led a colony to Segatoo,
one of the Bahamas, which he now called Eleutheria, in allusion to the
aim of the project. Later on Bermudans conducted extensive salt works in
the Turks Islands in spite of frequent attacks by the Spaniards.
The Commonwealth, 1649-1653.--The military party, dominated by Cromwell,
drove from parliament all those who hesitated to execute the king, the
remnant being known as the Rump Parliament. It named a Council of State
which was to carry on the executive work. The Commonwealth proceeded at
once to overthrow its enemies outside of England. Rebellions in Ireland
and Scotland were ruthlessly put down; the navy was greatly
strengthened, and Admiral Sir George Ayscue was sent to the West Indies
and Virginia to overthrow the Royalists. Friction with the Dutch had
been growing for some time, due mainly to rivalry for the commerce of
the East and West Indies and the growing trade of the Dutch along the
Atlantic seaboard. Navigation laws were passed in 1650 and 1651 which
were intended to deprive the Dutch of the trade of England and her
possessions. War followed in 1652 and lasted for two years with varying
success.
Colonial administration during the Commonwealth.--Colonial
administration was carried on by various committees of parliament or of
the Council of State. On March 2, 1650, the Council of State ordered
that the entire council or any five of the members, should be a
Committee for Trade and Plantations. In 1652 the Council of State
appointed a standing committee of Trade, Plantations, and Foreign
Affairs of which Cromwell and Vane were members. Special committees were
also appointed from time to time to handle special colonial business or
committees already in existence discussed matters referred to them.
Acquisition of Jamaica.--In December, 1653, Cromwell was made Lord
Protector for life and in 1654 the war with the Dutch was brought to a
close. To divert attention from home affairs Cromwell desired a foreign
war. West Indian expansion had brought England into close contact with
Spain. The aggressive acts of the latter against the Providence Island
Company and the intercepting of English ships, gave a ready excuse for
reprisals. Admiral Penn sailed from England on Christmas Day, 1654, in
command of a large fleet to attack the Spanish. An attempt to gain a
footing in Española was a complete failure, but Jamaica proved to be an
easy prize and became a permanent English possession.
Colonial administration during the Protectorate.--The Council of State
lost most of its powers and became simply the advisory council of
Cromwell. The committee system of the council was continued. In 1655 a
special committee for Jamaica was appointed, and about the same time a
Committee for Foreign Plantations. The Protector also obtained the
assistance of a body of officers and merchants to advise regarding
colonial affairs.
NEW ENGLAND DEVELOPMENT
The period from 1640 to 1660 was one of practical independence for the
New England colonies. This neglect and freedom from interference gave
rise to three distinct developments: the formulation of provincial codes
of law, the confederation of the colonies and of settlements within
colonies, and territorial expansion.
[Illustration: Settled areas in New England, about 1660.]
The Massachusetts Body of Liberties.--The first of the colonial codes to
be formulated was the Massachusetts Body of Liberties adopted by the
general court in 1641. It provided for the protection of the private and
political rights of the individual, methods of judicial procedure,
rights of women, children, servants, foreigners, and strangers, the
protection of animals, and the rights of the churches. Death penalties
were specified, the capital crimes being the worshiping of false gods,
witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, manslaughter, kidnaping, bearing false
witness, and treason. Provision was also made for trial by jury. The
code was amended from time to time, arson, cursing or smiting of
parents, burglary, and highway robbery being added to the fist of
capital crimes. The Massachusetts code became the basis of the
Connecticut code of 1650 and the New Haven code of 1656.
Causes of federation.--The development of self-government was fostered
not only by neglect on the part of England, but also by the necessity of
protection. Being hedged in on the north by the French and on the west
by the Dutch, and with hostile Indian tribes encircling the English
frontiers, the various groups of settlements were in danger.
Massachusetts was strong enough to protect herself, but the settlements
in the Connecticut Valley and on Long Island were menaced by the Dutch
and Indians.
One of the fruitful causes of dispute between New England and the Dutch
was the fur-trade. The choicest hunting grounds to the west were
possessed by the Dutch and Swedes. To obtain a foothold on the Delaware,
the upper Connecticut, and the Hudson became a settled economic policy
of several of the New England colonies and was a potent factor in the
formation of the New England Confederation. To exploit the Delaware
River trade a company was formed at New Haven and in 1641 a settlement
was made at Varkens Kill on the site of modern Salem, New Jersey, and
later another post was established at the mouth of the Schuylkill, above
the Dutch and Swedish forts. The Dutch, probably assisted by the Swedes,
destroyed the Schuylkill fort, and the settlement at Varkens Kill did
not prosper, most of the settlers dying or removing to New Haven.
Massachusetts also attempted to obtain a share in the Delaware trade. In
1644 prominent merchants of Boston formed a company, but when their
pinnace appeared in the Delaware, it was turned back by the Dutch, and
shortly afterwards a small group of Boston traders were severely handled
by the Indians.
The New England Confederation.--For several years plans for a
confederation had been discussed, but the Dutch war against the Indians
in 1642 and the struggle between De la Tour and D'Aulnay in Acadia
brought matters to a head. At the general court which met at Boston on
May 10, 1643, commissioners from Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut,
and New Haven signed a compact, Rhode Island and the settlements in
Maine being excluded. The government of the confederation was placed in
the hands of two commissioners from each of the four colonies. Internal
affairs were not to be interfered with, but the confederation was to
determine matters of war and foreign relations. Expenses were to be
assessed on the colonies according to population. A vote of six
commissioners was necessary to determine matters, the three small
colonies thus being able to override Massachusetts. The confederation
contained two serious defects which eventually led to its abandonment.
The central government had no authority over individuals, and the equal
vote of each colony violated the principle of representative government,
Massachusetts having no more power then her weaker neighbors.
Work of the Confederation.--No incident occurred to require action on
the part of the confederation until 1645, when the Narragansetts
attacked the Mohegans. A force of three hundred men was raised by the
confederation, an action which brought the Narragansetts to terms
without hostilities. When a society for the propagation of the faith was
incorporated in England to assist the missionary efforts of John Eliot
and Thomas Mayhew, the commissioners handled the funds. When questions
of boundaries and customs arose, they were settled by the commissioners.
When Massachusetts assisted De la Tour against D'Aulnay, the
commissioners exerted their influence to keep the colony from
interfering in French affairs. In 1650 a treaty was made between
Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor, and the commissioners, with the result
that the Dutch retained their fort at Hartford, but were otherwise
excluded from the Connecticut Valley and the eastern part of Long
Island. The English were granted the right of colonization on the
Delaware, but when New Haven men attempted to found a settlement, they
were turned back by the Dutch and the confederation failed to take
action. When hostilities broke out between the Dutch and English in
1651, the three smaller colonies desired war, but the Massachusetts
general court refused, and when Cromwell's fleet appeared at Boston in
1654 on its way to attack the Dutch settlements, Massachusetts continued
her opposition. Possible complications were averted by the treaty of
peace. The action of Massachusetts in the relations with the Dutch so
weakened the confederation that it soon ceased to be an important factor
in New England history.
The Puritan movement into New Hampshire.--Massachusetts took advantage
of the disturbed conditions in England to absorb the territory to the
northward. In 1629 Mason had obtained a second patent for a tract
extending sixty miles inland and lying between the Merrimac and
Piscataqua rivers, which he named New Hampshire, and Mason and Gorges
obtained title to lands between the Merrimac and Kennebec. In 1631 the
two patentees and others obtained a tract of twenty thousand acres which
included the Portsmouth settlement. In 1633 the English merchants who
had founded Dover sold their shares in the settlement to Lord Saye and
Sele, Lord Brooke, and others, a transaction which was followed by a
Puritan migration. The same noblemen also obtained title to the
Portsmouth settlement. During the Hutchinsonian controversy, Wheelwright
and others found refuge at Dover, but shortly afterward established
themselves at Exeter. Massachusetts claimed that the New Hampshire
settlements fell within her boundaries, and in 1641, upon the suggestion
of Lord Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke, extended her jurisdiction over
Portsmouth and Dover. In 1643 Exeter also came under the protection of
Massachusetts.
The incorporation of Maine with Massachusetts.--Several conflicting
patents to lands in Maine were issued between 1630 and 1645. Few
settlers came, the only new group of importance being the three towns of
Georgiana (York), Welles, and Kittery on the Piscataqua. Massachusetts
claimed that her charter entitled her to the Maine region, and in 1639
took the first step toward ownership by purchasing a tract on the
Androscoggin River. When the region about Saco and Casco bays became a
matter of dispute between rival patentees in 1644, the case was referred
to the Massachusetts general court, but no decision was reached. When
referred to the English commissioners for plantations, the Gorges
estate lost most of its property, being left only the settled region
near the Piscataqua. In 1647 Gorges died and the settlers were left
without guidance. Two years later the three towns declared themselves a
body politic. In 1651 Massachusetts asserted her claim to the Maine
region, and the Royalists there found themselves powerless. The
following year the Massachusetts authorities ordered the survey of the
Merrimac and established civil government at York. In 1653 all the
settlements in southern Maine accepted the jurisdiction of
Massachusetts. The settlements about Casco Bay refused to submit until
1658, when they also acknowledged the authority of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts hopes to obtain the trade on the Hudson.--In 1657 the
general court of Massachusetts declared that the fur-trade ought to be
controlled by the commonwealth and in the following year a report was
made which showed that fur-trading privileges at Springfield, Concord,
Sudbury, Lancaster, Groton, Marlborough, and Cambridge were farmed out
to various individuals. In 1659 a company was formed whose main purpose
was to obtain access to the fur-trade of the upper Hudson, but it failed
to carry out the project.
Connecticut.--In the Connecticut colony the period from 1640 to 1660 was
one of expansion and consolidation. Southampton and East Hampton on Long
Island, and on the mainland Farmington, Saybrook, New London, and
Norwalk were brought under the jurisdiction of the colony.
New Haven.--In the New Haven colony the danger from the Dutch and
Indians in 1643 brought about a union of the isolated units. A
constitution was adopted which restricted the suffrage to church
membership. Minor cases were to be judged in each town, and a governor,
deputy-governor, and three associates were to judge the more important
cases. No provision for trial by jury was made. The general court,
consisting of the magistrates and two deputies from each of the towns,
was to meet at New Haven twice a year to enact laws. In 1649 Southold on
Long Island, in 1651 Bradford, and in 1656 Greenwich were added to the
New Haven confederation.
Rhode Island.--Admission to the New England Confederation was denied to
the Narragansett Bay settlements. Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport
had all been founded by outcasts from Massachusetts, and a fourth
settlement of a similar nature was founded at Shawomet, now Warwick, in
1643 by Samuel Gorton. The danger from powerful and grasping neighbors
caused Williams to seek a patent to the lands about Narragansett Bay,
and on March 14, 1644, a patent was granted which allowed the
inhabitants of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport to form their own
government. The Warwick settlers were asked to join the others.
In 1647 a code remarkable for its mildness was adopted, and by 1650 the
government had been formed. The legislative powers were vested in a
general court composed of six representatives from each town, the
presiding officer of which was called a president. In executive matters
he was to be aided by an assistant from each town. Provision was also
made for a treasurer, sergeant, general recorder, attorney-general, and
solicitor-general. The president and assistants acted as a court for
important cases, which were to be tried by jury. The legislative body
and the court made the circuit of the towns. The initiative and
referendum were introduced, each settlement having the right to propose
legislation, and acts of the general court were referred to the towns
for ratification or rejection. Membership in a particular church was not
made the basis of citizenship as in the other New England colonies. The
disturbing element in Rhode Island at this time was Coddington. In 1651
he obtained from the Council of State a commission as governor of the
islands in Narragansett Bay, but his power was short-lived, for the
following year Williams obtained a revocation of the Coddington patent
and in 1654 was elected president of the confederation.
VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND, 1640-1660
Virginia Loyalists.--During the civil war Virginia remained loyal to the
king. The large plantation owners, who were almost all members of the
Established Church, were in control of the house of burgesses. The small
landowners made up the minority. In this class were a few Puritans and
many freemen who had formerly been indented servants. Their sympathies
were on the side of parliament. Sir William Berkeley, who was appointed
in 1642, was a staunch supporter of the king. His administration seems
to have been tempered with justice, and he showed little of the
arbitrary attitude which appeared in his later career.
Opechancanough's War.--The chief event in Berkeley's administration was
the Indian war of 1644. The plantations had gradually spread up the
James and Rappahannock, encroaching upon the Indian lands. The chief
Opechancanough planned to massacre the whites. On April 18 the outlying
settlements were attacked and five hundred people were massacred. The
governor led several expeditions against the Indians, their crops and
villages were destroyed, and their chief became a captive. While in
captivity he was foully murdered. The Indians sued for peace, and in a
treaty acknowledged the rights of the white man to all the lands between
the York and the James as far as the falls.
Berkeley's struggle with the Commonwealth.--When the news of the death
of Charles I reached Virginia, Berkeley proclaimed Charles II as king
and the assembly declared it high treason to question his right to
Virginia. Parliament decided to punish the colony by blockading it.
Berkeley, nowise daunted, delivered a defiant address to the assembly,
which warmly supported him. The blockade proved a failure, for Dutch
traders sailed unmolested into Chesapeake Bay. A group of Virginia
parliamentarians visited England and demanded that Berkeley be
overthrown. The Council of State responded by sending out a fleet to
subdue both Barbados and Virginia. Commissioners were also sent to
Virginia to persuade the colony to submit peaceably. In the spring of
1652 when the fleet appeared in the James River, it found the governor
prepared for resistance. The commissioners intervened, and by offering
lenient terms, bloodshed was avoided. It was agreed that the colony
should "voluntarily" acknowledge the authority of the Commonwealth, that
the Virginians should have as free trade as the people of England, and
that taxation was to be in the hands of the house of burgesses. Neither
Berkeley nor his councilors were to be compelled to take the oath of
allegiance for a year, and the use of the Book of Common Prayer was
permitted for a similar length of time. Berkeley retired from the
governorship but remained in the colony.
[Illustration: Settled Areas in Virginia and Maryland, 1660.]
Government under the commonwealth.--The burgesses and commissioners
proceeded to remodel the government. The house of burgesses was made
the chief governing body, with unlimited powers except the veto of the
English government. It was to elect the governor and council, specify
their duties and remove them if they proved unsatisfactory. All
officials were also appointed by the burgesses.
A period of prosperity.--The kingless period was one of prosperity for
Virginia. In 1649 the colony contained about 15,000 people; in 1666 the
population was estimated at 40,000. This great migration was recruited
from various classes: Cavaliers who sought refuge after the death of the
king, people who fled from the horrors of civil war, prisoners who were
sent as indented servants, gentlemen, tradesmen, and laborers, all found
room in the abundant lands of tide-water Virginia.
Maryland during the civil war.--During the first part of the civil war,
Lord Baltimore leaned toward the royalist side, but in the colony there
was a strong Protestant element, augmented by this time by Puritans from
Virginia. In 1645 they got control and expelled the Jesuits. The
following year Governor Calvert, who had been in England, returned and
reëstablished his authority, but his rule was shortlived, for he died in
1647.
Puritan rule in Maryland.--Fearing that he would be deprived of
Maryland, Baltimore veered to the parliamentary side and appointed as
governor William Stone, a prominent Virginia planter, and invited
Virginia Puritans to settle in his territory. This was followed by a
religious toleration act passed by the Maryland assembly in 1649.
Baltimore's trimming, however, did not save him from trouble, for in
1650, when the Commonwealth expedition was sent out, the commissioners
were instructed to reduce all the Chesapeake Bay plantations. For a time
Stone was left in authority, but in 1654 he was deposed and the
government was placed in the hands of a council, at the head of which
was a Puritan, William Fuller. In the ensuing assembly the Royalists and
Catholics were barred. Baltimore ordered Stone to recover his authority
by force, but he was defeated and imprisoned by the forces of Fuller,
and four of his followers executed. Baltimore appears to have
ingratiated himself with Cromwell, for in 1657 he was restored to
power.
READINGS
NEW ENGLAND
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 414-420; Doyle,
J.A., _The Puritan Colonies_, I, 220-319; Frothingham, Richard, _The
Rise of the Republic_, 33-71; James, B.B., _The Colonization of New
England_, 119-157; Mathews, L.K., _The Expansion of New England_, 31-34;
Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, I,
392-423; Palfrey, J.G., _A Compendious History of New England_, I,
247-268; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 266-281, 297-317.
VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND
Beer, G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 340-424;
Browne, W.H., _Maryland_, 72-104; Channing, Edward, _History of the
United States_, I, 485-507; Doyle, J.A., _Virginia, Maryland, and the
Carolinas_, 207-228, 314-327; Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the
South,_ 118-122; Mereness, M.D., _Maryland as a Proprietary Province_;
Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, II,
58-87; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 105-117, 140-148; Wertenbaker,
T.J., _Virginia under the Stuarts_, 85-114.
CHAPTER IX
THE DUTCH AND SWEDISH COLONIES (1609-1644)
DUTCH EXPANSION
Commercial expansion of the Netherlands.--During the reign of Philip II
occurred the revolt in the Netherlands. Spanish political and commercial
restrictions, and the establishment of the Inquisition, united the great
commercial cities, the nobles, and the common people of the northeastern
provinces in a rebellion which did not cease until the Hollanders had
secured virtual independence by the truce of 1609. During the struggle
Dutch ships raided the Spanish and Portuguese trade routes. As early as
1577 a trade to the White Sea was begun. Soon Dutch ships were trading
to Italy and the Baltic, and by 1598 they had extended their commerce to
Alexandria, Tripoli on the Syrian coast, and Constantinople, to the Cape
Verde Islands and the Guinea coast. The desire to reach India influenced
Dutch statesmen to attempt to find a northeast passage. Between 1594 and
1597 four expeditions were sent out; they failed to find the passage but
gained considerable knowledge of Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen.
East Indian trade.--For years Dutch sailors had been employed by the
Portuguese and were well acquainted with the routes to India and
America. In 1596 a company was organized to open a trade with the Far
East; their fleet sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, stopped at
Madagascar, and then proceeded to Java and the Moluccas, returning home
the next year. Several companies were immediately formed, and in 1598
twenty-two vessels sailed by the Cape of Good Hope route for the East,
and Olivier van Noort passed through the Straits of Magellan and
circumnavigated the earth. In 1602 the States General chartered the
United East India Company. Several fleets were despatched and succeeded
in gaining a foothold in Ceylon and along the coasts of India, in Java,
the Moluccas, and various other places. The traders met with great
opposition from the Portuguese and Spaniards, but when peace was made in
1609 the Dutch were given the right of trading to Spanish ports outside
of Europe, and they soon firmly established their power in the Far East
where they absorbed much of Portugal's commerce.
Henry Hudson.--The East India Company hoped to find a shorter route to
India and in 1609 employed an English mariner, Henry Hudson, to search
for a northwest passage. Meeting with ice and storms, he headed his
ship, the _Half Moon_, toward the west. Sighting land at Newfoundland,
he examined the New England coast, rounded Cape Cod, and sailed to
Virginia and southward. Turning north, he probably ran into Chesapeake
Bay, certainly entered Delaware Bay, and then sailed northward to what
is now New York harbor. The Hudson River was explored to a point above
Albany and friendly relations with the Iroquois were established. The
East India Company, however, was making such handsome profits in the
East that the furs of New Netherlands failed to attract it.
The Cape Horn route discovered.--The Dutch were still hopeful of finding
another route to India, and when Jacques le Maire quarreled with the
directors of the East India Company, he planned to form a separate
corporation and seek a route south of the Straits of Magellan. The
people of Hoorn assisted him in fitting out two vessels which were
placed under the command of William Corneliaz Schouten. On the long
voyage the smaller vessel was destroyed, but Schouten with the larger
one in 1616 discovered Cape Horn.
Dutch activities in the Hudson River region, 1610-1621.--The Hudson
River region was visited by traders in 1610-1611, and in 1612 Dutch
merchants sent Christianson and Block to Manhattan Island to engage in
the fur trade. In 1613 Cornelius May was also sent over. The next year
Fort Nassau, later named Fort Orange, was built near the present site of
Albany. An extensive exploration of the coast was also made, Block
sailing along the northern shore of Long Island, examining the lower
waters of the Connecticut River, and exploring Narragansett Bay and Cape
Cod. The result of these activities was the formation, in 1614, of the
New Netherlands Company, which was given the monopoly of the trade
between the fortieth and forty-fifth parallels. An important fur trade
was rapidly developed in the Hudson Valley and exploration of the coast
was continued. In 1616 Hendrickson examined Delaware Bay, and in 1620
the same region and Chesapeake Bay were visited by May. The southern
extremity of New Jersey still bears the name of the Dutch explorer.
The West India Company.--One of the most enterprising Dutch merchants
was William Usselincx, who had long hoped to profit by the opening of
West Indian trade. The idea was opposed by the East India Company and by
some of the Dutch statesmen, especially Olden Barnevelt, who feared that
it would bring about new difficulties with Spain. In spite of this,
Dutch vessels appeared in Guiana and the Antilles, and in 1613
settlements were attempted in Guiana at Essequibo and Berbice. In 1618
Olden Barnevelt fell from power and Usselincx immediately became active
in the formation of a company. In 1621 the West India Company was
chartered, receiving a monopoly of Dutch trade for twenty-four years on
the coast of Africa as far as the Cape, and for America and the islands
east of New Guinea. Usselincx, believing that the directors had too much
power and the shareholders too little, and desiring a colonizing rather
than a trading corporation, severed his connection with the company and
departed for Sweden, where he interested Gustavus Adolphus in commercial
enterprises.
Dutch settlements in Brazil, Guiana, and the Antilles.--Settlements were
now established by the "Beggars of the Sea" all the way from Brazil to
Hudson River, and there were prospects that the Caribbean Sea would
become a Dutch instead of a Spanish lake. Brazil was the most important
base. Bahía, taken in 1624, lost in 1625, and recaptured in 1627 by the
celebrated Piet Heyn, was again lost, but by 1637 Olinda, Recife and
Pernambuco had been captured in spite of determined resistance. Prince
Maurice of Nassau now took possession of Brazil from Bahía to the Amazon
River, and established there a Dutch state, with its capital at
Mauritiópolis. In spite of liberal Dutch rule, however, and of an
alliance now with Holland against Spain (1641), the Brazilians arose,
and after years of heroic fighting expelled the intruders (1661).
Meanwhile the Dutch had established colonies in Guiana at Berbice,
Aprouage, and Pomeroon, as well as at Essequibo. In the Antilles they
had settlements at Curaçao, Buen Aire, Aruba (1634), St. Eustatius, Saba
(1635), and St. Martin (1638). During the same period the West India
Company had established a flourishing colony on the northern mainland
and called it New Netherlands.
NEW NETHERLANDS
Activities of the company.--Licenses were at once granted to several
traders, who in 1622 visited the Hudson, Delaware, and Connecticut
rivers and trafficked with the Indians as far east as Buzzard's Bay.
Thirty families of Walloons, Protestants from Flanders, were sent over
in 1623, these being the first colonists. Most of them settled on
Manhattan Island, at Brooklyn, and on Staten Island. A few migrated to
the vicinity of Fort Orange near Albany, and others settled near the
present site of Gloucester on the Delaware, where a new fort named
Nassau was erected. Other settlers soon followed; the fur trade was
developed; and by 1625 the success of the colony seemed assured.
Government of the colony.--The West India Company was governed by a
board of directors called the College of Nineteen; of these eight were
from Amsterdam, and to them was given the control of New Netherlands. In
the colony the chief officer was the director-general. To assist him was
a council invested with local legislative, executive, and judicial
powers, subject to the supervision and appellate jurisdiction of the
Amsterdam directors. There were two minor officials, the "koopman"
acting as commissary, bookkeeper, and secretary, and the "schout-fiscal"
as an attorney and sheriff.
Administration of Peter Minuit.--In 1626 Peter Minuit became the
director-general. One of his first acts was to secure a title to
Manhattan Island by purchasing it from the Indians at the nominal price
of twenty-four dollars' worth of goods. A fort, the location of which is
known to-day as The Battery, was immediately constructed. Near by was
built the stone counting house with a thatched roof, and thirty bark
houses straggled along the east side of the river, the meager beginnings
of a great metropolis. Fearing for the safety of the little groups of
settlers at Fort Orange and Fort Nassau, Minuit brought them to New
Amsterdam, leaving only a few soldiers and traders at Fort Orange.
[Illustration: Van Der Donck's Map of New Netherland, 1656.]
Minuit's preparations for defence were not confined to fortifying the
land. Conscious of foreign danger, inspired perhaps by the victories
which Heyn was just now winning over Spaniards and Portuguese in the
southern waters, and aided by two Belgian shipbuilders, the governor
built and launched the _New Netherland_, a vessel of eight hundred tons
and carrying thirty guns. The ship cost more than had been expected, and
the bills were severely criticized by the West India Company.
The patroon system.--The returns from the southern raids made the small
income from New Netherlands appear paltry, and the company decided to
attempt an extensive colonization with a view to larger profit. A type
of feudalism known as the patroon system was decided upon. The company
reserved Manhattan Island, but other regions were opened to settlement.
Each patroon was to receive lands four leagues along one side of a
navigable river or two leagues on both sides and extending "so far into
the country as the situation of the occupiers will permit," provided
that within four years he settled fifty people over fifteen years of age
upon his lands. Patroons were forever to "possess and enjoy all the
lands lying within the aforesaid limits, together with the fruits,
rights, minerals, rivers, and fountains thereof," and were to have
complete control over "fishing, fowling, and grinding."
The fur trade was reserved by the company, but the patroons were allowed
to trade on the coast from Newfoundland to Florida and to ship goods to
neutral powers; they could also engage in fishing and the making of
salt. They were to satisfy the Indians regarding land titles and were
given the right to establish their own courts, from which appeal might
be made to the director-general and his council. The colonists were
exempt from taxation for ten years, but they could not leave the service
of the patroon without his consent. The system was not intended to
exclude other colonists who might come over and take up as much land as
they could improve, but no colonists were to "be permitted to make any
woolen, linen or cotton cloth, nor weave any other stuffs there."
Patroons and colonists were "to find out ways and means whereby they
may support a Minister and Schoolmaster." The company promised to defend
the colonists and to endeavor to supply them "with as many Blacks as
they conveniently can."
The patroons.--While the details of the charter were being discussed,
several directors took advantage of the intended system to secure large
grants. Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blommaert and several associates secured
practically all of what is now Delaware and that part of the Jersey
shore extending twelve miles north from Cape May and twelve miles
inland. Kiliaen van Rensselaer obtained the lands about Fort Orange,
comprising what is now a large part of Albany and Rensselaer counties.
Michael Pauw received title to Staten Island and the region where Jersey
City is now situated. Godyn and Blommaert sent colonists to Swannendael
on the present site of Lewiston, but they were massacred by the Indians,
the colonization of the grant was abandoned, and in 1635 the company
purchased the lands of the patroons on the Delaware. In 1637 Pauw sold
his holdings to the company. The Van Rensselaer tract remained in the
possession of that family until after the American Revolution.
Jealousies in the company, due to the securing of patroonships by some
of the directors, and to the fact that the patroons attempted to obtain
a share in the fur trade, and that Minuit appeared to be working in the
interest of the great land holders, led to the recall of the
director-general.
Attempts to secure the frontiers.--The new director-general was Wouter
van Twiller. He had been a clerk in the West India Company's warehouse
at Amsterdam, and probably owed his appointment to the fact that he was
married to a niece of Van Rensselaer. One of his first acts was to
secure possession of the Delaware. In 1633 a tract along the Schuylkill
was purchased from the Indians and a trading house was erected, the
first in the present state of Pennsylvania. In 1635 a party of
Virginians attempted to gain a foothold on the Delaware, but were
expelled. On the Connecticut the Dutch had profited by the fur trade,
but had never sent colonists to that region. In 1633 lands were
purchased from the Indians, and Fort Good Hope was built at modern
Hartford, but the Puritan migration soon secured the Connecticut Valley
for the English.
Reforms.--Van Twiller and other officials appear to have profited by
securing extensive land holdings on the islands at the mouth of the
Hudson, Governor's Island deriving its name from the fact that Van
Twiller owned it. Complaints began to be heard in the Amsterdam chamber
and in 1637 Van Twiller was removed from office, his successor being
William Kieft, who arrived in 1638. The new director-general immediately
set about correcting abuses. Illicit fur trading and the sale of
firearms to the Indians were prohibited. The Amsterdam chamber removed
some of the trade restrictions and made easier the acquisition of land.
The result was a considerable increase in the number of settlers, who
came not only from the Netherlands, but from New England and Virginia as
well. Restrictions on manufactures were abolished and the Dutch Reformed
Church was established.
Difficulties.--Kieft's administration was beset by difficulties. In the
Connecticut Valley and on Long Island the English settlements were
increasing, and on the Delaware the Swedes had gained a footing. In the
colony a disastrous Indian war brought devastation and ruin. The Indians
on the lower Hudson and on Long Island had watched the growing
settlements with alarm, an alarm which turned to resentment when they
found the Iroquois supplied with firearms from Fort Orange, a privilege
which was denied to them at New Amsterdam. Kieft increased the
ill-feeling by demanding a contribution of corn, fur, and wampum. He
also accused the Raritans of attacking fur trading vessels, and sent an
expedition to punish them. In 1641 the Indians retaliated by killing
several settlers.
Kieft and the twelve men.--Kieft promptly called together the settlers,
who chose a committee of twelve to advise the director-general. Much to
his disappointment, they counseled delay. In January, 1642, he again
summoned the twelve, who consented to send an expedition against the
Indians, provided Kieft should command it. At the same time they
demanded that the council should contain at least five members and that
the inhabitants should be allowed greater freedom of trade. To these
demands Kieft assented grudgingly, and to save further embarrassment,
dissolved the committee. An expedition was sent against the Indians, but
it accomplished nothing.
Indian hostilities, 1643-1645.--Early in 1643 the Mohawks attacked the
river Indians who sought refuge near New Amsterdam. Kieft determined to
attack the fugitives, and eighty of them were massacred. The Long Island
Indians were also plundered. Aroused by these acts, the Indians united
and attacked the settlers. The colonists who escaped fled to Fort
Amsterdam. A lull occurred in the fighting while the Indians planted
their crops, but hostilities were soon renewed. Kieft again summoned the
people and a committee of eight Was chosen who counseled war. Settlers
and servants of the company were drilled, and fifty English also
enlisted. A series of expeditions were despatched against the Indians,
whose villages were ruthlessly destroyed. In 1645 treaties were made
with the various tribes, and the long war came to an end. One of the
incidents of the war was the building of a wall across the lower end of
Manhattan Island. It is from this that Wall Street takes its name.
Stuyvesant, 1647.--Both in New Amsterdam and the Netherlands Kieft was
blamed for the war. The West India Company decided to remove him, and
Peter Stuyvesant, the director of Curaçao, was appointed to succeed him.
The first important act of Stuyvesant was to organize the council.
Police regulations were made to control Sabbath-breakers, brawlers, and
the sale of liquors. The court of justice was also organized, but the
director-general required that his opinion be asked in all important
cases, and reserved the right to preside in person when he saw fit.
Popular representation.--While Kieft was director-general, he had
appealed to the people on several occasions. In answer to the public
demand for representation, the council recommended to Stuyvesant that it
be granted. Accordingly, the director-general ordered an election at
which eighteen were chosen, from whom Stuyvesant and the council
selected nine. The nine were to advise and assist, when called upon, in
promoting the welfare of the province, and were to nominate their
successors. The director-general retained the right to preside at
meetings.
Struggle for municipal rights.--The trade restrictions of the West India
Company were irksome to the people of New Amsterdam, who hoped to right
conditions by obtaining a larger share in the government. After
considerable trouble with Stuyvesant, the nine men submitted to the
States General a remonstrance setting forth their grievances and a
memorial suggesting remedies. They asked that the States General
establish a citizens' government, that colonists be sent over, and that
the boundaries of New Netherlands be definitely established. The
Amsterdam chamber opposed the petitioners, but in 1652 it decided to
make concessions. The export duty on tobacco was removed, the cost of
passage to New Netherlands was reduced, and the colonists were allowed
to procure negroes from Africa. A "burgher" government was allowed for
New Amsterdam, the citizens being allowed a schout, two burgomasters,
and five schepens, who were to form a municipal court of justice. They
were not to be popularly elected, however, Stuyvesant being allowed to
appoint the members. No sooner were municipal rights granted to New
Amsterdam than the settlements at the western end of Long Island
demanded a larger share in government. A convention was held at the
capital to formulate grievances. This was brought to an end by
Stuyvesant, but a little later municipal rights were granted to several
of the towns.
A provincial assembly.--In 1664, during the war between England and the
Dutch, so great was the alarm at New Amsterdam, that a provisional
assembly was elected, composed of two delegates from each of the Dutch
settlements, twenty-four representatives in all. Little was accomplished
by this body, however, for shortly afterward the colony passed into
English hands.
Economic development.--During the administration of Stuyvesant the
material prosperity of New Netherlands steadily increased. He found New
Amsterdam a town with straggling fences and crooked streets, and
containing about five hundred people. Under his supervision it took on
the appearance of a well-kept Dutch town. In 1656 it contained a hundred
and twenty houses and a thousand people. By 1660 it had three hundred
and fifty houses. By 1664 the population increased to fifteen hundred.
The area of settlement in New Netherlands had gradually expanded,
covering Manhattan and Staten islands, the opposite Jersey shore, the
western end of Long Island, both banks of the lower Hudson, a
considerable district about Ft. Orange, and scattering settlements on
the Delaware. The chief source of wealth was the fur trade which was
carried on largely with the Iroquois who were friendly to the Dutch and
hostile to the French. In 1656 Ft. Orange alone exported thirty-five
thousand beaver and otter skins, but soon afterward the trade began to
decline and agriculture increased in importance. When the province
passed into English hands, the population had reached ten thousand.
THE DUTCH AND THE SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE
Swedish territorial and commercial expansion.--In the first half of the
seventeenth century Sweden rose to the position of a first class power.
When Gustavus Adolphus ascended the throne in 1611, Sweden was at war
with Denmark, Russia, and Poland. After defeating each power, the king
entered the Thirty Years' War as the champion of Protestantism, his
victorious career coming to an untimely end at Lützen. Until 1654
Christina was queen but the real ruler was Oxenstierna, who piloted
Sweden through the closing years of the war and secured advantageous
terms in the treaty of peace. From 1648 until 1654, Sweden enjoyed
peace, but the frivolities of the court ruined the possibilities of
greatness and the decline began. Charles X became king in 1654, and his
brilliant but disastrous military ventures reduced his country to a
third-rate power. At the beginning of the period of Swedish greatness,
her commerce was confined to the Baltic, but when nearly all the lands
on its shores had been acquired, Swedish statesmen looked forward to a
wider commerce, a policy which brought them into rivalry with Holland
and England. Numerous trading companies were formed, among the most
important being the African and Russian companies, and the various
organizations which operated on the Delaware River and in the West
Indies.
Usselincx.--The attention of Sweden was drawn to the Delaware by
Usselincx, the promoter of the Dutch West India Company, who had left
Holland in disgust and who hoped to interest the Swedes. In 1624 he laid
his plans before Gustavus Adolphus; this resulted in the granting of a
charter to The South Company to establish trade "for Asia, Africa,
America and Magellanica." Usselincx experienced great difficulty in
raising money, and the directors ruined his schemes by diverting the
capital to commercial enterprises in Sweden. In 1629 the company was
reorganized and an attempt was made to trade with Spain, but this ended
in disaster. Usselincx continued his endeavors, and in 1633 The New
South Company was organized, but this like its predecessors came to
naught.
The New Sweden Company.--The settling of the Swedes on the Delaware was
directly due to the Dutchmen, Samuel Blommaert and Peter Minuit.
Blommaert held out the idea that the West Indies would be a market for
Swedish copper; Minuit that the Delaware region offered a place for the
fur trade and colonization. Several other Dutch merchants were
interested, and half of the capital of the Swedish company was furnished
by Hollanders. By 1637 the company was organized and the first
expedition set sail.
Fort Christina.--The two vessels arrived in the spring of 1638, lands
were purchased from the Indians, fur trade opened, and a fort
established on Christina Creek two miles from the Delaware. The Dutch at
Ft. Nassau protested, but were too weak to oust the newcomers. In 1640
two boats arrived with settlers and goods, large tracts of land at
various points on both sides of the bay and river as far as Trenton were
purchased, and farms and tobacco plantations were started.
Governor Printz.--In 1642 the company was reorganized, the Swedish
government taking part of the stock, the Dutch being eliminated. At the
request of the Swedish council of state Johan Printz, a prominent
officer in the army, became governor, a post which he filled until 1653.
He erected Ft. Elfsborg and established his capital at New Gothenborg,
where a fort was built. A blockhouse was also erected on the Schuylkill,
other vantage points were occupied, and the Swedes soon secured the fur
trade of the Delaware. From the first the weakness of the Swedish
project was the lack of colonists, a few hundred being the total
migration in the first ten years. In 1644 there were only one hundred
and twenty men and a few women and children in the colony. During the
next five years not a vessel arrived, and when Printz retired in 1653
there were only two hundred people in the colony.
[Illustration: New Sweden.]
End of Swedish power on the Delaware.--Stuyvesant determined to get
control of the river trade. In 1651 he went to the Delaware with a
considerable force. In spite of protests from Printz, lands were
purchased from the Indians, and Ft. Casimir was built near the present
site of New Castle, the other Dutch forts being abandoned. In 1653 the
Swedish crown planned to help New Sweden. In the spring of 1654 about
three hundred and fifty colonists were sent over under John Rising. He
immediately seized Ft. Casimir. At Ft. Christina a town was laid out,
new tracts were purchased from the Indians, and lands were assigned to
the colonists. The action of the Swedes in seizing Ft. Casimir angered
Stuyvesant, and he urged the West India Company to occupy New Sweden. In
September, 1655, a Dutch fleet appeared in the Delaware, and the forts
surrendered, thus ending the colony of New Sweden.
ABSORPTION OF NEW NETHERLANDS BY THE ENGLISH
Boundary treaty with New England.--On the eastern frontier Stuyvesant
had another difficult problem. English settlers were crowding into the
Connecticut Valley and onto Long Island. In 1647 Stuyvesant informed the
New England officials that the Dutch claimed all lands between the
Connecticut and Delaware rivers, but the New Englanders ignored the
claim. In 1650 Stuyvesant visited Hartford, where commissioners were
appointed who agreed that Long Island should be divided by a line
running along the western part of Oyster Bay; that on the mainland the
fine was "to begin at the west side of Greenwich Bay, being four miles
from Stamford and so to run a northerly line twenty miles up into the
country, and after as it shall be agreed by the two governments of the
Dutch and New Haven; provided the said line come not within ten miles of
Hudson's River;" and that the Dutch were to keep their holdings at
Hartford.
The end of Dutch rule.--In 1659 Massachusetts asserted her claim to a
sea to sea grant, and in 1662 the charter of Connecticut extended the
bounds of the colony to the Pacific. In 1663 Stuyvesant visited Boston
to attempt a settlement of existing difficulties, but to no avail, and
upon his return he found that some of the Long Island settlements west
of the line claimed to be under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. Dutch
commissioners were sent to Hartford, but without result, and the
following year Connecticut asserted her rights to the whole of Long
Island. In 1664 Charles II granted to his brother, James, the Duke of
York, the whole of Long Island and all the lands from the Connecticut
River to Delaware Bay. A fleet was despatched to New Amsterdam, which
surrendered without bloodshed, and Dutch rule in North America came to
an end three years after it had failed in Brazil.
READINGS
THE DUTCH
Blok, P.J., _History of the People of the Netherlands_, III, 267-303;
Brodhead, J.R., _History of the State of New York_, I; Channing, Edward,
_History of the United States_, I, 438-484; Fiske, John, _The Dutch and
Quaker Colonies in America_, I; Goodwin, M.W., _Dutch and English on the
Hudson_; Innes, J.H., _New Amsterdam and its People_; Jameson, J.F.,
ed., _Narratives of New Netherlands_; Janvier, T.A., _Dutch Founding of
New York_; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters_. 43-50; O'Callaghan,
E.B., _History of New Netherlands_; Roberts, E.H., _New York_, I,
10-119; Van Loon, H.W., _The Golden Book of the Dutch Navigators_.
THE SWEDES
Acrelius, Israel, _History of New Sweden_ (Pennsylvania Historical
Society, Memoirs, XI); Holm, T.C., _Description of the Province of New
Sweden_ (Pennsylvania Historical Society, _Memoirs_, VII); Johnson,
Amandus, _The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware_; Keen, G.B., in
Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History_, III, 469-495.
CHAPTER X
THE OLD ENGLISH COLONIES UNDER THE LATER STUARTS (1660-1689)
COLONIAL POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
The Restoration.--In 1660 Charles II was restored to the English throne
and ruled until 1685, when his brother, James, the Duke of York, became
king, ruling until deposed in 1688. In England the period was
characterized by a reaction against Puritanism and the firm
establishment of the English church. Abroad the Restoration was an era
of commercial and colonial expansion. On the coasts of Asia, Africa, and
America, the great trading companies were active, and powerful English
nobles strove for possessions beyond the seas. To this era belong the
occupation of New Netherlands, the founding of the Carolinas, the
Jerseys, and Pennsylvania, and the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Fur
Company. The activities of Englishmen led to clashes with rival
commercial peoples, especially the Dutch, with whom two naval wars were
fought in which England maintained her supremacy upon the seas. In the
handling of her colonies previous to the Restoration, her efforts had
been largely experimental. Under the later Stuarts colonial management
was molded into a system. In private life Charles II was a man of
pleasure. In his dealings with parliament he was tenacious, but when
pushed to extremities, he preferred to yield rather than to "go again on
his travels.". In matters which affected the material prosperity of his
country the king was a hard-headed man of business, warmly supporting
commercial and colonial enterprises.
The Mercantilist system.--The economic theory of the time was expressed
in the Mercantilist system. The welfare of the state was the main object
of statesmen; this they believed required a full treasury, a large
population, and extensive shipping. Specie was looked upon as the
principal form of wealth; therefore exports must exceed imports so that
coin would flow into the realm. In order that it might have a large
amount of goods to sell, the state desired to import raw materials,
which could be manufactured and exported. The ideal colony was to be a
source of supply of raw materials, and was to be a market for goods of
the mother country, but was not to be a manufacturing competitor. The
state policy was shaped to shut out the foreigner and to build up the
productivity of the colonies.
Attitude toward emigration.--The desire for a larger population in
England caused statesmen to view emigration with disfavor. During the
period the number going to the colonies was relatively small. The
government, however, encouraged the emigration of Scotch, Irish, and
Huguenots, and sent over many political prisoners, non-conformists, and
criminals. Many of those who emigrated were too poor to pay for their
passage and bound themselves for a period of years, a form of temporary
bondage known as indenture. Many servants and children were also
kidnaped and sent to the colonies. Because the colonies in the West
Indies and the South mainly produced raw materials and used slave labor,
thus drawing relatively less population from England, they were looked
upon with the greater favor by the home government. The northern
colonies produced little except fish, furs, and naval stores, which
could be of use to England. The free labor system of the North was
likely to drain the population of England. For these reasons the
northern colonies were looked upon with scant favor.
Navigation Act of 1660.--During the Cromwellian period, parliament had
asserted the right to legislate for the colonies and the restored
Stuarts accepted the principle. In 1660 a new navigation act was passed
which was intended to give English shipping an advantage over
competitors, especially the Dutch. The act provided that goods carried
to or from English possessions in America, Africa, or Asia, must be
carried in English, Irish, or colonial vessels. Under penalty of
forfeiture, cargoes of sugar, tobacco, indigo, and several other
products could not be shipped to any ports except in England, Ireland,
or some English colony.
Staple Act of 1663.--Under the navigation act of 1660 alien merchants
could send foreign goods to the colonies in English ships. To obviate
this the Staple Act was passed, which, with a few exceptions, such as
Portuguese wines, salt, and horses, prohibited the importation into the
colonies of goods which had not been loaded in England.
Plantation Duties Act of 1673.--Under the previous acts goods shipped
from colony to colony escaped paying duties. In 1673 an act was passed
which imposed duties on sugar, tobacco, and many other products of
intercolonial trade.
Imperial defence.--The burden of defence of the empire against foreign
powers fell upon England. Ships of the navy were stationed in the West
Indies, Chesapeake Bay, and at Boston to protect the colonies, and
suppress piracy and illegal trade. The buccaneers of the West Indies
were brought under control. The Barbary pirates also were frequently
attacked, and convoys for merchant vessels and fishing fleets were often
furnished. Garrisons were usually stationed in Barbados, Jamaica, and
St. Kitts, but on the mainland soldiers were not regularly maintained.
The fiscal system.--By the civil war parliament made good its contention
that it alone had the right to levy taxes. In 1660 a general taxation
act was passed by which Charles II was granted for life the income from
tonnage and poundage; the former being a duty on imported wines, the
latter a five per cent duty on imports and exports, whose valuation was
fixed in a book of rates. To compensate the colonies somewhat for the
resulting higher prices, a preferential system was introduced. By this
system the valuation of the principal products of the colonies was made
lower than on the same products coming from foreign countries.
MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT
Council for Foreign Plantations.--The work of enforcing the laws
devolved upon the crown and privy council. The accumulation of business
and the specialized knowledge required in colonial matters made it
desirable to have a body created which might handle the business in a
more efficient manner. Accordingly in December, 1660, a Council for
Foreign Plantations was commissioned. Members of the council were to
inform themselves regarding the colonies, were to introduce a more
uniform system of government, and were to see that the navigation acts
were enforced.
Council of Trade.--From the English standpoint the colonies were mainly
commercial enterprises. To foster commerce a Council of Trade was
created. The work of the two bodies was to sift the mass of business so
that matters of first importance only might come before the privy
council. Lack of authority interfered with the interest of the members
of the minor councils; the sessions became less and less frequent, and
by 1665 both had ceased.
Council for Trade and Plantations.--Supervision of the colonies again
devolved upon a committee of the privy council. In 1667 Clarendon fell
and the small group known as the Cabal came into power. The following
year the privy council was reorganized, four standing committees being
constituted, one of which had charge of trade and plantations. The need
of experts, however, continued to be felt, and in 1668 a new Council of
Trade was appointed. In 1670 the Council for Plantations was also
revived, and in 1672 the two councils were consolidated as the Council
for Trade and Plantations. The council prepared preliminary drafts of
instructions to governors, examined colonial legislation, and
investigated questions which arose.
Lords of Trade.--Executive powers remained in the privy council, and
this necessarily curbed the Council for Trade and Plantations, which was
purely an advisory body. In 1674 the latter council was abolished, and
the following year the king again committed its work to the Committee
for Trade and Plantations of the privy council. This committee, known
henceforth as the Lords of Trade, was a permanent body with its own
clerks. William Blathwayt soon became the secretary and for twenty years
he held the position. The efficiency of the body and the development of
the colonial policy was due more to him than to any other person. The
Lords of Trade prepared the instructions to governors, supervised the
development of the colonies, examined colonial questions, and enforced
the navigation laws.
The Admiralty.--After the Restoration the Duke of York was appointed
Lord High Admiral of England and in 1662 his powers were extended to the
colonies. Cases concerning vessels seized for violating some of the
clauses of the commercial laws were tried in admiralty courts which were
established in the crown colonies, deputies were appointed by the
admiral to attend to the business, and ships were stationed in the
colonies to seize illegal traders.
Governors and customs officials.--In the colony the chief executive
officer was the governor. He was expected to enforce the trade laws, but
outside of the crown colonies there was great, laxity in this regard.
The work of enforcing the navigation laws was usually entrusted by the
governor to a clerk called the naval officer but at a later period these
officials were appointed by the crown. The right of collection of the
English customs was leased to certain individuals who were known as
farmers of the customs. They frequently complained that the governors
were remiss in enforcing the navigation laws. Accordingly, the farmers
of the customs were allowed to send, at their own expense, officers who
would attend to the collection of duties. The farming system was soon
abandoned and commissioners of customs were appointed, who sent out
collectors, usually one to each colony. To examine the collector's
accounts and act as a check upon him, officials called comptrollers were
placed in most of the colonies, and in 1683 a superintendent for all the
colonies, called the surveyor-general of the customs, was appointed. The
activities of these officials led to considerable friction with colonial
governors and proprietors, who resented the interference of the customs
officials.
MISRULE AND REBELLION IN VIRGINIA
Effect of the trade laws.--In 1660 Sir William Berkeley began his second
administration, which proved to be as unsuccessful as his first
administration had been successful. Economic distress and arbitrary
misrule beset Virginia for sixteen years, culminating in a popular
outbreak known as Bacon's rebellion. The navigation acts fell heavily
upon the tobacco planters, who were deprived of the Dutch trade. The
population at the same time rapidly increased. In 1671 the inhabitants
numbered about forty thousand, and nearly doubled in the next decade.
The increasing population meant an increasing acreage of tobacco. The
price of tobacco fell, while freight rates increased and imported goods
went up in price. To alleviate the situation the assembly passed several
acts to encourage new industries, but the planters held to their one
great staple. Several attempts were made to limit the production of
tobacco, a policy in which the Virginians asked the people of Maryland
and the Albemarle district to the south to coöperate, but the efforts
failed. The act of 1673 worked an added injury, for it deprived the
planters of the New England market.
Wars and other misfortunes.--The wars with Holland increased the
economic distress. In 1667 a Dutch fleet entered the James River,
captured an English frigate, and destroyed several trading vessels. Soon
afterward a hurricane destroyed hundreds of houses and ruined the crops.
In the winter of 1672-1673 a disease carried off fifty thousand cattle,
more than half of all the stock in Virginia. A second Dutch raid in 1673
destroyed a large part of the tobacco fleet.
Governmental abuses.--Berkeley was a firm believer in the divine right
of kings, and looked with disfavor upon any interference from the
people. To him it seemed fitting that, as the king's representative, he
should control every branch of governmental activity. His council was
entirely subservient and he gained control of the house of burgesses by
controlling the county elections through dishonest officials. In 1670
the assembly limited the franchise to freeholders; thus depriving the
poor of voting. In the counties the justices of the peace were appointed
by the governor. They exercised judicial, executive, and legislative
functions. The county courts settled the more important suits and the
individual justices determined minor cases. The courts also levied the
direct taxes, which were very heavy. In addition, the local church
divisions were governed by vestries which were selected by the governor.
These bodies levied the taxes to pay the church expenses. The whole
machinery of government was thus controlled by the governor. The form of
taxation aggravated the situation. Instead of a property tax, which
would throw the burden upon the great landholders, the poll-tax was the
usual method of raising money, the poor man thus having to pay as much
as the wealthy. There was also much bad judgment displayed in the use of
public funds. In a period of low prices and overproduction, the heavy
expenditures proved a serious burden, and discontent gradually developed
into rebellion.
Proprietary grants.--The action of the English government also alarmed
the colonists. In 1660 an attempt was made to renew the old Virginia
Company. Berkeley visited England to prevent it and his mission proved
successful. In 1649 the king had granted the region between the Potomac
and the Rappahannock rivers to several of his supporters, and after the
Restoration they leased their rights to Sir Humphrey Hooke and two
others. In 1669 the grant was renewed. The Virginia assembly immediately
sent agents to England to obtain the annulment of the patent or to allow
the colony to purchase the tract. Before a settlement was made the king
in 1673 granted the whole of Virginia to the Earl of Arlington and Lord
Culpeper with full proprietory rights for thirty-one years. The assembly
was greatly alarmed and directed its agents to seek the annulment of
this patent also. The matter was finally settled by an arrangement with
the proprietors by which they agreed to relinquish the patent provided
the colony paid them the quit-rents and assured them the escheated
property. The agents then asked the government that they be assured that
no portion of the colony would be granted in future to any proprietors
and that taxation would not be imposed without the consent of the house
of burgesses. Before a settlement was reached Bacon's rebellion
occurred.
Indian war.--The spark that kindled the rebellion was an Indian war. The
Senecas, pressing upon the Susquehannas, forced them into Maryland and
Virginia, where they committed depredations in the summer of 1675. The
settlers retaliated by killing several Indians. The Susquehannas joined
with the native tribes and harried the frontiers. Berkeley sent Colonel
John Washington in command of several hundred men to join the
Marylanders against an Indian fort on the Potomac, but after several
weeks of fighting the red men escaped. This was followed by renewed
depredations. Early in 1676 the governor prepared a second expedition
but suddenly abandoned the project. In March the assembly met and
decided to wage a defensive war. Forts were to be built upon the upper
waters of the rivers and heavy taxes were demanded to pay for them.
Bacon's rebellion.--The people were greatly incensed at the policy, and
demanded that the assembly be dissolved and a free election held. The
frontiersmen also demanded that they be allowed to go against the
Indians. Both of these demands the governor stubbornly refused. A
rebellion immediately broke out in Charles City County, and Nathaniel
Bacon, of Henrico, a member of Berkeley's council, was induced to lead
it. The governor was asked to grant Bacon a commission to proceed
against the Indians. Without waiting for the governor's decision, Bacon
led his men against the Pamunkeys. Bacon's act angered Berkeley, who
refused the commission and ordered Bacon and his men to lay down their
arms. This they refused to do and retired beyond the frontier, where
they destroyed an Indian stronghold on an island in the Roanoke River.
Berkeley issued a proclamation declaring Bacon's acts disloyal and
rebellious. To obtain popular support he dismantled the forts, dissolved
the assembly, and called an election.
Bacon was elected in Henrico County and an armed guard accompanied him
to the capital. Berkeley's troops fired upon Bacon's sloop, but that
night Bacon entered the town to consult with friends. He was discovered,
and eventually captured and brought before the governor, who, in view of
the popular clamor, became lenient, granting him a pardon and promising
him a commission as general. As the commission was not forthcoming,
Bacon collected several hundred men and marched upon Jamestown, which he
entered without opposition, and forced Berkeley to sign the commission
and to write a letter to the king justifying Bacon's acts. The assembly
now passed several bills which struck at the governor's power, and
repealed the act which restricted the franchise to freeholders.
The burgesses had just completed their work when news came that the
Indians were again on the warpath, and Bacon hastened with his
volunteers to the frontier. No sooner was he gone than the governor
began to enlist troops to proceed against the popular leader. Hearing of
this Bacon returned and Berkeley fled to the eastern shore of Chesapeake
Bay. Bacon was now in full control of the larger part of the colony. To
justify his acts he took the oath of allegiance, imposed it upon his
followers, and called an election. He then organized two expeditions,
one against the governor, the other against the Indians. An English ship
was seized and two hundred men were sent to capture Berkeley, but the
governor's followers surprised the crew and captured the leaders.
Berkeley then returned to Jamestown. While these events were occurring,
Bacon marched against the Indians and captured a stronghold of the
Pamunkeys. He then captured Jamestown and burned it, soon afterward
retiring into Gloucester County, where he was taken sick and died. In a
few months the people wearied of anarchy, many of the leaders
surrendered, and Berkeley was again in control.
Berkeley's revenge.--In June, 1676, Berkeley had tendered his
resignation to the king. Charles decided to allow him to retain the
title of governor, but to have him return to England, leaving the
government to a lieutenant-governor, Colonel Jeffreys being appointed.
He was assisted by two commissioners, Berry and Moryson. A general
pardon for the rebels was also drawn up. Berry and Moryson arrived in
the colony and found the governor intractable. Jeffreys, with about a
thousand troops, arrived soon afterward, but instead of asserting his
authority, he allowed Berkeley to ignore the pardon proclamation and
many were hung. Knowledge of Berkeley's disobedience reached the king,
who ordered him to return to England at once, but before the order
arrived Berkeley had embarked. He died soon after reaching England, and
Lord Culpeper was appointed governor, but he did not reach Virginia
until 1680.
Culpeper and Howard.--In the meantime the commissioners investigated the
causes of the rebellion, and in July, 1677, Berry and Moryson took their
report to England where it was laid before the privy council. Jeffreys,
who was left in control, had little authority, and the government again
fell into the hands of Berkeley's friends. Culpeper arrived in 1680, but
he proved to be a weak individual who spent most of his time in England
and did little when in the colony. In 1684 a new governor, Lord Howard
of Effingham, proceeded at once to curb the powers of the house of
burgesses. The right of appealing cases from the lower courts to the
assembly was denied, henceforth the governor and council being the final
court of appeal. The right of the king to annul laws passed by the
assembly was also asserted in spite of violent opposition. The session
of 1685 proved a stormy one. An attempt was made to take the power of
taxation away from the assembly. The king, who had taken over the
proprietory rights of Arlington and Culpeper, demanded that the
quit-rents be paid in specie instead of tobacco. This the burgesses
violently opposed, but they finally compromised by agreeing to pay
somewhat less than the governor had demanded. A "bill of ports" was
introduced which was intended to fix the points at which ships might
load and unload. Another violent struggle occurred. Finally, on
recommendation of the governor, the king dissolved the assembly. Lord
Howard unseated several members and appointed the clerk of the assembly.
The governor also collected certain fees, an act which the burgesses
claimed was an encroachment upon the power of taxation. The colony was
nearing another rebellion. In 1688 the assembly drew up a statement of
grievances, which they sent to the king, but by the time it reached
England James II had been driven from the throne and Effingham was soon
recalled.
DISCONTENT IN MARYLAND
Conditions in Maryland.--Economic conditions in Maryland were similar to
those in Virginia, the navigation laws affecting the colony in a similar
manner, the price of tobacco falling continually after 1660 for many
years. Political discontent also manifested itself, but the religious
element played a larger part in Maryland than in Virginia. No widespread
rebellion occurred, however, for Baltimore's government was more
temperate than that of Berkeley, the settlements were more compact,
frontier dangers were less acute, and no popular leader of great ability
arose to lead the malcontents.
Charles Calvert's administration.--After the turmoil of the Cromwellian
period, the Restoration brought comparative security to the proprietor
of Maryland, who succeeded in ingratiating himself with Charles II. In
1675 Charles Calvert succeeded to the proprietorship. Previously for
several years he had personally directed the governorship and had worked
conscientiously to bring about prosperity in the colony. He was less
tactful than his father and was exceedingly strong-willed. He placed his
relatives in the important positions, restricted the suffrage, and
frequently summoned to the assembly only half of the elected delegates,
thus keeping out influential opponents. In 1676, while Baltimore was in
England, a few malcontents attempted an uprising, but Notley, the acting
governor, overthrew and hanged two of the leaders, nipping the rebellion
in the bud. The proprietor and assembly continued to have difficulties,
but in the main Baltimore succeeded in maintaining his power. He also
had trouble with William Penn over the northern boundary, and with the
Lords of Trade over the right of collecting the customs. Baltimore's
Catholic leanings naturally made him support James II. When that monarch
was driven from the throne, a miniature bloodless revolution occurred in
Maryland. An Association for the Defense of the Protestant Religion was
formed. In July, 1689, the leaders seized St. Mary's and held a
representative assembly. But to their chagrin, William and Mary restored
the old colonial system, and Baltimore was soon back in power.
ROYAL INTERFERENCE IN NEW ENGLAND
Massachusetts and the king.--During the Cromwellian period the New
England colonies had followed their own devices, but when Charles II
came to the throne, they could not expect to pursue their independent
course. To forestall trouble, Massachusetts hastened to acknowledge the
king's authority, and none too soon, for numerous complaints had been
lodged against her. The most forceful of these came from the Quakers. In
1655 Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, two Quaker missionaries, had landed in
Barbados, the first of that sect to come to the colonies. The following
year they went to Boston from which they were promptly expelled. Rhode
Island proved hospitable. Those who had believed in Anne Hutchinson's
"covenant of grace" found the Quaker idea of the "inner fight" an
acceptable doctrine. From Rhode Island Quakers frequently penetrated the
neighboring colonies which took violent means to expel them. The
Massachusetts persecution reached its height in 1660 when three Quakers
were hanged, one of them being Mary Dyer, a former friend of Anne
Hutchinson. This high-handed proceeding reached the ear of the king, who
was in no amiable frame of mind toward the Puritan colonists, who were
believed to be sheltering two of the regicides. He accordingly ordered
the Boston authorities to send Quakers to England for trial, but
Massachusetts sent representatives to England, who succeeded in getting
the king to grant the colony free hand in dealing with Quakers. Charles
also confirmed the Massachusetts charter, but changed the basis of
voting from church membership to a property qualification.
The Connecticut charter.--Connecticut fared well with Charles II. When
the king's messengers visited the colony in search of the regicides,
they were given assistance, while New Haven aided the fugitives in
escaping. The results of this were soon apparent. In 1661 when
Connecticut sent Governor John Winthrop to England to obtain a charter,
he was graciously received and the following year the document was
issued. It provided for a popularly elected governor, a deputy-governor,
council, and assembly. The boundaries were described as "All that part
of our Dominions ... bounded on the East by the Narrogancett River,
commonly called Narrogancett Bay..., and on the North by the lyne of the
Massachusetts Plantation, and on the South by the Sea, and ... from the
said Narrogancett Bay on the East to the South Sea on the West parte,
with the Islands thereunto adjoyneinge." The boundaries included a part
of the territory of Rhode Island and the whole of New Haven, and
entirely ignored the Dutch possessions in the Hudson Valley. New Haven
protested violently, but in 1664, when the king granted the lands
between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers to the Duke of York, the New
Haven towns submitted to Connecticut rather than be annexed to New York.
The Rhode Island charter.--Fearful that Charles II might divide her
territory among her neighbors, Rhode Island hastened to proclaim the
king and petitioned that she be granted a charter. The Rhode Island
representative protested against the inclusion of Narragansett Bay
territory in Connecticut and the difficulty was adjusted by fixing the
boundary at the Pawtucket River, which was renamed the Narragansett. The
form of government was similar to that of Connecticut, but in Rhode
Island religious freedom was established.
The royal commissioners.--In 1664, when the English government had
determined upon the seizure of New Netherlands, commissioners were sent
to America. Respecting New England, their duties were to settle boundary
questions, to consider local disputes, and to see how the colonies
might be made more profitable. The commissioners visited Boston in July,
1664, where they obtained troops and demanded the repeal of the law
which restricted the franchise to church membership. After the conquest
of New Netherlands, three of them returned to New England. They were
well received in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Plymouth at this time was
attempting to obtain a charter, and the commissioners suggested that the
colony might have its lands confirmed without cost if it would receive a
royal governor, an offer which was declined? In Boston their reception
was stormy, the Massachusetts authorities denying that the commission
had any right of jurisdiction. Nicolls, the fourth commissioner, soon
arrived and the debates continued, but without result. The king rebuked
Massachusetts for its lack of respect, but took no immediate steps to
coerce the colony.
The frontier on the eve of King Philip's War.--In 1675 the Penobscot
marked the most northern settlement. Along the coasts and in the lower
valleys of the short New England streams settlements had been planted.
Eastern Massachusetts and Plymouth contained numerous towns. In Rhode
Island the island was fairly well-settled, but with the exception of
Providence and Warwick, the mainland had attracted few. Other
settlements were located near the mouth of the Thames, and in the valley
of the Connecticut as far up as Northfield. The coast lands of western
Connecticut had also been occupied. The total population of New England
did not exceed fifty thousand. The lands beyond the fringe of settlement
were occupied by powerful Indian tribes, which could muster about
thirty-five hundred fighting men.
Causes of the war.--The encroachment of the frontiers on the Indian
hunting ground was the primary cause of the war, but other events were
contributory. By 1660 the fur trade had declined, fish and lumber having
become the important exports. This trade brought in silver, and wampum
ceased to be the medium of exchange. With the passing of furs and
wampum, the Indian became less and less useful to the white man, who
looked upon him with contempt. The christianizing of the Cape Cod
Indians by the Reverend John Eliot and other missionaries was viewed
sullenly by the Wampanoags, who saw in it an attempt to weaken their
power. Massasoit, Sachem of the Wampanoags, died in 1662, leaving two
sons, called by the whites Alexander and Philip. The sudden death of
Alexander gave rise to a belief among the Indians that he had been
poisoned.
The war.--In the summer of 1675, outbreaks occurred in Rhode Island, and
a settler was killed. An expedition was immediately sent against the
Wampanoags, but Philip succeeded in escaping with his followers. The
Nipmucks attacked Deerfield, Northfield. Springfield, and Hatfield,
spreading terror in the Connecticut Valley. Believing that the
Narragansetts were about to enter the war, Massachusetts, Plymouth, and
Connecticut joined forces, and in December attacked their stronghold.
After a bloody battle they captured it and dispersed the tribe. The
survivors joined the other hostiles and harried the frontiers as far
north as the Maine settlements. In April, 1676, Chief Canonchet, of the
Narragansetts, was captured and shot, and the following month the
Indians were decisively defeated near the falls of the Connecticut.
After that the Indian confederation broke up and effective resistance
came to an end in August with the death of Philip. The power of the
tribes was broken and the way cleared for the advancement of the
frontier.
Complaints against Massachusetts.--The independent course which
Massachusetts had followed in her dealings with the home government had
irritated Charles and the privy council, but the fall of Clarendon and
the Dutch war of 1673 had kept the king from taking action against the
headstrong colony. Complaints continued to be made. The heirs of Mason
and Gorges claimed that Massachusetts had usurped their rights; London
merchants complained that the colony was evading the navigation acts by
carrying tobacco and sugar directly to Europe from other colonies; lack
of respect for the king's authority, the exercising of powers not
warranted by her charter, and numerous other complaints were lodged
against her.
Edward Randolph.--In 1676 the king sent Edward Randolph to Massachusetts
with an order that the colony send agents to England within six months
to answer the Mason and Gorges claims an order which was tardily
fulfilled. He was also empowered to collect information which might be
useful to the Lords of Trade. Randolph was not well received, being
looked upon as an agent of the Mason and Gorges heirs. When he
complained to Governor Leverett of the violation of the navigation laws,
the governor boldly asserted that parliament had no power to legislate
for Massachusetts, and denied that appeals might be made to the king.
Randolph returned to England convinced that a change of government was
necessary.
In 1678 Randolph was appointed collector of the customs, but he did not
arrive in Boston until the following year. In the meantime the
Massachusetts title to New Hampshire had been examined. Randolph bore a
letter from the king which commanded the colony to give up its
jurisdiction over both New Hampshire and Maine. The former command
Massachusetts immediately obeyed, but the latter was ignored as the
agents of Massachusetts had recently purchased the Gorges title.
Annulment of the charter.--As collector of the customs Randolph's course
was beset with difficulties, and his reports were filled with complaints
of frequent violations of the navigation acts. In 1681 he returned to
England and advised that the charter of Massachusetts be abrogated and
that all the New England colonies be united under one administrative
head. Randolph soon returned to the colony, but the friction continued
and his complaints became more and more violent. The king and the Lords
of Trade finally wearied of the strong-willed colony, legal action was
taken, and in 1684 the charter was annulled.
Temporary government.--The annulment of the charter did not bring about
an insurrection in Massachusetts, for the colonial leaders realized that
the protection of the mother country was necessary to preserve them from
being conquered by the French. While the Lords of Trade were considering
a form of government, a temporary plan was put in operation. Joseph
Dudley was made president, Randolph secretary, and a council was
appointed, but no provision was made for a legislative assembly. To
enforce the laws of trade, in 1686 an admiralty court was established.
Affairs in New Hampshire.--Since New Hampshire was separated from
Massachusetts, affairs in the northern colony had been going badly. A
president and council had been established, but when Randolph attempted
to enforce the trade laws, he had met with difficulties. The colonists
also objected to paying quit-rents to the Mason heirs. In 1682 Edward
Cranfield was appointed governor and was soon at loggerheads with the
people over the Mason right, and in 1685 he left the colony in disgust.
Dominion of New England.--The Lords of Trade for some time had been
considering the advisability of consolidating the New England colonies
in order to cut down expense, to make the enforcement of the navigation
acts more effective, and to bring the colonies into a closer dependence
on the crown. When James became king, the plan was put into operation.
In the new form of government the central figure was a governor-general
who was to be assisted by a council, but no provision was made for a
popular assembly.
Edmund Andros.--Andros, the former governor of New York, was appointed
governor-general and arrived at Boston in December. 1686. In a
businesslike manner he organized his government. Boston was made the
seat of power. Andros acted as commander of the army and Vice-admiral,
and exercised the pardoning power. With the advice and consent of the
council he made laws, levied taxes, and administered justice. He also
made land grants and collected quit-rents. He demanded that Plymouth,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut surrender their charters. Plymouth and
Rhode Island complied and their representatives were admitted to the
council, but Connecticut temporized. Finally Andros visited the obdurate
colony, dissolved the government, and admitted representatives to his
council. The charter, however, according to Connecticut tradition, was
hidden in an oak tree and never left the colony. In 1688 the Lords of
Trade determined to bring all the territory from the St. Croix and the
St. Lawrence to the Delaware under the supervision of Andros.
Overthrow of Andros.--The system aroused the anger of the colonists, who
looked upon the governor-general as a tyrant. Mutterings of discontent
grew louder and louder, and when news reached Massachusetts that James
II had fled from England, the people of Boston rose in revolt, seized
the fortifications and royal frigate, and imprisoned Andros and
Randolph. A council was established, a convention was summoned, and the
old charter government was reëstablished. Connecticut and Rhode Island
also restored the charter governments.
READINGS
COLONIAL POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 1-40; Beer, G.L., _The Old
Colonial System_, I, 1-315; "The Commercial Policy of England toward the
American Colonies," in Columbia University, _Studies in History,
Economics, and Public Law_, III, Pt. 2, pp. 29-54; Channing, Edward,
_History of the United States_, II, 1-13; Egerton, H.E., _A Short
History of British Colonial Policy_, 66-80; MacDonald, William, _Select
Charters_, 106-115, 119-120, 133-136; Osgood, H.L., _The American
Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, III, 143-241.
VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 202-251; Andrews, C.M., ed.,
_Narratives of the Insurrections_, 11-141, 299-314; Channing, Edward,
_History of the United States_, II, 80-91, 209-213; Fiske, John, _Old
Virginia and her Neighbors_, II, 45-107, 131-173; Osgood, H.L., _The
American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, III, 242-308;
Wertenbaker, T.J., _Virginia under the Stuarts_, 115-259.
NEW ENGLAND
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 41-73, 252-287; Andrews,
C.M., ed., _Narratives of the Insurrections_, 165-297; Andrews, C.M.,
_The Fathers of New England_; Channing, Edward, _History of the United
States_, II, 65-79, 155-203; Doyle, J.A., _The Puritan Colonies_, II,
190-276; Ellis, G.W., and Morris, J.E., _King Philip's War_; Fiske,
John, _The Beginnings of New England_, 199-278; James, B.B., _The
Colonization of New England_, 213-295; Osgood, H.L., _The English
Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, III, 309-335, 378-443; Palfrey,
J.G., _Compendious History of New England_, II, 1-20; _History of New
England_, III, chs. 3, 7-9, 12-14.
CHAPTER XI
EXPANSION UNDER THE LATER STUARTS (1660-1689)
NEW YORK
The period of the later Stuarts was remarkable for colonial expansion.
New Netherlands was acquired, the Jerseys, Pennsylvania, and the
Carolinas were founded, the Hudson's Bay Fur Company was formed, and new
settlements were made in the West Indies.
Causes of the attack upon the Dutch.--In 1664 New Netherlands was
seized. This was not an isolated event but was a part of a general plan
to weaken Dutch power. England had three main objects: to cripple the
Dutch carrying trade, to get control of the slave trade, and to obtain
New Netherlands, an acquisition which would give geographical unity to
the colonies on the Atlantic seaboard. The navigation acts were weapons
against the carrying trade. The African Company was organized to strike
at the slave trade.
The African Company.--During the first half of the seventeenth century,
the Dutch had obtained a monopoly of the trade in slaves to the Spanish
and Portuguese colonies in America. To break this monopoly the African
Company was formed in 1660, headed by the Duke of York. During the next
two years the Dutch vigorously opposed the English Company, soon
convincing its officers that it must be organized on a larger scale if
it would succeed. In 1663 the Company of Royal Adventurers trading to
Africa was organized, being granted the coast from Sallee to the Cape of
Good Hope. Vessels sent to the African coast encountered such opposition
that in 1664 a squadron was sent to protect them and succeeded in
capturing several Dutch forts, but Admiral DeRuyter soon recaptured
them.
Seizure of New Netherlands, 1664.--At the same time England prepared to
seize New Netherlands, a territory which she had always claimed. The
king granted to the Duke of York the northern part of Maine, Long
Island, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and New Netherlands. The Duke in
turn granted the Jerseys to Carteret and Lord Berkeley. A royal
commission was despatched to America with three war vessels and several
hundred men. At Boston the expedition was reinforced and then proceeded
to New Amsterdam, which surrendered without a struggle. One member of
the commission went to the Delaware and took possession. In the Treaty
of Breda (1667) the English were given important slave trading
privileges, their conquests between the Hudson and the Delaware were
confirmed, and Lord Willoughby's colony of Surinam was ceded to the
Dutch, who had captured it in the course of the recent war.
Administration of Nicolls.--Nicolls was made governor and his
administration was conducted with tact and firmness. In dealing with
Connecticut he insisted upon the Duke's right to Long Island. In New
Netherlands several Dutch place names were changed, New Amsterdam
becoming New York, and Ft. Orange, Albany. The right of property was not
disturbed; judicial districts were organized; and to New York City he
granted a charter which provided for a mayor, aldermen, and sheriff,
whom he appointed. Nicolls drew up a code, known as the Duke's Laws,
which was a combination of portions of the codes of Massachusetts and
New Haven, Dutch customs, and original ideas. Religious toleration was
allowed, and landholding was made the basis for voting. The lack of a
representative assembly was a noticeable feature, which led to discord
when taxes were demanded.
Representative government demanded.--Lovelace became governor in 1668,
and during his administration of five years friction increased, but he
managed to maintain his authority. In 1673 when war broke out between
England and Holland, New York was captured by the Dutch, but the
following year it was restored to the English. Edmund Andros was then
appointed governor. He informed the proprietor of the desire for a
representative assembly, but James stubbornly refused. In 1681, when
James neglected to renew the customs duties, the merchants refused to
pay them. Because of the resulting loss of revenue Andros was ordered to
England, and during his absence the disaffection greatly increased.
Thomas Dongan was appointed governor in 1682. He was instructed to call
a representative assembly to advise the governor and council regarding
taxation and law making. In October, 1683, seventeen representatives met
at New York and drew up a Charter of Franchises and Liberties. This was
sent to the Duke, who signed it, but when he became king he rejected it.
Dongan's administration.--Dongan administered the province of New York
with marked ability. He granted a new charter to New York City by which
the mayor, recorder, and sheriff were appointed by the governor, and the
aldermen were popularly elected. He maintained the boundaries of the
province against the claims of Penn on the west and Connecticut on the
east. In 1684 he made a treaty with the Iroquois, and henceforth they
sided with the English in the great international struggle for trade and
territory.
Leisler's rebellion.--When James II attempted to consolidate all of the
northern provinces under one head New York was included. But when the
king was overthrown, Jacob Leisler led a rebellion and drove out
Nicholson, the royal representative. Leisler summoned a convention which
gave him dictatorial powers. He maintained authority until 1691, when
Henry Sloughter arrived as governor. Leisler surrendered, but was tried
and hanged.
THE JERSEYS
Settlements in the Jerseys.--When the Jerseys passed into the hands of
Carteret and Berkeley, there were two settled areas, one of Dutch origin
about Bergen, Hoboken, and Wiehawken, the other of Dutch, Swedish, and
Finnish settlements on the Delaware. When Nicolls came to New York he
was not aware that part of the province had been granted to others. He
immediately sought to bring in settlers; about two hundred people,
descendants of New Englanders, moved from Long Island to the
neighborhood of what was later known as Elizabethtown. Others, most of
whom were Quakers, settled at Middletown and Shrewsbury under a special
grant from Nicolls.
Government in East New Jersey.--In 1665 Philip Carteret, probably a
brother of the proprietor, arrived with a governor's commission. With
him were about thirty persons, most of whom were French people from the
Island of Jersey. Elizabethtown was made the capital. Carteret brought
with him a plan of government, which provided that the governor was to
choose a council of not less than six, nor more than twelve members. The
freemen were to choose twelve representatives, who were to join with the
governor and council in law-making. When local divisions were
established each division was to elect a representative to an assembly,
which would then take the place of the twelve. The assembly could pass
laws subject to certain restrictions, create local divisions,
incorporate towns, erect forts, provide for a militia, wage war,
naturalize foreigners, and perform many other acts. Religious liberty
and property rights were carefully protected. The enforcement of laws,
appointment of officers, and pardoning power were left in the hands of
the governor and council.
Difficulties with New Englanders.--During 1666 many families from the
Connecticut Valley migrated to East New Jersey, most of them settling on
the Passaic River, Bradford and Guilford being founded. Newark was also
settled. The settlers drew up a form of government copied from New
Haven, which restricted the franchise to membership in the
Congregational church. In April, 1668, the first assembly was called by
Carteret, but the people from Middletown and Shrewsbury did not send
delegates. To a session held in October these towns sent
representatives, but they were not allowed to sit in the meeting. A
quarrel ensued between the governor and assembly, which soon adjourned
and did not convene again for seven years. In 1670, when Carteret
attempted to collect quit-rents, the settlers refused to pay, and for
two years the colony was in turmoil. Middletown and Shrewsbury, acting
under their original patent from Nicolls, set up an independent
government, but the governor refused to recognize it and was sustained
by the proprietors, who, however, granted some concessions, whereupon
the difficulties subsided.
The Quakers in West New Jersey.--In 1672 George Fox, the founder of the
Quaker sect, crossed New Jersey and visited the Quakers in the eastern
part. To this visit Penn's interest in the region may be traced. In 1674
Berkeley disposed of his share of the colony to two Quakers, Edward
Byllynge and John Fenwick, this transaction being due to a desire on the
part of the Society of Friends to establish an independent colony.
Byllynge and Fenwick became involved in a dispute over property rights,
and William Penn was made arbiter. Penn awarded one-tenth to Fenwick,
who, after considerable litigation, accepted it. Byllynge shortly
afterward conveyed his holdings to Penn, Lawrie, and Lucas, who soon
acquired Fenwick's interests. In 1676 Carteret and the Quaker
proprietors fixed the line of demarcation between East and West New
Jersey. It was to run from the most southwardly point of the east side
of Little Egg Harbor to the point where the Delaware River crossed the
forty-first parallel. The Quaker migration to West New Jersey began in
1675, when Fenwick led a group to Salem. In 1677 two hundred and thirty
more settled at Burlington. During the next two years eight hundred
arrived, and by 1681 nearly fourteen hundred had come to the colony. In
every case title to the soil was obtained by purchase from the Indians.
[Illustration: The Delaware River Region. (From Fisher, _The Quaker
Colonies_, in the Series, "The Chronicles of America," Yale University
Press).]
Government of West New Jersey.--The original Burlington colonists
brought with them a body of laws which have been described as "the
broadest, sanest, and most equitable charter draughted for any body of
colonists up to that time." No doubt Penn played the principal rôle in
the draughting. It provided for a board of commissioners to be appointed
by the proprietors and an assembly chosen by the people, which was to
have full rights of making laws if they were not contrary to the charter
or the laws of England. The charter provided for public trials by jury
and assured the right of petition. Capital punishment was prohibited.
Trouble with the Duke of York.--After the expulsion of the Dutch in
1674, the Duke of York attempted to regain control of the Jerseys and
refused to recognize the validity of Berkeley's sale to Byllynge. When
Andros became governor of New York he attempted to assert the authority
of James over the Jerseys, but the courts refused to uphold the claims
of the Duke, and in 1680 he finally gave up the struggle.
Later history of West New Jersey.--In 1680 Byllynge obtained a title to
West New Jersey from the Duke of York and the charter of 1677 was put
into effect, with the exception that the executive was vested in a
single person instead of in commissioners. In 1687 Byllynge died and
Daniel Coxe, a London merchant, acquired his properties. Burlington was
made the capital, and Coxe bent his efforts to make it a commercial
center. In 1688 the colony was placed under the jurisdiction of Andros
as a part of the northern administrative unit which included New York
and New England, but Coxe was restored to his rights after the
dethronement of James, though he soon sold out to the West New Jersey
Society.
Later history of East New Jersey.--In 1682 Philip Carteret resigned, and
the board of trustees who controlled the estate of Sir George Carteret
sold East New Jersey to William Penn and eleven other Quakers. Shortly
afterwards twelve others were taken into the company, several of whom
were Scotch Presbyterians. In 1683 the twenty-four men received a deed
from the Duke of York. Under these proprietors the colony prospered, and
population increased rapidly. In 1688 the province came under royal
jurisdiction and it was annexed to New York, but after the revolution it
was restored to the proprietors.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Quaker faith.--The Reformation produced many religious sects. Writh
the breaking down of one authoritative church and the substitution of
the idea that any one might read and interpret the Bible, religious
groups began forming. Among the numerous sects were the Quakers, the
followers of George Fox. Seventeenth century religion was based upon the
fundamental idea that the universe was dualistic, natural and
supernatural. The question on which men split was how the chasm was to
be bridged. Most of the Protestant sects believed that the crossing was
made by a definite revelation of the word of God. Fox believed "that it
was bridged by the communication of a supernatural Light given to each
soul."
The coming of the Quakers.--Most of the seventeenth century religious
sects, once in power, were as intolerant as the Catholics had been. The
Quaker was looked upon with disfavor and persecution was his lot. In
America he hoped to find an abiding place. Between 1655 and 1680 Quakers
appeared in nearly all the colonies. Fox came to America in 1671 and in
the course of the following year visited the Quaker communities from
Barbados to Rhode Island.
Penn obtains lands on the Delaware.--The desire to obtain lands where
they would be in complete control was long in the minds of the Quaker
leaders. In 1680 William Penn petitioned for lands along the Delaware
north of Maryland, in payment of a debt of 16,000 pounds. In spite of
his faith Penn stood well at court, and on March 4, 1681, the charter of
Pennsylvania was signed. The extent of the grant was defined as follows:
"All that Tract or parte of land in America, with all the Islands
therein conteyned, as the same is bounded on the East by Delaware River,
from twelve miles distance, Northwarde of New Castle Towne unto the
three and fortieth degree of Northerne Latitude if the said River doeth
extend soe farre Northwards; But if the said River shall not extend soe
farre Northward, then by the said River soe farr as it doth extend, and
from the head of the said River the Easterne Bounds are to bee
determined by a Meridian Line, to bee drawne from the head of the said
River unto the said three and fortieth degree, The said lands to extend
westwards, five degrees in longitude, to bee computed from the said
Eastern Bounds, and the said lands to bee bounded on the North, by the
beginning of the three and fortieth degree of Northern latitude, and on
the South, by a Circle drawne at twelve miles, distance from New Castle
Northwards, and Westwards unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of
Northerne Latitude; and then by a streight Line westwards, to the Limitt
of Longitude above mentioned."
Both the northern and southern boundaries caused future disputes. Penn
claimed as far north as the forty-third parallel, while New York
insisted on the forty-second, a difference which was settled a century
later in favor of New York. On the south the boundaries conflicted with
the claims of Baltimore. In 1682 the question was further complicated by
a grant to Penn from the Duke of York of the territory on the western
shore of Delaware Bay. The difficulty was finally settled in 1760, and
seven years later two surveyors, Mason and Dixon, ran the present line
between Maryland and Pennsylvania at 39° 44', and erected the present
boundaries of the state of Delaware.
Powers of the proprietor.--By the charter Penn was made a proprietor,
having the right to make laws with the advice and consent of the
freemen. The proprietor was given power to execute the laws, issue
ordinances, appoint judges and magistrates, pardon criminals except in
cases of treason and willful murder, erect municipalities, and grant
manors. The form of government in the colony was left to the proprietor.
Laws had to be sent to the privy council for approval, but if action
were not taken within six months, they were valid. The king reserved the
right of hearing appeals. The navigation laws were to be enforced, and
if damages accrued from non-enforcement and were not settled within a
year, the king had the right to take over the government of the colony
until payment was made.
The founding of Philadelphia.--Penn published a prospectus of his colony
which was widely circulated, and drew up a body of conditions and
concessions which dealt with the division and settlement of the province
and with Indian relations. In 1681 he sent to America as deputy-governor
his cousin, William Markham, who received the allegiance of the settlers
already within the colony. Shortly afterward the first body of colonists
arrived bearing instructions to lay out a town. The site of Philadelphia
was surveyed the following year, a symmetrical plan being adopted which
made Penn's capital the best-arranged city in colonial America.
The "frame of government."--The government devised by Penn consisted of
"the Governor and freemen of the said province, in form of a Provincial
Council and General Assembly, by whom all laws shall be made, officers
chosen, and publick affairs transacted." An elective council was to
consist of seventy-two persons "of most note for their wisdom, virtue
and ability." This body, with the governor, was to prepare and propose
all bills, and together they were to share executive powers. They were
to erect courts of justice, elect county officers, provide schools, and
perform numerous other duties. The assembly, which was to consist at
first of not more than two hundred members, was to be elected annually.
Its chief business was to consider and pass upon bills prepared by the
governor and council.
Penn's first sojourn in the province.--Penn arrived on the ship
_Welcome_ in the fall of 1682 and immediately called an election for an
assembly, in this case ignoring the details of the frame of government.
The first assembly annexed the territory on the western shore of
Delaware Bay, naturalized foreigners, and adopted a set of laws proposed
by the proprietor, which provided for liberty of conscience, a strict
code of morals, and for capital punishment for treason and murder only.
Penn inspected his province, watched the building of Philadelphia, and
visited New York, Maryland, and West New Jersey. He also held several
meetings with the Indians, entering in June, 1683, into a treaty with
them which had the salutary effect of keeping Pennsylvania free from
Indian war. The number of representatives provided for in the frame of
government proving too large, a new frame was drawn up by which the
council was reduced to eighteen and the lower house to thirty-six
members.
Penn's activities in England.--In August, 1684, Penn went to England to
obtain a settlement of his disputes with Baltimore and to aid the
persecuted Quakers. His claim to the Delaware tract was confirmed and he
secured the release from English jails of more than twelve hundred
Quakers. In 1688 he also succeeded in keeping his province from being
incorporated within the jurisdiction of Andros.
Friction in the colony.--The political peace for which Penn had hoped
was soon disturbed. Friction over the right to initiate legislation
broke out between the council and assembly. Trouble with one of the
justices also occurred. Hoping to quiet affairs, Penn took away the
executive powers of the council and appointed a commission of five
councillors who were to compel all to do their duty. As trouble
continued, he did away with the commission and appointed Captain
Blackwell, a Puritan, to act for him. This choice proved unfortunate,
for the Puritan could not get along with the Quakers. In despair, Penn
recalled Blackwell and allowed the council to select its own executive.
The council again assumed the governorship, and chose Thomas Lloyd
president. Friction also existed between the settlers along the shore of
Delaware Bay and those in the river settlements, a difficulty which
eventually led to the separation of Delaware from Pennsylvania.
Growth of the colony.--In spite of frictions the colony prospered. When
Penn acquired his province, it contained about a thousand Swedes,
Finns, and Dutch, and a few Quakers. By 1685 the population had
increased to more than eight thousand, made up of diverse elements;
Quakers, mostly from central and southwestern England and from Wales,
Mennonites from the Rhineland, Swedes, Scotch, Irish, and French.
Philadelphia soon boasted a tannery, sawmill, and kiln; linen
manufacture began; and the colony entered upon a prosperous
intercolonial trade in flour, staves, and horses. A weekly post and a
school were established, and a printing press installed. It was evident
that Penn's "holy experiment" had justified itself.
THE INSULAR COLONIES
Reorganization in the Bermudas.--Complaints by the settlers against the
rule of the Somers Islands Company in the Bermudas had been common since
its foundation. As time went on it became composed of men who had little
interest in the colony. The settlers, on the other hand, grew in numbers
and independence. Under the circumstances, in the general reorganization
by the later Stuarts, the company was dissolved, and in 1679 the
Bermudas became a crown colony.
Reorganization in the West Indies.--Down to 1671 the English Caribbean
island possessions were all included in one government within the
Carlisle grant. In that year they were separated into two governments,
St. Kitts, Nevis. Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla and "all other
the Leeward islands" to the north of French Guadeloupe were separated
from Barbados and the Windward Islands, and erected into the government
of the Leeward Islands, the islands to the south of Guadeloupe being
formed into the government of the Windward Islands. The Leeward Islands
were put under one governor-in-chief, each island being given a deputy
governor, council, assembly, and courts. In 1689 the islands together
were granted a general assembly, which first met in 1690.
New settlements in the West Indies.--During the period of the later
Stuarts the Leeward Islands extended their influence among the smaller
islands to the northwest In 1665 a buccaneering expedition from Jamaica
captured St. Eustatius and Saba. In 1666 settlers from the Bermudas
settled on New Providence, one of the Bahamas, and elected a governor.
Four years later six of the Carolina proprietors secured a patent to
the island but did little toward colonizing it. In 1672 Tortola was
taken from the Dutch and added to the Leeward Islands.
Unrest in Barbados.--The first important movement to settle Carolina
came from Barbados, the most populous of the English colonies. A spirit
of unrest pervaded the island. During the Commonwealth it had been a
refuge for both Cavaliers and Roundheads, and the newcomers had taken up
lands without securing titles. When the Stuarts were restored, the
former proprietors attempted to regain their possessions. A lively
controversy ensued. The king settled it by establishing his authority in
the island, but levied a tax of four and one-half per cent. on its
products to be applied to satisfy in part the claims of the proprietors,
an arrangement which pleased no one. The navigation acts also
considerably interfered with the trade of the island which had
previously been carried on largely with the Dutch. As a result many
settlers were anxious to leave. Between 1643 and 1667 at least twelve
hundred Barbadians went to fight or settle in Jamaica, Tobago, St.
Lucia, Trinidad, Surinam, New England, Virginia, or Carolina.
THE CAROLINAS
The Carolina coast.--From the James River region to the Spanish
settlements in Florida, stretched a vast territory, which, with the
single exception of a settlement on the Chowan River, was unoccupied by
white men when Charles II came to the throne. After Raleigh's
ill-starred venture it had received little attention until 1629, when
Sir Robert Heath obtained a patent to lands between 31° and 36° north
latitude, but he did nothing to improve the territory. The coasts were
occasionally visited by mariners, but there is no definite knowledge of
any settlement until 1653, when colonists from Virginia appear to have
started a settlement at Albemarle on the Chowan River. About 1660 some
New Englanders inspected the Cape Fear River mouth but departed soon
afterward.
The charters.--In 1660 Sir John Colleton, a prominent resident of
Barbados, went to England where he became a member of the Council for
Foreign Plantations. He soon interested Anthony Ashley Cooper, later
known as Lord Ashley, in the Carolinas. In 1663 a charter was granted
to eight proprietors, Cooper, Clarendon, Craven, Albemarle, Carteret,
Lord Berkeley, Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley. The territory granted
extended from the thirty-sixth to the thirty-first parallel and from sea
to sea. Over this region the proprietors were given practically the same
rights as Baltimore possessed in Maryland. In 1665 a second patent was
granted to the proprietors, extending the boundaries to 36° 30' on the
north and to 29° on the south.
The fundamental constitutions.--The philosopher, John Locke, drew up a
constitution for the province. It provided for a high official called
the palatine, and minor officials designated as admiral, chamberlain,
chancellor, constable chief justice, steward, and treasurer. The
province was to be divided into counties, and each county into
seigniories, baronies, and precincts. On these divisions were to be
based the ranks of the nobility to be designated as land-graves,
caciques, and lords of manors. An elaborate system of courts was
provided; also a grand council and a parliament. This archaic feudal
document is of interest mainly as a study in the political philosophy of
the time, but it was of little real importance as it was totally
unsuited to the needs of a frontier community. It was never put in force
except in certain minor particulars, the settlers themselves soon
solving their problems of government in their own way.
Beginnings of settlement.--In 1663-1664 an expedition from Barbados
examined the Carolina coast, and in 1665 Sir John Yeamans conducted a
group of settlers to the mouth of Cape Fear River. Yeamans soon returned
to Barbados and the settlers, left to their own devices, in 1667
abandoned the settlement, most of them going to Albemarle, Virginia, and
Boston. In 1669 vessels carrying ninety-two colonists sailed from
England to Barbados, where Sir John Yeamans, who had been appointed
governor, joined them. They then proceeded to the Bermudas, where
Yeamans handed over the authority to William Sayle and abandoned the
expedition. The colonists under Sayle then went to Port Royal, but
finally settled on the Ashley River, where they laid out old Charles
Town (1670). Political strife soon developed, owing mainly to the
incompetence of the aged executive. In 1671 he died and Joseph West was
chosen governor by the people.
[Illustration: The Southern Colonies, 1607-1735. (From Johnston,
_Pioneers of the Old South_, in the Series, "The Chronicles of America,"
Yale University Press).]
Plans of the proprietors.--In 1670 the proprietors obtained a grant of
the Bahamas and planned to build up trade between the island and
mainland settlements. They also planned to improve the Charles Town
settlement and in 1671 secured settlers from Barbados. Yeamans came over
and claimed the governorship, but West succeeded in keeping the office
for several months. In 1672 Yeamans was again appointed governor, but he
managed things so badly that in 1674 West was reappointed and remained
governor for eight years.
Development of the Charles Town region.--Colonists came in considerable
numbers; in 1672 there were about four hundred people in the colony, and
by 1685 the population had increased to about twenty-five hundred. Among
the immigrants were a hundred French Protestants, and a colony of Scots
who settled at Port Royal in 1683. Other colonists came from Barbados
and many from western England. In 1680 the seat of government was moved
from old Charles Town to the junction of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers.
After 1680 settlements began to expand into the back country. This soon
brought on the inevitable Indian war, which continued intermittently for
three years. In 1685 the Spaniards raided the settlements, burning many
houses, and the following year destroyed the Scotch settlement at Port
Royal.
Unrest at Charleston.--During West's administration the colony was not
greatly disturbed by political difficulties, the proprietors making
little attempt to enforce the Locke constitution. The colony was
governed by a popularly elected "parliament," which chose a council of
five men. The chief executive was the governor commissioned by the
proprietors. From 1682 to 1689 proprietary interference increased,
bringing the colony to the verge of rebellion. The colonial parliament
had steadily refused to confirm the constitution. During 1682 it was
revised by the proprietors, more power being placed in the hands of the
people, but still the colonists refused to confirm it. This irritated
the proprietors, who retaliated by introducing a new form of land
tenure, which required the colonists to pay a cash quit-rent. When James
II came to the throne, Governor Morton demanded that they swear
allegiance to the king and accept the constitution, whereupon twelve
members of the parliament refused and were excluded. The colonists also
took with ill grace the attempt to collect the customs. In 1688 the
governor and council found themselves at complete loggerheads with
parliament, and legislation stopped. James Colleton, the governor,
proclaimed martial law. This led to an open rebellion, and in 1691
Colleton was expelled, but the proprietary power was soon restored.
The Albemarle colony.--During these troublous times the Albemarle
settlement was slowly developing. The colony was mainly recruited from
Virginia, but there was also a considerable influx of Quakers. In 1682
the Albemarle settlement contained about twenty-five hundred
inhabitants. When an attempt was made in 1677 to collect the customs and
to shut off the New England trade, about a hundred colonists led by John
Culpeper rebelled and imprisoned Miller, who was the collector of
customs and acting governor. They also arrested the president of the
assembly and all but one of the deputies. The proprietors removed Miller
from office and appointed Seth Sothell governor, but the people soon
drove him from the colony. The turbulence did not quiet down until the
appointment of Governor Ludwell, who from 1691 resided at Charleston,
Albemarle being governed henceforth by a deputy.
WESTERN TRADE AND EXPLORATION
By now English explorers and fur traders had crossed the Alleghanies. As
early as 1648 Governor Berkeley was preparing an expedition to the
southwest, where red capped Spaniards riding "long eared beasts," came
to trade with the natives. Twenty-five years later (1673) two
Virginians, James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, reached the Cherokees on
the Upper Tennessee. To these mountain dwellers on the "western waters"
the Englishmen were a novel sight, but they had long been acquainted
with the Spaniards and possessed "some sixty Spanish flintlocks," and
among them lived Spanish mulatto women. Before the end of the century
South Carolina traders had established the "Chickasaw Trail" through the
Creek and Chickasaw country, and had crossed the Mississippi. In
1699-1700 Carolinians ascended the Savannah, descended the Tennessee,
Ohio, and Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas. Frontiersmen had
gone northwest as well as southwest, and before the end of the century
had begun to make their way among the Indians on both sides of the upper
Ohio River.
HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
Continued search for the Northwest Passage.--Some of the same men who
represented the Carolinas now extended English enterprises to the region
of Hudson Bay. The English search for the Northwest Passage had not
ended with the sixteenth century. Henry Hudson, who in 1609 had explored
Hudson River in an attempt to find the passage, made further attempts in
the following year. Finding his way in the _Discovery_ through Hudson
Strait, he wintered at the southern extremity of James Bay. He paid
dearly for his discoveries, for he was cast adrift by mutinous followers
and perished. In Hudson's wake went numerous explorers, backed by
syndicates of merchants and sometimes with royal support, still seeking
the passage. In 1612 Button crossed Hudson Bay and entered the mouth of
Nelson River. At the same time a company was formed to seek the passage.
In 1616 Bylot and Baffin discovered Baffin Bay, and in 1631 Foxe made
new discoveries in Fox Channel. Denmark also entered the field of
northwestern discovery and in 1619-1620 Jens Munck explored Hudson Bay,
wintering at Churchill Harbor.
Radisson, Groseilliers, and Gillam.--The primary purpose of the
foregoing voyages had been to find a passage to the Far East. They were
followed, after an interval, by trading enterprises. The operations of
the French fur traders. Radisson and Groseilliers, have been mentioned
previously. Having been imprisoned and fined for illicit trading, they
left Canada, went to New England, and got up an expedition to Hudson Bay
to gather furs. Sailing in 1664 with Captain Zachariah Gillam, they
reached Hudson Strait but not the bay. After another failure in 1665,
they met Sir George Carteret whom they interested in their project.
Going to England, through Carteret's influence they organized a company
among whose stockholders were the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, Carteret,
the Duke of Albemarle, and the Earls of Craven, Arlington, and
Shaftesbury, several of whom were already influential in colonial
enterprises. In 1668 the company again sent Gillam to Hudson Bay, where
he built Charles Fort on Rupert's River, and traded profitably in furs.
The part played by Radisson and Groseilliers in this enterprise became a
basis for French claims to the Hudson Bay region.
[Illustration: Hudson's Bay Company Posts.]
Hudson's Bay Company.--The return of Gillam to London in 1669 was
followed by the formation of a new Company. On May 2, 1670, Charles II
issued a royal charter to "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of
England trading into Hudson's Bay." The Company was made absolute
proprietor with a complete monopoly of all trade of the Hudson Bay
basin. The government was centered in a governor, deputy-governor, and
committee of seven, who were empowered to make laws and were given
judicial and military authority. They lost no time in establishing
posts, and by 1685 there were trading houses at Albany River, Hayes
Island, Rupert's River, Port Nelson, Moose River, and New Severn.
Trading methods.--Ships were fitted out annually in London with
merchandise, and brought back rich cargoes of furs. In contrast with the
French traders and with the English of the Atlantic seaboard colonies,
the Hudson's Bay Company did not penetrate the interior, but depended
upon the natives to bring their peltry to the posts on the Bay. In the
spring, therefore, after the break-up of the ice, Crees, Chipewyans, and
Eskimos came down the rivers in fleets of canoes laden with furs, traded
them for merchandise, and returned for another season's hunt. In London
the furs were sold at auction at the Company's headquarters, where the
annual fair took on the nature of a social function. Gradually the
markets widened, agents being sent to establish trade with Holland,
Russia, and other parts of Northern Europe. Profits were large, the
dividend in 1690 being seventy-five per cent. of the original stock.
French Rivalry.--The success of the English aroused the jealousy of the
French traders in the St. Lawrence Valley, and there ensued a rivalry
which constituted one of the important episodes of the intercolonial
wars which now occurred. In the contest Radisson, who had aided in the
formation of the Company, played fast and loose between the English and
the French. Before the end of the century French rivalry in the
interior, beyond Lake Superior, did much to shake the "H.B.C." from its
exclusive, seaboard policy. By 1691 Henry Kelsey, an employe of the
Company, had made an expedition to the Winnipeg district.
READINGS
NEW YORK
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 74-100, 273-287; Andrews,
C.M., ed., _Narratives of the Insurrections_, 315-401; Brodhead, J.R.,
_History of New York_, II; Channing, Edward, _History of the United
States_, II, 31-60, 203-209; Doyle, J.A., _The Middle Colonies_, 78-223;
Fiske, John, _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_, II, 1-98, 168-208; New York
Historical Society, _Collections_, 1st Series, I, 307-428; Osgood, H.L.,
_The English Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, II, 119-168; Winsor,
Justin, _Narrative and Critical History_, III, 385-411.
THE JERSEYS AND PENNSYLVANIA
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 101-128, 162-201; Channing,
Edward, _History of the United States_, II, 31-62, 94-130; Clarkson,
Thomas, _Memoirs of Pennsylvania_; Doyle, J.A., _The Middle Colonies_,
287-350, 379-410; Fiske, John, _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_, II, 115-194;
Fisher, Sidney, _The Quaker Colonies_; Hodgkin, Thomas, _George Fox_;
Holder, C.F., _The Quakers in Great Britain and America_, 169-217;
Janney, S.M., _Life of Penn_; Jones, R.M., _The Quakers in the American
Colonies_, 357-371, 417-436; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters_,
139-149, 171-204; Osgood, H.L., _The English Colonies in the Seventeenth
Century_, II, 169-197, 252-276; Sharpless, Isaac, _A Quaker Experiment
in Government; Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History_, 17-77; Smith,
Samuel, _The History of the Colony of Nova-Cæsaria or New Jersey_,
35-207; Tanner, E.P., _The Province of New Jersey_, 1-147; Whitehead,
W.A., _East Jersey under the Proprietary Governments_.
THE CAROLINAS
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 129-161; Andrews, C.M., ed.,
_Narratives of the Insurrections_, 143-164; Ashe, S.A., _North
Carolina_, I; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, II,
13-25; Hamilton, P.J., _Colonization of the South_, 133-135; McCrady,
Edward, _The History of South Carolina under the Proprietary
Government_, I, 1-209; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the
Seventeenth Century_, II, 200-225; Ramsay, David, _South Carolina_.
HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
Burpee, Laurence J., _The Search for the Western Sea_, 64-95; Bryce,
George, _The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company_, 1-55;
Laut, Agnes, _The Conquest of the Great Northwest_, I, 1-255; Laut,
Agnes, _The Adventurers of England on Hudson Bay_; Willson, Beckles,
_The Great Company_, 1-181; Winsor, J., _Narrative and Critical
History_, VIII, 1-34.
WESTERN EXPLORATION
Alvord and Bidgood, _First Explorations of the Trans-Alleghany Region
... 1650-1674_; Crane, V.W., "The Tennessee River as the Road to
Carolina," in _Miss. Valley Hist. Rev._, III, 3-18.
CHAPTER XII
THE ENGLISH MAINLAND COLONIES AT THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
At the close of the Stuart period the English mainland colonies
stretched along the Atlantic coast from Pemaquid to Port Royal. The
settlements nestled close to the coasts, in the tide-water region, or
along the lower waters of the navigable streams. The total population
probably did not exceed 225,000, one-half of whom were in Massachusetts
and Virginia. At the same period Barbados alone contained over 50,000
white settlers and more than 100,000 slaves.
NEW ENGLAND
Population.--New England contained some 80,000 white inhabitants. About
5,000 were in New Hampshire; Massachusetts, including the Maine and
Plymouth settlements, contained about 55,000; Rhode Island probably
5,000, and Connecticut about 17,000. By far the larger part were of
English stock, although there were a few Huguenots, Scotch, Irish, and
Jews. The settled area extended from the Pemaquid region along the coast
in an almost unbroken line to the New York border. In Maine the settled
region seldom extended more than ten miles back from the coast, and
between Casco and Saco bays there were large unsettled tracts. In New
Hampshire the frontier line ran back from the coast fifteen to thirty
miles and eastern Massachusetts was settled fifty miles inland. All of
Rhode Island except some tracts in the southern part had been occupied.
Portions of northeastern and northwestern Connecticut were wilderness,
but in the Connecticut Valley the settlers had begun to occupy the
valley lands just to the north of the Massachusetts line.
Agriculture.--The mass of the population was agricultural. The clearing
of the land and the securing of a food supply were the natural pursuits
of the new communities. The small farm was the prevailing type, as
neither climate, crops, nor soil were suitable for the large plantation.
Corn, wheat, fruits, and vegetables were the principal agricultural
products, and cattle, swine, sheep, and poultry were raised for domestic
use.
Furs and fish.--The forests and the sea were the principal sources of
New England prosperity. In the early part of the century the fur trade
was an important factor, but by the end of the century it had
considerably decreased. As it declined the fishing business increased.
On the Newfoundland banks the boats of the New Englanders were the most
numerous. The catch of cod and mackerel was dried and salted, and became
a leading export.
Lumbering and ship-building.--The uncleared back country was a continual
source of profit. Logging became a regular winter pursuit. From the
felled timber were produced lumber, staves, shingles, masts, and spars.
The fishing business conducted close to a lumbering region led to
ship-building, and almost every seacoast town engaged in the industry.
Most of the boats were small, swift-sailing craft, used in the fisheries
or in the coasting and West Indian trade. So well-built were they that
the New Englander found a ready market in the West Indies for vessel as
well as cargo.
Commerce.--Fish, furs, and lumber were the principal products which the
New Englanders produced for outside consumption. Most of the carrying
business was conducted by Massachusetts men, although Rhode Island also
handled a considerable trade. The navigation laws were intended to keep
commerce in the hands of English merchants, but in spite of them
colonial vessels kept up a coast-wise trade, and shipped fish, lumber,
and staves to the West Indies and Madeira. Return vessels brought wine,
rum, molasses, sugar, cotton, and wool. The greater part of New England
commerce was handled through Boston, although Salem and Newport were
rivals. Newport traders carried on a large slave traffic from Guinea and
Madagascar, but most of their cargoes were sold in the West Indies.
Manufactures.--In Massachusetts and Connecticut manufacturing for the
home market developed at an early date. Grist and saw-mills, tanneries,
glass and pottery works, brick yards, and salt works were commonly found
in the tide-water region, and at least two iron works were in operation
in Massachusetts before 1700. Every village had its cobbler and
blacksmith, and the housewives did the spinning and weaving. Most of the
people wore homespun, but finer fabrics were also in demand, and at an
early date the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods on a more
elaborate scale was undertaken in Massachusetts.
Standard of living.--Practically all New Englanders were free settlers,
but a limited number of indented servants and a few hundred slaves were
intermixed with the population. In the regions near the coast the
standard of living had materially improved. In the larger towns the
inhabitants enjoyed even a degree of luxury in dress and table, and the
log huts of the first settlers had almost disappeared, frame, shingled,
and even brick houses having taken their place. Most of the houses of
the well-to-do had a second floor, attic, and lean-to. Every community
had its meeting house, and in 1670 Boston had three places of worship.
As the traveler passed into the back country, he found roads growing
poorer and poorer, gradually deteriorating into mere trails. The
clearings and log cabins became less and less frequent until he finally
reached the wilderness, which was penetrated only by the hunter and
trader. When the settlements extended a considerable distance from the
coast, they were usually along a navigable stream, the indispensable
means of communication in a newly settled community.
Social standards.--Daily life was simple and devoid of ostentation, but
in the older communities social lines were rigidly drawn. An austere
aristocracy ruled. Admitted to the inner circle were the descendants of
the early leaders or of families of rank in England, Oxford and
Cambridge men, and those who were selected through natural worth to fill
high positions in church and state. Intelligence and piety were more
potent factors than wealth in the attainment of position. Of
professional men the ministers held an exalted place, exerting a
powerful influence socially, religiously, and politically. There were
few doctors and lawyers, the latter being looked upon as undesirable
trouble makers.
[Illustration: Settled Areas in New England and on Long Island, about
1700.]
Religion.--Throughout New England, except in Rhode Island, church and
state were united, the Congregational church being in the ascendency.
Though in 1660 Charles II commanded that the Anglican church be
tolerated in Massachusetts, the authorities resisted its introduction,
and not until 1686 was an Episcopalian church established in Boston. In
Connecticut there were a few Presbyterians and Quakers. In Rhode Island
the Baptists and Quakers were the most important element.
Superstitions.--The seventeenth century Puritan was intolerant and
superstitious. Men must conform or be persecuted. Signs and portents
were believed in, and strange and often filthy concoctions and ointments
were administered at the suggestion of midwives or knowing housewives.
Belief in witchcraft was usual both in Europe and America, and such
learned men as Increase and Cotton Mather, prominent clergymen of
Boston, wrote treatises to prove its truth. The Massachusetts laws
recognized it as a capital offense. In 1692 occurred the famous outbreak
at Salem in which nineteen innocent persons were executed.
Education.--In the English colonies New England took the lead in
provision for popular education. Men who believed that the Bible was the
source of authority naturally thought that every man should have
sufficient intellectual training to enable him to read the word of God.
In 1635 the first Latin grammar school in the English colonies was
started at Boston, and several other towns soon followed the example. In
1647 Massachusetts enacted a general education law which required every
town of fifty or more freeholders to appoint a teacher to instruct
children to read and write. Every town of one hundred or more
freeholders was required to support a Latin grammar school which would
prepare students for college. Connecticut and New Haven soon followed
the lead of Massachusetts. In Rhode Island and Plymouth each community
was allowed to follow its own course. In Rhode Island the few schools
were usually private enterprises. In Plymouth the first public school
was not opened until 1671. Higher education was not neglected, Harvard
being founded in 1636. In that year Massachusetts voted £400 toward the
support of a college. Two years later John Harvard bequeathed his
library and one-half of his estate for the erection of a college, and
Harvard College came into existence. For many years it was devoted
mainly to the training of religious leaders, and its curriculum
reflected the classical viewpoint of the great English universities.
Literature.--The literature of the first century of New England was
permeated with a gloomy religious viewpoint, but it was not lacking in
dignity or power. It reflected the sternness of standards and purpose of
the founders, who saw little of the humor, or of the lighter side of
existence. The strongest of the writings were the histories, the best
being the _History of Plymouth_ by Governor Bradford and _The History of
New England_ by Governor Winthrop. Of less interest to the present day
mind are the controversial religious tracts and sermons of Roger
Williams and Cotton Mather, or the crude poetry of Mrs. Anne Bradstreet.
NEW YORK AND EAST NEW JERSEY
Population.--Economically and socially New York and East New Jersey were
closely related. At the end of the Andros régime the population of New
York was probably 18,000, and that of East New Jersey about 10,000. More
than half of the New Yorkers were Dutch. The rest were mainly English,
but there were some Huguenots and a few Jews. The settled area covered
almost all of Long Island and the Hudson Valley to a point a few miles
north of Albany. Most of the population of East New Jersey was along the
coast opposite New York harbor. The English predominated, but there was
a sprinkling of Dutch, Scotch, and Huguenots.
Industry in New York.--During the first decades of the Dutch occupation
of the Hudson Valley the fur trade had been almost the only business,
but after 1638 many settlers came who began general farming. Lumbering
also developed. The general lines of industry thus begun were carried on
after the English occupation. The fur trade was greatly stimulated by
Dongan and it was probably the chief source of wealth in the colony.
Population increased slowly. The advantageous position of New York
attracted shipping, and the merchants developed a commerce with the West
Indies and the Dutch possessions in the Caribbean to which were shipped
bread stuffs, pease, meat, and horses. The returning vessels brought
wine, rum, molasses, and various tropical products. To England the New
Yorkers shipped furs, oil, and naval supplies in return for manufactured
goods.
[Illustration: Settled areas in the Middle Colonies about 1700.]
A contemporary description of New York.--Governor Dongan wrote
concerning the province in 1687: "The principal towns within the Govermt
are New York Albany & Kingston at Esopus. All the rest are country
villages. The buildings in New York & Albany are generally of stone &
brick. In the country the houses are mostly new built, having two or
three rooms on a floor. The Dutch are great improvers of land. New York
and Albany live wholly upon trade with the Indians England and the West
Indies.... I believe for these 7 years last past, there has not come
over into this province twenty English Scotch or Irish familys. But on
the contrary on Settled Areas in the Middle Colonies Long Island the
people about 1700 encrease soe fast that they complain for want of land
and many remove from thence into the neighboring province."
Religion and education in New York.--Regarding religion Dongan wrote.
"Every Town ought to have a Minister. New York has first a Chaplain
belonging to the Fort of the Church of England; secondly, a Dutch
Calvinist; thirdly a French Calvinist; fourthly a Dutch Lutheran--Here
bee not many of the Church of England; few Roman Catholicks; abundance
of Quakers preachers men & Women especially; Singing Quakers, Ranting
Quakers, Sabbatarians; anti-sabbatarians; Some Anabaptists some
Independents; some Jews; in short of all sorts of opinions there are
some, and the most part of none at all.... The most prevailing opinion
is that of the Dutch Calvinists." This description applied to religious
conditions in New York City, then as now a cosmopolitan place. On Long
Island, where New Englanders were predominant, the Congregational church
held sway, while in the Hudson Valley, where most of the settlers were
Dutch, the Dutch Reformed church was in the ascendency. The Dutch had
maintained elementary schools, but when the English occupied the
country, most of the school-masters left, and little was done by the
authorities to stimulate education. Such schools as existed were
established by the local communities.
Large estates.--During the Dutch régime many large estates had been
created, the most important being the patroonship of Van Rensselaer
about Albany. Although the other patroons had surrendered their rights,
the Dutch governors, officials, and merchants had acquired vast estates,
which continued in their families after the English occupation. The
English governors followed the example, and several large holdings were
created, the most famous of these being the Livingston manor on the east
bank of the Hudson below the Van Rensselaer tract.
Conditions in East New Jersey.--The people of East New Jersey came
mainly from New England and Long Island, and they built up a miniature
New England, each village being an entity surrounded by tributary farm
lands. Garden truck, fish, oysters, and fruits were the principal
products. The proprietors hoped to develop commerce, but the Duke of
York's restrictions throttled it, and East New Jersey was forced into
the position of a supply station for New York. Gawen Laurie, the
deputy-governor, described conditions as follows in 1684: "There is
great plenty of oysters, fish, fowl; pork is two pennies the pound, beef
and venison one penny the pound, a whole fat buck for five or six
shillings; Indian corn for two shillings and six pence per bushel, oats
twenty pence, and barley two shillings per bushel: We have good brick
earth, and stones for building at Amboy, and elsewhere: The country farm
houses are built very cheap: A carpenter, with a man's own servants,
builds the house; they have all materials for nothing, except nails,
their chimnies are of stones; they make their own ploughs and carts for
the most part, only the iron work is very dear: The poor sort set up a
house of two or three rooms themselves, after this manner; the walls are
of cloven timber, about eight or ten inches broad, like planks, set one
end to the ground, and the other nailed to the raising, which they
plaster within; they build a barn after the same manner, and these cost
not above five pounds a piece; and then to work they go: Two or three
men in one year will clear fifty acres, in some places sixty, and in
some more: They sow corn the first year, and afterwards maintain
themselves; and the increase of corn, cows, horses, hogs and sheep comes
to the landlord;... the servants work not so much by a third as they do
in England, and I think feed much better; for they have beef, pork,
bacon, pudding, milk, butter and good beer and cyder for drink; when
they are out of their time, they have land for themselves, and generally
turn farmers for themselves."
Religion and education in East New Jersey.--Another letter of the same
date says: "There be people of several sorts of religions, but few very
zealous; the people, being mostly New-England men, do mostly incline to
their way; and in every town there is a meeting-house, where they
worship publickly every week: They have no publick laws in the country
for maintaining publick teachers, but the towns that have them, make way
within themselves to maintain them; we know none that have a settled
preacher, that follows no other employment, save one town, Newark."
COLONIES ALONG DELAWARE RIVER AND BAY
Population.--The settlements along Delaware River and Bay formed an
industrial and social group. In 1700 the population numbered less than
20,000, from 12,000 to 15,000 being in Pennsylvania which included
Delaware. The interior of West New Jersey was unoccupied, the population
remaining close to the coast. From Barnegat to Cape May the settled area
was about ten miles wide. Along the eastern shore of the bay and river
the population belt widened to twenty-five or thirty miles. In
Pennsylvania and Delaware the settled area was continuous from the
mouth of the Lehigh River to the southern boundary of Delaware. Back
from the river the habitations extended for forty or fifty miles, but on
the bay shore none of the settlers were more than ten or fifteen miles
inland. The population of the Delaware region was composed of many
nationalities. West New Jersey contained many English, but the
descendants of the early Swedish and Dutch settlers were there in
considerable numbers. Pennsylvania contained about 1,000 Swedes, Dutch,
and Finns, the remnant of the early occupations. Penn's advertising and
reputation for philanthropy brought to his colony English, Germans,
Scotch, and Welsh.
Conditions in West New Jersey.--The following description of West New
Jersey, written in 1698, gives an excellent picture of the colony: "In a
few Years after [1675] a Ship from _London_, and another from _Hull_,
sail'd thither with more People, who went higher up into the Countrey,
and built there a Town, and called it _Burlington_ which is now the
chiefest Town in that Countrey though _Salem_ is the ancientest; and a
fine _Market-Town_ it is, Having several Fairs kept yearly in it;
likewise well furnished with good store of most Necessaries for humane
Support, as _Bread_, _Beer_, _Beef_, and _Pork_; as also _Butter_ and
_Cheese_, of which they freight several Vessels and send them to
_Barbadoes_, and other islands.
"There are very many fine _stately Brick-Houses_ built [at Salem], and a
_commodious Dock_ for _Vessels_ to come in at, and they claim equal
Privilege with _Burlington_ for the sake of Antiquity; tho' that is the
principal Place, by reason that the late Governor _Cox_, who bought that
Countrey of Edward _Billing_, encouraged and promoted that Town chiefly,
in settling his _Agents_ and _Deputy-governors_ there, (the same Favours
are continued by the _New-West-Jersey_ Society, who now manage Matters
there) which brings their Assemblies and chief Courts to be kept there;
and by that means it is become a very famous Town, having a great many
stately _Brick-Houses_ in it, (as I said before) with a great
_Market-House_...; It hath a noble and _spacious Hall_ over-head, where
their _Sessions_ is kept, having the Prison adjoining to it....
"A Ship of Four Hundred Tuns may sail up to this _Town_ in the River
_Delaware_; for I my self have been on Board a Ship of that Burthen
there: and several fine Ships and Vessels (besides Governour Cox's own
great Ship) have been built there.... There are _Water-Men_ who
constantly Ply their Wherry Boats from that Town to the City of
_Philadelphia_ in _Pensilvania_, and to other places. Besides there is
_Glocester-Town_, which is a very Fine and Pleasant Place, being well
stored with Summer Fruits, as _Cherries_, _Mulberries_, and Strawberries
whither Young People come from Philadelphia in the Wherries to eat
_Strawberries_ and _Cream_, within sight of which city it is sweetly
Situated, being but about three Miles distant from thence."
Economic conditions in Pennsylvania.--When Penn's colonists arrived they
found many farms under cultivation. Many of the new arrivals took up
farming, and the lower counties became a supply region for Philadelphia.
Under Penn's direction. Philadelphia soon became a trading center, and
as it grew Burlington declined. Furs and food-stuffs were exchanged for
manufactured articles from Europe, and for sugar and other West Indian
produce. With the exception of the making of coarse cloth and cordage,
there was little manufacturing. Practically all of the settlers were
freemen, although slavery and indenture gradually crept in. The standard
of living was higher than in most of the colonies, for Indian wars did
not disturb pursuits, the lands were fertile, and the climatic
conditions less rigorous than along the New England coast. Most of the
early accounts tell of well-built houses, and productive gardens and
orchards.
Religion and education.--In church affiliation the Delaware River
country was a mixture. In West New Jersey were found Presbyterians,
Baptists, Quakers, and Lutherans. In Pennsylvania there were the same
denominations, but religiously and politically the Quakers were in the
ascendency. In 1695 an Episcopal church was established at Philadelphia,
but the Anglican church made slow progress along the Delaware. The Dutch
and Swedes had established schools under the direction of the ministers.
The Quakers were also keenly interested in education, and schools were
immediately established. In 1682 the West New Jersey assembly granted
three hundred acres for the support of a school at Burlington, and one
of the first acts of the Pennsylvania assembly was intended to begin
elementary education. In 1689 the Friends' Public School at
Philadelphia was founded and was open to all sects. But most of the
schools were founded by churches or private individuals.
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION
The settled area.--The Chesapeake Bay country formed another economic
unit. By the end of the Stuart régime Maryland contained about 30,000
people, Virginia nearly 60,000, and North Carolina perhaps 3,000,
practically all of English extraction. From Cape Charles northward for
fifty miles the peninsula was settled. Then came an uninhabited region
until opposite Kent Island, where the settlements began again and
extended northward to the Pennsylvania line. On the western side of the
bay a population belt about twenty-five miles wide extended from the
northern boundary of Maryland as far as the Potomac. On the right bank
of the Potomac from a point ten miles above Alexandria to the place
where the river made its great bend to the eastward the plantations
covered a strip about five miles wide. From the great bend the frontier
ran almost straight south to the neighborhood of Richmond and then
gradually curved to the southeast, enclosing a settled area about
twenty-five miles wide on the south side of the James River.
[Illustration: Settled Areas in the Southern Colonies about 1700.]
The frontier line crossed the North Carolina boundary about forty miles
from the coast and ran southwestward to the Chowan River, which with the
northern shore of Albemarle Sound formed the limits of the settled
region of North Carolina, then politically united but economically and
socially separated from the Charleston district.
The plantations.--The Chesapeake Bay country was almost entirely devoted
to agriculture. The small land holdings of the early period were rapidly
disappearing and great plantations had taken their place. The average
land patent in Virginia in the last decades of the century gave title to
from six hundred to eight hundred acres, but many of the plantations
covered from ten thousand to twenty thousand acres. So plentiful was
land and so easily obtained that the planters preferred to take up new
acreage rather than resort to fertilization, the result being that the
plantations were widely scattered, an important factor in making each
estate a social and economic unit.
Tobacco.--The great staple was tobacco. The plantations were usually
located near a creek, river, or the bay shore. Each had its wharf or
flatboat from which the trader could load his vessel. Most of the crop
was shipped to England, and the price obtained determined the year's
prosperity or depression. The large plantation owner usually dealt with
some London house, which kept an open account with him, crediting his
tobacco against orders for the manufactured articles and luxuries which
the Virginia and Maryland gentlemen demanded.
Other industrial activity.--Some writers have held that there must have
been much poverty in the plantation country because of the uncertain
market for tobacco, but such statements do not take into account the
fact that the plantations produced an abundance of food products. Wheat,
oats, barley, and maize were grown in large quantities, the cereals
usually being planted after the third crop of tobacco. At times wheat
was exported. Almost every estate had its garden and orchard, and live
stock was abundant, horses, cattle, and hogs usually ranging in the
woods. So numerous did the hogs become that pork was an item of
exportation. New England coasting vessels ran into the rivers and took
on wheat, pork, and tobacco, which, were exchanged for West Indian
slaves, rum, and sugar. There was but little manufacturing. Cotton and
woolen cloths were made for home use, and brick-making was carried on to
a limited extent, but most of the manufactured articles were brought
from England.
The system of labor.--The large plantations were worked either by
indented servants or slaves. In 1671 Governor Berkeley estimated that
there were 6,000 white servants and 2,000 slaves in Virginia. By 1683
there were about 12,000 indented servants and perhaps 3,000 slaves, and
by the end of the century the slaves had probably doubled. In proportion
to population the indented servants and slaves in Maryland and North
Carolina were in similar ratio to the free white population.
Social position of the planter.--At the top of the social and political
structure of society was the planter, his position depending largely
upon his acreage. Already in Virginia and Maryland the "great-house" or
manor house had made its appearance, a rather unpretentious rambling
frame house with a brick chimney at either end, the splendor of which
was largely due to comparison with the quarters of the slaves. Articles
of luxury such as musical instruments, mirrors, brass fixtures,
silverware, table linen, and damask hangings were frequently found in
the houses of the wealthier planters. These were by no means typical,
for pewter was far more common than silver, and in the home of recently
released indented servants or small landholders there was little more
than bare necessity demanded.
Religion and education.--In religion there was less uniformity than in
industry. In Maryland probably three-fourths of the inhabitants belonged
to various dissenting sects. Most of the great landholders were members
of the Anglican church, but many were Catholics. Most of the Virginians
were Episcopalians, while in North Carolina the Quakers were
predominant. Popular education in the South was far below that of the
North. Public sentiment was against free schools, and the few secondary
educational institutions were conducted through private enterprise. The
planters frequently secured educated indented servants who acted as
tutors. In 1691 the Virginia legislature sent Dr. William Blair to
England to secure a charter for a college and the following year he
returned with it, this being the legal beginning of William and Mary
College.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Population.--Economically and socially South Carolina was associated
with the West Indies rather than with the mainland colonies. At the
close of the seventeenth century the white population was about 5,500.
Most of the inhabitants came from Barbados, but other Caribbean Islands,
England, Ireland, the New England colonies, and France furnished
colonists. The settled area extended from the Santee to the mouth of the
Edisto, included several of the islands, and reached back from the coast
about fifty miles. The social and economic center was Charleston. In the
back country there were only two small towns, most of the people being
located on plantations along the rivers and on the islands. The
Barbadian planters had settled mainly on the Cooper River, Goose Creek,
and Ashley River, and on James, John's and Edisto Islands. Four or five
hundred Huguenots, most of whom had left their country because of the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had located on the Santee, where they
had received land grants aggregating over 50,000 acres, nearly half of
this being the property of two individuals, the other Huguenot estates
varying from 100 to 3,000 acres.
The plantations.--At the end of the century rice culture, which was
destined to furnish the most important staple, was in its infancy, and a
little silk and cotton were produced. The chief business of the planters
was the raising of cattle and hogs, corn, and pease. The Barbadians
brought in the economic system of the West Indies, which was based upon
slavery, and the harsh slave code of Barbados was adopted in the colony.
Accurate statistics regarding the number of slaves are inaccessible, but
an apparently authentic letter of 1708 states that in that year there
were 4,100 negro slaves and 1,400 Indian slaves in the colony, numbers
probably in excess of those in 1700, as it was the development of the
rice industry which made slaves highly profitable.
Commerce.--Charleston was the great market town. There the trader
stocked for the Indian trade, which, at the close of the century was the
chief source of wealth of South Carolina. Goods from Charleston are said
to have penetrated a thousand miles into the interior. To the West
Indies were shipped beef, pork, butter, tallow, and hides, rice and
pease, lumber, staves, pitch, and tar; returning vessels brought rum,
sugar, molasses, and other West Indian products. To England were shipped
furs, rice, silk, and naval stores, in return for manufactured goods.
Religion and education.--The Episcopalian was the established church of
the colony, and probably forty-five per cent. of the population belonged
to that denomination. An equal per cent. was divided between
Congregationalists and Presbyterians, and there were a few Baptists and
Quakers. No public school system had been established, but many of the
wealthier families employed tutors. A public library was started at
Charleston in 1698, but no institution of higher learning had been
established.
Society.--Already in South Carolina an aristocratic society was forming
which was distinctly different from that of any other mainland colony.
When the Barbadians came they brought with them the social viewpoint of
the West Indian planter. As soon as the discovery was made that the
swampy river bottoms were adapted to rice and indigo, slavery received a
great impetus and the Barbadian social system was almost duplicated. In
no other colony was such a large part of the population concentrated in
a single city. In Charleston lived the merchants, and there the planter
built his town house and remained with his family a portion of the year.
The gathering of the wealthy classes developed a social atmosphere of
gaiety which was in marked contrast to the soberness of Boston or the
conservatism of Philadelphia.
READINGS
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 288-336; _Colonial Folkways_;
Brodhead, J.R., _History of the State of New York_, II; Bruce, P.A.,
_Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_; Burr, G.L.,
ed., _Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases_; Dexter, E.G., _A History of
Education in the United States_, 24-71; Dexter, F.B., "Estimates of
Population in the American Colonies," in American Antiquarian Society;
_Proceedings_, New Series, V, pt. 1; Eggleston, E., _The Transit of
Civilization_; Fiske, J., _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, II, 174-269;
McCrady, E., _South Carolina under the Proprietary Government_, I,
314-363; Mereness, N.D., _Maryland as a Proprietary Province_; Smith,
S., _The History of the Colony of Nova Cæsaria, or New Jersey_; Walker,
W., _A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States_:
Weeden, W.B., _Economic and Social History of New England_, I; Phillips,
U.B., _American Negro Slavery_, 67-84, 98-114.
EXPANSION AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
CHAPTER XIII
THE SPANISH ADVANCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
SPAIN AND THE COLONIES IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Decline of Spanish power in Europe.--After the reign of Philip II the
power of Spain steadily declined. The long period of hostility with the
Dutch and the war with Cromwell greatly weakened her power upon the sea.
The continental wars sapped her military strength and France superseded
her as the first power of Europe. Gradually Spain's continental
possessions slipped from her. The first loss was the Protestant
Netherlands. Nominally independent from 1609, their complete
independence was acknowledged in 1648. By the Treaty of the Pyrenees,
Roussillon became French territory, and the Spanish power in the
Rhineland and Italy had been practically annulled. In 1640 Portugal
threw off the Spanish yoke, and when Philip IV tried to reconquer it
(1661-1665), he failed completely. With Portugal, Spain lost Brazil and
the Portuguese colonies in the Far East.
Colonial expansion.--Nevertheless, the frontiers of the Spanish colonies
slowly expanded, and slowly Spain extended her laws, her language, and
her faith over lands and tribes more and more remote from the Mexican
capital, the struggle with the natives becoming sterner at each step in
advance. In the course of the seventeenth century northern Sinaloa and
Sonora were colonized; permanent missionary occupation, after many
failures, was effected in Lower California; southern, western, and
eastern Chihuahua were settled; the new province of Coahuila was
established athwart the Rio Grande, and a new and flourishing missionary
district was opened in western Florida. In the course of the century the
Spanish colonial frontiers began to clash with those of France and
England, on the mainland now as well as in the islands, and there ensued
a series of border struggles, all a part of the international conflict
for the continent. To restrain the encroaching French and English, Texas
was occupied temporarily and Pensacola permanently. The principal
setbacks on the borders were the loss of Jamaica to England (1655), the
contraction of the Florida frontier through the founding of Virginia and
the Carolinas, and the temporary loss of New Mexico through the Pueblo
Revolt in 1680. Thus the Spanish frontier line swung round as on a
pivot, the gains in the west being partly offset by the losses in the
east. Meanwhile the English, French, and Dutch occupied most of the
lesser islands of the Caribbean, which had been neglected by Spain. At
the same time, Spain's hold on her colonial commerce became more and
more precarious through the encroachments of her national enemies.
FRONTIER ADMINISTRATION
The governors.--The old days of the _adelantados_, with unlimited
powers, had passed, and the royal arm now reached the farthest outposts.
The secular government of the frontier provinces was almost wholly
military. A few villas or towns had their elective _cabildos_, or town
councils, and a modicum of self government. The official heads of the
provinces were the governors, who held office by royal appointment; _ad
interim_ governors might be appointed by the viceroys. Governors, like
other prominent officials, frequently purchased their offices, a
practice not confined at that time to Spanish America. The governor was
also _capitán general_ of his province, and his capital was usually at
the principal presidio or garrison. In these capacities he exercised
both civil and military authority. Under the governors there were
usually lieutenant-governors in the sub-districts, who as a rule
commanded the troops of some presidio.
The positions of governor and presidial commander were made attractive
largely by the opportunity which they afforded for making money in
addition to the fixed salaries. The payment of soldiers was made chiefly
in supplies, purchased by the governor and commanders, and charged to
the soldiers at enormous profits. Thus the post of governor or captain
was almost as much that of merchant as of soldier. Provincial
administration was often corrupt with "graft," as in English and French
America. Checks upon the governors were furnished through _visitas_ or
inspections, and through the _residencia_, or inquiry at the end of the
governor's term. As a rule the _residencia_ was formal, but sometimes it
was a serious matter.
Central control.--All important matters of frontier administration, such
as the founding of new colonies, presidios, or missions, or the making
of military campaigns, were referred by the governors to the viceroy of
Mexico. He in turn customarily sought the advice of the fiscal of the
_real audiencia_, and of the _auditor de guerra_. In case these two
functionaries disagreed, or in matters of unusual moment, a _junta de
guerra y hacienda_, composed of the leading officials of the different
branches of the central administration, was called. In all matters of
consequence the decisions of the viceroy were made subject to royal
approval, but it frequently happened that the act for which approval was
asked had already been performed. In ordinary affairs of provincial
administration the fiscal really controlled the government, for the
viceroy usually despatched business with a laconic "as the fiscal says."
Frontier Autonomy.--The government of New Spain was highly centralized
in theory, but the effects of centralization were greatly lessened by
distance. Through the right of petition, which was freely exercised, the
local leaders in the frontier provinces often exerted a high degree of
initiative in government, and, on the other hand, through protest and
delay, they frequently defeated royal orders.
THE MISSIONS
The Missionaries on the frontiers.--In extending the sway of Spain, as
time went on a constantly larger part was played by the missionaries.
During the early days of the conquest the natives had been largely in
the hands of the _encomenderos_. But abuses arose and the encomienda
system was gradually abolished. Moreover, the wild tribes of the
northern frontier, unlike the Mayas and Aztecs, were considered hardly
worth exploiting. This left an opening for the missionary, and to him
was entrusted not only the work of conversion, but a larger and larger
share of responsibility and control. Since they served the State, the
missions were largely supported by the royal treasury, which was most
liberal when there was some political end to be gained.
The principal missionary orders.--Under these circumstances, in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, on the expanding frontiers of
Spanish America, missions became well-nigh universal. The work on the
northern borders of New Spain was conducted largely by Franciscans,
Jesuits, and Dominicans. The northeastern field fell chiefly to the
Franciscans, who entered Florida, New Mexico, Nuevo León, Coahuila,
Nuevo Santander, and Texas. To the northwest went the Jesuits, who,
after withdrawing from Florida, worked especially in Sinaloa, Sonora,
Chihuahua, Lower California, and Arizona. After the expulsion of the
Jesuits the Dominicans and Franciscans took their places.
The missions as civilizing agencies.--The missionaries were a veritable
corps of Indian agents, serving both Church and State. Their first duty
was to teach the Gospel. In addition they disciplined the savage in the
rudiments of civilized life. The central feature of every successful
Spanish mission was the Indian pueblo, or village. If he were to be
disciplined, the Indian must be kept in a definite spot where discipline
could be impressed upon him. The settled Indians, such as the Pueblo
Indians of New Mexico, could be instructed in their native towns, but
the wandering or scattered tribes must be assembled and established in
pueblos, and kept there by force if necessary. To make the Indians
self-supporting as soon as possible, and to afford them the means of
discipline, the missions were provided with communal lands for gardens,
farms, and ranches, and with workshops in which to practice the crafts.
Defence of the frontier.--The missionaries were highly useful likewise
as explorers and as diplomatic agents amongst the tribes. As defenders
of the frontier they held the allegiance of the neophytes and secured
their aid against savages and foreign intruders. Sometimes the mission
plants were veritable fortresses.
Missions designedly temporary.--Like the presidios, or garrisons,
missions were intended to be temporary. As soon as his pioneer work was
finished on one frontier the missionary was expected to move on to
another, his place being taken by the secular clergy and the mission
lands distributed among the Indians. The result, almost without fail,
was a struggle over secularization.
THE JESUITS IN SINALOA AND SONORA
The Jesuit advance up the slope.--The advance up the Pacific coast
mainland was led throughout the seventeenth century by the Jesuit
missionaries, supported by presidial soldiers and small citizen
colonies. In 1591 the Jesuits entered Sinaloa. Beginning in the valley
of the Petatlan and Mocorito rivers, their progress was gradual but
steady, river by river, tribe by tribe, to the Fuerte, Mayo, Yaqui, and
Sonora valleys, till by the middle of the century they had nearly
reached the head of the last named stream.
Fathers Tapia and Pérez.--The first missionaries sent were Fathers
Gonzalo de Tapia and Martin Pérez, who began their work among the tribes
of the Petatlan and Mocorito rivers, near San Felipe, then the northern
outpost of Sinaloa. From time to time they were joined by other small
bands of missionaries. The natives were generally friendly at first,
here as elsewhere, and were assembled in villages, baptized, and taught
agriculture and crafts. Father Tapia was murdered in 1594 and was
succeeded as rector by Father Pérez. By 1604 there had been 10,000
baptisms, the Jesuits had a school for boys at San Felipe, and Father
Velasco had written a grammar in the native tongue. In 1600 regular
missionary work was begun in Topia. What was done there is a good
example of the way the Spaniards often uprooted native society by trying
to improve it. Villages were transplanted at will, the chiefs replaced
by alcaldes, and native priests suppressed.
Captain Hurdaide, defender of the Faith.--The year 1600 was marked also
by the appointment of Captain Diego Martinez de Hurdaide, as commander
of the presidio of San Felipe. By the Jesuits he was regarded as the
ideal defender of the Faith, and for a quarter of a century he and his
soldiers made way for and protected the missionaries in their northward
advance.
[Illustration: Sinaloa and Sonora in the Seventeenth Century (From
Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, 1208).]
Missions in the Fuerte valley.--The subjugation of the Suaques and
Tehuecos by Hurdaide opened the way for missions in the Fuerte River
valley in 1604. Among the founders was Father Pérez de Ribas, later
famed as the historian. The initial success of these missions was
remarkable, but it was followed by apostasy, revolts, an increase of
military forces, and wars of subjugation. This, indeed, was quite the
typical succession of events. Apostates fled to the Yaquis, who defeated
Hurdaide in three campaigns. Having shown their mettle, in 1610 the
Yaquis made peace and asked for missionaries. The Yaqui war was followed
by the establishment in 1610 of the new presidio of Montesclaros near
the site of the former San Juan. In spite of this new defence, the
Tehuecos, led by native priests, revolted. Hurdaide went to the rescue
in 1613 with forty soldiers and two thousand allies, restored order, and
reëstablished the missions.
In the Mayo and Yaqui valleys.--In the same year Father Méndez and some
companions advanced the mission frontier to the Mayo valley, where
success was gratifying. Four years later Fathers Pérez and Pérez de
Ribas founded missions among the Yaquis, where eight pueblos soon
flourished. By 1621 missions had reached the Nevomes and Sahuaripas in
the upper Yaqui River valley. A revolt among the Nevomes in 1622 was put
down by Hurdaide. The Mayo and Yaqui valleys were now made a separate
rectorate.
Several of the pioneers now left the scene. In 1620 Ribas went to Mexico
as provincial; in 1625 Father Pérez died, after thirty-five years, of
service, and in 1626 Hurdaide was succeeded by Captain Pérea. One of the
great monuments to the work of these Jesuit pioneers is Father Pérez de
Ribas's history, _The Triumph of the Faith_, published in 1644.
In the Sonora valley.--By 1636 Jesuit missions were extended to Ures, in
Sonora River valley, a step which was aided by the discovery of mines.
Pérea was made captain and justicia mayor of the Sonora district, called
Nueva Andalucía, and established his capital at the mining town of San
Juan. By 1650 mission stations had reached Cucurpe and Arispe in the
upper Sonora valley. Of the northern district the new rectorate of San
Francisco Xavier was now formed. In 1679 thirty missionaries in the
Mayo, Yaqui, and Sonora valleys were serving about 40,000 neophytes in
seventy-two pueblos.
Spanish settlements.--By the end of the seventeenth century Sinaloa had
passed beyond the frontier stage. The population of pure Spanish blood
numbered only six hundred families in 1678, but the half-caste Christian
population was much larger, there being twelve hundred persons of
Spanish or mixed blood at San Felipe alone. In Sonora the people of
Spanish or mixed blood numbered about five hundred families. Mining and
stock-raising were the principal and by no means inconsiderable
industries in both districts.
EFFORTS TO OCCUPY LOWER CALIFORNIA
Pearl fishing and efforts to colonize.--Interest in California did not
cease with Vizcaíno's failures. On the contrary, private interest in the
pearl fisheries of the Gulf of California continued throughout the
seventeenth century, and the government endeavored to utilize it as
means of planting colonies. Numerous pearl fishing contracts were
granted on condition that the beneficiaries should establish
settlements. Other colonizing expeditions were fitted out at royal
expense. In nearly every case missionaries were sent with the settlers
to help to subdue and teach the Indians.
Iturbi's voyages.--In 1614 Thomas Cardona was granted a monopoly of
pearl fishing in both the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of California. A
year later Juan de Iturbi, in Cardona's employ, made a voyage to the
head of the Gulf, and like Oñate concluded that California was an
island. On his return one of his vessels was captured by the Dutch
freebooter Spillberg. In the following year Iturbi made another
successful voyage to the Gulf, though he again lost a vessel to
freebooters. The pirates in the Gulf in this century were known as the
Pichilingues. Iturbi's success inspired numerous unlicensed pearl
hunting voyages in the Gulf from the ports of Sinaloa, which were
attended by many abuses of the natives. California came now to be
commonly regarded as an island.
[Illustration: A Dutch Map Illustrating the Insular Theory of
California's Geography (1624-1625). (From Bancroft, North Mexican States
and Texas, I, 169).]
Later attempts.--In 1633 Francisco de Ortega, another contractor,
founded a colony at La Paz, but it was short-lived. Like failures were
experienced by Porter y Casante in 1648, by Piñadero in 1664 and 1667,
and by Lucenilla in 1668. The failures were due to the barrenness of the
country and to the fact that colonizing was made secondary to pearl
fishing. Somewhat more successful was Admiral Atondo y Antillón, with
whom a contract was made in 1679, the superior of the missionaries
being the Jesuit Father Kino. For two years (1683-1685) settlements
were maintained at La Paz and San Bruno, explorations were made, and
Kino achieved some missionary success, but in 1685 Atondo, like his
predecessors, abandoned the enterprise. No other serious attempt was
made until 1697, when the Jesuits took charge of California.
THE SETTLEMENT OF CHIHUAHUA
New Mexico isolated.--In the central plateau the infant colony of New
Mexico, as at first established, had been a detached group of
settlements, separated from Nueva Vizcaya by an uninhabited, area of
five or six hundred miles in breadth. But while the New Mexicans were
gradually making their way into the plains of western Texas,
missionaries, miners, and settlers were slowly advancing up the plateau
into Chihuahua, by way of the Conchos River and by the eastern slope of
the Sierra Madre.
Advance of settlement.--The Franciscans, in general, followed the
eastern half of the plateau, working among the Conchos tribes; the
Jesuits mainly followed the mountain slopes, among the Tarahumares.
Advance of settlement was marked by the founding of the town and
garrison of Parral, established in 1631-1632. By 1648 missions had been
established at San Pablo, Parral, San Gerónimo, San Francisco Borja,
Satevó, San Francisco de Conchos, San Pedro, Atotonilco, Mescomaha, and
Mapimî. Advance was interrupted by two savage Indian wars, in the decade
following 1644, in the course of which most of the missions in Chihuahua
were destroyed. As soon as peace was restored, however, both orders
reoccupied their abandoned establishments and founded new ones. By 1680
missionaries, miners, and settlers had reached Cusihuiriáchic, Janos,
and Casas Grandes, and the last named place had for some time been the
seat of an _alcaldía mayor_.
The Diocese of Guadiana.--As the frontier advanced new administrative
subdivisions were carved out. The official capital of Nueva Vizcaya was
still at Durango, but during the later seventeenth century the governor
resided much of the time at Parral, a point near the military frontier.
In 1620 the diocese of Guadiana, including Durango, Chihuahua, and New
Mexico was formed out of the northern portion of that of Guadalajara.
NEW MEXICO IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The missions.--Hopes of finding rich mines and fabulous treasures in New
Mexico had failed, and for a long time after Oñate's conquest that
province remained chiefly a missionary field, the only Spanish
settlement being Santa Fé, founded in 1609. By 1617 eleven churches had
been built and 14,000 natives baptized. Four years later the missions
were organized into the _custodia_ of San Pablo, under the Franciscan
province of the Holy Evangel of Mexico, whence came most of the
missionaries. The first custodian was Fray Alonso de Benavides, who
later, became bishop of Goa, in India. Besides Benavides, the best known
missionary of this period was Father Gerónimo de Zárate Salmerón, who
between 1618 and 1626 labored at Jémez, Cía, Sandía, and Ácoma.
New Mexico in 1630.--In 1630 Benavides made a famous report on New
Mexico. The only Spanish settlement was still Santa Fe, where lived two
hundred and fifty Spaniards and some seven hundred and fifty half-breeds
and Indian servants. The Indians of the province who were not personal
servants paid tribute of a yard of cotton cloth and two bushels of maize
each year, burdens which they resented and resisted. There were now
friars at work in twenty-five missions, which served ninety pueblos
comprising 60,000 Indians. At each mission there were schools and
workshops where the neophytes were taught reading, writing, singing,
instrumental music, and manual arts.
Expeditions to the east.--The subjugation of the pueblos did not exhaust
the energies of the conquerors and the friars, and they turned from time
to time to exploration. To the east they were interested in Quivira, the
"Seven Hills of the Aijados," and the Jumano Indians of the Colorado
River. In the pursuit of these objects they heard of the "kingdom of the
Texas" farther east. Missionary and trading expeditions were made to the
Jumanos in 1629 and 1632. At this time (1630) Benavides proposed opening
a direct route from the Gulf coast to New Mexico through the country of
the Quiviras and Aijados. In 1634 Alonso de Vaca is said to have led an
expedition three hundred leagues eastward to Quivira, apparently on the
Arkansas. In 1650 captains Martin and Castillo visited the Jumanos and
gathered pearls in the Nueces (probably the Concho) River. Four years
later the viceroy, interested in the pearls, sent another expedition,
under Guadalajara, to the same place. During the next thirty years small
parties of private traders frequently visited the Jumanos. In this way
western Texas became known to the Spaniards of New Mexico.
[Illustration: New Mexico in the Seventeenth Century (From Bancroft,
Arizona and New Mexico, p. 176).]
New Mexico in 1680.--Meanwhile the Spanish population of the province
had slowly increased till in 1680 there were over 2500 settlers in the
upper Rio Grande valley, mainly between Isleta and Taos. The upper
settlements were known as those of Río Arriba and the lower as those of
Río Abajo. The settlers were engaged principally in farming and cattle
ranching.
The beginnings of El Paso.--As a result of the northward advance from
Nueva Vizcaya and of a counter movement from New Mexico, the
intermediate district of El Paso was now colonized. After several
unsuccessful attempts, in 1659 missionaries from New Mexico founded the
mission of Guadalupe at the ford (El Paso). Before 1680 Mission San
Francisco had been founded twelve leagues below, settlers had drifted
in, and the place had an _alcalde mayor_. To these small beginnings
there was now suddenly added the entire population of New Mexico.
The Pueblo revolt.--The Pueblo Indians, led by their native priests, had
long been restless under the burden of tribute and personal service, and
the suppression of their native religion. On August 9, 1680, under the
leadership of Popé, a medicine man of San Juan, they revolted in unison,
slew four hundred Spaniards, including twenty-one missionaries, and
drove the remaining 2200 Spaniards from the Pueblo district. Under
Governor Otermin and Lieutenant Garcia the settlers retreated to El
Paso. In 1681 Otermin made an attempt to reconquer the Pueblos, but it
proved futile and the El Paso settlement was made permanent and attached
to New Mexico. To hold the outpost a presidio was established there in
1683.
The La Junta missions and the Mendoza expedition to the Jumanos.--From
El Paso missions were extended in 1683 to the La Junta district, as the
junction of the Conchos and Rio Grande was called. Within a year seven
churches had been built for nine tribes, living on both sides of the Rio
Grande. At the same time Juan Dominguez de Mendoza and Fray Nicolás
López led an expedition from El Paso to the Jumanos of central Texas,
where they were to meet Tejas Indians from the east. On their return
Mendoza and López went to Mexico to appeal for a new outpost of
settlement among the Jumanos. This would probably have been established
had not attention been called to eastern Texas through the activities of
the French.
Indian uprisings.--The Pueblo revolt was followed by a general wave of
Indian resistance, and the late years of the century were marked by
raids all along the northern frontier, from Nuevo León to Sonora, in
the course of which mines, missions, haciendas, and towns were
destroyed, and travelers and merchant caravans raided. To defend the
frontier, in 1685 three new presidios were established at Pasage, El
Gallo, and Conchos, and two years later one was erected at Monclova. By
1690 two others were added at Casas Grandes and Janos in Chihuahua and
shortly afterward (1695) another at Fronteras in Sonora. In 1690 a
revolt in the Tarahumara country destroyed settlements in all
directions, and was put down only by the efforts of soldiers from all
the presidios from El Gallo to Janos.
Vargas and the reconquest of the Pueblos.--After expelling the
Spaniards, the Pueblos, under the lead of Popé, returned to their tribal
ways, and destroyed most of the signs of the hated Spanish rule. During
the next decade and a half several efforts were made to reconquer the
Pueblo region. Otermin was succeeded by Crúzate and he by Reneros, who
was in turn followed by Crúzate. In 1688 Crúzate led an expedition
against the Queres. At Cía six hundred apostates were killed in battle
and seventy captured and shot, or sold into slavery. In 1691 Diego de
Vargas Zapata Luján Ponce de León was made governor especially to
reconquer the Pueblos. In 1692 he led an expedition against them. As far
as Sandía the towns had already been destroyed. Santa Fé he found
fortified and occupied by Tanos, but they yielded without a blow, as did
all of the pueblos from Pecos to Moqui. Meanwhile the friars with him
baptized over two thousand native children.
A new colony.--Submission having been secured, in 1693 Vargas led a
colony of eight hundred soldiers and settlers to reoccupy the pueblo
region. But submission had been a hollow formality. The Tanos who held
Santa Fé were evicted only after a battle, at the conclusion of which
seventy warriors were shot and four hundred women and children enslaved.
At the mesa of San Ildefonso. Vargas met the combined resistance of nine
towns. A second siege in March, 1694, resulted in a repulse. In the
course of the summer the pueblos of Cieneguilla and Jémez were defeated,
and abandoned Taos was sacked and burned. A third attack on the mesa of
San Ildefonso was successful. Resistance now appeared to be over, the
pueblos were rebuilt, captives returned, missions reëstablished, and
the Spanish régime restored. A number of the pueblos were consolidated
and rebuilt on new sites. In 1690 the new Spanish villa of Santa Cruz de
la Cañada was founded with seventy families on the lands of San
Cristóbal and San Lázaro.
The conquest completed.--In 1696 a new revolt occurred, in which five
missionaries and twenty-one other Spaniards were killed, and Vargas
conducted another series of bloody campaigns, with partial success. In
the following year he was succeeded by Governor Cubero, who secured the
formal submission of the rest of the pueblos. The reconquest was now
complete and the Spanish rule secured.
COAHUILA OCCUPIED
The Nuevo León frontier.--While there had been definite progress
eastward from New Mexico during the first three-fourths of the
seventeenth century, and considerable contact between that province and
what is now the western half of Texas, from Nuevo León, on the natural
line of advance from Mexico to Texas, progress was slow. For nearly a
century the northeastern outpost on the lower Rio Grande frontier was
León (Cerralvo), founded in the later sixteenth century. Temporarily a
more northern outpost had been established in 1590 at Nuevo Almadén (now
Monclova), but it was soon abandoned. Again in 1603 and 1644 the place
was temporarily reoccupied, but without permanent success.
Zavala's rule, 1626-1664.--Hostile Indians troubled the border, and the
intrusions of English, French, and Dutch colonies into the Lesser
Antilles awakened fears for the safety of the western Gulf shores. In
1625 Nuevo León, therefore, was again entrusted to a _conquistador_,
when a contract similar to that of Carabajal in 1579 was made with
Martín de Zavala. At the same time the Florida missions 'were extended
west to the Apalache district. For thirty-eight years Zavala controlled
and governed the frontier with exemplary zeal, subduing Indians,
granting _encomiendas_, operating mines, founding new towns, and opening
highways to Pánuco and the interior. His most able lieutenant after 1636
was Alonso de León, one of the founders and first citizens of
Cadereyta.
Looking northward.--By the middle of the seventeenth century,
explorations beyond the Nuevo León frontier had been made on a small
scale in all directions. That they were not more extensive was due to
Indian troubles and the feebleness of the frontier settlements. To the
north the Spaniards were led short distances by a desire to establish
communication with Florida, by rumors of a silver deposit called Cerro
de la Plata (perhaps the later San Sabá mines), and in pursuit of
Indians. No doubt the Franciscan missionaries made many unrecorded
visits to the outlying tribes. In 1665 Fernando de Azcué led soldiers
from Saltillo and Monterey across the Rio Grande against the Cacaxtle
Indians. This is the first expedition to cross the lower Rio Grande from
the south of which we have any definite record.
The founding of Coahuila.--Another forward step was now taken with the
founding of the new province of Coahuila, a step made necessary by
Indian depredations. In 1670 Father Juan Larios, a Franciscan from
Guadalajara, began missionary work on the troubled frontier. In
1673-1674, aided by other missionaries and by soldiers from Saltillo, he
established two missions between the Sabinas River and the Rio
Grande.[1] In the course of this work Fray Manuel de la Cruz visited
tribes north of the Rio Grande. In 1674 Coahuila was made an _alcaldía
mayor_ of Nueva Vizcaya, with Antonio de Valcárcel as first _alcalde
mayor_. A colony was now established at thrice abandoned Almadén and
later became Monclova.
The Bosque-Lários expedition across the Rio Grande.--In 1675 Valcárcel
sent Fernando del Bosque and Father Larios on a tour among the tribes
north of the Rio Grande. In the following year (the very year when
Bishop Calderón was in Florida) the bishop of Guadalajara visited
Coahuila, and urged its further reduction, with a view to passing
beyond, to the settled Tejas Indians, across the Trinity River. In 1687
a presidio was established at Monclova, and Coahuila was made a
province, with Alonso de León, the younger, as first governor.
The college of the Holy Cross.--The development of Coahuila and Nuevo
León was given an impetus by the coming of a new group of Franciscan
friars from the recently founded missionary college of Santa Cruz at
Querétaro. Among these friars were Fathers Hidalgo, Massanet, and
Olivares, all of whom figured prominently in the later development of
the frontier. Beside the Querétaro friars, to the westward worked the
friars of the Province of Santiago de Xalisco with its seat at
Guadalajara.
[1] This was just at the time when Joliet and Marquette descended the
Mississippi River.
FIRST ATTEMPTS IN EASTERN TEXAS
Plans to occupy the mouth of the Mississippi.--The aggressive policy of
the French, English, and Dutch in the West Indies, the raids of
freebooters on the Spanish settlements, the occupation of Carolina by
England, and the advance of the French into the Mississippi Valley
caused Spain great uneasiness for the northern Gulf Coast. As a
defensive measure missions had been extended to the Apalache district at
the same time that Nuevo León had been strengthened. In 1673 Joliet and
Marquette descended the Mississippi to the Arkansas, and in 1682 La
Salle explored it to its mouth. Four years earlier news had reached the
Spanish court that Peñalosa, a discredited ex-governor of New Mexico,
had proposed to attack New Spain in the name of France. Spanish
officials therefore at once planned to occupy the Bay of Espíritu Santo
(Mobile Bay, or perhaps the mouth of the Mississippi) and in 1695
Echagaray, an officer at St. Augustine, was ordered to explore it for
the purpose.
The search for La Salle's colony.--A few months later the authorities
learned with alarm that in November, 1684, La Salle had left France with
a colony to occupy the same spot. Immediately several expeditions were
sent out by land and sea to learn where La Salle had landed and, if
necessary, to occupy the danger point. In 1686 Marcos Delgado explored
west by land from Apalache to the neighborhood of Mobile Bay. In
1686-1688 five coastwise expeditions (under Barroto, Rivas, Iriarte,
Pez, and Gámara) explored the Gulf between Vera Cruz and Apalache. They
discovered the wrecks of La Salle's vessels at Matagorda Bay, and it was
concluded that the French expedition had been destroyed.
[Illustration: The Beginnings of Coahuila and Texas.]
Eastern Texas occupied.--While these coastwise voyages were being made,
Alonso de León was leading expeditions from Monterey and Monclova by
land. In 1686 he descended the Rio Grande to the coast. In 1687 and
again in 1688 he crossed the Rio Grande, and in the latter expedition
captured a stray Frenchman. Shortly afterward a party of soldiers and
Indians from far distant Nueva Vizcaya crossed the Upper Rio Grande to
seek out the French intruders. In 1689 De León succeeded in finding the
remains of La Salle's settlement near Matagorda Bay, a few weeks after
it had been destroyed by Indians. In the following year De León and
Father Massanet, one of the Coahuila missionaries, led an expedition
across Texas and founded two missions among the Asinai (Tejas) Indians,
on Neches River. Texas was now erected into a province and Domingo de
Terán made governor.
And then abandoned.--In 1691 Terán led an expedition designed to
strengthen the outpost on the Neches, explore and occupy the Cadodacho
country (near Texarkana) and, if time permitted, to reëxplore the coast
as far as Florida. He reached the Red River but accomplished little else
that was new. The Asinai Indians proved hostile, and in 1693 the
missionaries withdrew. The Texas project was now abandoned for a time,
and attention centered instead on western Florida, which was in danger
not only from the French, but also from the English in Carolina, who
were visiting the Georgia and Alabama Indians.
THE STRUGGLE WITH RIVALS IN THE WEST INDIES
Intruding colonies in the West Indies.--In the early years of the
conquest Spain had occupied the larger West Indian islands--Cuba,
Española, Porto Rico, and Jamaica--but had neglected the lesser islands.
They thus became a field for colonization by Spain's enemies. In the
seventeenth century the subjects of Holland, France, and England began
to establish settlements in the West Indies, in the heart of the Spanish
sea, while England intruded in the northern mainland.
Between 1555 and 1562 the French had made unsuccessful attempts to
colonize Brazil, Carolina, and Florida. Between 1585 and 1595 Raleigh
had attempted to settle on Roanoke Island and in Guiana. In 1607
Jamestown was founded within Spanish dominions at Chesapeake Bay, and
Spain's possessions thus delimited on the north. Between 1609 and 1612
English settlers occupied the Bermudas. Between 1609 and 1619 English,
Dutch, and French all established posts in Guiana. In 1621 the Dutch
West India Company was incorporated for trade and settlement. Between
1623 and 1625 both English and French settled on St. Kitts (St.
Christopher). During the same period Barbados was settled by the
English, and Santa Cruz by English and Dutch. By 1632 English
settlements had been made at Nevis, Barbuda, Antigua, Providence Island,
and Montserrat. By 1634 the Dutch had established trading stations on
St. Eustatius, Tobago, and Curaçao, while in 1635 the French West India
Company began the settlement of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and other
Windward Islands.
Privateers.--Meanwhile French, Dutch, and English privateers swarmed the
Spanish waters. Early in the century Dutch ships harassed the coasts of
Chile and Peru. In 1628 Peter Heyn with thirty-one vessels pursued the
Vera Cruz fleet into Matanzas River, Cuba, and captured most of a cargo
worth $15,000,000. "It was an exploit which two generations of English
mariners had attempted in vain." After 1633 the Dutch West India Company
carried on active war against Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Within
two years it sent eighty ships and nine thousand men to American waters,
and its agents captured Bahía (Brazil), Pernambuco, and San Juan (Porto
Rico).
English privateers in the early seventeenth century did their part. In
1642 Captain William Jackson, with a commission from the Earl of
Warwick, made a raid that reminds one of Drake. With eleven hundred men
he cruised the coast from Caracas to Honduras, plundering Maracaibo and
Trujillo on the way. Landing at Jamaica he captured Santiago and held it
for ransom.
Spanish retaliation.--The Spaniards often repaid these aggressions with
good interest, and frequent raids were made on the foreign colonies. In
1629 Toledo nearly destroyed the English and French settlements on St.
Kitts. Tortuga was several times assaulted. In 1635 a Spanish fleet made
a five days' attack on the English colony on Providence Island but was
beaten back. In 1641 Pimienta with two thousand men destroyed the forts
there and captured seven hundred and seventy colonists. Ten years later
a force of eight hundred men from Porto Rico destroyed the English
colony on Santa Cruz Island, killing the governor and over one hundred
settlers.
The English conquest of Jamaica.--Thus far the English settlements had
been made chiefly on unoccupied islands. But in 1654 Cromwell sent an
expedition under Venables and Penn to gain Spanish territory by
conquest. They failed to take Santo Domingo but succeeded at Jamaica
(1655). Twice Spain attempted to recover the island but failed
(1657-1658), and in 1670 she acknowledged England's right to all her
island possessions.
The Danes and Brandenburgers.--Under their absolute monarch, Frederick
III, the Danes organized a West India Company, which in 1671 secured the
abandoned island of St. Thomas, using it as a planting colony and a
distributing center for Guinea slaves. Porto Rico and the Spanish
mainland were the principal Danish markets. Even the Brandenburgers,
during the latter days of the Great Elector (1685) secured a thirty-year
lease of a part of the Danish island of St. Thomas, with a view to using
it as a slave-trading station for supplying the Spanish colonies. But
the jealousy of other European powers, especially England, prevented
their securing a permanent foothold.
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE ENGLISH ON THE CAROLINA BORDER
The Georgia missions restored.--After the massacre of 1597, the Florida
missions seem to have been practically abandoned for a time. But new
missionaries, requested by the governor in 1601, reoccupied the
abandoned sites, pushed farther up the coast, and entered the interior.
The settlement of Virginia by the English was followed by remonstrance
and a new wave of missionary activity. In 1612 Fray Luis de Oré came
with twenty-three friars and Florida was erected into the province of
Santa Elena, with the mother house at Havana. In less than two years the
new missionaries had established twenty mission residences among the
tribes, especially on the Guale (Georgia) coast. In 1612 was published
the first of Father Pareja's numerous books in the Timuquanan language.
By 1634 some thirty Franciscans were ministering to 30,000 converts in
forty-four missions and mission stations. The success was parallel to
that of the Franciscans in New Mexico at the same time.
The Apalachee and the Creek missions.--The simultaneous intrusion of the
English, French, and Dutch into the Caribbean waters was a new threat
at Spain's Gulf possessions, and it was followed by the advance of her
outposts into western Florida. Throughout the sixteenth century the
warlike Apalachees had resisted Spanish authority, but in 1633
successful missionary work was begun among them by the guardian of the
monastery of St. Augustine and one companion. Within two years they had
baptized five thousand natives. In 1638 the Apalachees revolted, but
they were defeated, and the presidio of San Luis was established among
them. This district now became one of the most important missionary
centers of Florida, missions being extended to the Creeks of western
Georgia.
The missions in 1647.--By 1647 St. Augustine was headquarters for fifty
Franciscans, who worked among the neighboring tribes. Northward a line
of ten missions extended up the Georgia coast to Chatuache near the
Savannah River. Toward the western interior, within a radius of one
hundred and fifty miles there were ten more, and toward the south four.
In the Apalachee district there were eight in eight large towns, with
three more on the way to St. Augustine. At these thirty-five missions
26,000 converted Indians were served.
The Apalachee revolt.--Just now, however, the prosperous Apalachee
missions suffered a severe blow. The chiefs, refusing to render personal
sendee and tribute, headed a rebellion in which several Spaniards were
slain. The governor led a campaign against them, several battles were
fought, and a number of chiefs hanged. The Indians were subdued, but
they were so embittered that the Franciscans abandoned the missions.
The English in the Carolinas.--In 1653 English settlers from Virginia
began to establish themselves in North Carolina, and in 1670 the English
settlement of South Carolina was begun near Charleston. This intrusion
into the old Spanish province of Santa Elena was viewed with alarm by
Spain, and, as always in the border Spanish colonies, the foreign danger
was followed by renewed missionary activity on the threatened frontiers.
Missionary work received an impetus in 1674 by the visitation of Bishop
Calderón, of Cuba, who spent eight months in a tour of Florida. In that
year and the next, five new missions were founded, and in 1676 Father
Moral took to Florida twenty-four additional missionaries. Six or more
missions were now in operation on the northern Georgia coast between
Jekyl Island and the Savannah River, besides those farther south.
English incursions and the Yamassee revolt.--Hostilities with the
English on the border began at once. In 1680 a force of three hundred
Indians and Englishmen invaded Santa Catalina Island and expelled the
garrison and mission Indians. Governor Marquez Cabrera sent soldiers to
build a fort, and asked the king for Canary Island families to hold the
country. The families were ordered sent (1681), but plans were changed
and the Indians of the northernmost missions were moved southward. The
Yamassees refused to move, joined the English, and aided them in a raid
on Mission Santa Catalina (1685). In the following year Spaniards sent
by Governor Marquez retaliated by sacking Carolina plantations and
carrying off negro slaves. Another expedition of the same year landed at
Edisto Island, burned the country residence of Governor Morton, and
destroyed Stuart Town (Port Royal).
The English among the Creeks.--The English now threatened the Spaniards
on another frontier. Fur traders from South Carolina had pushed south
and west across Georgia and were becoming active among the Creeks of
western Georgia and eastern Alabama. In 1685 Governor Marquez sent
Lieutenant Matheos, commander at Apalachee, with twenty soldiers and
four hundred allies to capture traders operating at Kawita, Kasihta, and
Kulumi, Creek towns on the Chatahootchee and Talapoosa Rivers. The
expedition failed but it was repeated, and Marquez called on the home
government for help.
Plans to occupy Pensacola.--It was just at this time that La Salle
formed his establishment in Texas. The combined danger from the English
and the French now made it necessary to protect the northern Gulf coast.
La Salle's intrusion was followed by the temporary Spanish occupation of
eastern Texas in 1690, already described. At the same time (1689) the
viceroy sent Andrés de Pez to Spain to urge the occupation of Pensacola
Bay (Santa Maria de Galve). The council approved the plan and authorized
the withdrawal from Texas. In 1693 Pez explored Pensacola and Mobile
bays with a view to settlement. Thus, in a sense, the defence of eastern
Texas was given up for the founding of Pensacola. A new French intrusion
was necessary, however, to bring about the permanent occupation of
either Texas or Pensacola.
READINGS
Bancroft, H.H., _Arizona and New Mexico_, 146-224; Bolton, H.E.,
_Spanish Exploration in the Southwest_, 279-340; "The Spanish Occupation
of Texas, 1510-1690," in _Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, XVI, 1-26;
Cavo, Andres, _Tres Siglos de Mexico_; Chapman, C.E., _The Founding of
Spanish California_, 1-44; Clark, R.C., _The Beginnings of Texas_;
Coroléu, José, _America, Historia du Colonización_; Davis, W.H.H.,
_Spanish Conquest in New Mexico_, 276-407; Dunn, W.E., _Spanish and
French Rivalry in the Gulf Region_, 5-215; Frejes, Fr. F., _Conquista de
Los Estados_; Garrison, G.P., _Texas_, 10-19; Gonzales, J.E., _Colección
de Noticias; Historia de Nuevo León_; Hackett, C.W., "The Pueblo Revolt
of 1680," in Texas State Historical Association, _Quarterly_, XV,
93-143; Hughes, Anne, _Beginnings of Spanish Settlement in the El Paso
District_; Leon, A., _Historia de Nuevo León_; Ortega, Fr. Joseph,
_Apostólicos Afanes_; Portillo, Esteban, _Apuntes para la Historia de
Coahuila y Texas_; Prince, L.B., _Historical Sketches of New Mexico_,
176-220; Twitchell, R.E., _Leading Facts of New Mexico History_, I,
333-413; Villagrá, Gaspar de, _Historia de Nuevo Mexico_; Wright, L.A.,
_The Early History of Cuba_, ch. 17.
CHAPTER XIV
THE WARS OF THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH SUCCESSIONS (1684-1713)
The impending conflict.--Before the close of the Stuart period, it was
evident that a great international struggle was at hand. Louis XIV of
France aspired to overshadow England, Austria, and Spain. The dependence
of the later Stuarts upon Louis temporarily delayed the outbreak of
hostilities, but when James II was driven from the English throne the
contest broke forth and continued intermittently until France was
humbled and England had become the foremost commercial and colonial
power.
THE PRELIMINARY STRUGGLE FOR THE NORTHERN FUR COUNTRY
Sphere of French influence.--When Frontenac returned to France in 1682,
the French were predominant in Acadia, in the St. Lawrence Valley, in
the region of the Great Lakes, and in the Illinois country, and were
extending their power into the lower valley of the Mississippi. In the
West Indies they had secured a foothold. The missionary and the
fur-trader had been the instruments of interior expansion, the Indian
the source of wealth. To keep control of the natives and to win new
tribes to church and trade was the settled policy of France. The Abenaki
of Maine were between Acadia and Massachusetts and were friends of the
French. To the south of Lake Ontario were the Iroquois, the friends of
the English. In the upper lake region the various Algonquin tribes had
long been subservient to the French. Their furs were brought to Three
Rivers, Montreal, or Quebec, or were traded to the _coureurs de bois_.
The English policy.--To wrest the fur monopoly of the north from the
French was one of the mainsprings of Stuart policy. The establishment of
the Hudson's Bay Company posts, an alliance with the Iroquois, and the
attempt to gain control of the Huron region, thus cutting off the French
from the upper lakes and the Illinois country, were the means adopted
to carry out the policy. To defeat it was the problem of the governors
of New France. A similar conflict was in process in the southwest.
La Barre and the Iroquois, 1684.--The successor of Frontenac was La
Barre. Upon arrival he found conditions deplorable. A disastrous fire
had devastated Quebec and the Iroquois were on the warpath against the
Illinois, Hurons, Ottawas, and other "children of the French." La Barre
at first temporized with the Iroquois, but their depredations continued,
fostered by Dongan, the governor of New York. La Barre finally realized
that his policy was alienating the interior tribes and he determined
upon war. He gathered a force of Indians and French and entered the
Iroquois country where he was met by a deputation of Iroquois chiefs.
After an extended conference, instead of a war of extermination, peace
was ignominiously agreed upon, in spite of the fact that the Iroquois
refused to desist from war on the Illinois. In the meantime Duluth and
other leaders had brought five hundred warriors to Niagara, who arrived
at the rendezvous only to learn that peace had been made. With sullen
hatred in their hearts, the disappointed warriors returned to their
haunts. French influence in the region of the lakes had suffered a
severe blow.
Denonville and Dongan.--The king had determined upon the recall of La
Barre, and Denonville, "a pious colonel of dragoons," assumed the
governorship. He at once entered into a correspondence with Dongan. Both
governors lacked resources to carry out an effective campaign; both
resorted to Jesuit influence to obtain control of the Iroquois; and both
determined to build a fort at Niagara. Denonville, in addition, planned
to erect forts at Toronto, on Lake Erie, and at Detroit, and Duluth
actually erected a stockade at the lower end of Lake Huron. Dongan in
1685 eleven canoes to the upper lakes where a successful trade was
carried on. The following year a larger flotilla was despatched,
followed by an expedition which was intended to make a treaty of trade
and alliance with the lake Indians.
French attack on the Iroquois.--Dongan, however, received despatches
from England which led him to believe that his policy might not meet
with the entire approval of his government. He accordingly wrote a
conciliatory letter to Denonville, accompanied by a present of oranges.
Denonville replied, "Monsieur, I thank you for your oranges. It is a
great pity that they were all rotten." His sarcasm was the more
effective when it is known that eight hundred French regulars were in
the colony, and that as many more were on the way. In the spring of 1687
Denonville was prepared to strike. Leaving eight hundred regulars to
protect the settlements, he gathered two thousand men at Ft. Frontenac.
In addition Tonty and other post commanders had raised a considerable
force in the interior which captured the canoes sent by Dongan. The
combined forces of French and Indians, totaling nearly three thousand,
penetrated the country of the Sénecas, defeated them, and burned their
villages. But instead of completing the conquest of the Iroquois
country, Denonville led his forces to Niagara where a fort was erected,
and then returned to Montreal. The expedition served merely to set the
Iroquois hive buzzing, and to increase the influence of the English.
Iroquois reprisals.--The Iroquois soon began a war of reprisal, raid
after raid being made on the French settlements. Denonville's courage
seemed to be paralyzed. He sent an agent to Albany to make an
arrangement with Dongan, who insisted that Forts Niagara and Frontenac
be abandoned. Denonville hesitated until the summer of 1688, when Big
Mouth, an Onondaga chief, appeared at Montreal. An understanding was
reached by which the governor agreed to abandon Niagara and restore
captives, no provision being made for protection of the interior tribes.
A Huron chief, the Rat, hearing of the treaty, determined that the war
should continue. Ascertaining that a party of Onondagas were on their
way to the French settlements to complete the peace arrangements, the
Rat and his followers ambushed them. The attack had the desired effect,
the Iroquois concluding that the treaty was a ruse. An ominous peace
prevailed until the French believed that danger had passed. Suddenly in
the summer of 1689 a force of fourteen hundred Iroquois attacked the
settlements. Instead of retaliating, the frightened governor ordered the
abandonment of Ft. Frontenac. This was his last important act, for he
was recalled and Count Frontenac was sent to save the colony.
[Illustration: The Intercolonial Wars.]
The Hudson Bay posts.--While these events had been taking place, in the
far north another conflict was waged. No attempt was made to impede the
English on Hudson Bay until 1682, when Radisson and Groseilliers, now
turned French, with two vessels took possession of the English post at
the mouth of the Nelson River, but the Frenchmen soon transferred their
allegiance once more to the English. La Barre was instructed to check
English encroachments and to propose that neither nation establish new
posts. In 1685 a Canadian company was formed to trade in the north.
Denonville considered this an excuse for attacking the English. In 1686
a hundred men commanded by De Troyes, one of his lieutenants being
Iberville, the future founder of Louisiana, were sent overland to make
the attack. Fort Hayes, Ft. Rupert, and Ft. Albany were captured, Fort
Nelson being the only post left in English hands. French ascendency for
the time being was established on Hudson Bay.
THE WAR OF THE ENGLISH SUCCESSION
William's accession precipitates war.--In spite of these conditions in
America, England and France at home had been at peace. It was of more
importance to Louis XIV to support a Catholic king of England than to
wage open war for the control of the Indian country. But with the
overthrow of James II the political situation in Europe was completely
changed. William of Orange ascended the throne of England, and Holland,
England, several of the German states, Austria, and Spain were welded
into a great coalition. Louis XIV championed the Stuart cause and the
War of the English Succession was on. In America the struggle is known
as King William's War; in Europe it is usually referred to as the War of
the Palatinate. In the course of it the Caribbean Sea was the scene of
constant conflict. The hostile zones on the mainland had been
established in the struggle for the fur trade--the lands of the Abenaki,
Iroquois, and upper lake tribes, and the Hudson Bay country.
_THE WAR IN THE CARIBBEAN_
Four years of war.--In 1689 the French inhabitants of St. Christopher
rose against the English inhabitants and expelled them from the island.
The French also broke up a Dutch station in Guiana. Early in 1690
England sent Commodore Wright to the West Indies. Convoying a large
fleet, his squadron reached Barbados on May 11. Being reinforced by
Barbadian troops he reoccupied St. Christopher, the reduction being
completed July 16. A few days later St. Eustatius surrendered to the
English. In 1690 Trinidad was also attacked by the French. In March,
1691, Wright attacked Guadeloupe but failed to take it or to capture the
French squadron under M. Ducasse. Commodore Ralph Wrenn took command of
the English fleet in January, 1692, and the following month fought an
indecisive battle near Jamaica with a superior French force. In that
year a great earthquake destroyed Port Royal, the English capital of
Jamaica. The refugees founded Kingston which eventually superseded Port
Royal as the seat of government.
Martinique, Santo Domingo, and Jamaica.--In 1693 nine vessels reinforced
the West Indian fleet and the combined forces, backed by Barbadian
troops, attacked Martinique, but failed to take it. In September of the
following year a squadron attacked Léogane, a French town in Santo
Domingo, but was repulsed. A French expedition from Santo Domingo also
desolated the southeastern coast of Jamaica but at Carlisle Bay was
beaten off by the colonial militia. In March, 1695, an English and
Spanish fleet attacked the French settlements in Santo Domingo and
succeeded in forcing the abandonment of Cape François and Port de Paix.
Cartagena and Petit Gouave.--In April, 1697, a great English fleet under
Vice-Admiral John Neville rendezvoused at Barbados to forestall a
rumored enterprise of the enemy. M. de Pointas had been sent with large
reinforcements to assist M. Ducasse. The combined French fleet attacked
Cartagena, took much booty, and eluded Neville. The English commander
visited Cartagena, which he found had again been despoiled by
buccaneers. He then despatched Captain Mees with nine vessels to burn
Petit Gouave, a mission which he accomplished.
_THE WAR OF THE CANADIAN FRONTIERS_
The Maine frontier.--Andros had sent an expedition against the Abenaki
and had fortified the frontier, his most northern fort being at
Pemaquid, but with his fall the garrison had been reduced. During the
summer of 1689 the Indians destroyed Pemaquid and killed most of the
settlers in that region. Casco (Portland) was then attacked but was
relieved by a counter expedition.
The French attack.--In August Frontenac was sent to assume the
governorship of Canada. In New France he found despair and desolation.
He decided to send out three expeditions, one from Montreal into the
upper Hudson Valley, the others from Three Rivers and Quebec to raid the
New England frontier. The three expeditions started about February 1,
1690. The Montreal party surprised Schenectady, where sixty persons were
massacred. A party from Albany started in pursuit and succeeded in
killing about twenty of the retreating French and Indians. The Three
Rivers expedition attacked Salmon Falls, where thirty persons were
killed and about fifty made prisoners. A relief party from Portsmouth
caught up with the raiders at Wooster River, but after a spirited fight
the French and Indians escaped. Being reinforced by Indians they joined
the party from Quebec. The united force of four or five hundred men in
May attacked the fort and blockhouses on Casco Bay, killing or capturing
the garrison, massacring or carrying into captivity most of the
inhabitants, and burning the settlements.
Frontenac's Indian policy.--Frontenac also sent an expedition of one
hundred men to Michilimackinac to keep control of the upper lake
Indians. On the way an Iroquois war party was defeated at Sand Point on
the Ottawa River. The French victory and news of the successful raids on
the English frontier had far-reaching effects, for they kept the Hurons
and Ottawas in subjection.
The English defence.--The attack upon the English colonies was
well-timed, for confusion prevailed in New England and New York. Andros
had been overthrown and Leisler's rebellion was in full swing. Little
help could be expected from England, for James II, with French and Irish
aid, was battling to regain his throne. In May, 1690, the New England
colonies sent delegates to a congress at New York to determine on a
military policy. A two-fold attack was planned; a land expedition
against Montreal and a naval expedition against Quebec.
The Montreal fiasco.--The expedition against Montreal was placed under
Fitz-John Winthrop of Connecticut, who led his men as far as the
southern end of Lake Champlain. Here smallpox broke out, disagreements
with the Indians ensued, and provisions ran short. Winthrop soon
discovered that a descent on Montreal was impossible, and he
ingloriously led most of his men back to Albany. Captain John Schuyler,
however, with a small detachment proceeded northward and raided the
village of Laprairie near Montreal.
The capture of Port Royal.--While New England delegates were at New York
a preliminary expedition was sent against Acadia, Sir William Phips, a
New Englander who had achieved great renown and wealth by locating a
Spanish treasure ship which had been wrecked off the Bahamas, was placed
in command of seven vessels. On May 11, 1690, the fleet appeared before
Port Royal, which surrendered without a shot being fired. One of the
vessels under Captain Alden captured a French post on the Penobscot and
seized several settlements on the southern shore of Nova Scotia.
The expedition against Quebec.--In the meantime Massachusetts was
preparing for her great attempt on Quebec Thirty vessels were gathered,
but the fleet was short of ammunition, due to the fact that the French
had gained temporary control of the sea by defeating the English and
Dutch fleets at Beachy Head. The fleet commanded by Phips sailed from
Boston on August 9, 1690, but it was not until October 16 that it came
in sight of Quebec. The slow progress prevented a surprise and gave
Frontenac time to complete his defences. When Phips demanded that Quebec
surrender, he received a haughty refusal. Phips then attempted to
capture the town, but the plan was poorly executed, ammunition ran
short, and reinforcements poured into the city so rapidly that the
defenders soon outnumbered the English. A council of war was held, and
it was decided to abandon the undertaking. A week of intermittent
fighting had brought nothing but failure, which was made the more trying
by the loss of several vessels on the return voyage.
Frontenac's policy in 1691.--After the attack on Quebec, the war
developed into a desultory frontier conflict in which the French were
usually on the offensive. The Iroquois continued to raid the French
settlements, but they were soon severely chastised, when forty or fifty
warriors were surrounded at Repentigny, near Montreal, and killed or
captured. This event and the timely arrival of several French vessels
impressed an Ottawa deputation which had come to Quebec, and the French
power among the interior tribes was greatly strengthened.
Schuyler's expedition.--The English influence among the Iroquois was
waning; to reassert it an expedition under Peter Schuyler was sent from
Albany. It traversed Lake Champlain and the Richelieu and proceeded
toward Laprairie de la Madeleine where it was attacked by a superior
force. After stubborn fighting, Schuyler made an orderly retreat.
Acadia and the Abenaki.--In Acadia Phips had made the blunder of leaving
no garrison; the French accordingly reoccupied it. Deeming the location
of Port Royal too exposed, M. de Villebon, the lieutenant-governor of
Acadia, moved his headquarters to Naxouat on the St. John's River, from
which vantage point he was able to direct attacks on New England. In
February, 1692, a band of Abenaki wiped out the settlement at York, and
later unsuccessfully attacked Wells. Minor raids were also made on the
towns of central Massachusetts. To protect the frontier Phips ordered
the rebuilding of Fort Pemaquid and the erection of a fort at the falls
of the Saco. Scarcely were they completed, when Iberville, in command of
two French vessels, attacked Pemaquid but failed to capture it.
The Iroquois frontier.--The Iroquois continued to infest the region
between the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, but during 1692 and 1693
they were severely punished, and ceased to be an important factor in the
war. Frontenac then determined to reopen the fur trade. He accordingly
sent a detachment to Michilimackinac asking that furs be sent to
Montreal. In August, 1693, a flotilla of two hundred canoes arrived and
shortly afterward Tonty, with a large body of _coureurs de bois_ came to
discuss matters. Tonty soon returned to the Illinois country well
equipped to strengthen his hold on the natives. The fortifications at
Quebec were also remodeled. In 1695 Fort Frontenac was reëstablished and
the following year an expedition of over two thousand men was sent
against the Onondagas and Oneidas. They abandoned their villages and the
French destroyed their crops. Though no battle was fought the expedition
served its end, for the Iroquois were duly impressed by the power of the
French.
The New England frontier.--In 1693 an English fleet from the West Indies
arrived at Boston and the idea of an expedition against Quebec was
revived, but there was so much sickness among the men that the plan was
abandoned. During 1693 and 1694 both English and French sought to
control the Abenaki, but in spite of a treaty made by Phips, the French
succeeded in holding their allies. In July, 1694, the Indians attacked
Durham, massacring over a hundred of the inhabitants, and a few days
later killed about forty people at Groton. Two years later Iberville
again appeared before Pemaquid and this time succeeded in capturing it.
He then sailed to Newfoundland, captured and burned St. Johns, and
plundered the settlements on the coast. The English retaliated by
burning the French settlement at Beaubassin but were repulsed at
Naxouat. In March, 1697, Haverhill was raided by the Indians, and in
February, 1698, after the treaty of peace, they attacked Andover. In the
last year of the war an attack upon Boston and New York by land and sea
was determined upon and a fleet set sail from France, but the treaty of
peace ended hostilities.
_ACTIVITIES ON HUDSON BAY; PEACE_
Operations of Iberville.--When the war opened, the French were in
control of the posts about James Bay, while Fort Nelson, commanding the
great interior water-ways, was in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company.
In 1689 Fort Albany was captured by the English. The following year
Iberville recaptured it, but in 1692 it again passed out of French
hands. In 1694 the French government determined to assist the Compagnie
du Nord; Iberville, being sent to the bay with two frigates, captured
Fort Nelson. Two years later it was retaken by the English. In 1697
Iberville penetrated the bay, this time with five vessels. Becoming
separated from the rest of the fleet, Iberville encountered three armed
vessels of the Hudson's Bay Company. After a thrilling naval battle the
English were worsted, and the French once more took possession of Fort
Nelson. At the end of the war the only important post left in English
hands was Fort Albany.
The Peace of Ryswick.--In 1697 the war was brought to an end by the
peace of Ryswick, by which Louis XIV acknowledged William III as king
of England. The results of the fighting in America were ignored, the
powers agreeing to restore to each other all places taken in the war.
The ownership of the Abenaki and Iroquois lands, and of the Hudson Bay
country was left unsettled.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
French expansion.--The peace of Ryswick was only a truce. France took
advantage of the peace to begin to establish her power in the
Mississippi Valley and to strengthen her hold upon the Northwest. In
1699 Biloxi was founded on the Gulf and in succeeding years France
brought under control most of the tribes of the lower Mississippi
Valley. In 1701 the French occupied Detroit to cut off the English from
one of the routes to the fur country, and strengthened their hold on the
Illinois country.[1]
The Spanish Succession.--Upon the death of Philip IV in 1665 the
incompetent Charles II came to the throne of Spain. Court intrigues
stimulated by France and Austria, and utter lack of statesmanship at a
time when France was reaching out in every direction, brought Spain to
the lowest point in her history. Fearing that she would pass under
French control, thereby destroying the balance of power in Europe,
William III of England sought to check French power by the so-called
Second Treaty of Partition, by which the Austrian Archduke Charles was
to inherit the crown of Spain upon the death of Charles II, Spanish
possessions in Italy were to go to the Dauphin of France, and Spanish
and Austrian possessions were never to be united. To this arrangement
France, Austria, and England agreed, but the treaty proved to be but a
scrap of paper. In 1700 Charles II died and his will designated Philip
of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV, as his heir.
England determines upon war.--War was not at once declared, for the
English people were slow to recognize the danger. But when French troops
occupied the border fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands, when French
edicts excluded British manufactures, when the English and Dutch trade,
especially the slave trade, was hampered in the Spanish colonies, and
when Louis XIV acknowledged the son of James II as king of England,
English statesmen were convinced that war was necessary. When Anne
ascended the throne in 1702, war was a foregone conclusion.
War zones in America.--The war areas were even more extensive in America
than in the War of the English Succession. In the South, the West
Indies, and the Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana frontiers, and in the
North, the New England border, Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay were
the scenes of conflict.
[1] For details see Chapter XV.
_THE WAR IN THE WEST INDIES_
An indecisive struggle.--When William III became convinced that the war
was inevitable, he proposed to strike at Spanish commerce. In
furtherance of this policy a squadron was sent in 1701 to the West
Indies under Vice-Admiral John Benbow. In July, 1702, Benbow destroyed
or captured several vessels near Port-au-Prince, and supported by troops
under Major-General Hamilton, he occupied St. Christopher. The fleet in
August encountered that of Ducasse off Santa Marta to the northeast of
Cartagena and in a running fight which lasted several days the English
were worsted. In 1703 General Codrington attacked Guadeloupe but a
French reinforcement forced the English to retire. The same year a
combined French and Spanish force drove the English inhabitants from New
Providence and destroyed Fort Nassau, but it was soon reoccupied by the
English Vice-Admiral John Graydon who had been placed in command of the
West Indian fleet. Before his arrival several privateers had been
destroyed near the island of Santo Domingo and descents had been made on
St. Christopher and Guadeloupe. Graydon accomplished nothing and soon
sailed to Newfoundland, where his operations were also fruitless.
1705-1708.--During 1705 several prizes were taken and in 1706 the French
made a descent on St. Christopher. Their attack on the fort failed, but
they burned and plundered several plantations. Hearing that an English
fleet was expected, the French repaired to Nevis, which they occupied.
The English fleet under Commodore Kerr attacked Petit Gouave but failed
to capture it. In 1708 Commodore Charles Wager won an important
engagement when he attacked a Spanish fleet near. Cartagena. New
Providence was a second time attacked by the French and Spanish, which
led to the English abandonment of the island.
1711-1712.--In 1710 the Spaniards attacked the salt rakers on Turk's
Island but were driven off. In 1711 Commodore James Littleton attempted
to find the French fleet, which he located in the harbor of Cartagena.
Finding it too strong to attack, he loafed in the neighborhood, picking
up an occasional prize. Ducasse, who was convoying a fleet of Spanish
galleons, succeeded in getting them out of the harbor without being
observed and got them safely to Havana. A French squadron which made an
attempt against Antigua was driven into St. Pierre by the English fleet,
and a similar expedition against Montserrat was foiled. The following
year the French nearly ruined Berbice, a Dutch settlement in Guiana.
_THE WAR ON THE FLORIDA BORDER_
The southern border.--On the mainland the South Carolina settlements
formed the southern English frontier. The Spaniards occupied St.
Augustine, contiguous territory up the Georgia coast, Pensacola, and
intermediate points. To the west on the Gulf coast were the recently
established French settlements. In the interior lived the Apalachees,
Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. To control the trade of the
Indians and use them as allies was the policy of English, Spanish, and
French alike. The first blow fell on the Apalachee. In 1702 a force of
Apalachicolas, allies of the English, destroyed the mission of Santa Fé
in the Apalachee district, and a Spanish force was met at the Flint
River by Englishmen and Creek allies, and driven back.
Siege of St. Augustine.--The next attack of the English was directed
against St. Augustine. Hearing of their plans, Governor Zuñiga sent to
Havana for reinforcements, abandoned the town of St. Augustine, and
provisioned the castle. The Carolina force of about twelve hundred
militia and Indians rendezvoused at Port Royal in September, 1702.
Colonel Robert Daniel, conducting the land forces, destroyed the mission
settlements on St. Mark's Island, captured the villages of St. Johns and
St. Marys, and plundered St. Augustine. Governor Moore conducted the
fleet, and the combined forces besieged the castle. Governor Zuñiga
bravely withstood the siege for fifty days, and when Spanish vessels
arrived, Moore destroyed his ships, burned St. Augustine, and retreated
to Carolina.
Destruction of the Apalachee Missions.--Moore was superseded as governor
by Sir Nathaniel Johnson, who immediately strengthened the
fortifications at and near Charleston. Moore, desiring to build up his
waning reputation, persuaded Johnson to send him against the Apalachee.
Setting out with a force of fifty Carolinians and a thousand Creek
allies, in January, 1704, he captured the Apalachee town of Ayubale,
burned the mission, and then defeated a force of Spaniards and
Apalachee. The Indian villages were next destroyed; of thirteen
Apalachee towns, each with its mission, only one was spared. When Moore
withdrew he carried off fourteen hundred Apalachee prisoners and slaves.
Spanish expedition against Charleston.--In 1706 the French and Spaniards
at Havana organized an expedition to attack Carolina. In August a
frigate and four sloops, after taking on men and supplies at St.
Augustine, sailed to Charleston and demanded its surrender. A small
landing party was repulsed; six Carolina vessels sallied out, and after
an engagement the enemy withdrew.
Indian policy of the French.--To use the Indian allies to prevent the
spread of English settlement was a fundamental of French policy.
Iberville, the founder of Louisiana, planned to obtain control of the
great interior rivers by establishing forts, and to weld the Indians
into an alliance with the French by treaties and by trade. He even
contemplated moving some of the tribes to points of greater commercial
vantage. He also believed that he could obtain the aid of several
thousand warriors in attacking Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina.
Realizing the danger, the English traders were active among the tribes.
In 1708, probably at the instigation of the English, the Cherokees,
Arikas, Catawbas, and Alabamas formed an alliance. Four thousand
warriors descended on the French settlements, but lack of leadership
destroyed the effectiveness of the attack and but little damage was
done.
The Tuscarora War.--In 1711 the Tuscaroras, a North Carolina tribe, went
on the warpath and massacred about two hundred settlers. Virginia and
South Carolina sent aid, and in 1712 the Indians were defeated. The
Tuscaroras continued their depredations and in 1713 they were almost
annihilated. The remnant made their way to New York and were
incorporated with the Iroquois as a sixth nation.
_THE WAR ON THE CANADIAN BORDER_
Newfoundland and the New England frontier.--To deprive the French of the
profitable Newfoundland fisheries was the first endeavor of England in
the north. Captain John Leake arrived at St. Johns in August, 1702. He
cruised off Placentia Bay, making several small prizes and destroying
fishing craft. Before the end of October he had captured twenty-nine
sail, burned two vessels, and destroyed St. Peter's Fort. The New
England frontier was harried by the French and Abenaki. In 1699
Massachusetts had made a treaty at Casco Bay with the Maine Indians, but
the Jesuits soon brought them back to French allegiance. In 1703 a
second peace treaty was made with them, but within two months they were
on the warpath, almost wiping out the Maine settlements. In 1704 the
French and Indians surprised Deerfield in the Connecticut Valley,
killing about fifty and carrying off more than one hundred captives.
Almost every frontier settlement was attacked. Even Reading, Sudbury,
and Haverhill, within a short distance of Boston, were raided. To add to
the distress French privateers did serious damage to commerce and
fisheries.
Acadia.--The New Englanders retaliated with small counter raids, but
succeeded in inflicting little damage. It was finally determined to
strike at Acadia. An expedition was placed under Benjamin Church, a
veteran of King Philip's War. French settlements on the Bay of Fundy
were ravaged, but he failed to attack Port Royal. In 1707 an expedition,
recruited by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, was again
sent against Port Royal, but the stubborn defense discouraged the
attacking force and the siege was abandoned. English vessels under
Captain John Underwood raided the Newfoundland coast, destroying many
settlements and fishing craft.
Plan to conquer Canada.--The conquest of Canada was urged by many of the
colonial leaders, the most active of whom was Colonel Samuel Vetch, a
Scotchman who had formerly seen service in the English army. In 1709 his
plan was endorsed by the British government, and preparations were made
to send a large force against Quebec by sea and a land expedition
against Montreal. But after great efforts had been made by the New
England colonies and New York, the British regulars were diverted to
Portugal, and the conquest of Canada had to be abandoned.
Conquest of Acadia.--The following year a force of four thousand
colonials, commanded by Francis Nicholson, aided by British men-of-war
and a regiment of marines, attacked and captured Port Royal. Acadia
became the British province of Nova Scotia, and the name of its capital
was changed to Annapolis Royal. The following year the English again
raided the French fishing stations in Newfoundland.
Failure of Walker's expedition.--In 1710 a Tory ministry came into
power, its chief members being the Earl of Oxford and Viscount
Bolingbroke. They were opposed to carrying on the war in Europe,
believing that England's best policy lay in colonial undertakings. The
conquest of Canada became the great object. As before, the attack was to
be by land and sea. Under Nicholson the land force, composed mainly of
colonials and eight hundred Iroquois, prepared to attack Montreal. The
expedition against Quebec was entrusted to Admiral Sir Bovenden Walker
and General Sir John Hill; a court favorite. Seven of Marlborough's best
regiments, veterans of Oudenarde and Ramillies, were placed on
transports which were convoyed by a large fleet of war vessels. The
great force gathered at Boston, where it was reinforced by fifteen
hundred colonials. In August, 1711, the fleet entered the St. Lawrence,
but there it met disaster. Sailing too close to the northern shore, ten
vessels were wrecked on the reefs and shoals of the Egg Islands. Stunned
by the calamity, the faint-hearted commander gave up the enterprise.
News of the disaster reached Nicholson at Lake Champlain. His force was
not strong enough to accomplish the conquest alone, and the attack on
Montreal was abandoned.
_THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY_
The Hudson's Bay Company had been sadly crippled at the end of the War
of the English Succession. Its shares fell in value and most of the
original owners sold their holdings. The only post which the company
held was Fort Albany, and in 1704 this was unsuccessfully attacked by a
party of French and Indians. The same year an English frigate captured
the principal ship of the Compagnie du Nord, causing great hardship in
the French forts. The Hudson's Bay Company during the war frequently
petitioned the Board of Trade for assistance, but, as they received
none, they appealed directly to the queen. When the final treaty was
made, the Hudson Bay country was taken into account.
_THE PEACE OF UTRECHT_
At the end of the war a series of agreements was drawn up by the various
powers. The treaties involving America dealt both with territory and
commerce. England obtained a recognition of her claims in the Hudson Bay
country and the possession of Newfoundland and Acadia. The claim of the
English to the Iroquois country was also admitted, and they were given
St. Christopher. Commercially the agreements dealt with the fisheries
and Spanish trade. The French were excluded from fishing on the Acadian
coast, but were allowed to keep Cape Breton Island and were given
certain fishing privileges on the Newfoundland coasts. An agreement with
Spain, known as the Asiento or contract, gave the English the exclusive
right for thirty years of bringing negroes into the Spanish possessions.
The English were also allowed to send an annual merchant ship of five
hundred tons burden to trade with Spanish ports.
READINGS
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FUR COUNTRY
Bryce, George, _The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company_,
1-46; Kingsford, William, _The History of Canada_, II, 36-107; Laut,
Agnes, _The Conquest of the Great Northwest_, I, 97-255; Le Sueur, W.D.,
_Count Frontenac_, 170-228; Lorin, Henri, _Le Comte de Frontenac_,
275-352; Parkman, Francis, _Count Frontenac and New France under Louis
XIV_, 72-183; Thwaites, R.G., ed., _The Jesuit Relations_, LXII-LXIV.
THE WAR OF THE ENGLISH SUCCESSION
Bryce, George, _The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company_,
47-55; Clowes, W.L., _The Royal Navy_, II, 462-472, 492-495; Kingsford,
William, _The History of Canada_, II, 198-386; Laut, A.C., _The Conquest
of the Great Northwest_, I, 228-255; Le Sueur, W.D., _Count Frontenac_,
229-362; Lorin, Henri, _Le Comte de Frontenac_, 353-488; Manan, A.T.,
_The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783_, pp. 173-198;
Parkman, Francis, _Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV_,
184-427; Willson, Beckles, _The Great Company_, 182-197.
WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
Clowes, W.L., _The Royal Navy_, II, chs. 23-24; Greene, E.B.,
_Provincial America_, 136-165; Kingsford, William, _The History of
Canada_, III; Crady, Edward, _The History of Carolina under the
Proprietary Government, 1670-1719_, pp. 364-548; Parkman, Francis, _A
Half-Century of Conflict_, I, 1-297; Shea, J.G., _Catholic Church in
Colonial Days_, 454-479; Hamilton, P.J., _Colonization of the South_,
ch. 15.
CHAPTER XV
THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA AND THE FAR NORTHWEST (1699-1762)
THE FOUNDING OF LOUISIANA
Applicants for La Salle's grant.--During the War of the Palatinate Louis
XIV showed little desire to develop La Salle's plan for a colony on the
Gulf. In the interim, however, a number of individuals proposed taking
up La Salle's work. In 1690 his brother, the Abbé Cavelier, strongly
urged that it be continued. In 1694 Tonty asked permission to carry out
the project. In 1697 De Louvigny, Captain of Marines in Canada, proposed
making an expedition against the Spanish mines by way of the Rio Bravo.
In the same year Sieur de Argaud, at Paris, sought a grant of the
territory between Florida and New Mexico, the Gulf and the Illinois
River. The control of the Gulf and the checking of the Spanish advance
were prominent among the arguments for all these projects.
Iberville.--But not until the treaty of Ryswick was signed did the king
again take up the plan. The founding of the proposed colony was then
entrusted to Iberville, a son of Charles Le Moyne, one of the great
seigniors of Canada. Iberville and his brother Bienville had already
distinguished themselves in their attacks upon the English on Hudson
Bay. Activities were hastened by reports that the English were preparing
to take possession of the mouth of the Mississippi. To forestall them,
Pontchartram, the Minister of Marine, in 1698 sent an expedition to the
Gulf of Mexico.
Pensacola founded by Spain.--News of Iberville's preparations reached
Madrid early in 1698, and again Spain proved that in an emergency she
could act. Assuming that Pensacola was the French objective, the viceroy
sent Andres de Arriola to intercept them, and in November he fortified
the place.
Biloxi founded by France.--The movement was timely. Two months behind
Arriola Iberville's fleet appeared before the harbor and demanded
admission (January, 1699). The request being politely refused, Iberville
established himself at Biloxi, after which he returned to France,
leaving Bienville in command. During Iberville's absence, the coast and
the lower courses of the Mississippi and Red Rivers were thoroughly
explored and friendly relations with the Indian tribes promoted. Shortly
afterward Iberville returned to the colony, and in 1702 the settlement
was moved to Mobile Bay where the Spaniards at Pensacola could be more
effectually checked, the new settlement being called St. Louis.
Alliance with the tribes.--An Indian policy was also developed. Tonty,
who had found it to his advantage to divert his fur trade to Louisiana,
was sent on a peace mission to the Chickasaws. This resulted in a
conference of Chickasaws and Choctaws at Mobile Bay, at which the
friendship and trade of those powerful tribes were assured. By alliances
with the interior tribes, Iberville hoped to be able eventually to check
and, if possible, annihilate the English settlements of Maryland,
Virginia, and Carolina. After the conference at Mobile Bay, Iberville
left the colony, and Bienville became the central figure in Louisiana.
Bienville's first administration.--The government of the colony was of a
military type. At the head was the governor, who was assisted by a
_commissaire_ who had charge of the stores. A council with judicial
powers was also established. Like Frontenac, Bienville was beset by many
difficulties, quarrels with officials and clergy being frequent. The
colony was threatened by an alliance of Cherokees, Choctaws, and other
tribes who were instigated to hostility by the English. In 1710 a new
site for St. Louis was selected, the settlement being located on the
present site of Mobile, and by that name it became known.
[Illustration: The French in Louisiana and the Far Northwest.]
Crozat.--The colony had not prospered, and the government desired to rid
itself of the expense of the establishment. In 1712 the king therefore
granted to Antoine Crozat, a wealthy merchant, a fifteen-year monopoly
of trade in the vast territory from Illinois to the Gulf and from the
Carolinas to New Mexico. He was also permitted to send a ship annually
to the Guinea coast for negro slaves. On the other hand, Crozat agreed
to send out two shiploads of settlers yearly. The executive powers were
vested in a council appointed by the king from nominations made by
Crozat; it consisted of a governor, intendant, and two agents of the
proprietor. The first governor was Lamothe Cadillac, the founder of
Detroit. At first a considerable number of colonists were sent over,
but the French commercial laws, the monopoly of Crozat, and the low
prices offered for peltries crippled the colony.
Natchitoches.--Cadillac attempted to open a trade with the Spanish
colonies. With this in view in 1713 St. Denis, the younger, was sent to
take possession of the Natchitoches country on the Red River and to open
an overland trade route across Texas into Mexico. A trading post was
established at Natchitoches, but the commercial results of the
expedition to Mexico were slight. St. Denis was arrested and the
Spaniards, alarmed at the French encroachments, began the permanent
occupation of Texas.
Fort Toulouse.--In 1714 Bienville built Fort Toulouse, on the Alabama
River, near the junction of the Coosa and Talapoosa Rivers, in the
country of the upper Creeks, Mandeville being made first commander. Fort
Toulouse was a depot where furs were bought from the Indians and floated
down the river to Mobile. Round about it the Jesuit missionaries worked
among the Creeks. The fort became the base for the control of these
tribes, and an outpost against the English of the Carolinas. When the
latter settled Georgia, feeling the menace of the French outposts, they
built Fort Okfuskee, on the Talapoosa River, fort miles away, and
induced the Creeks to destroy the Jesuit missions.
Natchez.--Difficulties arose with the Natchez Indians; in 1716 Bienville
was sent to subdue them, and Fort Rosalie was erected on the site of
Natchez. Cadillac was shortly afterward recalled. Crozat had found his
colony merely a bill of expense and in 1717 he surrendered his patent.
At that time there were about seven hundred Frenchmen in Louisiana.
LOUISIANA UNDER THE COMPANY OF THE INDIES (1717-1731)
The Mississippi Bubble.--When Crozat surrendered his patent John Law was
ushering in his era of speculation. Louisiana was taken over by the
Compagnie d'Occident, which was granted complete political and
commercial powers. The capital of the Company, amounting to one hundred
million livres, was divided into two hundred thousand shares. In 1719
the company received, in addition, a monopoly of the trade of Africa and
the Orient, and increased its capital by fifty thousand shares,
thenceforth being known as the Compagnie des Indies. Law made Louisiana
the center of his system, and represented the country as an earthly
paradise, fabulous in mines.
New Orleans founded.--Bienville was made governor and the capital was
established at New Biloxi. In 1718 New Orleans was laid out and named in
honor of the regent. A garrison was established at the Natchitoches
trading post, and Fort Chartres was built in the Illinois country.
Feudal seignories were not extended as in Canada, but extensive tracts
were granted to _concessionaires_, who agreed to bring out settlers. In
a short time many tracts had been granted on Red River, on the
Mississippi, and on the Yazoo. As colonists did not volunteer in
sufficient numbers, emigrants were secured from hospitals and jails, or
were spirited away from France. A few negro slaves had been previously
introduced, but Law's company brought large numbers; the first cargo,
landed in 1719, contained two hundred and fifty. With this introduction
of slavery, agriculture developed rapidly.
War with Spain.--At this time a brief period of war ensued between Spain
and France, due to the ambitions of Elizabeth Farnese and her advisor
Alberoni. An expedition from Mobile captured Pensacola, but it was soon
after retaken by the Spanish, who also attacked Mobile. Shortly
afterward the French again captured Pensacola, but at the end of the war
it was restored to Spain. At the same time the Spaniards were driven out
of eastern Texas and an expedition under Villazur was defeated by French
allies on the Platte River.
Growth of population.--In 1720 the Mississippi Bubble burst, stock in
Law's numerous enterprises fell rapidly, and the great financier left
France a ruined man. Though Louisiana ceased to be the center of the
financial system of France, the Company continued operations with
considerable success. The white population had increased to about five
thousand. New Orleans had a considerable population, and in 1722 it was
made the capital.
The government.--In order that the country might be better governed, it
was divided into the nine judicial departments of Biloxi, Mobile,
Alibamon, New Orleans, Yazoo, Natchez, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and
Illinois. The negro population increased so rapidly that there was
considerable fear of an uprising. To govern them, in 1724 a set of laws
known as the Black Code was promulgated by the governor. The legal
religion of the colony was decreed to be Catholic, and masters were to
give religious instruction to slaves. Intermarriage of whites and blacks
was prohibited. The slaves were forbidden to carry weapons or to gather
in assemblies. Masters were bound to clothe, protect, and give
subsistence to slaves, and negro families were not to be broken up by
sales. Masters were also responsible for acts of their slaves. The
crimes of those in bondage were punished by whipping, branding, or, in
extreme cases, by death. This code was the last important act of
Bienville, who shortly afterward returned to France. The central
government under the company was practically the same as that of Canada
in the time of Frontenac, and similar quarrels between governor and
intendant ensued. Ecclesiastically Louisiana was divided roughly into
three districts; the Mobile region was under the Carmelites, the Jesuits
ministered to those in the Illinois country and along the lower Ohio,
and the rest was under the Capuchins.
The Natchez War.--Owing to the French occupation of Natchez lands, the
tribe in 1729 formed a conspiracy, which embraced the Choctaws and other
tribes, for the purpose of exterminating the whites. In the first attack
two hundred and fifty French at Fort Rosalie were killed, and many women
and children taken into captivity. The Choctaws turned against the
Natchez. An army of French and Choctaws was collected, and finally
succeeded in dispersing the hostile tribe. A second expedition pursued
the fugitives, and the Natchez were so severely chastised that they
ceased to exist as a unit.
LOUISIANA UNDER THE ROYAL GOVERNORS
Bienville again governor.--The expense of the Natchez War convinced the
directors of the company that the Louisiana project could not be made a
paying investment, and in 1731 the king released them from their
charter. In 1731 the Company of the Indies withdrew from Louisiana and
it became a royal province. A council was organized to replace the
company and Bienville was again made governor.
The Chickasaw War: Fort Tombecbé.--After the Natchez War the remnant of
the tribe had fled to the Chickasaws. In 1736 Bienville made war on the
latter tribe, who had not only harbored the Natchez, but were in
alliance with the English and had formed a league to cut off French
activities along the Mississippi, Mobile, and Tombigbee Rivers.
Bienville led troops from Natchitoches, Natchez, Mobile, and New
Orleans, while D'Artaguette from the Illinois coöperated. As a base of
attack Fort Tombecbé was built on the Tombigbee River in the Choctaw
country. The expedition against the Chickasaws ended in disaster, but
Fort Tombecbé continued to be important as a base for the control of the
Choctaws, who were kept hostile toward Chickasaws and English. In 1740 a
second attempt was made. At Fort Assumption, on the site of Memphis, a
force of thirty-six hundred was gathered. The size of the army
frightened the Chickasaws, who sued for peace. The French, however,
failed to secure their friendship, and they remained allies of the
English.
End of Bienville's rule.--In 1743 Bienville retired from the
governorship without having succeeded in making the colony a success.
The white population near the Gulf had declined to thirty-two hundred
and there were about two thousand slaves in the colony, while the
Illinois country contained about fifteen hundred people. During the
remaining twenty years of French rule in Louisiana the New Orleans
region showed but slight development.
The Illinois.--The Illinois district throve especially under the Company
of the Indies. At first the settlements had been governed from Canada,
but because of the Fox wars and difficulties of transportation, there
was little connection with Canada, and after 1717 the Illinois district
was attached to Louisiana. The settlement profited by the John Law
"boom" in 1719, eight hundred new colonists coming, chiefly from Canada
and New Orleans. In 1720 Fort Chartres, in 1723 St. Philippe, and ten
years later Prairie du Rocher, were established. Across the river St.
Genevieve and St. Charles were founded. Further east, the Wabash was
fortified to keep out the advancing English traders. In 1720 Ouiatanon
post was established at Lafayette. This post and Fort Miami, at Fort
Wayne, were attached to Canada, while Vincennes, founded in 1731,
belonged to Louisiana, as did Fort Massac founded later on the Ohio. The
dividing line between the districts was Terre Haute, or the highlands.
Ouiatanon was at the head of navigation on the Wabash for larger
pirogues. Here peltries for Canada were reshipped in canoes. Twenty
thousand skins a year were sent from Ouiatanon in the decade after 1720.
The Garden of New France.--The Illinois district became an important
agricultural center, whence large shipments of grain were made to
Detroit, the Ohio River posts, New Orleans, Mobile, and Europe. Negro
slaves were introduced and tobacco-raising was begun. At Kaskaskia there
was a Jesuit academy for white boys, and at Cahokia a Sulpician Indian
school.
The Missouri lead mines.--During the rule of the Company of the Indies
lead mines were opened in Missouri, where lead had been early
discovered, especially on Maramec River. While governor, Cadillac had
made a personal visit to inspect them. Mining was begun on an important
scale by Renault, who received grants on the Missouri in 1723. He is
said to have taken to these mines two hundred miners from France, and
five hundred negroes from Santo Domingo. He was actively engaged in
mining until 1746.
THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST
French advance into the Far West.--Meanwhile the French explorers had
reached the Rocky Mountains. In or before 1703 twenty Canadians went
from the Illinois country toward New Mexico to trade and learn about the
mines. By 1705 Laurain had been on the Missouri and in 1708 Canadians
are said to have explored that stream for three hundred or four hundred
leagues. By 1712 salines were being worked in Missouri and settlers were
living about them. Under the Company of the Indies exploration and trade
were pushed for a time with vigor in the trans-Mississippi West, all
along the border from the Gulf of Mexico to Nebraska. From Natchitoches
French traders made their way among the tribes of eastern and northern
Texas, and sometimes reached the Spanish settlements. In 1717 St. Denis
the younger and several partners made a second trading expedition
overland from Mobile via Natchitoches to San Juan Bautista on the Rio
Grande. His goods being seized, he went to Mexico, where he was
imprisoned, though his goods were sold with profit. His associates, who
reached the border somewhat after him, made their way to Presidio del
Norte, disposed of their goods, and returned to Louisiana.
La Harpe on the Red River.--While St. Denis was in Mexico, Bénard de la
Harpe was sent to establish a post on the Red River above Natchitoches.
He was urged to inform himself concerning the source of the Red River
and the tribes near New Mexico, and to open commerce with the Spanish
provinces. In 1719 he established his post among the Cadodachos. Du
Rivage was sent up the Red River, and La Harpe made an expedition to the
Touacaras near the mouth of the Canadian River, where he proposed to
found a post as a base for trade with New Mexico, the Padoucas, and the
Aricaras.
Du Tisné on the Osage and the Arkansas.--At the same time (1719) Du
Tisné was on the Missouri, Osage, and Arkansas rivers. He ascended the
Missouri River to the Missouri Indian village, on his way to the
Pawnees, but was unable to proceed. He returned to the Illinois, and
went to the Osage tribe on the Osage River. From there he continued
southwest to the Pawnees on the Arkansas. He made an alliance with the
Pawnees, bought Spanish horses from them, and established a French flag
in their villages. He was prevented by his hosts from going to the
Padouca, but he inquired about New Mexico.
La Harpe on the Gulf Coast.--In 1718 the company was ordered to occupy
the Bay of St. Bernard, discovered by La Salle. In 1719 and 1720
preliminary expeditions were made, and in 1721 La Harpe himself led an
expedition to a bay on the Texas coast, but he was expelled by the
Indians. The bay reached by him was the Bay of the Bidayes (Galveston
Bay) and not the St. Bernard of La Salle. La Harpe urged a new attempt,
to keep out the Spaniards, but the company abandoned the project.
La Harpe on the Arkansas.--After returning from the Gulf coast
expedition, La Harpe was sent from Mobile in December, 1721, to explore
the Arkansas River, with the idea of developing Indian trade, preventing
Spanish encroachment, and opening commerce with New Mexico. He ascended
the Arkansas about halfway to the mouth of the Canadian River, and on
his return recommended establishing posts at Little Rock, the mouth of
the Canadian, and the Touacara villages.
Bourgmont on the Missouri and Kansas Rivers.--In the years immediately
following the Spanish expedition under Villazur (1720), the French made
active efforts to communicate with New Mexico on the one hand, and to
forestall any hostile movement of the Spaniards on the other. Having
heard that Spaniards were preparing to return to avenge their defeat and
to occupy the Kansas River country, Bienville in 1722 ordered
Boisbriant, commander at the Illinois, to anticipate the Spaniards and
build a fort. The person sent was Bourgmont, who had lived among the
Missouris fifteen or more years, and had been made commander on the
Missouri. Late in 1723 he established Fort Orleans above the mouth of
the Grand River, in modern Carroll County, Missouri. From there in 1724
he went up the river among the Otos and Iowas, and then southwest to the
Padoucas in Western Kansas, taking with him Missouris, Osages, Kansas,
Otos, and Iowas. He made peace between these tribes and the Padoucas,
and arranged to send traders to the last named. A primary object was to
open a way to New Mexico. Shortly afterward Fort Orleans was destroyed
by an Indian massacre, and wars of the Foxes for several years
practically closed the lower Missouri.
THE ADVANCE TOWARD NEW MEXICO
The western fur trade.--For a decade and a half after the Bourgmont
expedition the French made no noteworthy western exploration. Meanwhile,
however, the traders quietly carried on their trade among the western
tribes. Important items in this trade were Indian captives, and mules
stolen from the Spaniards. French traders sometimes found a ready market
for goods smuggled into Spanish settlements on the northern frontier of
New Spain. From New Orleans, Opelousas, Natchitoches, Yatasi, Petit
Caddo, and Cadadocho posts they worked among the tribes of eastern and
northern Texas. By 1730 they had reached the lower Trinity to trade
among the Orcoquiza and Bidai tribes. Further north they traded with the
Asinai and Cadadochos, in the very face of the Spanish posts. By the
middle of the century they were well established among the Wichita
tribes of the Red River Valley, and northeastern Texas was virtually
under French control. The way to western Texas and the upper Red River
was barred by the hostile Apaches, but in 1753 Governor Kerlérec
proposed breaking through this strong barrier.
From the Arkansas post traders worked among the Quapaws and Jumanos, and
other tribes adjacent to the Arkansas River. From the Illinois, and from
lesser posts among the Osages, Missouris, and Kansas, traders worked
among these tribes, the Iowas, Otos, Pawnees of the Platte, and other
more northern bands of Indians.
Interest in New Mexico.--French voyageurs, _chasseurs_, and traders of
Louisiana and Canada continued to look with covetous eyes toward New
Mexico. To the adventurer it was a land promising gold and silver and a
path to the South Sea; to the merchant it offered rich profits in trade.
The natural avenues of approach to this Promised Land were the Red,
Arkansas, and Missouri Rivers. But there were obstacles to expeditions
bound for New Mexico. One was the jealous and exclusive policy of Spain,
which made the reception of such Frenchmen as might reach Santa Fé a
matter of uncertainty; another was the Indian barrier which stood in the
way. The Red River highway was effectually blocked by the Apaches,
mortal enemies of all the tribes along the lower valley; the Arkansas
and Missouri avenues were impeded by the Comanches for analogous
reasons. The Apaches and Comanches opposed the passage of the trader to
their foes with supplies of weapons. As the fur traders and official
explorers pushed rapidly west, one of their constant aims was to open
the way to New Mexico by effecting peace between the Comanche and the
tribes further east, an attempt at which had been made by Du Tisné and
Bourgmont at an earlier day.
The Mallet brothers.--After the cessation of the Fox wars, which had
closed the lower Missouri, traders again frequented the Pawnees and
Aricaras, and in 1734 one is known to have ascended the Missouri to the
Mandans, from whose villages a trade route was soon opened to western
Canada. In 1739 a party led by the Mallet brothers made their way, by
the Missouri and Platte Rivers, across Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado to
Santa Fé. After a nine months' stay they returned, part going
northeastward to the Illinois and part down the Canadian and Arkansas to
New Orleans.
Fabry's attempt: Fort Cavagnolle.--The Mallet party had succeeded in
getting through the Comanche country to New Mexico and had returned
safely and with good prospects for trade. Immediately there was renewed
interest in the Spanish border on the part of both government officials
and private adventurers. At once, in 1741 Governor Bienville sent Fabry
de la Bruyère with members of the Mallet party to open a trade route to
New Mexico up the Canadian River, and to explore the Far West. He failed
to reach New Mexico. Fort Cavagnolle was established among the Kansas,
and the Arkansas route was made safe by effecting a much-desired treaty
(1746 or 1747) between the Comanches and their eastern enemies.
New expeditions to New Mexico.--The effect of this treaty was immediate,
and at once there were new expeditions to New Mexico by deserters,
traders, and official agents. In 1748 thirty-three Frenchmen were
reported among the Xicarillas. Early in 1749 a party led by Pierre
Satren reached Santa Fé by way of the Arkansas River, conducted by
Jumano and Comanche Indians. They were kept in New Mexico to work at
their trades. Early in 1750 another party arrived by way of the
Arkansas. They were ordered sent to Sonora to prevent their return to
Illinois. In the meantime peace had been made between the Comanches and
Pawnees, and in 1751 traders reached New Mexico by way of the Missouri.
In the same year Jean Chapuis led a party of nine from Illinois with a
commission from St. Clair, the commander of Fort Chartres. Arriving at
Santa Fé in 1752, via Platte River, he proposed a regular caravan trade
with military escort. The intruders were arrested and sent to Mexico,
where they languished in prison for many months, and were finally sent
to Spain.
The French advance through the Comanche country gives significance to
the proposal of Governor Kerlérec in 1753 to break through the Apache
barrier and open up a trade with Nuevo León, Coahuila, and New Mexico.
As a means of doing so he proposed securing an alliance between the
Apaches and their eastern enemies. These intrusions of Frenchmen into
New Mexico were closely bound up in their effect on Spanish policy, with
similar infringements upon the Texas border.
THE FAR NORTHWEST
The Fox wars.--By the end of the seventeenth century Fox hostilities had
practically closed the Fox-Wisconsin trade route to the Mississippi.
Hostility was increased by the massacre of many Fox Indians at Detroit
in 1712. In 1715 De Lignery led a futile expedition against the tribe at
Green Bay. In the following year Louvigny with eight hundred men won a
partial victory at Butte des Morts, near Lake Winnebago. The European
war had now closed, and the Lake Superior posts--Green Bay, La Pointe,
Pigeon River, and Lake Nepigon--were reoccupied. The Fox-Wisconsin route
being closed, the western trade was divided between the Lake Superior
district and that of the Illinois.
The new Sioux posts.--A new movement into the Sioux country was
stimulated by the long standing desire to find a route to the Pacific.
In 1723 Father Charlevoix suggested finding it either by means of a line
of posts through the Sioux country or by way of the Missouri and over
the mountains. The former plan was adopted, and in 1727 Fort Beauharnois
was built on the west bank of Lake Pepin, with Perrière in command, and
with new missions in the vicinity. But, through another uprising of the
Fox Indians, the post was soon abandoned. New expeditions against the
Foxes and the Sauks, their allies, broke their resistance, and after
1733 the Fox-Wisconsin trade route to the Iowa and Minnesota country was
again open. After 1750 the Foxes were regular allies of the French in
their wars with the British.
The Vérendrye and the Post of the Western Sea.--The search for the route
to the Western Sea was taken up by Gaultier de Varennes (the elder La
Vérendrye), commander at Fort Nepigon, who planned a fine of posts
through the waterways northwest of Lake Superior. His movements were
stimulated by the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada, and
by those of the Spaniards in the Southwest. To pay the expenses of his
scheme he was granted a monopoly of the northwestern fur trade. In the
course of ten years he founded posts on Rainy Lake (St. Pierre, 1731),
Lake of the Woods (St. Charles, 1731), Lake Winnipeg (Maurepas, 1732),
Assiniboine River (La Reine), and on the Saskatchewan (Fort Dauphin,
1741). In 1742 La France had penetrated the Hudson's Bay Company
territory by crossing from Lake Winnipeg to York Factory.
From this line of posts the elder La Vérendrye turned his attention to
the upper Missouri, leading an expedition southwestward to the Mantannes
in 1738. Four years later his son, Pierre de Varennes, made another
expedition to the Mantannes, where they heard of bearded white men to
the west. Setting out southwestward, they visited the Cheyennes, Crows,
Little Foxes, and Bows. On January 1, 1743, when in the neighborhood of
the North Platte River, they saw the Rocky Mountains.
After Vérendrye died, his successor, Legardeur St. Pierre, extended the
line of posts up the Saskatchewan to the foot of the Rockies, where in
1752 he founded Fort La Jonquiere. The French had thus reached the
Rockies by way of nearly every important stream between the Red River
and the Saskatchewan.
READINGS
Bolton, H.E., _Athanase de Mézières_, I, Introduction; _Texas in the
Middle Eighteenth Century_, 1-133; "French Intrusions into New Mexico,"
in _The Pacific Ocean in History_; Dunn, W.E., _Spanish and French
Rivalry in the Gulf Region of the United States, 1678-1702_: _The
Beginnings of Texas and Pensacola_; Fortier, Alcée, _History of
Louisiana_, I, 30-140; French, B.F., _Historical Collections of
Louisiana and Florida_; Gayarré, Charles, _History of Louisiana, French
Domination_; Hamilton, P.J., _Colonial Mobile; The Colonization of the
South_, 197-275; Heinrich, Pierre, _La Louisiane sous la compagnie des
Indies, 1717-1731_; King, Grace, _New Orleans; Sieur de Bienville_;
King, Grace, and Ficklen, John, _History of Louisiana_; LePage du Pratz,
_Histoire de la Louisiane_; Martin, F.X., _History of Louisiana_; Ogg,
F.A., _The Opening of the Mississippi_, 169-237; Parkman, Francis, A
Half-Century of Conflict, I, 298-368, II, 3-44; Phelps, Albert,
_Louisiana_, 20-105; Shea, J.G., _Exploration of the Mississippi
Valley_; _The Catholic Church in the United States_; Thwaites, R.G.,
_France in America_, 72-88; Villiers du Terrage, Marc de, _Les Dernières
Années de la Louisiane Française_, 1-48; Winsor, Justin, _The
Mississippi Basin_, 1-217; Burpee, Lawrence, _Pathfinders of the Great
Plains_.
CHAPTER XVI
TEXAS, PIMERÍA ALTA AND THE FRANCO-SPANISH BORDER CONFLICT (1687-1763)
The advance of the French into Louisiana and the Trans-Mississippi West
stimulated a new counter movement northeastward by the Spaniards from
Chihuahua, New Mexico, and Coahuila, and there ensued on the
Franco-Spanish border a contest for the control of Texas and all the
plains country as far north as the Platte River--a contest much like the
better-known "half-century of conflict" between the English and the
French on the other border. At the same time, the Spanish frontier
forged slowly northwestward into Lower California and southern Arizona.
On the other hand, the Florida frontier, which in the seventeenth
century had been pushed back by the English colonies of Virginia and the
Carolinas, was now still further contracted by the establishment of
French Louisiana and English Georgia, while in the West Indies and
Honduras Spanish rule suffered a like diminution through the continued
advance of the English, French, and Dutch. The _Asiento_ of 1713 with
Great Britain was a particularly hard blow at Spain's commercial
independence, and was made worse by England's gross violation of the
compact.
NORTHEASTWARD ADVANCE OF THE SPANISH FRONTIER
The Chihuahua mines.--In Nueva Vizcaya two notable forward steps north
were taken in the early eighteenth century. These were the opening of
the Chihuahua silver deposits and the advance down the Conchos valley.
In 1703-1704 rich ores were discovered near the recently founded mission
of Nombre de Diós. The mines proved to be among the best in America,
and, it has been estimated, produced silver worth from $50,000,000 to
$100,000,000 in the eighteenth century. Two _reales de minas_, Chihuahua
and Santa Eulalia, were established near by, and became the most
thriving centers on the northern frontier. By 1763 each had a
population of 5000, and the church at Chihuahua was one of the finest in
the new world.
Advance down the Conchos Valley.--At the same time the frontier advanced
down the fertile Conchos River Valley and across the Rio Grande into
western Texas. In 1715 the abandoned missions at La Junta were
reëstablished. Soon six missions were in operation and serving Indian
towns on both sides of the Rio Grande. For ten years they succeeded, and
then, in 1725, the Indians revolted and deserted. During the subsequent
years the padres made them occasional visits, while settlement pushed
down the Conchos Valley. In 1753 the La Junta missions were restored,
and in 1760 were protected by the new presidio of Belén.
The New Mexico border. Moqui and Zuñi resistance.--The reconquest of the
New Mexico pueblos had been effected by Vargas at the end of the
seventeenth century. The Moquis and Zuñis, however, stubbornly resisted
Spanish influence and harbored apostates. In 1726 and again in 1741 the
Moqui district was assigned to the Jesuits of Sonora, but they
accomplished little. Rivalry led to new Franciscan visits, and in 1742
the missionaries recovered more than four hundred Tigua fugitives who
had fled during the great revolt of sixty years before. In 1745 the
field was restored to the Franciscans, but they were unable to make
permanent establishments.
Xicarrilla and Navajo missions.--In 1733 a mission was founded near Taos
for the Xicarrilla Apaches who were hard pressed by the Comanches.
Between 1744 and 1750 efforts were made to convert the Navajo, but
without avail.
New settlements.--The population of New Mexico grew slowly but steadily.
In 1706 Governor Cubero founded the new villa of Albuquerque and
reëstablished La Cañada. In 1760 there were 7666 Spaniards in fourteen
settlements in the upper district and 3588 about El Paso. This was a
population larger than that of English Georgia at the same time. The
largest towns were Albuquerque (1814). La Canada (1515), and Santa Fé
(1285). At the same time the Christian Indians in the province numbered
10,000.
Indian depredations.--New Mexico was constantly harassed by Navajos on
the west, Yutas and Comanches on the north, and Apaches on the east and
south. The main object of the savages was to steal stock and other
property, but they often shed human blood freely. On the basis of horses
and mules stolen in New Mexico, a regular trade was maintained by
Indians across the country to Louisiana. The exterior tribes attacked
the Pueblo Indians even more freely than the Spaniards. The Spanish
soldiery, with Indian allies, often retaliated with telling effect and
recovered stolen horses and mules. Captives taken were sold as slaves to
the settlers or in the interior. Yet there were truces between
campaigns, and by the middle of the century the Comanches and Yutas in
large numbers attended the annual Taos fair, where they sold skins and
captives.
Rumors of the French.--The French advance up the Missouri stimulated a
counter movement of the Spaniards of the New Mexico border. Before the
end of the seventeenth century wild rumors of the approaching French had
reached Santa Fé. Other interests, especially Indian relations,
furnished motives for northeastward expeditions early in the eighteenth
century. In 1706 Juan de Urribarri was sent by Governor Cubero "to the
unknown land of the plains" to ransom Christian captives from the
northern tribes. He crossed the Napestle (Arkansas) River, near the
present city of Pueblo, Colorado, and reached the Indian settlement of
El Cuartelejo, near the Colorado-Kansas border, where he heard new
reports of the French among the Pawnees.
Expeditions to the northeast and north.--The frequent campaigns against
the Indians were occasions for new exploration. In 1715 Juan Paez
Hurtado, with two hundred and fifty men, pursued Apaches into western
Texas. During the next four years several expeditions were made
northeast against Comanches and Yutas, in the course of which new
reports were heard of the French, who were now pushing up all the
western tributaries of the Mississippi. In 1719 a campaign against the
Yutas and Comanches led Governor Valverde across the Arkansas. In 1720
occurred the disastrous Villazur expedition to the Platte described
later. About 1750 Bustamente y Tagle pursued Comanches down the Arkansas
nearly to the Jumanos.
Explorers in Colorado.--Explorers also entered the Utah Basin. Juan
María Rivera, sent out by Governor Cachupín in search of ore, visited
and named the La Plata (Silver) Mountains, and continued to the junction
of the Uncompahgre River with the Gunnison (1765). In the following
year Nicolás de la Fora, writing in New Mexico, stated that the
Spaniards were acquainted with the country along the Cordillera de las
Grullas (in western Colorado) for a hundred leagues above Santa Fé. A
decade later (1779) Anza ascended the San Luis Valley, descended the
Arkansas River, and returned to Santa Fé over the mountains.
THE FOUNDING OF TEXAS
The Coahuila frontier.--In 1693 eastern Texas, after a temporary
occupation, had been abandoned, and the frontier fell back to Coahuila.
In the course of the next decade, however, it was gradually extended
until it crossed the Rio Grande. A most important factor in the work
were the Querétaro friars, who ever urged the government forward. By
1698 Boca de Leones and Lampazos had become the seats of flourishing
mines, missions, and ranches. Between 1699 and 1703 three missions and a
presidio had been established on the Rio Grande at San Juan Bautista,
below modern Eagle Pass. The site, being a great rendezvous and trading
place for the tribes, was known as the "Cádiz of the interior." Near
most of the missions small colonies of Spaniards and Tlascaltecans
settled. These missions served many Indians from beyond the Rio Grande,
and frequent expeditions were made into the outlying country.
Plans to reoccupy Texas.--During all this time the missionaries were
desirous of returning to the Asinai or Texas Indians, whom they had left
in '93, and with whom they had since maintained communication. In 1706
the governor of Coahuila urged the founding of a mission on the Rio Frio
as a means of securing the road to the Asinai. Three years later Fathers
Olivares and Espinosa made an expedition to the Colorado River, where
they hoped to meet the tribe. Father Hidalgo long made strenuous efforts
to get permission to return to his former charges, and Father Olivares
went to Spain to procure it. Frequent rumors of French incursions from
Louisiana were discussed in government circles, but it required an
actual danger to cause the government to act.
St. Denis in Mexico.--In 1714, led by two survivors of La Salle's
expedition, St. Denis made his expedition across Texas to trade. At San
Juan Bautista he was arrested and taken to Mexico, where it was
realized by the officials that a real menace had arisen. In a council of
war held on August 22, 1715, it was decided to reoccupy Texas with
missions, a garrison, and a small colony. Domingo Ramón, a frontier
officer, was put in charge of the expedition, and the missionary field
was assigned to the two Franciscan colleges _de Propaganda Fide_ of
Querétaro and Zacatecas. Of the missions of the former, Father Espinosa,
later known as the historian, was made president; of the latter the
president appointed was the still more renowned Father Antonio Margil.
Eastern Texas reoccupied.--In February, 1716, the expedition left
Saltillo, and in April it crossed the Rio Grande at San Juan Bautista.
In the party were nine friars, twenty-five soldiers, six women, and
enough other persons to make a total of sixty-five. They drove with them
more than 1000 head of cattle and goats, and an outfit for missions,
farms, and a presidio. A direct northeast route was followed, through
San Pedro Springs, where the city of San Antonio later grew up. By the
Asinai Indians they were given a warm welcome, and four missions were at
once founded near the Neches and Angelina Rivers. Near the latter stream
the presidio of Dolores was established. At the same time an attempt was
made to establish a mission on the Red River among the Cadodachos, but
it was frustrated by the Indians, who were under French influence.
A new base needed.--Eastern Texas had been reoccupied, but the outposts
there were weak and isolated. The French were trading among the
surrounding tribes; St. Denis was known to be planning another
commercial expedition to Mexico; and it was rumored that a large French
colony was to be established at the mouth of the Mississippi. This
prediction was verified by the founding of New Orleans in 1718. On the
other hand, Father Olivares urged advancing from the Rio Grande to the
San Antonio. These motives to action coincided with a more aggressive
Spanish policy toward the French since the death of Louis XIV, a policy
exemplified by the new viceroy Linares.
[Illustration: Texas in the 18th Century.]
San Antonio founded.--In a _junta de guerra_ held December 2, 1716, it
was therefore decided to establish posts on the San Antonio and among
the Cadodachos, while Ramón was to destroy the French establishments at
Natchitoches. The new enterprise was entrusted to Martin de Alarcón,
who was made governor of Texas and, before setting out, of Coahuila.
While the expedition was preparing, St. Denis reached the Rio Grande
(April, 1717), where his goods were confiscated. Going to Mexico, he was
there imprisoned. Meanwhile Ramón had reconnoitered Natchitoches, and on
his return early in 1717 two new missions were founded among the Ays and
Adaes, the latter being within seven leagues of Natchitoches, and
thenceforth a vital spot in the history of international frontiers.
Early in 1718 Alarcón left Coahuila with a colony of sixty-two persons,
besides the neophytes of mission San Francisco Solano, who were to be
transferred to the new site on the San Antonio River. Arrived there, a
mission, presidio, and town were founded, the beginnings of the modern
city of San Antonio. In the east Alarcón accomplished little more than
to displease the missionaries and to protest against La Harpe's new
French establishment among the Cadodachos.
WAR WITH FRANCE
Attack on Pensacola and Texas.--In January, 1719, as a result of
European complications, France declared war on Spain. The war extended
at once to the colonies, where a border contest ensued at various points
all the way from Pensacola to the Platte River. In the course of the
summer Pensacola was captured by the French of Mobile, recaptured by the
Spaniards, and again taken by Bienville and Serigney. In June, Blondel,
commander at Natchitoches, invaded eastern Texas, whence the Spanish
missionaries and garrison retreated to San Antonio without a struggle.
For two years thereafter the region was left unoccupied by Spain. While
waiting at San Antonio Father Margil in 1720 founded there a new mission
called San José, which later was called the finest in New Spain.
Spanish plans to fortify the Platte River.--In the course of the
campaigns against the Indians to the northeast of New Mexico, constantly
more disturbing reports had been heard of the French, who were now
making their way up all the western tributaries of the Mississippi. In
1719 Governor Valverde pursued Yutas and Comanches across the Napestle
(Arkansas) and heard that the French had settled on the Jesus Maria
(North Platte) River. New significance was attached to these reports
because of the outbreak of war between France and Spain a short time
before. Valverde warned the viceroy of the danger; wild rumors spread
through the northern provinces; and measures for defence were taken. In
1720, while plans were being made to recover Texas, the viceroy ordered
counter alliances made with the tribes northeast of New Mexico, a
Spanish colony planted at El Cuartelejo, in eastern Colorado, and a
presidio established on the Jesus Maria River, that is, in Nebraska or
Wyoming.
Destruction of the Villazur Expedition.--Although a truce had already
been declared between France and Spain, Governor Valverde, perhaps in
ignorance of this fact, sent Pedro de Villazur in June, 1720, at the
head of one hundred and ten men to reconnoiter the French. Passing
through El Cuartelejo, in August he reached the Jesus Maria. Not finding
the French, he set out to return, but on the San Lorenzo (South Platte),
in northern Colorado, he was killed and his expedition cut to pieces by
Indians using French weapons. There are indications that tribes living
as far north as Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin took part in the attack, a
fact which illustrates the wide-reaching influence of these
international contests. The Spaniards charged the massacre to the
French, and there was a new panic on the frontier. But peace had been
restored between France and Spain, and, in spite of appeals from New
Mexico, the plans for advancing to El Cuartelejo and the Platte were
dropped.
The Aguayo Expedition.--An offer to assist in the reconquest of Texas
was made by the Marquis of Aguayo, governor and the most prominent
figure of Coahuila. Abetted by Father Hidalgo, he had been interested in
a new attempt to discover Gran Quivira, and the Texas crisis seemed to
give him an opening. His offer was accepted, and before the end of 1720
he had raised, partly at his own expense, eight companies of cavalry,
comprising over five hundred men and five thousand horses. By his
instructions he was expected to reoccupy and strengthen the abandoned
posts and occupy Cadadachos, on the Red River, and Bahía del Espíritu
Santo on the Gulf.
Eastern Texas reoccupied.--The Marquis left Monclova in November, 1720,
shortly after Villazur's defeat on the Platte. From the Rio Grande in
January, 1721, he sent Captain Ramón with forty soldiers to take
possession of Bahía del Espíritu Santo, to which a supply ship was sent
from Vera Cruz. This was shortly before La Harpe attempted to reoccupy
the place for the French. Because of swollen streams, Aguayo made a wide
detour to the north, crossing the Brazos near Waco. Peace had been
declared in Europe, and at the Neches he was met by St. Denis, who
agreed to permit an unresisted reoccupation of the abandoned posts. It
was learned here that St. Denis had recently assembled Indian allies
with a view to seizing Bahía del Espíritu Santo and San Antonio, in
coöperation, no doubt, with La Harpe.
Proceeding east, between August and November Aguayo reëstablished the
six abandoned missions and the presidio of Dolores, and added a presidio
at Los Adaes, facing Natchitoches, and garrisoned it with one hundred
men. To this last act Bienville made vigorous protest. On the return to
San Antonio the weather was so severe that of five thousand horses only
fifty were left when Aguayo arrived in January, 1722. After establishing
there another mission and rebuilding the presidio, he took forty
additional men to La Bahía, and erected a presidio on the site of La
Salle's fort. Having thus completed his work, he returned to Monclova.
Texas won for Spain.--Aguayo's expedition fixed the hold of Spain on
Texas. He left ten missions where there had been but seven, two hundred
and sixty-eight soldiers instead of sixty or seventy, and four presidios
instead of two, two of them being at strategic points. Since 1718 Texas
and Coahuila had been under the same governor, but now Texas was made
independent, with its capital at Los Adaes (now Robeline, Louisiana)
where it remained for half a century. The Medina River now became the
western boundary of Texas. In 1726 the La Bahía establishment was moved
to the lower Guadalupe River.
THE EXPANSION OF TEXAS
Rivera's inspection of the frontiers.--In the years 1724-1728 a general
inspection of the frontier defences of New Spain was made by Pedro de
Rivera, ex-governor of the province of Tlascala. His remarkable journey
of 3082 leagues began at the City of Mexico on November 21, 1724, and
ended there on June 9, 1728. The northern line of military outposts at
this time ran from Fronteras through Janos, El Paso, Santa Fé, Conchos,
Monclova, San Juan Bautista, Cerralvo, San Antonio, Bahía del Espíritu
Santo, Dolores, and Los Adaes. On the whole Rivera found the presidios
in fair condition, but encountered many abuses. His reforms in the main
were in the direction of retrenchment. This was particularly true
regarding Texas, and in 1729 the post on the Angelina was suppressed and
the forces of others reduced.
San Antonio strengthened.--Rivera's policy of retrenchment was strongly
opposed by the missionaries; among the Indians of eastern Texas they had
had little success, and when the garrison of Dolores was withdrawn the
Querétaran friars moved their three missions to San Antonio, where they
were reëstablished in 1731 and where their ruins still stand. In the
same year a colony of Canary Islanders was established beside the
presidio and missions, and formed into the Villa of San Fernando. There
were now at San Antonio five missions, a presidio, and a municipality.
Texas was now definitely formed in outline; Spain had maintained her
claim as against France, and had established three centers of
occupation, Los Adaes, Bahía del Espíritu Santo, and San Antonio.
The Apache Wars.--For a decade and a half after the founding of the
Villa of San Fernando the province of Texas underwent little expansion.
From the beginning of San Antonio its inhabitants were subjected to
raids by the Eastern Apaches, who also infested the highways. To check
their outrages occasional campaigns were made into their country by the
soldiery, supported by contingents of mission Indians. Notable among the
forays were those of Captain Flores (1723), Governor Bustillo (1732),
Captain José Urrutia (1739), and his son Captain Thoribio Urrutia
(1745). These expeditions served not only to punish the enemy and
recover stolen horses and mules, but to capture slaves as well, and to
make known the northwestern frontier. In the course of them the
Spaniards learned of mineral deposits in the Llano River country.
The work of the missionaries.--In spite of Apache hostilities, the
missionaries on the San Antonio and the Guadalupe made some progress.
The leading figures of the period were Fathers Santa Ana and Dolores y
Viana, presidents. No new missions were founded in the fifteen years'
interval, but the friars improved their buildings and farms, and sought
new neophytes in regions constantly more remote from the mission
centers. At the mission of San Antonio de Valero alone no less than
forty bands or tribes were represented by the baptisms between 1731 and
1745.
The Tonkawa missions.--During the next fifteen years the frontiers of
Texas were expanded in all directions. Between 1745 and 1749 Fathers
Viana and Santa Ana founded three missions on the San Xavier (San
Gabriel) River, in the Tonkawa country, and in 1751 a presidio was
established there. But quarrels ensued, the location proved unsuitable,
and the missions were abandoned, efforts now being transferred to the
Apache country.
The Apache missions.--Under pressure from the southward moving
Comanches, the Lipan-Apaches had ceased their hostilities and asked for
missions. Minerals had been found near the Llano River, and
communication with New Mexico was desired. Accordingly, with the aid of
a munificent gift by Don Pedro de Terreros, in 1757 a great plan for
reducing the Apaches by means of missions was launched. A presidio and
mission had scarcely been founded on the San Sabá, however, when the
mission was destroyed by the Comanches and their allies (1758). In the
following year Colonel Parrilla, with a force of some six hundred men,
raised in various parts of northern New Spain, set out to punish the
offenders. At the fortified village of the Taovayas, on the Red River,
where French influence was predominant, he was routed and driven back.
The Apache mission was now transferred to the Upper Nueces, and for
several years the San Sabá post sustained incessant war with the
northern tribes.
Nuevo Santander.--Wars with England and Indian hostilities now made
imperative the colonization of the Gulf coast between the San Antonio
River and Tampico--the eastern portion of Nuevo León--and in 1746 the
district was erected into a new colony called Nuevo Santander. Colonel
José de Escandón, a distinguished officer of Querétaro, was put in
charge of the enterprise, and the missionary work was entrusted to the
Zacatecan friars. Within the next three years the entire region was
explored by Escandón and his lieutenants and a number of colonies were
planned. In 1749 Escandón led a colony of more than three thousand
people from Querétaro, and in a short time established them in more than
twenty settlements, most of which persist to-day. North of the Rio
Grande the principal ones were Laredo and Dolores, but ranching soon
spread as far as the Nueces River. The post and mission of La Bahía were
now moved to the lower San Antonio River and a new mission for the
Karankawa (Rosario) was established near by. Though legally in Nuevo
Santander, this district was administered as a part of Texas, and by
1775 the Texas-Nuevo Santander boundary was officially moved west to the
Nueces.
THE FRANCO-SPANISH BORDER
The Texas-Louisiana boundary question.--The proximity of Los Adaes and
Natchitoches had furnished numerous grounds for irritation between Texas
and Louisiana. French traders engaged in contraband trade, and the
international boundary was uncertain. In 1735, when Natchitoches was
moved from the island in the Red River to the west bank of the stream, a
quarrel ensued. After several years of bickering, the Arroyo Hondo was
tentatively adopted as the international boundary in that region.
Meanwhile French traders had invaded the coast tribes and monopolized
the Indian trade of northern Texas. In 1750 the military strength of
Louisiana was considerably augmented, and it was reported in Mexico that
the new arrivals were for the western Louisiana frontier. These
conditions again brought forward the quiescent boundary question, which
was inconclusively discussed in Spanish circles for several years. While
the higher authorities debated, residents on the frontier generally
agreed on the Arroyo Hondo. In 1754 the King of Spain declared that
"boundaries between the Spaniards and the French in that region have
never been a subject of treaty nor is it best at present that they
should be."
The New Mexico border.--By this time renewed French intrusions into New
Mexico were becoming alarming. The return of the Mallet party (1739)
and the peace between the Comanches and their eastern enemies (ca. 1746)
were followed by the arrival in New Mexico of trading parties from
Canada and Louisiana under Fébre, Chapuis, and others. A more vigorous
policy was now adopted and the recent comers were arrested and sent to
Spain. The intrusion into New Mexico found an echo in far western
Sonora, where in 1751 the French advance was given by a prominent
official as a reason for Spanish haste to occupy the Colorado of the
West.
The lower Trinity fortified.--The more stringent policy toward intruders
was extended to Texas, where a new outpost was established to ward off
French aggression. In the fall of 1754 traders on the lower Trinity were
arrested and sent to Mexico, and in 1756-1757 the region was defended by
a presidio (San Agustín) and a mission east of the stream among the
Orcoquiza Indians. Thus another point on the Texas-Louisiana frontier
was occupied and defended by Spain. The site was disputed by Governor
Kerlérec, of Louisiana, who proposed a joint boundary commission. The
offer was rejected and the viceroy of Mexico, on the contrary, proposed
a Spanish post on the Mississippi "to protect the boundaries." With his
proposal he sent to Spain a map showing Texas as extending to the
Mississippi. Thus the region in dispute extended from the Trinity to the
Mississippi, at least.
PIMERÍA ALTA
The Jesuits.--The occupation of Texas was contemporaneous with the
advance into Pimería Alta (northern Sonora and southern Arizona) and
Lower California. The work of the indefatigable Jesuits on the northern
frontier of New Spain is admirably illustrated by that of Father Kino
and his companions in this region.
Kino.--After the failure of Atondo's enterprise in California in 1685,
Father Eusebio Kino entered northern Sonora, arriving in March, 1687,
just at the time of La Salle's death in Texas. Mission Dolores, founded
by him in the upper Sonora Valley, became his headquarters for
twenty-four years of exploration, ranching, and missionary work among
the upper Pimas, between the Altar and Gila Rivers.
Explorations in Arizona.--In the Altar Valley Kino and his companions
founded a number of missions, which were destroyed during the revolt in
1695 and then rebuilt. In 1691, accompanied by Father Salvatierra, who
later went to California, Kino descended the Santa Cruz River to the
village of Tumacácori. Three years later, by the same route, he reached
the Casa Grande on the Gila. In 1697, with a military escort from
Fronteras (Corodéguachi), he again went to the Casa Grande, this time by
way of the San Pedro River. In the following year he was again on the
Gila, whence he returned across the Papaguería (the country of the
Pápagos) by way of Sonóita, Caborca, and the Altar Valley. In 1699 he
went to the Gila by way of Sonóita and the Gila Range, and then ascended
the Gila.
A land route to California.--The current view still was that California
was an island, but during the last journey Kino returned to the
peninsular theory. If this were true, he reasoned, it would be possible
to find a land route over which to send supplies to Salvatierra's
struggling missions just established in Lower California. To test his
views he made several more journeys, crossing the lower Colorado in 1701
and reaching its mouth in 1702. He was now convinced that California was
a peninsula. In 1705 was published his map of Pimería Alta, setting
forth this view.
Missions and ranches in Arizona.--Meanwhile Kino and his companions had
pushed the missionary frontier to the Gila and the Colorado. Kino's
exploring tours were also itinerant missions, in the course of which he
baptized and taught in numerous villages. During his career in Pimería
Alta he alone baptized 4000 Indians. In 1700 he founded the mission of
San Xavier del Bac, and within the next two years those of Guebavi and
Tumacácori, all in the valley of the Santa Cruz River, and within the
present Arizona. To support his missions, near them he established
flourishing stock ranches, thus making the beginnings of stock raising
in at least twenty places still existing in northern Sonora and southern
Arizona.
[Illustration: Father Kino's Map of Pimería Alta (Bancroft, Arizona and
New Mexico, p. 360).]
Decline of the missions.--The power of Spain was now at its lowest ebb,
funds were scarce, and Kino's last days were to him a time of stagnation
and disappointment. To a certain extent royal support was transferred
for the time being to the missions in Lower California. After Kino's
death in 1711 stagnation became decline, few new missionaries were sent,
and northern tours became infrequent or ceased altogether. Officials and
frontier leaders often planned to advance the frontier of settlement to
the Colorado River, but other interests interfered.
Revival after 1732.--A visit by the bishop of Durango in 1725, the
military inspection of that frontier by Rivera in 1726, and a royal
decree of 1728 gave new life to the moribund missions. New missionaries
arrived in 1732, the northern missions were reoccupied, and journeys to
the Gila were renewed after 1736 by Fathers Keller and Sedelmayr.
The Arizonac mines.--Interest in the northern frontier was accentuated
at this time by a temporary mining excitement at Arizonac in the upper
Altar Valley, where in 1736 silver nuggets of astonishing size were
discovered. There was a "rush" to the place, and considerable wealth was
found, but in 1741 the surface veins were exhausted and the camp was
abandoned. The mining incident furnished an occasion for new plans to
advance to the Gila. But Indian troubles in Sinaloa and Sonora
interfered. These troubles, on the other hand, served to advance the
military frontier by the founding of two presidios at Pitiqui
(Hermosillo) and Terrenate in 1741.
Keller and Sedelmayr.--After much discussion, in 1741 the Moqui district
was assigned to the Jesuits, who now tried to reach that region. In 1743
Keller crossed the Gila, but was driven back by the Apaches. In 1744
Sedelmayr ascended the Colorado to Bill Williams Fork. In the following
year the Moquis were again assigned to the Franciscans.
Plans to occupy the Gila and Colorado.--Sedelmayr now turned his
attention to exploring the lower Gila and Colorado Rivers, and his
Order, particularly Father Escobar, the provincial, urged the occupation
of these valleys, both as a means of support for Lower California, and
as a base for advance to Moqui and Alta California. In 1748 Father
Consag of California explored the Gulf to its head in the interest of
this plan. Royal interest was aroused also by the entry of the French of
Louisiana into New Mexico and the need of protecting California. In 1744
and 1747, therefore, the king approved advancing to the Gila. Five
years later, especially because of emphatic reports of the French
advance toward the Pacific Ocean, the king seriously considered
occupying the Bay of Monterey.
The Pima Revolt.--The new viceroy, Revillagigedo, was occupied with
founding Nuevo Santander and other absorbing tasks, while new Indian
wars in Sonora made advance impossible. In 1750 a war of extermination,
led by Governor Diego Parrilla, was begun on the Seris and lasted
several years. In 1751 a revolt occurred among the northern Pimas. At
Caborca and Sonóita the missionaries were slain, over one hundred
settlers were killed on the Arizona border, and missions and ranches
were abandoned. The uprising was suppressed by Parrilla without great
difficulty; most of the missions were reoccupied; and for greater
security two new presidios were founded, at Altar, near Caborca, and at
Tubac near San Xavier del Bac. Thus, each uprising helped to advance the
military frontier.
Continued obstacles to advance.--For twenty years more the question of
advance to the Colorado was subordinate to that of good order and
settled conditions in Sonora, necessary preliminaries to advance. The
Pima War was followed by a bitter quarrel between Governor Parrilla and
the Jesuits. The Seris made constant trouble, and when attacked
retreated safely to Cerro Prieto. Apache wars on the northern border
were even more severe, and many settlements in Sonora and Nueva Vizcaya
were destroyed by them. Nevertheless, within the protection of the
presidios several small Spanish settlements grew up, as at Terrenate,
Guebavi, Santa Bárbara, Buenavista, Tubac, Saric, Altar, and San
Ignacio. The Jesuits continued to appeal, and others, pointing out the
danger from advancing Russians, English, and French, urged the
settlement of Alta California. But Spain was occupied elsewhere.
The northwestern frontier in 1763.--Sinaloa and Sonora had been detached
from Nueva Vizcaya in 1734, when the province of Sinaloa was erected.
Both were still within the diocese of Durango. By 1763 Sinaloa and
Ostimuri (southern Sonora) had ceased to be frontier regions. Most of
the missions had been secularized, the Indians had become assimilated,
and there was a considerable white population. In Sinaloa there were six
towns with white and mixed populations ranging from 1000 to 3500 each.
In Ostimuri, the part of Sonora south of Yaqui River, there were five
towns with populations ranging from 300 to 3400. In the Sonora Valley
there was a string of mining towns and small Spanish settlements
extending as far north as Fronteras. In Pimería Alta there were eight
missions and several Spanish settlements, the latter aggregating, with
the garrisons, nearly 1500 persons. In all of the frontier settlements
there was a large element of mulattoes and mestizoes.
THE JESUITS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA
California assigned to the Jesuits.--While Kino and his successors were
struggling to advance the frontiers of Pimería Alta, another band of
Jesuits founded missions and opened trails nearly the whole length of
the Peninsula of Lower California, and made explorations northward with
a view to meeting the mainland group at the Colorado River. After
repeated failures to occupy the Peninsula, the government of Spain
turned it over to the Jesuits, with full military and civil authority,
as in Paraguay. The missions depended at first mainly on private alms,
and in a short time $47,000 were subscribed. This was the beginning of
the famous Pious Fund of California.
Salvatierra and his companions.--In 1697 Juan Maria Salvatierra, who had
been a missionary in Sinaloa, entered the Peninsula with a handful of
soldiers, and began work at Loreto, opposite Guaymas, which became the
supply base. Missionary work was attended by unusual difficulties,
because of the sterility of the country. More than once the abandonment
of California was prevented only by the aid of Father Kino, who drove
cattle hundreds of miles to Guaymas and shipped them across the Gulf.
Transportation was difficult, and many precious cargoes were wrecked. By
the time of Salvatierra's death in 1717 he, Picolo, Juan de Ugarte and
their companions had planted five missions in the middle region of the
Peninsula, and had made extensive explorations, north, south, and across
California to the Pacific. In 1701 Salvatierra had explored with Kino in
quest of a land route from Sonora. In 1721 Father Ugarte in the same
interest explored the Gulf to its head.
Development in the South.--Salvatierra's death was followed by more
liberal royal aid and private alms, and by more rapid mission
extension, particularly in the South. The importance of this step was
enhanced by making San Bernabé a stopping place for the Manila galleon.
By 1732 Fathers Guillen, Tamaral, and Taraval had explored the west
coast as far as Cedros Island. A widespread Indian rebellion in 1734,
attended by the martyrdom of Fathers Carranco and Tamaral, caused the
founding of the presidio of San José del Cabo, which protected the Cape,
but by 1748 Indian disturbances had greatly reduced the southern
missions.
The Jesuits, fearful of interference in their work, as a rule opposed
Spanish settlements, presidios, and the development of industries in the
Peninsula. In 1716, 1719, 1723, and later, the government urged the
founding of forts and colonies on the western coast, with a view to
protecting and advancing the frontier, but the Jesuits usually objected,
and the settlements were not founded. The Indian revolt, war with
England in 1739, Anson's raid on the coast in 1742, and the westward
advance of the French toward the Pacific Coast, increased the anxiety,
and in 1744 new orders were given looking to the defence of the
Peninsula, but nothing came of them.
By 1750 the exclusive policy of the Jesuits had given way to some
extent, pearl fishing was again permitted, private trading vessels came
from time to time, and the Manila galleon stopped regularly at San José.
Mines were opened in the South, and around them a small Spanish and
mixed breed population grew up, La Paz becoming the principal center.
Missions in the North.--The conditions which had stimulated efforts to
advance to the Gila by the mainland after 1744, had a corresponding
effect on California development. Sterile California needed overland
communication with a mainland base. It was with this need in view that
in 1746 the Jesuit provincial, Escobar, sent Father Consag to reëxplore
the Gulf, whose head he reached shortly before Sedelmayr descended the
Colorado to the same point.
The Colorado-Gila base was not supplied, but with new private gifts and
royal aid, the Jesuits on the Peninsula pushed northward. Santa
Gertrudis (1752), San Francisco Borja (1762), and Santa Maria (1767)
were the last Jesuit foundations, while Father Link's land journey to
the head of the Gulf in 1766 was the final step in Jesuit explorations.
READINGS
TEXAS
Arricivita, _Crónica Serafica y Apostólica_, 321-442; Bancroft, H.H.,
_North Mexican States and Texas_, I, 391-406, 600-617: Bolton, H.E.,
_Athanase De Mézières_, I, 1-66; "The Native Tribes about the East Texas
Missions," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, XI, 249-276; "The
Location of La Salle's Colony on the Gulf of Mexico," in _The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, II, 165-182; Bolton, H.E., ed.,
_Spanish Exploration in the Southwest_, 281-422; Bonilla, Antonio, in
Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, XIII, 1-78; Buckley, E., "The
Aguayo Expedition into Texas and Louisiana, 1721-1722," in Tex. State
Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, XV, 1-65; Clark, R.C., _The Beginnings of
Texas_; Cox, I.J.. "The Early Settlers of San Fernando," in Tex. State
Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, V, 142-161; "The Louisiana-Texas Frontier,"
in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, X, 1-76; "The Southwestern
Boundary of Texas," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, VI. 81-103;
De León, A., "Itinerary," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, VIII,
199-224; _Historia de Nuevo León_, 310-348; Dunn, W.E.. "Apache
Relations in Texas, 1718-1750," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_,
XIII, 198-274; "The Apache Mission on the San Saba," in _Southwestern
Historical Quarterly_, XVIII, 370-415; Espinosa, Isidro, _Chrónica_,
1-10, 41-158, 206-227; Garrison, G.P., _Texas_, 20-96; Manzanet, in Tex.
State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, III, 252-312; Parkman, Francis, _La
Salle and the Discovery of the Great West_, chs. 20-29.
PIMERÍA ALTA
Alegre, Xavier, _Historia de la Compañía de Jesus_, III; Bancroft, H.H.,
Arizona and New Mexico, 344-407; _History of the North Mexican States_,
I, 237-274, 548-580, 660-691; Bolton, H.E., Kino's _Historical Memoir of
Pimería Alta_, especially Vol. I, 27-65; Bolton, H.E., ed., _Spanish
Exploration in the Southwest_, 425-463: Chapman, C.E., _The Founding of
Spanish California_, 1-67; Ortega, José, _Apostólicos Afanes_, libros
II-III; Richman, I.B., _California under Spain and Mexico_, 42-61.
LOWER CALIFORNIA
Alegre, Xavier, Historia de la Compañía de Jesus, III, 91-309; Bancroft,
H.H., History of the North Mexican States. I, 276-304, 407-466, 476-491;
Bolton, H.E., Kind's Historical Memoir, consult Index under
"California," "Picólo," and "Salvatierra"; Engelhardt, Fr. Zephyrin,
Missions and Missionaries of California, I. 61-600: Hittell, T.E.,
History of California, I, 148-308; North, A.W., Mother of California,
1-78; Richman, I.B., California under Spain and Mexico, 1-41; Venegas,
Migual, Natural and Croit History of California, I, 215-455, II, 1-213.
CHAPTER XVII
THE ENGLISH ADVANCE INTO THE PIEDMONT, 1715-1750
THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT
The colonization of North America by the English was not complete with
the founding of the seaboard settlements, but continued in a series of
steps westward. At each step American society has returned to simple
frontier conditions, under which it has been free to try out new
experiments in democracy. Each stage of advance has made its special
contribution to our institutions.
In a broad way these steps in the westward movement have corresponded
with great physiographic areas. The seventeenth century had witnessed
the occupation of the Tidewater region, between the coast and the Fall
Line. Within that area there had been established two types of society
which now projected themselves westward. The New England type was
democratic, corporate, theocratic, and industrial, and here the township
became the unit of local government. The Southern type, based on a
plantation system, staple crops, and dependent labor, was aristocratic,
individualistic, and expansive. Here the county became the unit of local
government. Intermediate between these types was the society of the
middle Tidewater. In spite of these special characteristics, due chiefly
to American environment, Tidewater society at the end of the century was
still largely European in thought and feeling.
The first half of the eighteenth century witnessed the movement of
settlement into the next great physiographic region, the Piedmont, or
the area lying between the Fall Line and the Appalachian Mountains.
Here, under frontier conditions, was formed a society farther removed
from that of Europe, and further modified by American conditions.
This westward movement was the resultant of numerous factors. To the
frontier people were attracted by cheap land and unlimited opportunity.
From the Tidewater settlements emigrants were driven by increase of
population, scarcity of good land, and class conflicts. The less
prosperous everywhere, and in the South indented servants who had served
their rime, were glad to begin life anew on the frontier. Prosperous
planters whose estates had been exhausted by tobacco sought the
Piedmont, and left their former lands to become "old fields."
Speculation in frontier lands became a passion, and while John Law
floated his Mississippi Bubble in Louisiana, New England deacons and
Virginia aristocrats alike built hopes of fortune on tracts purchased
for a song on the border. The movement to the frontier was stimulated in
some cases by intercolonial and international rivalry; thus the
settlement of Georgia was at once a philanthropic experiment and a
defensive movement against Spain. Of larger consequence than the
emigrants from the Tidewater settlements were the new arrivals from
Europe, who came in tens of thousands, attracted by cheap land and
opportunity or driven by economic, political, or religious unrest.
Trails to the Piedmont had been opened by furtraders, who, even in the
seventeenth century, had made their way into the wilderness in all
directions: by official explorers, like Governor Spotswood; and by the
Southern cattlemen who had established "cowpens" at long distances
beyond the frontiers of settlement. The Indian barrier was removed at
the turn of the century by a series of frontier wars, which either
evicted the natives or broke their resistance. Of these the chief
examples are King Philip's War in New England, the Susquehannah War in
Virginia, the Tuscarora War in North Carolina, and the Yamassee War in
South Carolina. The process of expansion, however, involved further
struggles with the Indians, and border conflicts with French neighbors
on the north and Spanish neighbors on the south.
Under these influences the migration took place and by the middle of the
century a continuous back-country settlement had been formed, all the
way from Maine to Georgia. New England industries were coastwise, the
Piedmont was rough and stony, and expansion was consequently slow. But
the open spaces were nearly all filled in, to the northern boundary of
Massachusetts, while long spurs of settlement were pushed up the rivers
into Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, where French rivalry was
encountered. In New York settlement was retarded by the practice of land
leasing instead of sales, a relic of the patroon system. Nevertheless a
narrow ribbon of settlement pushed up the Mohawk from Albany nearly to
Oneida Lake, while the lower Hudson River settlements widened out toward
Pennsylvania and into New Jersey.
[Illustration: Mainland Regions occupied by the English, 1700-1760.]
Into the Southern Piedmont the movement was a double one. Some newcomers
and many old settlers crossed the Tidewater and pushed over the Fall
Line. But for the Germans, Swiss, and Scotch-Irish, Philadelphia was the
chief port of entry and the main distributing point. Thence some pushed
up the Delaware into New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania; others
west into the valleys east of the Kittatiny Range. Those who followed,
finding the lands occupied, and meeting here the mountain barrier to the
westward march, moved south across the Susquehannah and up the
Shenandoah Valley, whence they turned eastward into the Piedmont of
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and even of Georgia. The
Scotch-Irish in general kept nearest the outward frontier and became
_par excellence_ the Indian fighters.
DEFENCE OF THE NORTHERN FRONTIER
English policy.--After the War of the Spanish Succession the English
government was keenly alive to the necessity of defending the colonial
frontiers. Although the period has been characterized as one of
"salutary neglect" on the part of the home government, nevertheless the
frontier defences were greatly strengthened. Soon after the signing of
the Treaty of Utrecht, the English government became aware of French
activities in Louisiana, and advice was sought from several colonial
governors as to the best means of checking French and Spanish advance. A
policy of defence was soon developed. It included the erection of forts,
exploration of the mountain passes, alliances with Indian tribes,
development of trade, reorganization of the incompetent proprietary
government of the Carolinas, the establishment of the buffer colony of
Georgia, and the encouragement of the settlement of the back country by
the Germans and Scotch-Irish.
Acadia and the Maine border.--A strange apathy regarding Acadia was
shown by the English government. A small garrison was maintained at
Annapolis, but the Acadians continued loyal to the French, and French
priests and officials from Cape Breton Island and Canada continued to
exert influence over them. The Maine border was strongly held. English
settlers again appeared on the lower Kennebec and forts were erected at
Augusta and at the falls of the Androscoggin. Somewhat later Ft.
Richmond was built on the Kennebec. English activity alarmed the Abenaki
and the French soon influenced them to go on the warpath. From 1720 to
1725 a border war continued, but after much bloodshed on both sides the
Indians sought peace.
The New York border.--On the New York border, efforts of the French to
bring the Iroquois into alliance aroused the English and in 1727
Governor Burnet erected a fort at Oswego. Owing to petty strife between
New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and between New York and New Jersey,
funds were not provided for a fortification on Lake Champlain, an
oversight which gave the French an opportunity to erect a fort at Crown
Point.
Pennsylvania and Virginia.--In 1716 Governor Spotswood of Virginia led
an expedition to the Blue Ridge and entered the Shenandoah Valley. In
his subsequent report he advised the making of settlements on Lake Erie
and the securing of the mountain passes. The proposals were not carried
out, but soon the back country was settled by Germans and Scotch-Irish,
who formed a stronger barrier of defence than walls and palisades.
REORGANIZATION OF THE CAROLINAS
Separation of the Carolinas.--Economically the Carolinas had been
drifting apart. Between the Albemarle and Cape Fear districts lay a
primeval wilderness two hundred miles in width. The northern district
was devoted to the production of naval stores and tobacco, the southern
more to rice culture. Politically the governments had been practically
separate almost from the beginning, the governor being located at
Charleston and a deputy governor being appointed for the north. In 1713
the proprietors appointed Charles Eden as governor of North Carolina,
and from this time the two provinces were practically separate.
The Yamassee War.--Between the South Carolina and Spanish settlements
lived the Yamassee Indians. In the War of the Spanish Succession they
had remained faithful to the English, but by 1715 they were won over by
the St. Augustine officials. The French at Mobile were also working on
the Creeks and Cherokees, and a confederation was formed whose object
was the destruction of the South Carolina settlements. The war began on
April 15, 1715, the Yamassee beginning the attack without the assistance
of their allies, and the plantations and settlements were assailed all
along the border. Martial law was immediately proclaimed in the
province, volunteers were organized, and calls for assistance were sent
to North Carolina, Virginia, New England, and England, the two former
responding with men and ammunition. Several bloody engagements were
fought which turned in favor of the Carolinians. The Yamassees received
reinforcements and renewed their incursions, but Governor Craven showed
such a superior force that the Indians fled beyond the Edisto and were
subsequently driven far back into the interior.
Overthrow of the proprietors.--The responsibility of defence against
Indians, and pirates who infested the coast devolved upon the settlers,
the proprietors showing little ability to assist. The assembly now took
matters in its own hands and changed the method of elections, so that
many large landholders were practically disfranchised. The acts were not
approved by the proprietors and the slumbering discontent in the
province soon approached rebellion. The situation was made worse by the
refusal of the proprietors to allow the distribution of the Yamassee
lands, and by an order that tracts be set aside for themselves. Rumors
spread that another Spanish invasion threatened and Governor Johnson
sought means of meeting it, but when he asked advice as to how funds
might be raised, he was informed that the duty which had been imposed
after the Yamassee War was still in force and that other legislation was
unnecessary. The colonists answered the governor's call to arms but soon
showed that they were against him. When Johnson refused to act in the
name of the king instead of the proprietors, he was set aside. The
proprietary government had been in ill favor with the English government
for some time. Its incompetence in the Yamassee War had convinced the
Board of Trade that a change was necessary, and it upheld the popular
movement. In 1729 an act of parliament established royal governments in
both North and South Carolina.
THE FOUNDING OF GEORGIA
The debatable land.--In the great triangle formed by the Carolinas,
Florida, and southeastern Louisiana, English, Spanish, and French came
into close proximity. The international boundaries had never been
satisfactorily defined and each power strove to acquire control of the
powerful Indian tribes of the interior, thereby gaining territory and
trade. To protect the border and to aid the Charleston traders, in 1716
the Carolinians established a fort on the Savannah River, and from 1721
to 1727 maintained Ft. King George on the Altamaha. In 1730 Sir
Alexander Cuming was sent on a mission to the Cherokees, on which he
succeeded in obtaining an acknowledgment of English supremacy,
considerably strengthening the English position.
Azilia.--The need of a buffer colony on the southern border was long
realized by English statesmen. In 1717 a project was launched which gave
promise of fulfillment. Sir Robert Montgomery secured from the Carolina
proprietors a grant of the lands between the Savannah and Altamaha
Rivers which was called the Margravate of Azilia. Plans for its
settlement were drawn up and an attempt made to obtain colonists, but
Sir Robert failed to attract settlers and the grant lapsed.
Oglethorpe.--It remained for James Oglethorpe to carry out the project.
Oglethorpe had seen considerable military service, and for thirty years
was a member of the House of Commons, in the latter capacity advocating
an aggressive policy against Spain. Possessed of broadly humanitarian
sympathies, he became interested in ameliorating the conditions of
imprisoned debtors. He conceived the idea of planting a barrier colony
on the southern frontier, which would serve the two-fold purpose of
protecting Carolina against Spanish and Indian attacks, and of offering
a place of refuge for the debtor class. In 1732 he secured a charter
conveying to himself and a group of interested persons the land between
the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers and extending westward from their head
waters to the sea.
The government.--The government was of the proprietary type, but the
proprietors were not to receive any profits individually; financial
reports and legislation were to be submitted to the crown for approval.
The proprietorship was limited to twenty-one years, after which the
province was to become a royal colony. Religious liberty was guaranteed
to all but Catholics; provision was made to prevent large land holdings;
slavery was prohibited, a restriction which was subsequently removed;
the importation of rum was forbidden, as was trade with the Indians
without a license.
Savannah.--In the autumn of 1732 about one hundred men, women, and
children were sent to America, arriving at Charleston in January, 1733.
A treaty was made with the Creeks who surrendered most of their coast
lands and the town of Savannah was immediately laid out. The colony was
soon strengthened by German and Scotch immigration. In 1737 a fort was
established at Augusta and a town grew up which soon developed an
important trade with the Cherokees.
Measures of defence.--The Scotch were settled near the mouth of the
Altamaha. In 1736 Ft. Frederica was established on St. Simon's Island at
the mouth of the river, and military posts were built between the
Altamaha and the St. John's Rivers. This encroachment aroused the ire of
the Spanish government, which demanded Oglethorpe's recall, but instead,
while in Europe, he was given permission to raise a regiment of troops
for the protection of Georgia, and upon his return he visited the
Creeks, with whom he renewed the former alliance.
THE GERMAN AND SWISS MIGRATION
In 1600 the population of the English colonies on the continent of North
America was only two hundred thousand; fifty years later it had
increased to a million, and by 1760 another half million had been added.
In part this was due to natural increase, but a large population came
from the influx of Europeans other than English, the two principal
immigrant peoples being the Germans and the Scotch-Irish.
The German migration.--The causes of the German migration are to be
found in the disturbed condition of Germany. Religious persecution,
political oppression, and economic distress caused by wars and bad
seasons, each played its part in the movement. Most of the immigrants
came from southwestern Germany, especially from the Palatinate,
Württemberg, and Baden, and from Switzerland. The first period of
migration, dating from 1683 to 1710, was characterized by a small
movement of persecuted sects; but after 1710 an ever-increasing
migration took place in which the religious, political, and economic
causes blended.
[Illustration; Principal Areas of German Settlement before 1763.]
The early migration to Pennsylvania.--The first German settlement in the
English colonies may be traced directly to William Penn's visit to the
Rhineland in 1677. A group of pietists from Frankfort-on-the-Main
purchased fifteen thousand acres of Penn's land and in 1683 sent over a
young lawyer, Francis Daniel Pastorius, as advance agent, who became the
recognized leader of the Pennsylvania Germans. He was soon followed by a
considerable number of emigrants. More land was purchased and the
settlement of Germantown begun. In 1684 a group of Labadists settled on
the Bohemian River in the present state of Delaware. Every year a few
people joined the original group at Germantown. The most important
addition was in 1694 when forty Rosicrucians under John Kelpius settled
on the banks of the Wissahickon.
The migration to New York.--Not until 1710 did the great flood of
migration begin. In 1707 a portion of the Palatinate was devastated. The
following year sixty-one homeless people led by Joshua von Kocherthal
made their way to London. The Board of Trade sent them to New York,
where Governor Lovelace gave them lands on the Hudson, where they began
the town of Newburg. Religious persecution, political oppression, the
devastation of Württemberg and a part of the Palatinate, and a hard
winter caused a great exodus in 1709. In May of that year the Germans
began to arrive in London, and by October the numbers had swelled to
thirteen thousand. About thirty-five hundred were sent to the colonies.
Six hundred and fifty were settled at Newbern near the mouth of the
Neuse River in North Carolina, and about three thousand were sent to New
York, where Governor Hunter hoped to settle them on lands where tar and
pitch could be produced. The story goes that in London the Palatines had
met a delegation of Indian chiefs who had promised them lands on the
Schoharie, a branch of the Mohawk. Instead of being sent there, however,
many were placed on lands along both sides of the Hudson near
Saugerties. The colony on the west side was called West Camp, and
contained about six hundred people. The East Camp, which was located on
the manor of Robert Livingston, received nearly twelve hundred; it was
here that difficulties occurred. The attempts to produce tar and pitch
failed, and the colonists demanded that they be moved to the Schoharie.
After much bickering with the governor, in 1712 and 1713 many of the
people from East Camp moved to the Schoharie; but their troubles did not
end, for the question of land title brought them into disputes with
certain landowners from Albany. Some of the Palatines moved again, many
taking up lands in the Mohawk Valley between Ft. Hunter and Frankfort,
while others in 1723 and 1727 migrated to Pennsylvania, settling in
Berks County.
The later Pennsylvania migration.--The harsh treatment in New York and
the kind reception of Germans in Pennsylvania made the Quaker colony a
favorite place for their coming. Between 1710 and 1727 from fifteen to
twenty thousand entered Pennsylvania and settled in Lancaster, Berks,
and Montgomery counties. Between 1727 and 1740 the arrivals numbered
about fifty-seven thousand, and between 1741 and 1756 about twenty
thousand. Many of the newcomers settled in Philadelphia, and neighboring
counties, but the desire for cheap land carried a large number into the
fertile valleys of the Susquehanna, Lehigh, and Shenandoah. In the words
of Professor Faust, "They ... pushed northward and westward to Lehigh,
Northampton, and Monroe counties, and to Lebanon and Dauphin; reaching
the Susquehanna they crossed and settled the counties of York,
Cumberland, and Adams, then following the slopes of the mountains they
went southward through Maryland into Virginia, ascending the Shenandoah
Valley and settling it from Harpers Ferry to Lexington, Virginia. Using
this main avenue for their progress, they settled in North Carolina and
Virginia and later in Kentucky and Tennessee. Pennsylvania, therefore,
was the distributing center for the German immigrations, whence German
settlers spread over all the neighboring provinces."
New Jersey.--As early as 1707 several members of the German Reformed
Church appear to have settled in Morris County, and later spread into
Somerset, Bergen, and Essex counties. Later groups, mainly of Lutherans
or German Reformed, settled in Hunterdon, Somerset, Morris, Sussex, and
Warren counties, and there were scattered settlements elsewhere.
Maryland.--A few Germans came to Maryland before 1730, but with the
founding of Baltimore in that year a considerable German migration
began, enterprising Germans from Pennsylvania finding the new town a
place for their capital and energy. At about the same time the Germans
were settling in western Maryland. In 1729 Germans from Pennsylvania
settled about ten miles north of the modern town of Frederick, and soon
many German settlements dotted Frederick and neighboring counties.
Virginia.--The first Germans in Virginia were skilled iron-workers from
Westphalia, brought in by Governor Spotswood to operate his iron works
which were located on the Piedmont Plateau at Germanna, in modern Orange
County. The settlers at Germanna afterward migrated to Germantown near
the Rappahannock and to Madison County. A far more important movement
was the migration into the Shenandoah Valley. The northern part was
settled almost entirely by Germans, but in the southern part they formed
only a small part of the population. The first of the settlers came from
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1726 or 1727, settling near Elkton.
They were soon followed by others, among them Joist Hite at the head of
sixteen families from York, Pennsylvania, who settled at the site of
Winchester. In 1734 Robert Harper founded Harper's Ferry. The most
remote settlements were located in the Alleghanies within the present
state of West Virginia; one on Patterson's Creek, another on the south
branch of the Potomac, and a third on the New River, which with the
Greenbrier forms the Great Kanawha. Thus the frontier had already
reached the "Western Waters."
North Carolina.--As already noted, the first migration of Germans into
North Carolina was connected with the Palatine movement of 1710; the
lands of Baron Graffenried on which they settled being at the confluence
of the Neuse and Trent Rivers. In the following year the Tuscaroras went
on the warpath; about sixty of the newcomers were slain and their
settlement destroyed. The Tuscaroras eventually were incorporated with
the Iroquois Confederation and the settlers took advantage of the
removal to occupy their lands, soon spreading over a large part of what
is now Craven County. About 1745. Germans from Pennsylvania began to
arrive in the western part of North Carolina, taking up lands along the
Yadkin River. Not until 1750 did the immigrants become numerous. By the
time of the Revolution there were important German settlements in
Stokes, Forsyth, Guilford, Davidson, Rowan, and Cabarrus counties.
South Carolina.--In South Carolina the first German colonists settled in
or near Charleston. In 1732 a settlement was made in Beaufort County and
German villages soon dotted both sides of the Edisto and Congaree Rivers
in Orangeburg and Lexington counties and spread out toward the Georgia
boundary, Baden, Württemberg, Switzerland, and discontents from Maine
furnishing most of the South Carolina Germans.
Swiss migration to Carolina and Pennsylvania.--With the exception of
Graffenried's project, no large enterprise for bringing Swiss settlers
to America was launched until 1725, when Jean Purry of Neufchatel began
to advertise for Swiss Protestants to found a colony in Carolina. In
1732 Purry succeeded in establishing Purrysburgh, which soon had several
hundred inhabitants. Crop failures in Switzerland coupled with heavy
taxation and a dislike for foreign military service caused a large
number to migrate between 1730 and 1750. Although accurate statistics
are lacking, recent investigation shows that during the eighteenth
century probably twenty-five thousand Swiss emigrated to Pennsylvania
and the Carolinas.
Georgia.--In 1731 thirty thousand Protestants of Salzburg were exiled.
Some of them made their way to England and eventually became settlers in
the newly-constituted colony of Georgia. The first ones arrived at
Savannah in 1734 and moved to lands on the Savannah River about forty
miles from its mouth, naming their settlement Ebenezer. Others soon
followed. Oglethorpe wished some of them to settle about the fort on St.
Simon Island, but they objected to bearing arms and were allowed to go
to Ebenezer. Others, who had no religious scruples regarding war, were
settled at Frederica. The settlers from Ebenezer soon moved down the
river eight miles to New Ebenezer, across the river from Purrysburgh. By
1741 over twelve hundred Germans had come to Georgia.
New England and Nova Scotia.--A small number of Germans made their way
to New England. The head of the movement was Samuel Waldo, who became
interested in lands on the shores of Broad Bay in Maine. In 1740 forty
families from Brunswick and Saxony founded Waldoborough. In 1749-1750
Massachusetts made an effort to increase German immigration by setting
aside lands for their use. One of these districts was near Fort
Massachusetts in modern Franklin County and extended beyond into what is
now Vermont. Three years later the first German settlers entered the
region. In 1751 Joseph Crellius brought over twenty or thirty families
who founded Frankfort, subsequently called Dresden, on the Kennebec
River. It has been estimated that fifteen hundred Germans entered New
England in 1752-1753, but many of them moved subsequently to South
Carolina. Another group settled at Braintree near Boston, but by 1760
they had all moved to the Maine settlements. During 1750-1753 occurred a
considerable German migration to Nova Scotia, sixteen hundred settling
in Lunenburg County. In the latter year the English Government checked
the movement, which was deflected to New England, and the settlements at
Broad Bay and on the Kennebec were considerably enlarged.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH
Causes of the Scotch-Irish migration.--Of equal importance with the
German migration was that of the Scotch-Irish from Ulster. The causes of
the migration to America were both religious and economic. The
Presbyterianism of the Scotch found scant favor with the English
authorities. The efforts to enforce uniformity, and the various
religious laws of the reign of Charles II and Anne were especially
obnoxious to Presbyterians. Though few migrated because of them, they
left a feeling of injury, which, coupled with industrial hardships,
brought about the great migration to America. English restrictive
legislation was also an important factor. Laws prohibiting the
importation into England of Irish stock and dairy products, acts
excluding Irish vessels from American trade and prohibiting direct
importation to Ireland from the colonies, and the act of 1699
prohibiting the exportation of Irish wool worked great hardships on the
people of Ulster. The enforced payment of tithes to support the
Episcopalian clergy touched both the purse and the conscience of the
Scotch-Irish. But more important than any of these was the tenant system
In 1714-1718 many of the original leases expired and the landlords
doubled or trebled the rents. This is the chief explanation of the great
acceleration of the movement to America which began in 1714. No doubt
the natural business instinct of the Scotch people, and occasional
crop failures, such as the potato famine in 1725. 1740-1741, also
hastened many who otherwise might have lingered in Ulster.
[Illustration: The Areas Largely Populated by the Scotch-Irish before
1763.]
Seventeenth century migration.--In 1612 the Rev. George Keith, a
Scotchman, went to Bermuda, the first dissenting minister in the English
colonies. In 1652 Cromwell sent about two hundred and fifty Scotch
prisoners to New England. Before 1669 a considerable number of Scotch
and Scotch-Irish settled on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay and by
1680 some Scotch Presbyterians were located near Norfolk. In 1683
Scottish colonists landed at Port Royal and Charleston, and others
founded Stuartstown. In 1684 and 1685, many Scotch dissenters sought
refuge in East New Jersey, the beginning of a movement which eventually
made New Jersey one of the strongholds of Presbyterianism.
The great migration.--Dining the early years of the eighteenth century a
few Scotch-Irish made their way to America, but not until after the
close of the War of the Spanish Succession did the movement assume large
proportions. The tide of immigration which set in brought the
Scotch-Irish to every colony. Many of them found homes in the tide-water
lands among the older settlements, where vast areas were still thinly
settled, but a larger number sought the frontier.
New England.--Between 1714 and 1720 fifty-four vessels brought
Scotch-Irish immigrants to Boston. The large influx of foreigners began
to alarm the authorities. When over five hundred arrived at Boston in
the summer of 1718, a shortage of provisions threatened. To place the
immigrants on a self-supporting basis was highly desirable. In addition
the more remote settlements needed protection. The plan was accordingly
adopted of sending the Scotch-Irish to the frontier. About fifty miles
from Boston was the post of Worcester containing about two hundred
people. Soon its population was doubled by Scotch-Irish. Others came and
Worcester became the distributing point for interior settlement. In 1731
Pelham was started thirty miles to the westward, and two years later
Colerain, twenty miles farther in the wilderness, was formed. In 1741
Warren and Blandford were incorporated. From western Massachusetts the
settlers turned northward, following the Connecticut Valley, forming
settlements in Windsor, Orange, and Caledonia counties in Vermont and in
Grafton County in New Hampshire.
While Worcester was being settled, other immigrants sought lands in
Maine. Thirty families were landed at Falmouth on Casco Bay, another
group settled on the Kennebec near its mouth, and by 1720 several
hundred families had settled on the Kennebec or the Androscoggin, but
soon afterward Indian troubles caused a large part of them to move to
New Hampshire Or Pennsylvania. In 1719 Nuffield on the site of modern
Manchester was founded. When the town was incorporated in 1722 its name
was changed to Londonderry. It became the distributing point for
Scotch-Irish in that region; from there Rockingham, Hillsboro, and
Merrimack counties in New Hampshire were settled. Emigration spread over
into Vermont, joining that from Worcester, and pushed on to the north
and west. Still other Scotch-Irish settlements were formed later in
Maine. A hundred and fifty families from Nova Scotia in 1729 settled at
Pemaquid and Samuel Waldo induced a few to settle on the St. George at
Warren. Connecticut and Rhode Island also received an infusion of
Scotch-Irish blood but in a much less degree than the northern frontier.
New York.--About 1718 large numbers of Scotch-Irish came to New York,
most of them settling in Orange and Ulster counties. In 1738 John
Lindsay and three associates obtained an extensive land grant in Cherry
Valley in modern Otsego County. Many settlers were induced to come from
Londonderry, New Hampshire, and from Scotland and Ulster, but the
exposed position prevented a great influx in succeeding years.
Pennsylvania.--As in the German movement, in the Scotch-Irish migration
the largest number came to Pennsylvania. The earliest comers appear to
have settled on either side of the Pennsylvania-Maryland line in the
Susquehanna Valley. The exact date of their arrival is uncertain, but a
church had been organized as early as 1708. About 1720 the immigrants
began working up the Delaware River, settling in Bucks County and
spreading over into Northampton County. Another stream of immigrants
passed up the Susquehanna Valley, settling along the creek bottoms on
the east side of the river, their chief centers being in Chester,
Lancaster, and Dauphin counties in Pennsylvania, and in Cecil County,
Maryland. Before 1730 the settlers pushed over into Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, which gave them access to the valleys of the interior.
They spread into Franklin, Adams, and York counties and the later
movement carried them southward into the great valleys.
The Southern Piedmont--By 1735 or earlier, the Scotch-Irish began moving
into the Shenandoah Valley. Some of them remained in Maryland and the
most eastern counties of what is now West Virginia, but most of them,
moved into Virginia, taking up the lands west of the Blue Ridge
Mountains. Many went through the passes and made their homes in the
Piedmont region to the east of the Blue Ridge. The movement was greatly
stimulated by the fact that several large land grants were made to
various Pennsylvanians and Virginians, who encouraged the settlement of
their lands. The early records of the Scotch-Irish in the southern
Piedmont give us little exact data, but between 1740 and 1760 scattered
settlements were made along the frontier from Virginia to Florida. In
North Carolina the lands between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers were
settled. By 1750 the vanguard appeared in the western part of South
Carolina, and a few years later in the upland country of Georgia.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PIEDMONT
By the middle of the century results of great significance had come
about. All the way from New England to Georgia a back country society
had been formed, with characteristics in many ways distinct from that of
the Tidewater settlements. A large portion of the settlers, particularly
south of New York, were of non-English stock, and had brought with them
diverse notions; but, under the influence of frontier environment, they
had been moulded, together with the English stock, into a more or less
homogeneous mass. In the main the settlers were persons of slender
means, and lived hard, frontier lives. They tilled small farms with
their own hands, and indentured servitude and slave-holding were
consequently unimportant. Society, on the whole, was democratic,
individualistic, tolerant, and self-reliant. In spite of this
homogeneity of the frontier, the original traits of the settlers
persisted, and can still be found in the Pennsylvania "Dutch" or in the
Scotch Presbyterians of the Southern Piedmont.
Being distinct in character and interests, the Piedmont and Tidewater
clashed at many points, and thus arose "sectional" contests between the
East and the West, a feature which has marked American development down
to the present. The simple back country constituted a debtor society, in
need of an expanding credit; the coast was more aristocratic and more
capitalistic. The East attempted to dominate politics, legislation, and
administration. The West resisted, and before the Revolution contests
arose in nearly every colony. In many instances the back country won;
its victories are reflected in the provisions for religious toleration
and in the democratic tendencies of the new state constitutions formed
during and after the Revolution.
There were other important consequences from the settlement of the back
country. In spite of divergent interests, there were bonds of union
between the East and the Wrest. The new settlements furnished a market
for eastern goods and provided commodities in exchange, and thus
lessened the dependence of the coast upon Europe. Attended by Indian
wars and border hostilities with French and Spanish neighbors, the
westward movement had created a fighting frontier. At the same time, by
bringing the international frontiers into conflict, it had prepared the
way for the final struggle between France and England in America.
It was the southern Piedmont which furnished leaders for the
southwestward movement in the succeeding generations. Says Turner:
"Among this moving mass, as it passed along the Valley into the
Piedmont, in the middle of the eighteenth century, were Daniel Boone,
John Sevier, James Robertson, and the ancestors of John C. Calhoun,
Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, James K. Polk, Sam
Houston, and Davy Crockett; while the father of Andrew Jackson came to
the Piedmont at the same time from the coast. Recalling that Thomas
Jefferson's home was in this frontier, at the edge of the Blue Ridge, we
perceive that these names represent the militant expansive movement in
American life. They foretell the settlement across the Alleghanies in
Kentucky and Tennessee; the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark's
transcontinental exploration; the conquest of the Gulf Plains in the War
of 1812-15; the annexation of Texas; the acquisition of California and
the Spanish Southwest. They represent, too, frontier democracy in its
two aspects personified in Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. It was a
democracy responsive to leadership, susceptible to waves of emotion, of
a 'high religious voltage'--quick and direct in action."
READINGS
DEFENCE OF THE FRONTIERS
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, II, 341-365;
Dickerson, O.M., _American Colonial Government_, 326-332; Fiske, John,
_Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, II, 383-389; Greene, E.B.. _Provincial
America_, 181-184, 249-262; Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the
South_, 291-308; Jones, C.C., _The History of Georgia_, I, 67-313;
Kingsford, William, _The History of Canada_, III, 121-201: McCrady,
Edward. _A History of South Carolina_, I, 531-680; Parkman, Francis, _A
Half-Century of Conflict_, I, 183-271, II, 53-56; McCain, J.R., _Georgia
as a Proprietary Province_.
THE GERMAN AND SWISS MIGRATION
Bernheim, G.D., _German Settlements in North and South Carolina_;
Bittinger, L.F., _The Germans in Colonial Times_, 11-183; Cobb, S.H.,
_The Story of the Palatines_; Faust, A.B.. _The German Element in the
United States_, I, 30-262; "Swiss Emigration to the American Colonies in
the Eighteenth Century," in _The American Historical Review_, XXII,
21-44; Jones, C.C., _The History of Georgia_, I, 163-173. 208-214;
Kuhns, O.. _The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania_,
1-192; Wayland, J.W., _The German Element of the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia_.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH
Campbell, Douglas, _The Puritan in Holland, England, and America_, II,
460-485; Ford, H.J., _The Scotch-Irish in America_, 1-290; Hanna, C.A.,
The _Scotch-Irish_, II, 6-126; Turner, F.J., "The Old West,"' in Wis.
Hist. Soc., _Proceedings, 1908_.
CHAPTER XVIII
ENGLISH COLONIAL SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
GENERAL FEATURES
Population and settled area.--By 1760 the population of the English
continental colonies was probably 1,650,000; of these the New England
colonies contained about a half-million, the middle group about four
hundred and fifty thousand, and south of the Mason-Dixon line there were
about seven hundred thousand. Nearly half of the inhabitants were in
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The bulk of the population
still clung to the coastal regions, but the rivers had pointed the way
to the interior; many of the valleys were occupied for a considerable
distance, and the Germans and Scotch-Irish had penetrated the great
valleys of the central and southern Appalachians. Practically the whole
of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut had been occupied; to
the northward extended three narrow lines of settlement, one along the
New Hampshire and Maine coast as far as the Penobscot and extending
fifty miles up the Kennebec, another reaching up the Merrimac for sixty
miles into central New Hampshire, and a third following the Connecticut
for fifty miles above the northern Massachusetts line. Long Island was
almost entirely settled, as was the Hudson Valley to a point a little
above Albany, and the lower Mohawk Valley had been settled. New Jersey,
except in the central part and a small section of the eastern coast, was
occupied. Eastern Pennsylvania, the lower valley of the Susquehanna, and
adjacent valleys were peopled, as was the western shore of Delaware Bay.
Maryland and Virginia were settled up to the mountains and had
overflowed into the valleys of the Blue Ridge. In North Carolina the
settlements extended back for a hundred and fifty miles or more from the
coast and as far south as the valley of the Cape Fear River. In the back
country of North and South Carolina and Georgia the valleys were
occupied and the population had flowed over onto the eastern slopes of
the Appalachians. The coast lands of South Carolina and Georgia as far
as the Altamaha and the lowlands along the Pedee, Santee, and Savannah
Rivers were occupied for a hundred miles from the coast.
The older settled areas were below the Fall Line. There the industrial
and social life was less in a state of flux than along the
ever-advancing frontier. The economic tendencies in the coast country
were already fixed and showed little change until machines and
transportation worked an industrial revolution early in the nineteenth
century. The social life was also comparatively stable and was so to
remain until the Revolutionary War.
Manufacturing and mining.--During the colonial period manufacturing made
little progress, due mainly to the abundance of cheap land and English
restrictions. The colonists depended mainly upon England for
manufactured goods. Nevertheless, manufacturing made some headway,
especially in the North, where agricultural pursuits brought less profit
than in the South. The coarser fabrics, linen, hats, and shoes were
produced for the local markets. Mining was also beginning, iron mines
having been developed in New England. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Virginia, and at least one copper mine was worked in New Jersey.
Ironworks were established in the neighborhood of the mines and supplied
many of the local needs. In 1750 an act was passed by parliament which
allowed colonial pig-iron to be imported into England and bar-iron to
enter the port of London. The manufacture of rum was an important
northern industry.
NEW ENGLAND INDUSTRY
Farming.--During the colonial period the great mass of the people were
engaged in agriculture. In New England, where soil and climate were less
favorable than in the South, the small farm with diversified crops was
the prevailing type. The supply of labor was limited and wages
relatively high. Under such conditions, the farmer, his sons, and the
"hired man" worked the place, and by dint of industry made a living. The
New England farmer was more nearly self-sufficient that any other class,
a condition which no doubt increased his feeling of independence. The
products of the farm were usually adequate for local needs but
furnished practically nothing for exportation.
Lumbering and ship-building.--The New England forests continued to be a
source of wealth. Lumber was produced in large quantities and
ship-building was carried on extensively in the coast and river towns,
the craft being of a somewhat larger type than formerly, vessels of five
hundred tons burden frequently leaving the ways. The English navy and
merchant marine obtained large quantities of masts and spars from New
England.
The fisheries.--The importance of the fisheries increased greatly after
the War of the Spanish Succession. From the Newfoundland banks were
derived the chief products for foreign trade. Almost every coast town
had its fishing fleet, Gloucester alone boasting nearly a hundred
vessels. The cod was the most important catch, but as the century
progressed whaling became a more and more important industry.
Commerce.--With the West Indies the New Englanders carried on an
extensive trade, lumber, fish, and rum being exchanged for sugar,
molasses, and other tropical products. Rum was also an important factor
in the slave trade, which was carried on mainly by the Rhode Islanders,
who exchanged the products of the distilleries for negroes on the Guinea
Coast and in the West Indies. These in turn were traded to the southern
colonies for tobacco, rice, indigo, and naval stores. From the profits
of southern commerce and from fish, lumber, and naval stores, the New
Englanders were able to purchase English textiles, hardware, glass, and
other manufactured articles. The chief port was Boston which contained
about twenty thousand inhabitants.
THE MIDDLE COLONIES
Intensive farming was at its best in the middle colonies, which were the
great producers of provisions. Live stock, cereals, fruit, and
vegetables were raised in large quantities, the animal products and
grain furnishing the chief products for exportation. Lumber and furs
were also important items of commerce.
New York.--An observant English traveler who visited New York in 1760,
gives the following excellent description of the colony: "The province
in its cultivated state affords grain of all sorts, cattle, hogs, and
great variety of English fruits.... The people ... export chiefly grain,
flour, pork, skins, furs, pig-iron, lumber, and staves.... They make a
small quantity of cloth, some linen, hats, shoes, and other articles of
wearing apparel. They make glass also, and wampum; refine sugars, which
they import from the West Indies; and distil considerable quantities of
rum." He also noted that the New Yorkers were engaged in ship-building.
The Indian traffic was mainly carried on through Albany. The foreign and
coastwise trade was concentrated at New York, a city with a population
of sixteen or seventeen thousand.
New Jersey.--New Jersey was fortunate in having an historian who has
left us an excellent account of the province. Samuel Smith's history
gives the following description: "Almost the whole extent of the
province adjoining on the atlantick, is barrens, or nearly approaching
it; yet there are scattering settlements all along the coast, the people
subsisting in great part by raising cattle in the bog undrained meadows
and marshes, and selling them to graziers, and cutting down the
cedars.... Another means of subsistence along the coast, is the plenty
of fish and oysters, these are carried to New-York and Philadelphia
markets.... The lands in general, (perhaps something better than two
thirds of the whole) are good, and bear wheat, barley, or anything else
suitable to the climate, to perfection. As the province has very little
foreign trade on bottoms of its own, the produce of all kinds for sale,
goes chiefly to New-York and Philadelphia; much of it is there purchased
for markets abroad; but some consumed among themselves."
Pennsylvania and Delaware.--Agriculture was the mainstay of the people
of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The thrifty Quakers, Germans,
Scotch-Irish, and Swedes who formed the bulk of the population, produced
large quantities of grain and live-stock. The surplus was brought to
Philadelphia, a well-built city of nearly twenty thousand inhabitants.
Peter Calm has left the following picture of its industrial life:
"Several ships are annually built of American oak in the docks.... The
town carries on a great trade both with the inhabitants of the country
and to other parts of the world, especially to the West Indies, South
America, and the Antilles; to England, Ireland, Portugal, and to
several English colonies in North America. Yet none but English ships
are allowed to come into this port. Philadelphia reaps the greatest
profits from its trade to the West Indies: for thither the inhabitants
ship almost every day a quantity of flour, butter, flesh, and other
victuals, timber, plank, and the like. In return they receive either
sugar, molasses, rum, indigo, mahogany, and other goods, or ready
money.... They send both West India goods and their own products to
England; the latter are all sorts of woods, especially walnut, and oak
planks for ships; ships ready built, iron, hides, and tar.... Ready
money is likewise sent over to England; from whence in return they get
all sorts of goods there manufactured, viz: fine and coarse cloth,
linen, iron ware, and other wrought metals, and East India goods; for it
is to be observed, that England supplies Philadelphia with almost all
stuffs and manufactured goods which are wanted here. A great quantity of
linseed goes annually to Ireland, together with many of the ships which
are built here. Portugal gets wheat, flour, and maize which is not
ground. Spain sometimes takes some corn. But all the money which is got
in these several countries, must immediately be sent to England, in
payment for the goods which are got from thence, and yet those sums are
not sufficient to pay all the debts."
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES
The tobacco colonies.--Maryland, Virginia, and the northeastern part of
North Carolina continued to be devoted largely to the raising of
tobacco. Except on the frontiers the small farms had disappeared, having
been, absorbed by great landholdings. Many of the plantations covered
thousands of acres, but probably not more than a tenth of the land was
under cultivation. The tobacco crop was extremely exhaustive to the
soil, and when the land had been cropped until its productivity
decreased, wheat or corn were usually planted, or it was turned into
pasturage. The tangled thicket soon sprang up and in the wilderness
ranged cattle and hogs. The breeding of horses was attended to with
care, for horse-racing and fox-hunting were favorite diversions among
the planters, but the cattle and hogs were of inferior quality. The
great article of commerce was tobacco, but grain, pork, and lumber were
also exported. From the Madeiras the planters received wines and from
the West Indies rum, sugar, molasses, and slaves. Most of the
manufactured articles came directly from England. In spite of the
considerable trade, no large towns had sprung up, the plantation
continuing to be the economic and social unit of the tobacco colonies.
The industries of North Carolina were more diversified than those of the
other southern colonies as is shown by the following statement from
Edmund Burke's _Account of the European Settlements in America_:
Exported from all the ports of North Carolina in 1753:
Tar 61,528 barrels
Pitch 12,055 ditto
Turpentine 10,429 ditto
Staves 762,330 no.
Shingles 2,500,000 no.
Lumber 2,000,647 feet
Corn 61,580 bushels
Peas, about 10,000 ditto
Pork & Beef 3,300 barrels
Tobacco, about 100 hogsheads
Tanned leather about 1,000 hundred weight
Deer skins, in all ways, about 30,000
Besides a very considerable quantity of wheat, rice, bread, potatoes,
bees-wax, tallow, candles, bacon, hogs lard, some cotton, and a vast
deal of squared timber of walnut and cedar, and hoops and headings of
all sorts. Of late they raise indigo, but in what quantity I cannot
determine, for it is all exported from South Carolina. They raise
likewise much more tobacco than I have mentioned, but this, as it is
produced on the frontiers of Virginia, so it is exported from thence.
They export too no inconsiderable quantity of beaver, racoon, otter,
fox, minx, and wild cat skins, and in every ship a good deal of live
cattle, besides what they vend in Virginia.
The rice country.--The great staple of South Carolina was rice, which
was grown upon the marshy lands. A limited amount was also produced in
North Carolina and Georgia. The unhealthfulness of the rice fields,
coupled with the large profits from the business, were factors which
made negro slavery seem desirable. In 1733 the whites in South Carolina
numbered about seven thousand, in 1748 about twenty-five thousand, and
in 1765 about forty thousand, but this increase was due largely to the
great migration to the back country. Between 1753 and 1773 it is
estimated that about forty-three thousand slaves were brought into the
province.
Indigo.--In 1741 or 1742 Miss Elizabeth Lucas, the daughter of the
governor of Antigua, planted some indigo seed on the Lucas plantation
near Charleston. From this beginning the indigo business rapidly
developed. In 1747 the colony produced 134,118 pounds; in 1754 over
200,000 pounds were exported, and shortly before the Revolution over
1,000,000 pounds were shipped annually.
Commerce.--Charleston was the commercial center. Its white population
was about five thousand in 1760 and it contained about an equal number
of negroes. In the summer and autumn the population increased, as the
planters' families stayed in the metropolis to escape the
unhealthfulness of the back country. Hundreds of vessels were engaged in
the South Carolina trade, the products being shipped to the northern
colonies and to the West Indies, to Holland, Portugal, the
Mediterranean, and England. From the profits the planters purchased the
necessities and luxuries of English manufacture, the wines of Portugal
and Madeira, and the rum, sugar, molasses, and slaves of the West
Indies.
Georgia.--In 1760 Georgia contained about six thousand whites and
thirty-five hundred negroes. Industry was diversified, as is shown by a
report of Governor Wright of 1766 which says: "Our whole time and
strength ... is applied in planting rice, corn, peas, and a small
quantity of wheat and rye, and in making pitch, tar, and turpentine, and
in making shingles and staves, and sawing lumber and scantling, and
boards of every kind, and in raising stocks of cattle, mules and
hogs...." In addition there was considerable fur trade, for which
Augusta was the center.
LABOR SYSTEMS
Free labor.--The preponderance of agriculture and the abundance of cheap
land made a continual demand for laborers. The climatic and soil
conditions determined the labor system of each area. In the north the
small farm was usually tilled by the owner and his sons, aided by hired
help especially during harvest time. The men of a neighborhood
frequently combined to do important pieces of work, such as clearing
land, house-building, haying, harvesting, and corn-husking.
Indented servants.--The great plantations of the south demanded large
forces of laborers, and there the bond servants and slaves formed the
important elements of the laboring classes. The indented servants were
of two classes, voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary servants were
those who, for transportation and maintenance, willingly bound
themselves to a master for a term of years. In the seventeenth century
the usual term had been seven years, but in the eighteenth the demand
for labor was so strong that the limit was usually four years. At the
end of the term of service the servant either worked for hire or "took
up" land. Many moved to the frontier where they soon became prosperous
farmers.
The involuntary bond servants were paupers, disorderly persons, and
criminals. The harsh penal laws of England at that time recognized three
hundred capital crimes. Imprisonment for debt and for political offenses
swelled the numbers in confinement. To relieve the situation
parliamentary acts were passed which allowed the commutation of the
death penalty to a service of fourteen years in the colonies, and seven
years in place of branding and whipping. We have no data for exact
numbers of indented servants, but a careful student of industrial life
in the colonies has estimated that they probably constituted one-half of
all English immigrants, the middle colonies, Maryland, and Virginia,
receiving the larger numbers.
Slavery.--In the seventeenth century negro slavery was of minor
importance in the mainland colonies, but as the plantation system
developed slaves became an ever-increasing element. In the New England
colonies and Pennsylvania they were used principally as house servants.
In New York and New Jersey they formed from eight to ten per cent. of
the population. It has been estimated that in 1760 there were four
hundred thousand slaves south of Pennsylvania. In Maryland they
constituted about thirty per cent. of the population, probably forty per
cent. in Virginia, and sixty per cent. in South Carolina.
FEATURES OF SOCIETY
Near the coast.--Colonial society in the older settled regions was
aristocratic rather than democratic This was due mainly to English
customs and traditions, to an increasing wealth and corresponding
raising of the standard of living, to the strength of the religious
institutions, and to the colonial system, which provided for a
considerable body of officials. In New England the ruling classes were
the clergy and the selectmen, who occupied the important places both in
the church and in political use; the official class, at the head of whom
was the governor; and a third group, the merchants, who usually were not
admitted to the governor's circle, and who were apt to voice their
social disapprobation in their influence upon legislation. In New York
and eastern New Jersey the great landholders and the official group
controlled politics and society. In western New Jersey and Pennsylvania
the Quakers were politically, socially, and commercially the
preponderant element. In the South the plantation owners formed an
aristocracy whose social lines were drawn with distinctness.
The frontier.--In contrast to the tide-water country, frontier society
was distinctly individualistic and democratic. The Scotch-Irish and
Germans had flocked to the mountain country. There they had built their
cabins, made their clearings in the forest, and lived a life free from
the conventions of the longer settled communities. Hunting, fur-trading,
lumbering, and cattle raising were their chief pursuits. The danger from
Indian attack was a constant menace, and personal bravery and
resourcefulness were strongly marked characteristics. With it all they
were a religious people, the Presbyterians and Pietists being
predominant.
The Anglican church.--The religious lines marked out in the seventeenth
century were followed in the eighteenth with one notable exception,
namely, the growth of the Anglican church. This was due mainly in the
first instance to the efforts of the Bishop of London who sent
commissaries to America, the first being James Blair who was sent to
Virginia in 1689, and the second Thomas Bray, who in 1695 was sent to
inquire into the state of the colonial church. The result of Bray's
inquiry was the founding in 1701 of the Society for Propagating the
Gospel. At the time of its foundation nearly all of the Episcopal
churches were in Virginia and Maryland. In 1759 Thomas Sherlock, the
Bishop of London, reported that, "at least one half of the Plantations
are of the established Church.... This is the case of So. Carolina, N.
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Jamaica, Barbadoes, Antegoa, Nevis, and
the rest of the Caribbee Islands. On the other side--Pennsylvania is in
the hands and under the governmt of the Quakers, and New England and the
adjoining Colonies are in the hands of the Independents. But in some of
them are great numbers of Churchmen."
The Great Awakening.--The eighteenth century witnessed a great change in
the New England churches. After a hundred years the early enthusiasm of
the Puritan church had subsided, and though its doctrine had changed but
slightly, a marked change in emphasis had taken place. Conversion was
still considered a divine work, but the belief had become current that
the soul could be put in touch with the spirit of God by prayer,
scriptural study, regular church attendance, participation in the Lord's
Supper, a moral life, and having been born of parents who belonged to
the church, by "owning the covenant." Against these views Jonathan
Edwards rebelled. In 1734 at Northampton, Edwards preached a series of
sermons in which he defended the doctrine of justification by faith
alone. He pleaded for immediate repentance and denied that good deeds
would lead to salvation. The religious revival, started at Northampton,
soon spread throughout Connecticut, and reverberated in Boston. At the
height of the movement George Whitefield, the friend of the Wesleys,
after preaching in Georgia and South Carolina, in 1740 visited New
England where thousands were converted. By 1744 the movement had
somewhat spent itself, and when Whitefield arrived at Boston for a
second preaching tour he found that a reaction had set in. The followers
of Edwards and Whitefield had come to be known as the "New Light" party,
while the reactionaries formed the "Old Light" party. Two generations
later this led to the separation of the Congregational body into the
"Orthodox" and "Unitarian" groups.
Colleges.--Religion played a large part in eighteenth century education.
William and Mary College, founded in Virginia in 1691 under Anglican
influence, was the only institution of advanced learning in the South.
Yale, founded in 1701 under strong clerical influence, became the seat
of orthodox Calvinism. Harvard also came on apace, in 1721 and 1727
establishing professorships in divinity and natural philosophy. Through
the influence of Presbyterian ministers, in 1746 the College of New
Jersey was granted a charter. King's College, now Columbia University,
founded in New York in 1754, was made possible by the efforts of Dean
Berkeley. In 1755, largely through the instrumentality of Benjamin
Franklin, the first college was founded in Pennsylvania, the institution
being freer from religious influence than any other colonial college.
BARBADOS, THE LEEWARD ISLES, AND JAMAICA
West Indian planters.--In the British West Indies, the production of
sugar profoundly influenced social and economic conditions. The West
Indian planter with his vast estate worked by slaves had crowded out the
small landholder. He represented the capitalistic class, belonged to the
Anglican church, and held views similar to those of the rural
aristocracy of the mother country. It has been customary for historians
to paint a roseate picture of life on the West India plantations, and no
doubt there were many pretentious homes and many of the planters were
possessed of great wealth. But it is a striking fact that a large
percentage of the owners spent much of their time in England where their
reckless living gave a false impression of West Indian prosperity.
Slavery fostered industrial waste, and coupled with a tropical climate,
produced a manner of fife which undermined character; drinking,
gambling, immorality, and sloth were common vices. Earthquakes and
hurricanes frequently devastated the islands, the numerous wars
destroyed shipping and cargoes, and slave insurrections were a constant
terror. Churches, schools, and newspapers were sadly inadequate.
Codrington College in Barbados, the only notable school in the islands,
had but fifty students. Children of the planters were frequently sent to
England to be educated, but they there acquired a point of view which
made plantation life distasteful and tended to swell the large group of
absentee landlords.
Barbados and the Leeward Isles.--During the seventeenth century most of
the British sugar came from Barbados and the Leeward Isles, but lack of
fertilization and slave labor had brought about deterioration on the
estates, and during the eighteenth century both population and
productivity were on the decline. In 1762 the white population of
Barbados was about 18,000 and the blacks numbered 70,000. In 1736 the
island produced 22,769 hogsheads of sugar, while during 1740-1748 the
average annual production was 13,948 hogsheads. In 1744, Antigua, St.
Christopher, Nevis, and Montserrat contained a total of about 11,000
whites and 60,000 slaves. As the lands became less productive, the
planters attempted to make up the loss by increasing the number of
slaves, a method which probably aggravated the condition.
Jamaica.--In the eighteenth century, Jamaica was the West Indian
frontier. There could be found large tracts of unoccupied land suitable
for sugar culture. In spite of this the population increased slowly;
this was mainly due to slave insurrections which were frequent until
1739, to the fact that there was a constant migration of small
landholders from the British West Indies, and to a depressed sugar
market. The Island of Jamaica contained 3,840,000 acres; in 1754, 1620
planters had under cultivation 1,671,569 acres. The demand for slaves
was keener than in any other British sugar island. During 1702-1775 it
has been estimated that the planters purchased about 5,000 negroes a
year from the slave traders.
A contemporary description of Jamaica.--Leslie described the island
customs in 1740 as follows: "The Gentlemens Houses are generally built
low, of one Story, consisting of five or six handsome Apartments,
beautifully lined and floored with mahogany, which looks exceeding gay;
they have generally a Piazza to which you ascend by several Steps, and
serves for a Screen against the Heat.... The Negroes have nothing but a
Parcel of poor miserable Huts built of Reeds, any of which can scarce
contain upwards of two or three.
"The common Dress here is none of the most becoming, the Heat makes many
clothes intolerable, and therefore the Men generally wear only Thread
Stockings, Linen Drawers, and Vest, a Handkerchief tied around their
Head, and a hat above. ... The negroes go mostly naked, except those
who attend Gentlemen.... The Laidies are as gay as any in _Europe_,
dress as richly, and appear with as good a Grace.... Learning is here at
the lowest Ebb; there is no publick School in the whole Island, neither
do they seem fond of the Thing.... The Office of a Teacher is looked
upon as contemptible, and no Gentlemen keeps Company with one of that
Character; to read, write, and cast up Accounts is all the Education
they desire, and even these are but scurvily taught.... The Gentlemen,
whose Fortunes can allow, send their children to Great Britain. ... The
Laidies read some, dance a great deal, coquet much, dress for Admirers,
and at last, for the most Part, run away with the most insignificant of
their humble Servants. Their Education consists entirely in acquiring
these little Arts."
Emigration.--There was a constant migration of small landholders from
the British West Indies to the French and Dutch islands, to Guiana and
to the North American colonies. Several acts were passed whose object
was to increase the number of colonists, but they had little effect, for
the small landowners could not compete with the great slave proprietors.
The colonists with small capital preferred to start where lands were
cheaper and where social fines were not so tightly drawn.
Illicit trade.--The largest market for northern goods was found in the
West Indies. Here was a field which required the products of the
temperate zone. As Pitman observes, "Its demands upon Northern
lumbermen, stock-raisers, and farmers, furnish a powerful incentive for
the clearing and settlement of the continent." In spite of legal
restrictions the Yankee skipper plied his trade. The planters of the
sugar islands believed that the Molasses Act would restore their
prosperity, but they soon found that natural economic laws were stronger
than parliamentary enactments and that the northern sea-captain smuggled
as of old. A considerable inter-island trade which ignored nationality
was also carried on. St. Eustatius and the Virgin Isles became important
smuggler havens, and even when war was in progress, the British
Americans did not hesitate to supply their enemies with provisions and
lumber in exchange for sugar, rum, and molasses.
READINGS
THE CONTINENTAL COLONIES
Bassett, J.S., ed., _The Writings of Colonel William Byrd of Westover in
Virginia, Esqr_.; Bogart, E.L., _The Economic History of the United
States_, 53-104; Burke, Edmund, _An Account of the European Settlements
in America_, II, 145-273; Burnaby, Andrew, _Travels through the Middle
Settlements in North America_; Callender, G.S., _Selections from the
Economic History of the United States_, 6-84; Clark, V.S., _History of
Manufactures in the United States, 1607-1860_, 73-214; Cross, A.L., _The
Anglican Episcopate and the American Colonies_; Dexter, F.B., "Estimates
of Population," in Am. Antiquarian Society, _Proceedings_, 1887; Fiske,
John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, II, 174-369; Greene, E.B.,
_Provincial America_, 270-342; Hart, A.B., _Contemporaries_, II,
224-311; Johnson, E.R., and others, _History of Domestic and Foreign
Commerce of the United States_, I, 84-121; Kalm, Peter, _Travels in
North America_, in Pinkerton, _Travels_, XIII, 374-700; McCrady, Edward,
_The History of South Carolina under the Royal Government, 1719-1776_,
pp. 376-540; Smith, Samuel, _The History of the Colony of Nova Cæsaria,
or New Jersey_, 419-509; Weeden, W.B., _Economic and Social History of
New England_, II, 449-713; Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Folkways_; Phillips,
U.B., _American Negro Slavery_, 67-114.
THE WEST INDIES
Edwards, Bryan, _History of the West Indies_; Gardner, W.J., _History of
Jamaica_; Long, Edward, _History of Jamaica_; Pitman, Frank W., _The
Development of the British West Indies, 1700-1763_; Phillips, U.B.,
_American Negro Slavery_, 46-66.
CHAPTER XIX
THE ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM (1689-1763)
Before 1689 English colonial administration had been largely a personal
matter with the king. Royal control had been exercised through the Privy
Council assisted by advisory committees, boards and commissioners, after
1674 the most important of these bodies being the Lords of Trade.
Between 1689 and 1714 colonial administration underwent fundamental
changes both in theory and organization. By the end of the reign of Anne
it had become largely departmental and official rather than personal,
and Parliament had begun to take a somewhat larger hand in running
affairs than during the former period. The Board of Trade, a body
independent of the Privy Council, replaced the Lords of Trade in 1696
and for a time was the chief agency in the direction of colonial
affairs. It lacked executive authority but conducted routine business
and gathered information on which the Privy Council, Parliament, and the
departments of the treasury, admiralty, and war acted. Under the
Hanoverians the Secretary of State for the Southern Department became
the colonial minister and the Board of Trade lost much of its
importance. In America the principal agents of imperial control were the
royal governors, judges, customs officials, and naval and military
officers.
THE FIRST REORGANIZATION OF WILLIAM III
The system as William found it.--When William III ascended the throne,
the later Stuart colonial system had not been perfected. It had been
characterized by the principles that the authority of the crown should
be strengthened at the expense of the colonial legislatures, that
commerce should be regulated by the imperial administration, and that
larger governmental units should take the place of the multiplicity of
colonies. The colonial governments had gradually evolved toward a common
type, composed of governor and council representing the crown or
proprietor, and a legislature in which the council acted as an upper
house while the lower elective house represented the interests of the
colony.
Committee on trade and plantations.--William III at first adopted the
machinery of colonial administration as he found it, continuing the
committee of the privy council on trade and plantations, but he
appointed new members, including leading ministers from both the Whig
and Tory parties. The navigation laws were continued in force, and
Edward Randolph was retained as surveyor general of the customs.
Governmental changes in New England---In the colonies several changes
were introduced, the most striking being in New England. The idea of a
consolidated New England was abandoned. The charters of Rhode Island and
Connecticut were restored, and New Hampshire was established as a royal
province. In 1691 Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, and Acadia were
consolidated into the Province of Massachusetts Bay, but the immediate
reconquest of Acadia by the French made the new charter inoperative in
that region.
Massachusetts charter of 1691.--The form of government established in
the Province of Massachusetts Bay was a compromise between the old
independent form of earlier days and the type of the royal colony. The
charter provided for a governor, deputy-governor, and secretary, to be
appointed by the crown; a council of twenty-eight; and a lower house
composed of freeholders, elected by the people. The general court
composed of the governor, council, and lower house, was given the power,
after the last Wednesday in May, 1693, of selecting annually the members
of the council, at least eighteen of whom were to be from the old colony
of Massachusetts, four from New Plymouth, and three from Maine.
Legislation which met the approval of the governor was sent to the king
in council, who within three years of the passage of the act, could
disallow or nullify the colonial legislation. Laws not disallowed within
three years remained in force.
New York.--The Leisler rebellion in New York complicated the problem of
reorganization. Instead of Leisler being countenanced, New York, shorn
of New Jersey, was again made a royal colony, with a government composed
of governor, council, and elected assembly. Governor Henry Sloughter
arrived on March 19, 1691, and the first assembly met on April 9. It
promptly repealed the Duke's Laws, and voted that the revenues be made
payable to the receiver-general, a crown appointee, and that issuance of
funds be made by the governor's warrant, an action which made the
governor for the time being independent and paved the way for future
disputes. Sloughter died in July, 1691, and in August, 1692, Colonel
Benjamin Fletcher arrived to assume the governorship, Richard
Ingoldesby, an appointee of the council, having acted as governor in the
interim.
Virginia.--In Virginia the revolution was effected without violence.
Lord Howard of Effingham continued in the governorship but remained in
England, Sir Francis Nicholson, who had been deposed in New York, being
sent out as governor in 1690. Though he resisted the calling of an
assembly, popular clamor forced his hand. A new capital city called
Williamsburg was immediately laid out.
The Jerseys.--No settled policy regarding the proprietary governments
was followed by William. Instead of attempting to readjust them after
some formulated plan, each colony was dealt with as an individual unit
with its own problem. In the Jerseys William restored the proprietors.
Little authority was exercised by them, however, until 1692, when Andrew
Hamilton was sent out as governor of both East and West New Jersey, a
distinct step toward consolidation into a single province.
Pennsylvania.--The marked favor with which James II looked upon Penn
placed the Pennsylvania proprietor under William's suspicion. Charges of
misgovernment on the part of Penn's appointees, bickerings in the colony
between the upper and lower counties, controversies among the Quakers,
claims of religious intolerance, and the set attitude of the Quakers
against war, made an accumulation of troubles for the proprietor. In
1692 he was deprived of his government, Benjamin Fletcher being sent
over as governor. Fletcher introduced the royal colony type of
government, selecting a council and summoning an elective assembly from
both the upper and lower counties. When Fletcher demanded appropriations
to assist in the war, the assembly proved factious, claiming that the
governor was violating the chartered rights of the colony. Fletcher was
unable to overcome the constitutional objections and withdrew to New
York, sending a deputy to the colony to represent him. Penn in the
meantime had been pressing his claims, and having succeeded in
convincing the king of his loyalty, in 1694 was restored to his rights.
Maryland.--The Catholicism of Baltimore placed him under the ban of the
government, in spite of the fact that he hastened to proclaim the new
sovereigns. A rebellion against the proprietor gave ample excuse for the
crown to take over the government of the colony. Baltimore was left in
possession of his territorial rights, retaining the quit-rents,
ownership of vacant lands, and his share of the customs, but the
government was taken from him. In 1692 Sir Lionel Copley came over as
royal governor, a council was selected from the anti-Baltimore party,
and an assembly was convened. The assembly established the Episcopal
church and divided the counties into parishes. Copley died in 1693, and
for a brief period Sir Edmund Andros was governor, but Francis Nicholson
soon succeeded him, and transferred the capital from St. Mary's to
Annapolis.
The Carolinas.--The proprietors of the Carolinas fared better. Though
there was much opposition to them in the colonies, they succeeded in
ingratiating themselves with William and were left in undisturbed
possession. In 1691 the Charleston and Albermarle districts were united
under a single government, Philip Ludwell, who in 1689 had been
appointed governor of the district north and east of Cape Fear, being
made governor of the whole of Carolina.
WILLIAM'S SECOND REORGANIZATION
The Board of Trade.--As the war progressed, the enforcement of the
navigation laws became more and more difficult; piracy and smuggling
increased, and the Dutch obtained a larger part of the carrying trade
than formerly. The complaints of English merchants were voiced in the
House of Commons, where an insistent minority demanded a reorganization
of the machinery of colonial administration and a revision of the
navigation laws. William was opposed to the creation of a new board by
parliament, considering that such action would be an encroachment upon
the prerogative of the crown. The parliamentary bill was dropped, and
in May, 1696, the king organized the Board of Commissioners for Trade
and Plantations. Instead of being a committee of the privy council, the
new board was an independent organization. It was composed of nominal
and real members. The nominal members were the chief officers of state
who seldom attended meetings. The working members of the board were
eight non-ministerial paid officials, among those first commissioned
being John Locke and William Blathwayt, the efficient secretary of the
old committee.
The board had general supervision of colonial trade and government,
gathered information, and reported on colonial affairs to the king or to
parliament. Instructions to royal governors were draughted by them and
they made nominations in cases of vacancy in the colonial service. They
examined colonial legislation with a view to its confirmation or
disallowance, listened to complaints, examined the accounts of the
colonial treasuries, and attended to many minor matters. The board was
in reality a clearing house for colonial administration; it examined,
reported, and recommended, but it could not execute. During the reigns
of William and Anne, its recommendations carried great weight, but its
importance gradually declined as the cabinet system developed.
The secretaries of state.--Of William's ministers, those to whom
colonial affairs were usually entrusted were the two secretaries of
state, one or the other attending to the work. Governors usually
corresponded directly with the secretaries. Questions which involved
foreign countries, questions of defence, Indian outbreaks, and
violations of the navigation acts were usually handled by the
secretaries without being referred to the Board of Trade.
The privy council.--The privy council continued to be the executive
center of the system. Recommendations which were read before it were
usually referred to a committee of the whole, and upon the decision of
this committee the council acted. As Dickerson says, "The whole
machinery ... for colonial administration included a Board of Trade to
investigate, gather facts, and make recommendations; a committee of the
Privy Council to act as a board of review and a court of appeals, both
administrative and legal; and the privy council, meeting with the king,
before which all final actions of importance were registered."
The Board of Trade and other departments of government.--The
commissioners of the customs worked in close touch with the Board of
Trade. The bodies were mutually helpful in collecting information. The
admiralty and the treasury were also necessarily in close touch with the
Board of Trade as was the Bishop of London. Many members of the Board of
Trade occupied seats in parliament and prepared bills which affected the
colonies. The board members also furnished information to parliament
concerning trade and colonial matters.
Evasion of the trade laws.--The earlier navigation laws had not been
thoroughly enforced. Most of the customs officials and some of the
governors exerted themselves to enforce the laws, and several ships were
fitted out to stop illicit traffic, but many of the officials were
negligent, and several of them no doubt profited by non-enforcement of
the laws. When arrests were made convictions proved difficult, for the
juries were in sympathy with the law-breakers. In 1693 a Scotch
commercial company was organized with the object of trading to India and
Africa. This alarmed the English East India and the Royal African
companies. The complaints of the customs officials and individual
merchants, when reinforced by these powerful corporations, resulted in
the passage of "An Act for preventing Frauds and regulating abuses in
the Plantation Trade," a law familiarly known as the Navigation Act of
1696.
Navigation Act of 1696.--The act provided that after March 25, 1698, no
goods should be imported into or exported from any English colony in
Asia, Africa, or America, or be carried from or to any colony, or
England, Wales, or Berwick-upon-Tweed, except in ships built by English
subjects and navigated by English masters, with three-fourths of the
crews English subjects. Exception was made of prizes condemned in the
admiralty courts, and, for three years, of ships which were under
contract to deliver supplies to the English navy. All ships engaged in
colonial trade were made subject to the same rules of search and the
same penalties for violations as prevailed in England. No vessel was
allowed to engage in colonial trade until one or more of the owners had
registered the vessel and taken a prescribed oath. The Lord Treasurer,
Commissioners of the Navy, and Commissioners of the Customs were allowed
to appoint customs officers for any place which they saw fit. Forfeiture
of vessel and cargo was the penalty for breach of the law, one-third of
the proceeds to go to the crown, one-third to the governor of the
colony, and one-third to the informant who brought the suit. Governors
or commanders-in-chief of the colonies were required to take oath to
enforce the acts of trade, under penalty of a fine of a thousand pounds
and removal from office. Naval officers in the customs service were
required to give ample security to the Commissioners of the Customs in
England. In order to secure convictions, the act provided that in cases
arising under the navigation laws, only natives of England, Ireland, or
persons born in the English colonies could serve on juries. Those having
land grants were forbidden to dispose of any lands to foreigners without
an order in council, and the crown reserved the right to approve the
nomination of governors in the proprietary colonies. Any colonial act at
variance with the navigation laws was declared null and void.
Woolen Act of 1698.--The frequent interruptions of trade during the War
of the English Succession caused the New Englanders to manufacture many
woolen goods. In order to retain a monopoly for English manufacturers,
in 1698 an act was passed forbidding the colonists to ship wool or
woolen products from one colony to another.
Admiralty courts.--The Navigation Act of 1696 presupposed the
establishment of admiralty courts in the colonies. The continental
colonies were soon organized into two admiralty districts, New England,
New York, and after 1702 New Jersey comprising the northern, and the
rest the southern district. At a later period the districts were
subdivided. In these courts there were no juries, a fact which made the
admiralty courts exceedingly unpopular.
The Piracy Act.--Piracy had long existed, especially in the West Indies,
and though stringent measures were taken to suppress it, the black flag
still floated over many a pirate craft. Madagascar became a favorite
haven, and from its harbors went forth the sea rovers to prey upon the
East and West Indiamen. In many ports of the American colonies they were
able to dispose of their booty, while officials closed their eyes or
shared in the profits. Of the pirates of the period, the best known is
Captain Kidd, about whose name has clustered much of fable and romance.
The Navigation Act of 1696 made smuggling more difficult, and out and
out piracy increased greatly after the passage of the act. To protect
the merchant ships and make the navigation laws more effective, in 1700
an act was passed which provided that piracy and other felonies
committed on the high seas might be tried in special colonial courts
created by the crown.
The "Charter of Privileges" and the formation of Delaware.--Near the
close of the reign of William III the government of Pennsylvania was
changed. In 1701 in the hope of quieting dissension in Pennsylvania,
Penn consented to the "Charter of Privileges," which was passed by the
council and assembly. The proprietor continued to appoint the governor
and councillors, but the assembly was henceforth composed of four
representatives from each county who were elected by the freemen. The
assembly was allowed to elect its own officers and to initiate
legislation. Delaware was allowed to have its own assembly but remained
under the jurisdiction of the proprietor.
New Jersey.--The policy of bringing all the colonies to a common type
was evidenced by various attempts to send governors to the chartered and
proprietary colonies, but in the end the attempts were abandoned.
Various bills were introduced in parliament to make all the colonies
royal, but they failed except in the case of New Jersey. The position of
the proprietors in East and West New Jersey had always been precarious,
and in 1702 they surrendered their rights to the crown. The two colonies
were consolidated into the single colony of New Jersey, the royal type
of government being established, Governor Cornbury of New York being
commissioned as the first royal executive.
THE COLONIAL SYSTEM DURING THE REIGN OF ANNE
Cabinet development.--During the reign of Anne the cabinet system was
gradually evolving. The privy council continued as the legal advisory
body of the crown, but a small group of ministers, the forerunner of the
modern cabinet, was in control Colonial affairs were placed definitely
in the hands of the secretary of state for the southern department. The
Board of Trade continued, but as the cabinet system developed, it became
less important, the secretary of state for the southern department and
parliament gradually encroaching upon the activities of the board. The
union with Scotland in 1707 profoundly affected the commercial system,
for after the union the Scots were no longer excluded from colonial
commerce.
Commercial legislation.--In 1705 another important act of trade was
passed which added rice, molasses, and various naval stores to the fist
of enumerated articles which must be shipped to England. To offset these
new restrictions, bounties were to be given on naval stores produced in
the colonies and shipped to England and in 1707 colonial seamen were
exempted from impressment in the royal navy. During the reign of William
III the Bank of England was established and the financial system was
completely renovated. No definite money system had been established in
the colonies; Spanish coins were in common use, but they had no fixed
value, a condition which greatly hampered commerce. In 1707 parliament
passed an act which imposed penalties for taking foreign coins at a rate
above the legal ratio. The colonial post-office was also reorganized.
Before 1689 each colony had regulated its postal offices. In 1692 a
patent for twenty-one years was issued to Thomas Neale to establish
colonial post-offices; Neale's deputy, Andrew Hamilton of New Jersey,
obtained the support of several of the colonial governments in
establishing postal rates, but the arrangements were lacking in
uniformity. In 1710 parliament passed an act reorganizing the
post-office of the entire realm. In the colonies a post-office was to be
established in New York and at other convenient points in each of the
colonies on the continent and in each of the Leeward Isles.
Disallowance and appeals.--During the reigns of William III and Anne the
crown was constantly seeking to harmonize the colonial and home
governments, both in legislation and administration. The chief crown
instrument for achieving harmony was the right of royal disallowance of
colonial legislation. By 1692 it had been established in the royal
provinces and in Pennsylvania. In 1702 it was extended to New Jersey,
and at various times during the reign of Anne laws of chartered
colonies were disallowed, although such action was of doubtful legality.
The unity of the English court system was maintained by insistence that
cases involving individuals in the colonies might be appealed to the
privy council When the colonies attempted to restrict the right,
colonial legislation was disallowed.
Causes of friction.--The constitutional development in England which
followed the Revolution of 1688 was reflected in the colonies, where
each lower house was a miniature house of commons representing the will
of the enfranchised people, while the governors and proprietors were
considered as representatives of the royal will. Struggles between the
governor and assembly occurred in almost every colony, the most common
causes of quarrel being the control of elections and of the purse, and
appointments.
Control of elections and the purse.--In several of the colonies the
popular control of elections was maintained either by specific
statements in the charters or by legislative enactment. In Virginia the
burgesses in 1692 declared themselves the sole judges of the
qualifications of their members. The Massachusetts charter provided for
annual elections, and the same right was given to Pennsylvania in 1701.
Legislative acts in the Carolinas secured biennial elections. The most
potent factor in limiting the power of governors was the control of
taxation by the lower house. That money raised by direct taxation should
be disbursed by the representatives of the people was a growing idea.
The assemblies frequently fixed salaries, refused to provide for fixed
civil lists, specified how much should be drawn and spent, and limited
grants for governors to annual appropriations. Massachusetts was the
most insistent on her rights, but each of the colonies in one way or
another sought to curb the executive.
Appointments.--The appointment of administrative officers by the
assemblies became more and more frequent. The theory that the
representatives of the people should control taxation and disbursements
naturally led to the assertion of the right to appoint financial
officers, and by 1715 in most of the colonies the treasurer was
appointed by the assembly. The colonies also maintained agents in
England who guarded their interests.
THE COLONIAL SYSTEM UNDER THE WHIGS
Whig ascendency.--The peaceful establishment of George I on the English
throne marked the downfall of the Tory party. To keep England at peace
and at the same time to maintain the balance of power in Europe was the
difficult task which the Whig statesmen performed, in the main
successfully. To build up English industry and commerce on mercantilist
principles was the basis of the Whig economic system.
Establishment of the Cabinet system.--The statesmen who had placed a
Hanoverian on the throne did not propose to surrender the powers of
government. The king, ignorant of English speech and English politics,
soon learned that a Whig-made king was also a Whig-ruled king. During
the two previous reigns a small group of men within the privy council
had invariably directed affairs of state. This group had gradually come
to represent the majority in parliament, an arrangement which became a
definitely established principle, the ministerial group forming the
cabinet. From 1714 to 1721 no one man dominated, but the financial
crisis, brought about by the bursting of the South Sea Bubble, gave the
great financier, Robert Walpole, his opportunity. As First Lord of the
Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, for twenty years he maintained
his leadership, the first of the prime ministers.
The Secretary of State for the Southern Department.--In the evolution of
the cabinet system the machinery of colonial government also changed.
Under the Whig régime the Board of Trade, which, since 1696 had been the
chief instrument of colonial control, soon became of secondary
importance, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department being
recognized as the responsible head of the colonial system. Until 1724 no
one held the office long enough to develop a colonial policy, but in
that year the Duke of Newcastle was appointed to the position, which he
held for twenty-four years. Newcastle is generally regarded as an
inefficient administrator, a politician who found the colonial system a
convenient place to reward supporters. In his hands was the power of
appointment of colonial governors and other important officials; many of
them proved to be excellent officials, but others were corrupt or
incapable. Jealous of his authority and fearful of entrusting power to
others, Newcastle attempted to attend to the mass of colonial business,
with the result that it was frequently neglected.
The Board of Trade.--The Board of Trade necessarily lost in power. When
the Whigs came in office, they made a clean sweep of the board. The new
members were usually friends of the ministers or indigent members of the
house of commons, most of whom were ignorant of colonial affairs. The
board became mainly an information bureau. At a later period, when
Newcastle became prime minister, it regained some of its former prestige
under the able leadership of Halifax.
The privy council.--During the reign of Anne the deliberative work of
the privy council had been transacted largely by a committee, the
council formally approving business settled in committee. This became
the uniform rule under George I. Petitions, complaints, and memorials
were, usually referred to the Board of Trade for investigation and
report, and then considered by a committee, of which the Secretary of
State for the Southern Department was invariably a member. Colonial laws
were also referred to the board for examination, while appeals were
usually handled by a committee of the council. The crown continued to
disallow colonial legislation, but exercised the right less frequently
under the first two Georges than under William and Anne.
Attitude toward colonial governments.--As compared with earlier periods,
little was done to reorganize colonial governments. Though plans for
doing away with the charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut were
frequently discussed, no action was taken, but in the proprietary
colonies changes occurred. In Maryland the Baltimore family was restored
to power, and in Pennsylvania the Penn family was confirmed in its
rights. In the Carolinas the colonists had grown weary of proprietary
neglect in defending the colonies against the Indians, Spanish, and
French. Revolutionary movements occurred which resulted in the overthrow
of proprietary power and in the complete separation of North and South
Carolina, a government of the royal type being established in each
colony.
Trade laws.--During the Walpole period the mercantilist economic
theories were still the basis of trade regulation. The colonies
continued to be looked upon as a base of supply for raw material. Their
industrial and commercial activities were not to interfere with those of
English manufacturers and shippers. To prevent smuggling, to provide for
the treasury, and at the same time foster the resources of the colonies,
were the difficult tasks of Walpole and his colleagues.
Naval stores.--The wars of William and Anne had caused a great demand
for naval stores, and their production in the colonies had been
encouraged. During that period England had drawn her greatest supply
from the Baltic countries. But the defeat of Sweden in her wars with
Russia meant a decline of English influence in the Baltic, and England
turned to the colonies for her ship supplies. In 1721 a new bounty act
was accordingly passed to encourage the colonial supply, and the best
hemp from the colonies was allowed to come into England free of duty.
Eight years later the bounties on pitch, turpentine, and tar were
somewhat lessened, the encouragement still being sufficient to give the
producers a decided advantage over their competitors, the Carolinas
being the principal gainers in the business. In 1731 the drawback on
unwrought hemp exported from England to the colonies was removed, an act
which also appears to have favored the colonial trade. The production of
hemp, however, did not flourish in America as did that of other naval
stores. In 1721 copper was placed upon the enumerated list, but every
effort to include iron was defeated until 1750. In line with the policy
of stimulating the production of naval stores was a provision that
timber from the colonies could be imported into England duty free, the
result being that New England became the source of supply for masts both
in the navy and the mercantile marine.
Furs and hats.--The fur business in the Atlantic seaboard colonies had
steadily declined, and the government wished to build it up. To
accomplish this beaver and other peltry were placed on the enumerated
list, but the duties payable in England were materially decreased. Much
of the beaver was used in the colonies in the manufacture of hats. As
this was an important English industry, in 1732 an act was passed which
stopped the exportation of hats from the colonies and restricted their
manufacture.
Rice.--The rice industry had been introduced in Carolina about 1688, and
found an important market in Portugal and Spain. Rice being placed on
the enumerated list in the reign of Anne, the colonies soon lost the
market. To rectify this, in 1730 Carolina was allowed to send rice
direct to countries south of Cape Finisterre. Five years later Georgia,
and somewhat later the West Indies, were allowed the same privilege.
American rice immediately regained its place in the trade of southern
Europe and also found a market in Holland and Germany.
The Molasses Act.--The great staple of the West Indies was sugar. In its
production the English Islands had surpassed the French colonies, a
condition which was due to the restrictive measures of the French
government. But in 1717 France adopted a liberal policy toward her
colonies and the production of sugar increased to such an extent that
the English sugar-producing islands experienced a financial depression.
The thrifty colonial traders from the mainland, especially from New
England, took advantage of the low price of French and Dutch sugar,
molasses, and rum. To bolster up the West Indian planters and to prevent
the trade with foreign colonies, in 1733 the Molasses Act was passed,
imposing prohibitory duties on molasses, sugar, and rum imported into
the continental colonies from other than English possessions. But in
spite of the act the trade continued, and but little effort was made to
enforce the law.
Constitutional principles.--During the period from 1714 to 1740 the
constitutional rights of the people in the colonies were defined more
clearly than before. In 1720 the principle was established that the
common law applied to the colonies as well as to England, but the
question of whether English statute law extended to the colonies was not
satisfactorily settled. The writ of habeas corpus was usually granted
under the common law. Progress was also made toward gaining the freedom
of the press. After a struggle in Massachusetts in 1721 the right of the
governor to censor books was abridged. In 1735 Zenger, a New York
publisher, was tried for libel. The court held that it should decide the
libellous nature of the statements made, and that the jury should
determine the fact of publication. Zenger's lawyer argued that the jury
must decide on whether or not the publication was libellous. On this
ground he won his suit, thereby greatly strengthening the power of the
press.
Increasing power of assemblies.--English colonial policy does not appear
to have aroused serious opposition. Each colony had its political
parties, but no question arose which welded together any group of
colonies, or of classes in various colonies. As in the earlier period
there were frequent quarrels between the assemblies and the governors,
control of finance being the most usual cause of friction. The governors
demanded fixed salaries, while the assemblies insisted on making
temporary grants. The assemblies also ignored the necessity of the
governor's warrant in drawing money, and insisted that the councils
should not amend money bills. In these controversies the governors were
usually bested, and by the close of the Walpole régime, the principle
was well defined that the assemblies should control the purse.
Paper money.--Closely allied to the question of control of taxation and
the governor's salary was that regarding the issuance of paper money. A
shortage of coin was usual, and the issuance of paper money was the
remedy by which the assemblies and banks attempted to provide a medium
of exchange. In general the governors opposed such issues as financially
unsound, but their actions were frequently misunderstood and were
considered tyrannous.
Friction between colonies.--The difficulties between the executives and
the assemblies might have developed into a general opposition to English
control had it not been for the quarrels between colonies over
boundaries and trade laws. Boundaries were based upon charters, which in
many cases were conflicting and almost every colony had chronic disputes
with its neighbors. The trade laws of one colony frequently
discriminated against its neighbors, the natural result being
retaliatory legislation. The English government was often called in as
umpire, but its decisions seldom met with the approval of both parties.
READINGS
Andrews, C.M., _The Colonial Period_, 128-154; Beer, G.L., "The
Commercial Policy of England toward the American Colonies," in Columbia
University, _Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law_, III, No.
2; Bingham, H., "Early History of the Scots Danen Company," in _The
Scottish Historical Review_, January, April, July, 1906; Briscoe, N.A.,
"The Economic Policy of Robert Walpole," in Columbia University,
_Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law_, XXVII, No. 1; Channing,
Edward, _History of the United States_, II, 217-281; Dickerson, O.M.,
_American Colonial Government, 1697-1765_; Egerton, H.E., _A Short
History of British Colonial Policy_, 114-152; Greene, E.B., _Provincial
America_, 166-207; _The Provincial Governor in the English Colonies of
North America_; Root, W.T., _The Relations of Pennsylvania with the
British Government, 1696-1765_; Pitman, Frank W., _The Development of
the British West Indies, 1700-1763_, pp. 127-333.
CHAPTER XX
A QUARTER-CENTURY OF CONFLICT: THE EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH (1715-1763)
SPAIN AND THE POWERS, 1715-1739
Spanish dynastic ambitions.--From 1715 to 1739 the relations of England
and Spain were frequently strained, due to the clashing of commercial
and colonial interests, or to the ambitions of Spanish rulers. Philip V
hoped to become the king of France. His second wife, Elizabeth Farnese,
was ambitious to secure territories in Italy for her sons, the elder,
Don Carlos, being destined to play an important part in Italian and
Spanish history. The Spanish minister, Alberoni, devoted himself to
building up Spanish influence in Italy.
The Triple and Quadruple Alliances.--Her Italian policy brought Spain
into discord with the Emperor Charles VI, as the House of Austria hoped
to remain the dominant factor in Italy. In 1717 Austrian acts in the
Milanese provoked hostilities. Spanish forces immediately occupied
Sardinia and the following year Sicily. The same year an alliance had
been made between England, France, and Holland, and in 1718 Austria
joined the alliance. Austrian troops were sent to Italy, a Spanish fleet
was defeated by the English Admiral Byng, and in 1719 a French army
crossed the Spanish frontier. Spain was brought to terms and Alberoni
was dismissed. But before definite terms could be arranged, France
opened negotiations with Spain and French influence was greatly
strengthened. The war between Spain and France extended to their North
American colonies, with important consequences, as has been set forth in
an earlier chapter.
Spanish-Austrian alliance.--From 1721 to 1724 Elizabeth Farnese depended
on the French alliance to attain her ends. But France made no effort to
dislodge the English from Gibraltar, and Spanish merchants complained of
English smugglers in the colonies. Furthermore, Don Carlos had not been
established in Italy. To bring about the desired ends, in 1725 an
alliance between Spain and Austria was formed. This was made possible by
the ambitions of the Emperor Charles VI, who had been unable to obtain
the adhesion of England, Holland, and France to the Pragmatic Sanction.
He also hoped to secure a part of the Oriental trade by the formation of
the Ostend East India Company, an enterprise which ran counter to
English, Dutch, and French interests. Spain immediately demanded from
England the cession of Gibraltar. The reply was the formation of the
League of Hanover between England, France, and Prussia, the last named
power, however, soon deserting its allies. Hostilities began in 1726
when an English fleet blockaded Puerto Bello and in 1727 the Spanish
besieged Gibraltar. Austria was unprepared for war. Powerful parties in
England and France did not favor it, and a considerable faction in Spain
opposed the Austrian alliance. In consequence a peace was patched up.
The operations of the Ostend Company were suspended for seven years, and
the siege of Gibraltar was abandoned.
The treaty of Seville.--Abandoned by Austria, Elizabeth Farnese turned
to England and Holland. A treaty was made which provided that the
privileges of the Ostend Company be revoked, that England's former
rights of trade in the Spanish colonies be renewed, that Spain abandon
her claims to Minorca and Gibraltar, and that the succession of Don
Carlos to the Italian duchies be guaranteed. The Austrian emperor was
furious, but was pacified by a recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction on
the part of England and Holland. In 1731 Don Carlos became Duke of Parma
and Placenzia and was assured the succession to Tuscany.
French and Spanish alliance.--Walpole was not inclined to strengthen
Spanish influence in Italy, so the shifty queen abandoned England and
brought about an alliance with France. This was made possible by
commercial difficulties in the colonies, and by the fact that French and
English colonial interests were approaching a collision. The alliance of
France and Spain was not disclosed, however, until 1739. In 1733 the War
of the Polish Succession broke out; in the struggle England remained
neutral, but France and Spain took an active part against Austria. At
the end of the war Naples and Sicily were united under the rule of Don
Carlos and the great ambition of Elizabeth Farnese was attained.
Commercial relations of Spain and England, 1715-1739.--By the treaty of
Utrecht England had gained the right to supply the Spanish colonies with
slaves and to send an annual cargo of five hundred tons to Spanish
ports. English merchants were not satisfied with this paltry trade, and
smuggling increased. Spanish coast guard ships seized many of the
English traders, who received rough handling by the Spanish officials.
During 1738 and 1739 public opinion in England became more and more
inflamed against Spain. A paper presented to parliament in 1738 showed
that in recent years fifty-two vessels had been plundered by the
Spaniards, and that British seamen had been harshly treated. The most
famous case was that of Thomas Jenkins, who declared that a coast guard
captain had captured him, cut off his ears, and insolently remarked,
"Carry this home to the King, your master, whom, if he were present, I
Would serve in like fashion." Attempts to settle difficulties by
diplomacy failed, and by the summer of 1739 it became evident that war
was at hand. On July 10 George II issued a proclamation authorizing
reprisals and letters of marque against Spanish commerce. England
declared war on October 23, and Spain on November 28.
THE WAR OF JENKINS' EAR
Puerto Bello, Cartagena, and Chagres.--As soon as war appeared
inevitable, orders were despatched to Jamaica to make reprisals and
Admiral Edward Vernon, in command of nine war vessels, was sent to the
West Indies. Hearing that the Spanish galleons would rendezvous at
Cartagena and then sail to Puerto Bello, where bullion was waiting to be
exchanged for merchandise, Vernon determined to attack Puerto Bello. On
November 22, 1739, the place was captured and the fortifications
demolished. On March 6 and 7, 1740, Cartagena was bombarded, and a part
of the fleet then attacked and captured Chagres.
The Georgia frontier.--While these events were taking place, Oglethorpe
was taking measures to strengthen the Georgia frontier. Hearing that the
Spanish and French were tampering with the Indians, he visited Kawita,
the principal Lower Creek village, where a conference was held with
chieftains of many tribes, who acknowledged the sovereignty of George
II. Upon his return to Augusta, Oglethorpe was visited by Chickasaw and
Cherokee chiefs, who made complaint against the traders, but he
succeeded in appeasing them. By these conferences the frontier was made
safe from Indian depredations in the coming war. As soon as Oglethorpe
received information that a state of war existed, he recruited his
forces and sent runners to the Indian villages asking for a thousand
warriors to coöperate against the Spaniards. Fortifications were
strengthened and vessels patrolled the coast. In November, 1739, word
came that the settlement on Amelia Island had been attacked. In
retaliation the Spaniards were driven from their outposts on the St.
John's. On January 1, 1740, Oglethorpe proceeded against Fort Picolata
on the St. John's River, surprised and captured it, and shortly
afterward Fort San Francisco de Papa, only twenty-one miles from St.
Augustine, was reduced but later abandoned.
Attack on St. Augustine.--Oglethorpe determined to make an attempt to
capture St. Augustine. He repaired to Charleston, where he succeeded in
getting the assembly to pass an act to contribute five hundred men and a
schooner. The mouth of the St. John's River was to be the rendezvous for
the Carolina and Georgia troops. The Indians were asked to send forces
to Frederica. Oglethorpe also obtained the coöperation of nine small
vessels of the British fleet. Without waiting for a complete
concentration of his forces, he entered Florida in May, 1740, and soon
captured the Spanish outposts. He then concentrated his forces and moved
against St. Augustine. Oglethorpe expected to capture it by a combined
sea and land attack, but the fleet failed to coöperate and a siege had
to be instituted. The city was closely invested until June 14, when a
sortie succeeded in recapturing one of the outposts. A ship of war which
had been guarding the Matanzas River was withdrawn and the Spaniards
took advantage of the opportunity to land reinforcements and supplies
from Havana. After a consultation between the naval and military
commanders, Oglethorpe decided to give up the undertaking.
Spanish and English preparations.--The Spaniards, alarmed by English
activities, in July, 1740, sent out a large squadron under Admiral Don
Rodrigo de Torres. France was persuaded to proclaim her close alliance
with Spain and she made known her decision not to allow England to make
conquests or new settlements in the West Indies, but the death of the
Emperor Charles VI determined her to stay out of the war for the time
being. When news of Torres' fleet reached England, twenty large vessels,
several frigates and small craft, and many transports carrying nine
thousand troops were sent to the West Indies, where they arrived in
December. "A fleet such as had never before been assembled in the waters
of the New World was now at the disposal of the British commander."
Commodore George Anson was also despatched around Cape Horn to the
Pacific to prey upon Spanish commerce.
English failures.--In March, 1740, the English fleet anchored before
Cartagena. From March 9 to April 11 the city was besieged, but lack of
harmony between the commanders of the land and sea forces, and general
mismanagement coupled with sickness among the besiegers, contributed to
one of the most striking failures in English naval history. After
destroying the works which had been taken, the expedition sailed for
Jamaica and shortly afterward eleven of the heavier vessels and five
frigates were withdrawn from the West Indian station. The English
ministry also hoped to conquer Cuba, but an attack on Santiago failed as
dismally as that on Cartagena. In 1742 the capture of Panamá by an
overland expedition from Puerto Bello was planned, but after again
occupying Puerto Bello the scheme was found to be impossible of
attainment. The only success of the year was the occupation of Roatan
Island off Honduras Bay. In October Vernon returned to England, leaving
Oglethorpe in command of the West Indian station. An expedition along
the Venezuelan coast failed as completely as other English ventures on
the Spanish main.
The Georgia frontier, 1742-1743.--The failures of the English made it
possible for the Spanish to assume the offensive, and forces estimated
at about five thousand, besides a large fleet, were collected at St.
Augustine for an attack upon Georgia. The Spanish attack was launched
against the fortifications on St. Simon Island, but the spirited
defence disheartened the invaders and they soon withdrew to St.
Augustine. In March of the following year Oglethorpe retaliated by a
descent on Florida and drove the Spanish within their defences at St.
Augustine, but being too weak to attack the city, withdrew again to
Georgia.
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
France enters the war.--The European situation had developed along lines
by 1743 which brought France into an offensive alliance with Spain. In
1740 the Emperor Charles VI died and his daughter Maria Theresa became
Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Portions of her
domains were coveted by Prussia and France. Prussia seized Silesia; this
was followed by a French attack, and the War of the Austrian Succession
was on. England and Holland feared that France might annex the Austrian
Netherlands. France found a ready ally in Spain, and the conflict which
had been waged between England and Spain since 1739, by 1743 had
developed into a great European war.
French attack on Acadia.--Events in Europe and the Mediterranean were
far more important in bringing the struggle to a conclusion than those
in America, but it is beyond the scope of this work to deal with them.
During the peace the French had fortified Louisbourg on Cape Breton
Island, making it one of the strongest fortifications in America. The
governor of Cape Breton decided to attempt to regain Acadia and sent out
an expedition which captured Canso. After destroying the town the French
proceeded to Annapolis. The place was saved, however, by the vigilance
of the Massachusetts authorities, Governor Shirley and the assembly
having despatched a body of volunteers, who arrived before the enemy.
Capture of Louisbourg.--Governor Shirley then proposed to the assembly
the quixotic scheme of capturing Louisbourg. Nearly four thousand
volunteers from Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts were
assembled and placed under the command of William Pepperel of Kittery,
Maine. Each of the New England colonies furnished war vessels and
transports, and Commodore Peter Warren was sent from the West Indies
with several ships of war. In April, 1745, the great flotilla appeared
before Louisbourg and the place was soon invested by land and sea. After
one of the most remarkable sieges in American history, in which the
untrained colonials acquitted themselves with bravery and efficiency, on
June 28 the place surrendered.
Border warfare, 1746-1748.--The success at Louisbourg encouraged the
colonists to attempt the conquest of Canada. All of the colonies as far
south as Virginia furnished men, and the Duke of Newcastle promised a
large force of regulars. But the English troops were diverted to Europe
and the plan came to naught. The failure of the projected conquest
spurred the French colonists to attack the outlying settlements; from
Acadia to the New York border, bands of French and Indians harried the
frontier. Grand Pré and Fort Massachusetts were captured but were soon
reoccupied. Until the close of the war, the New England borders were
harassed by frequent raids. The New York and Pennsylvania frontiers were
protected, mainly through the influence of the Indian agent, William
Johnson, who kept the Mohawks friendly, and the Pennsylvania interpreter
Conrad Weiser, whose policy of favoring the Iroquois land claims in
Pennsylvania at the expense of the Delawares held the powerful New York
confederation on the English side.
French and English naval activity, 1745-1746.--In March, 1745, a large
French fleet under De Caylus was sent to the West Indies. As soon as the
English ministry heard of this, Vice-Admiral William Rowley was sent out
with large reinforcements. Though De Caylus's fleet was not engaged, on
October 31 Rowley fell in with another squadron of war vessels and
supply ships, and captured or destroyed thirty out of forty sail. In
1746 France made an attempt to regain Cape Breton and Acadia. Under
D'Anville a fleet of eleven large war vessels, several frigates and
small craft, and transports carrying thirty-five hundred troops, arrived
off the Acadian coast but the fleet was shattered by a storm, and the
enterprise was abandoned.
Decisive battles off Cape Finisterre.--In 1747 another French fleet was
sent out to recapture Cape Breton, but an English fleet under Anson and
Warren intercepted it off Cape Finisterre and nearly every French vessel
was captured. Later in the year France despatched a fleet to the West
Indies convoying over two hundred merchantmen, but near the scene of
the former battle a second great engagement occurred in which the
English were again victorious. These two great victories completed the
destruction of the French fighting navy.
Knowles's attack on the Spanish, 1748.--Early in 1748 Rear-Admiral
Charles Knowles attacked and captured Port Louis on the southern shore
of Española. In April he bombarded Santiago de Cuba. In September an
engagement with a Spanish fleet took place off Havana, but he succeeded
in capturing only one vessel.
The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.--The long war was drawing to an end,
neither side having attained unqualified success. In the Peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle, signed in October, 1748, all conquests were restored.
The peace was but a truce. Both England and France realized it and both
put forth efforts to strengthen and extend their colonial possessions.
THE APPROACH OF ANOTHER CONFLICT
Acadia.--Acadia, the upper valley of the Ohio, and the Cherokee country
were debatable territories. To insure English possession of Acadia, Lord
Halifax, the president of the Board of Trade, insisted upon the
strengthening of the peninsula of Nova Scotia. In 1749 twenty-five
hundred emigrants were sent over and the city of Halifax was founded.
Three years later the English population had increased to four thousand.
Edward Cornwallis was installed as governor, and the usual form of crown
colony government established. Fort Lawrence was erected on the isthmus.
Since many of the Acadians had failed to be neutral in the last war,
Cornwallis asked that they again take the oath of allegiance, a request
which was refused, and three or four thousand emigrated rather than
swear allegiance. The policy of France regarding Acadia was to restrict
its boundaries to the peninsula of Nova Scotia, to incite the Indians to
make depredations, and to keep the Acadians loyal to the French king.
Fort Beauséjour on the isthmus was converted into a formidable fortress
and Louisbourg was greatly strengthened.
English activities on the Ohio.--Victories on the sea in the recent war
had made it possible for English merchants to undersell their French
rivals. From Albany and Oswego officials and traders worked in unison
to keep the friendship of the Iroquois. From his estate on the Mohawk,
William Johnson, a nephew of Admiral Warren, exerted great influence
over the neighboring tribes, an influence which was to increase as the
years went by. To the southward the frontiersmen grasped the opportunity
for profit, and soon the Ohio country was frequented by many traders
from Virginia and Pennsylvania. They penetrated to the Indian villages
as far as the Mississippi and even into the country beyond. The
principal trading centers were Pickawillany in the Miami confederacy,
Logstown on the Ohio, and Venango on the Alleghany. Settlers also began
to cross the mountains; in 1748 Virginia frontiersmen made a settlement
at Draper's Meadow on the Greenbrier River.
The Ohio Company.--In 1744, at a council held at Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, the Iroquois granted to the English the control of the
country north of the upper Ohio. By subsequent agreements title was
obtained to lands south of the river. In 1749 definite action was taken
to occupy the territory. The project was launched by Virginia, partly to
check the western pretensions of Pennsylvania. A charter was granted
conveying a half-million acres on the upper Ohio to a group of Virginia
and English gentlemen, among the stockholders being several of
Washington's relatives. The grantees agreed to build a fort on the Ohio
and within seven years to settle a hundred families on their lands. In
the same year the Loyal Company secured a grant of 800,000 acres in the
West. In 1750 Christopher Gist, a well-known fur trader, was sent by the
Ohio Company to explore as far as the Falls of the Ohio, the site of
modern Louisville. During 1750-1751 he traversed portions of what are
now Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. His
favorable report stimulated activity; a trading house was built at
Wills' Creek where Cumberland, Maryland, now stands, and a trail was
blazed to the junction of Redstone Creek and the Monongahela, the
primitive beginning of the Cumberland Pike. A few Virginians immediately
settled at the western terminal of the trail.
The French frontier strengthened.--In general the Iroquois had been
faithful to the English, but the French continued their efforts to gain
the support of the powerful confederation. An Iroquois mission was
established near Montreal, and in 1748 Father Piquet founded the mission
of La Presentation at modern Ogdensburg. To divert trade from Oswego, in
1749 Fort Rouillé was built where Toronto now flourishes. A new post was
established at the Niagara portage, Detroit was strengthened, and a
garrison stationed at Sault Ste. Marie. The Marquis de la Galissonière,
the governor of Canada, saw the danger of the English occupation of the
Ohio country. In 1749 he despatched a force under Céloron de Bienville
to take possession. The expedition passed from Lake Erie to Chautauqua
Lake and proceeded southward to the Alleghany, where the work of taking
formal possession began. The procedure was to proclaim French
sovereignty, to nail to a tree a sheet of tin bearing the arms of
France, and to bury at the foot of the tree a leaden plate which stated
that the land along the Ohio and its tributaries belonged to the King of
France. Many Indian villages in the Ohio Valley were visited and several
plates buried, but wherever Céloron went he found evidences that the
tribes were friendly to the English. At the Great Miami the last plate
was buried, and the party proceeded to the French post on the Maumee and
then returned to Canada.
French occupation of the upper Ohio.--In May, 1749, the Marquis de la
Jonquiére was appointed governor general. He was instructed to get rid
of Oswego by inciting the Iroquois to attack it. Jonquiére found his
government permeated with dishonesty, the intendant Bigot having used
his official position to fatten the purses of himself and friends. The
governor was powerless to occupy the Ohio country, having neither
soldiers nor money sufficient for the enterprise. When he ordered
Céloron to attack Pickawillany, that officer refused because of
disaffection among the neighboring Indians. But help came from an
unexpected quarter. A young French trader from Green Bay named Charles
Langlade gathered two hundred and fifty Ottawas and Ojibways and
destroyed the Miami village. Jonquiére died in 1752; his successor, the
Marquis Duquesne, proved to be of sterner stuff. In 1753 he sent an
expedition of fifteen hundred men to occupy the Ohio country. Fort
Presq'Isle was erected and a road was cut to French Creek, where Fort
LeBoeuf was built The French planned to build another fort at the forks
of the Ohio, but sickness and the lateness of the season interrupted
their operations.
Washington's mission, 1753.--Dinwiddie, the lieutenant-governor of
Virginia, realized the import of the French advance. He warned the home
government which authorized him to demand the departure of the enemy,
and in case of refusal, to drive them out by force. He at once sent an
embassy to protest. The bearer of the message was George Washington, a
surveyor who had barely reached the age of twenty-one. Guided by
Christopher Gist, he proceeded to the forks of the Ohio, then to
Logstown where parleys were held with the Indians, and later to Venango.
Washington was civilly received but was told that the French intended to
keep possession of the Ohio. He then proceeded to Fort LeBoeuf, where he
was told that Dinwiddie's letter would be sent to Duquesne and that in
the meantime the commander would remain at his post. It was evident that
force must be employed if the Ohio country was to become English
territory.
The southern frontier.--The back country of the Carolinas and Georgia
was the land of the hunters, cowboys, and Indian traders. The
headquarters of the Georgia traders was Augusta, while those of South
Carolina had a place of deposit at the residence of Peter St. Julien
near Dorchester. From there the caravans followed the Congaree trail or
that which led to the Chickasaw. French agents were continually working
among the interior tribes and in 1753 a war broke out between the Creeks
and Cherokees. Governor Glen of South Carolina called the Indians to
conferences and finally succeeded in maintaining peace for the time
being. The governor then visited the lower Cherokee and purchased a
tract of land on which Fort Prince George was built, one hundred and
seventy miles above Augusta on the Savannah River.
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
Virginia prepares to attack the French.--When Dinwiddie heard the French
reply, he prepared for war. From the house of burgesses he demanded men
and money, and messengers were sent to the Catawbas, Cherokees,
Chickasaws, and the Iroquois of the Ohio Valley asking them to join in a
war against the French. Dinwiddie also appealed to the governors of
Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Maryland, and New Jersey for men
and he asked the governors of New York and Massachusetts to make a
demonstration against Canada to distract forces from the Ohio. The
replies proved disappointing. The only outside troops which immediately
came were a company of regulars from South Carolina sent by royal order.
Two companies of regulars from New York arrived too late to be of
service.
Washington's first campaign.--Three hundred provincial troops were
raised in Virginia and placed under Joshua Frye, with Washington second
in command. A few backwoodsmen were sent forward in February, 1754, to
build a fort at the forks of the Ohio, but were captured by a body of
French and Indians. The prisoners were released and brought back the
news of their mishap. The French demolished the fortification and built
a stronger one which they named Fort Duquesne. Washington pushed on
toward the west with a portion of the troops and by the middle of May
reached the Great Meadows. Hearing that a party of French were scouting
in the neighborhood, Washington, with forty men surprised them, captured
twenty-two, and killed ten.
The death of Frye gave Washington the command. Realizing the imminence
of an attack, he constructed a rude fortification at Great Meadows,
which he called Fort Necessity, and here the rest of the Virginia troops
and the regulars from South Carolina were concentrated. From Ft.
Duquesne a force variously estimated at from five hundred to seven
hundred men under Coulon de Villiers, was despatched to attack
Washington's forces, now reduced to about three hundred and fifty
effectives. The fortifications proved to be badly constructed and poorly
located, and ammunition ran short. In a few hours fifty or sixty men had
fallen, and when Villiers proposed terms of surrender it was evident
that they must be accepted. "Not an English flag now waved beyond the
Alleghanies," and the red warriors of the West and even many of the
Iroquois flocked to the standards of France.
Apathy of the colonial legislatures.--Even Washington's defeat did not
greatly arouse the colonial assemblies. After much delay Virginia voted
twenty thousand pounds, Pennsylvania a paltry five hundred pounds for
presents to the Indians, New York five thousand pounds, Maryland six
thousand. In Massachusetts Governor Shirley used a rumor that the French
were seizing places in the back country to obtain a large grant. He also
sent eight hundred men to build two forts on the Kennebec. The southern
colonies appear to have taken no action.
The Albany convention.--The encroachments of the French showed the
necessity of adopting some plan of defence. In June, 1754,
representatives from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the New
England colonies met at Albany. The Indian chiefs stated their
grievances and were sent away soothed but hardly satisfied. The
representatives then took up the subject of defence. A plan of union,
chiefly the work of Franklin, was proposed, but when it was submitted to
the colonies they unanimously rejected it. The Board of Trade then
formulated a plan of union for military purposes only, but events were
occurring which made it necessary to take immediate action. The plan was
laid aside, and the board suggested the appointment of a
commander-in-chief over all the forces in America, a suggestion which
was eventually put into effect.
Preparations for war.--In Europe, England and France were nominally at
peace. At the head of the English ministry was the Duke of Newcastle,
who maintained his control of a parliamentary majority by corruption
rather than by statesmanship. Fortunately for England, she had a fleet
which was far more numerous than that of her opponent. The strength of
France lay in her army which was nearly ten times as strong as that of
her rival. Major-General Edward Braddock, a former governor of
Gibraltar, stubborn, irascible, and little given to taking advice, was
sent to Virginia with two regiments, which embarked at Cork in January,
1755. As soon as the French heard of this, eighteen men-of-war with
three thousand soldiers were sent to Canada, followed shortly by nine
more war vessels. The English immediately sent twelve vessels under
Admiral Boscawen in pursuit, followed shortly by seven more, but only
two of the French vessels were captured.
The council of governors.--Braddock summoned the governors for a
consultation and they met in April, 1755, at Alexandria in Virginia.
Those who responded were the governors of Virginia, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts. William Johnson was
also at Alexandria but was not in the council. A four-fold attack was
planned. Braddock was to attack Fort Duquesne; Shirley was to strike at
Niagara; Johnson to attack Crown Point; and Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton
was to proceed against Beauséjour.
Braddock's campaign.--After great difficulty in obtaining wagons and
supplies, Braddock moved toward the frontier. In May his forces,
composed of about two thousand men, were gathered at Fort Cumberland. At
Little Meadows, thirty miles from Fort Cumberland, Braddock left the
heavy baggage and marched on, though slowly, to attack Fort Duquesne. On
July 9 when the forces were about seven miles from the fort they began
to march along a rough path through the forest. As the English advanced
forces were crossing a ravine they were attacked by the French and
Indians, who spread out on either side and fought from behind trees,
while the English regulars wheeled into line and returned the fire. The
bravery and discipline of the English regulars proved of little avail
against the invisible enemy and they soon broke and fled. Braddock
hastened up with the second division, but the troops retreating from the
front threw them into hopeless confusion. Braddock realized that his
force was in danger of annihilation and ordered a retreat. As he fell
back he received a mortal wound. Washington, left in command, extricated
the troops as best he could and once more led back the sorry remnant of
a defeated force.
The harrying of the frontiers.--With the defeat of Braddock, the
frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were left almost
defenceless. Washington could muster barely fifteen hundred men to
protect a mountainous frontier nearly four hundred miles long. No
assistance was offered by Pennsylvania, whose Quaker representatives,
religiously opposed to war, quarreled with the governor over raising
money for defence, in every revenue bill asserting the right to tax the
lands of the proprietor, a course in which the governor was unable to
acquiesce. The deadlock between governor and assembly continued for
months, while Indian war bands killed hundreds of settlers. The back
country of Virginia was also a scene of massacre and rapine. Under
Washington's supervision a plan of defence was devised. Blockhouses
were built at advantageous points along the frontier, the most important
being Fort Ligonier near the Alleghany River, Fort Chiswell in the
Shenandoah Valley, Fort Bird on the Holston River, and Fort Loudoun on
the Little Tennessee. Fort Cumberland protected the upper Potomac.
[Illustration: The Western English Frontier (From Thwaites, France in
America, opposite p. 256 [Harpers]).]
Operations in Acadia.--While the war was going badly on the western
frontier Nova Scotia was the scene of victory. In June Monckton with two
thousand colonials landed at Fort Lawrence and soon captured Fort
Beauséjour. Fort Gaspereau and a fortification at the mouth of the St.
John were also occupied. Then followed one of those tragic dramas of
war, the removal of the Acadians. They had constantly been in sympathy
with France and many of them had broken their neutrality in the recent
conflict. When they were again asked to take the oath of allegiance they
stubbornly refused. Fearing their defection in case the French attempted
to reconquer the peninsula, their deportation was ordered. Over six
thousand were sent away, many being placed in the mainland English
colonies; others went to Louisiana and the West Indies, and still others
to Canada and France. One shipload of the unfortunates landed in Texas
and fell into the hands of the Spaniards.
The Crown Point campaign.--For the advance against Crown Point about
three thousand men from the New England colonies and New York were
brought together at Albany under William Johnson. It was not until
August that they encamped at the southern end of Lake George. The
slowness of Johnson's movements had given the French ample time for
preparation. Baron Dieskau with thirty-four hundred men had been sent to
Crown Point. He now moved southward with a part of his force to a point
almost east of the English camp. In the first engagement Dieskau scored
a success. He then rashly attacked the English camp, but his forces
suffered heavily, were finally routed, and the commander captured. After
the battle Johnson, who was wounded, decided not to attempt to capture
Crown Point.
The Niagara campaign.--Governor Shirley undertook the reduction of
Niagara. With two regiments of colonials and five hundred New Jersey men
he advanced to Oswego. But there Shirley found himself checkmated, for
the French had sent fourteen hundred men to Fort Frontenac and had
brought twelve hundred from Fort Duquesne to Niagara. If Shirley
attacked, he would be in danger of forces from Fort Frontenac cutting
his line of communications. After a summer of inactivity he left a
garrison of seven hundred men at Oswego and abandoned the campaign.
The diplomatic revolution.--In 1756 the old alignment of England and
Austria against Prussia, France, and Spain changed. Since the War of the
Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa had bided her time, until she could
recover Silesia. With the aid of her great minister, Kaunitz, she
succeeded in forming new alliances, France, Russia, Austria, and some of
the minor German states uniting against Frederick the Great. To protect
Hanover, the hereditary possession of George II, England made an
alliance with Prussia, and thus became a participant in the Seven Years'
War. Although a state of war with France had existed in India and
America, neither power had made a declaration of war. But there was no
longer need for subterfuge; England declared war on May 18, 1756, and
France on June 9.
French preparations.--Already France had despatched to America the
Marquis de Montcalm to take command of the forces, with the Chevalier de
Levis as second in command. Almost from the first Montcalm was beset
with difficulties. Vaudreuil, who had taken Duquesne's place as
governor-general, was a colonial, jealous of any official from France, a
man lacking in decision, desirous of appearing as the mainspring of
success, but ever ready to blame failure upon others. The Intendant
Bigot was entirely venal, a man of low morality, who feathered his nest
regardless of the public danger. Montcalm's command contained three
thousand French regulars in Canada and eleven hundred at Louisbourg, two
thousand trained colonials, and about fifteen thousand militia. The
Indian allies furnished varying numbers.
English preparations.--Upon his return from Oswego Shirley planned a new
offensive, which included attacks upon Ft. Duquesne, the Lake Ontario
and Lake Champlain defences, and the settlements above Quebec. This was
approved by a war council at Albany, but the colonies refused to embark
in such an extensive scheme and the attack on Ft. Duquesne and Quebec
had to be abandoned. John Winslow was commissioned to lead the troops
against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Shirley proposed to command
against the Ontario strongholds. But before the plan could be executed
Shirley was superseded by Colonel Daniel Webb, who in turn was followed
by General James Abercromby, with the understanding that Loudoun was
soon to take command.
The fall of Oswego.--While the colonial forces were slowly preparing to
take the offensive, Montcalm struck at Oswego. A three days' siege made
the forts untenable and the place surrendered on August 14, 1756,
sixteen hundred prisoners being taken. Montcalm then returned to
Ticonderoga, where his garrison of five thousand men defied Loudoun, who
dared not attack him. The year had been one of dismal disasters for the
English: Oswego fallen, the Ticonderoga attack abandoned, the frontiers
from Maine to South Carolina harried by Indian war, Minorca captured by
the French, and Calcutta fallen to Sur'a ah Dowlah.
Pitt becomes the moving spirit.--Newcastle's mismanagement raised a
popular outcry and in November, 1756, he resigned. The Duke of
Devonshire became Prime Minister, but Pitt was the strong man of the new
cabinet. He was not in the king's favor, however, and, by April, 1757,
was forced out of office. In July a new ministry was formed. "To
Newcastle was given the name of Prime Minister, to Pitt the reality.
With the control of foreign affairs as Principal Secretary of State he
was also to have control of the war." He saw that England's opportunity
was on the seas and in the colonies.
Louisbourg and Ft. William Henry.--At the advice of Loudoun an attack on
Louisbourg had been planned. A part of the troops were withdrawn from
the northern frontier and in June eleven or twelve thousand men were
gathered at Halifax, where they were joined by a squadron under
Vice-Admiral Holburne. The news that Louisbourg had been heavily
reinforced alarmed Loudoun and he returned to New York. Holburne cruised
off Louisbourg, hoping to attack the French, but his fleet was shattered
by a storm. Loudoun had left an insufficient force to defend the Lake
George region. Montcalm, ever on the alert to take advantage of the
blunders of the enemy, descended from Ticonderoga and attacked Fort
William Henry at the southern end of the lake. After a three days'
bombardment the English force of about two thousand surrendered. On the
continent the British had failed dismally. An attempt to capture
Rochefort had been unsuccessful and the Duke of Cumberland had conducted
an inglorious campaign in Germany. The only great British successes of
the year were in India where Calcutta and Chandernagore were captured
and the battle of Plassey was won.
Preparations and plans, 1758.--By 1758 Pitt, ably seconded by Admiral
Anson, had brought the army and navy to a high standard. A squadron was
sent to watch Brest, flying squadrons attacked several French ports, a
fleet was maintained in the Mediterranean to prevent the fleet at Toulon
from getting into the Atlantic, and small squadrons were sent to India,
to the African coast, and the West Indies. The army was raised to a
hundred thousand. In America Loudoun was superseded by Abercromby,
Major-General Amherst was sent over, and twenty thousand provincial
troops were put in the field. A three-fold offensive was planned. Forbes
with about seven thousand men was to attack Fort Duquesne; Abercromby
and Howe with fifteen thousand men were to clear the French from Lake
Champlain, and Amherst with twelve thousand regulars aided by a powerful
fleet under Admiral Boscawen was to attack Louisbourg.
Capture of Louisbourg.--Boscawen and Amherst rendezvoused at Halifax and
on June 1, 1758, over a hundred and fifty vessels appeared before
Louisbourg. Gradually the English forces encompassed the fortress. The
French sunk several war vessels in the harbor mouth to prevent the
entrance of the English fleet, but in the course of the bombardment
three of the remaining French vessels caught fire and two others were
destroyed by a night attack. The defences were battered down one by one
and on July 26 Ducour, the French commander, offered to capitulate and
six thousand prisoners of war passed into English hands.
Abercromby's defeat.--While the English were besieging Louisbourg,
Abercromby led his army of fifteen thousand against Ticonderoga.
Montcalm was in command of the French fortress, which was garrisoned by
less than four thousand men. The English army crossed Lake George on a
great flotilla, and on July 6 was within four miles of Ticonderoga.
Abercromby foolishly thought that the fortifications could be rushed
with the bayonet and on July 8 the attempt was made. The French fire
mowed down the charging ranks with frightful slaughter. A desultory
fight continued, followed by a second charge which also failed, and
Abercromby, after losing nearly two thousand men, decided to retreat. In
October Amherst took command of the forces which were encamped at the
southern end of Lake George, but the season was too far advanced to
attempt another great offensive in that region until spring.
Forts Frontenac and Duquesne.--The French forces on Lake Ontario had
been weakened by withdrawals. Taking advantage of this, in August
Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet led twenty-five hundred men against Fort
Frontenac. The feeble garrison of one hundred soon surrendered, and the
fort and ships in the harbor were destroyed. Lake Ontario was now in the
hands of the English, and French control on the upper Ohio was
weakening. General Forbes gathered a force of six or seven thousand men
and advanced toward Fort Duquesne. Upon the approach of the English in
November, the French destroyed the fortifications and scattered to the
various western posts which they still possessed.
Kerlérec and the southern Indians.--That the English did not carry the
war into the Southwest was due in no small part to the Indian policy of
Kerlérec, the governor of Louisiana. The Creeks and Choctaws were
traditionally favorable to the French, but their loyalty was always
strained by the superior quality of English goods. Kerlérec made annual
visits to Mobile to distribute presents, and prevented the Choctaws from
threatened defection. Through his influence, in 1755 and again in 1757
the Creeks expelled Englishmen sent to establish posts among them, and
murdered English traders. In 1757 Fort Massac was built on the Ohio to
prevent an English expedition descending that stream or the Cumberland.
At the same time the Shawnees returned to French allegiance.
The Cherokee War.--For three years Kerlérec intrigued with the Cherokees
and succeeded in winning them over. He soon incited them to attack the
settlements and many depredations occurred. In October, 1759, Governor
Lyttleton of South Carolina, after a show of force, patched up a truce,
but shortly afterward the Cherokees surrounded Fort Prince George and
killed the commander and two others. The garrison then massacred Indian
hostages within the fort, and immediately the southern frontier was
ablaze with war. Hostilities assumed such proportions that it was
necessary, early in 1760, for Amherst to send twelve hundred men to
assist the colony. An expedition under Colonel Montgomery destroyed many
Cherokee villages, but Montgomery's orders did not allow him to remain
long in the colony, and in August he departed for New York. The
Cherokees then captured Fort Loudoun. In 1761 an expedition of
twenty-six hundred Highlanders and colonials under Colonel Grant was
sent against the Indians. The heart of the Cherokee country was
penetrated and the Indians were forced to sue for peace.
Operations in the West Indies.--Late in 1758 British reinforcements were
sent to the West Indies to attempt the capture of the French island
possessions, twenty-five vessels being gathered under Commodore John
Moore. In January an attempt was made to take Martinique, but the French
force of ten thousand regulars and militia prevented the occupation.
During the following months Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, the Saintes, La
Désirade, and Petit Terre surrendered to the English.
The campaigns of 1759.--Four expeditions against the French in North
America were planned for 1759; one under Prideaux against Niagara, a
second under Stanwix against settlements on Lake Erie, and a third under
Amherst against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The fourth under
Vice-Admiral Saunders and Major-General Wolfe was directed against
Quebec.
Niagara captured.--Prideaux arrived before Niagara in July. In the
attack the general was accidentally killed and Sir William Johnson took
command. He defeated a relieving force and the fort surrendered. The
fall of Niagara made it unnecessary for Stanwix to proceed, and he
devoted his energies to the building of Fort Pitt, on the site of modern
Pittsburgh.
The fall of Quebec.--While Amherst was slowly moving toward Lake
Champlain, the more important operations were proceeding against Quebec.
The rendezvous was at Louisbourg. There were gathered nine thousand
troops, thirty-nine men-of-war, ten auxiliaries, twenty-six transports,
and a hundred and sixty-two other craft, manned by eighteen thousand
men. In June the vast armament sailed up the St. Lawrence to attack the
strongest fortification on the continent. For the defence of the city
Montcalm was able to muster an army of seventeen thousand, four thousand
of whom were French regulars. The city occupies a promontory which juts
into the St. Lawrence. Behind it are the Plains of Abraham, a plateau
with almost perpendicular cliffs. To the eastward flows the River St.
Charles. Between the St. Charles and the Montmorency stretched the
fortified French camp. The only weak place in the defence was Point
Levis across the river. This Montcalm had wished to fortify but had been
overruled by Vaudreuil.
On June 26 the fleet approached the city and Point Levis was immediately
occupied. Then began a series of attacks upon the French positions below
the city, but every assault was repulsed and frequently with heavy loss.
It became evident that the French encampment could not be taken and the
plan of attack was changed. The fleet, which formed a screen for land
operations on the southern shore, had gradually succeeded in getting
several vessels above the city, intercepting supplies and
reinforcements. At a council of war an attack above the city was
determined upon. Wolfe withdrew his forces from the Montmorency and they
were transferred to a point above the town. This movement was covered by
the movement of the ships, which continually passed up and down the
river as if to make a landing. On September 12 Saunders bombarded the
French camp below the city. Montcalm, completely deceived, hurried
reinforcements to that quarter. Before dawn of September 13 Wolfe landed
his first detachment at the foot of the cliffs two miles above the city.
Up the steep side clambered a small party, who overcame the guard at the
top. By sunrise forty-five hundred men had mounted to the Plains of
Abraham. Montcalm made a desperate effort to regain the position but the
battle went in favor of the English. Both Wolfe and Montcalm were
killed. On September 17 the British troops entered Quebec, the key to
the St. Lawrence.
Important naval operations.--Elsewhere the English were equally
successful. In 1758 Sénégal and Gorée on the African coast had been
captured, and in 1759 on the coast of India a French fleet was bested
and abandoned the East Indian waters. Rodney destroyed a French fleet at
Havre, Boscawen in August completely defeated the French Mediterranean
fleet, and Hawke in November annihilated the channel fleet in a great
battle near Quiberon Bay.
The French fail to recapture Quebec.--Although Quebec had fallen the
French still had a formidable force in the field. The troops were
withdrawn from Lake Champlain and new levies were raised. By April,
1760, Levis had gathered an army of eleven thousand men and he proceeded
boldly to attempt the recapture of Quebec. A hard winter had greatly
reduced the effectiveness of the English garrison and General Murray was
able to meet the French with only three thousand men. On April 18
occurred the second battle on the Plains of Abraham. The artillery saved
the English and the attack failed. An English fleet soon blocked the St.
Lawrence and the possibility of aid from France was at an end.
The capture of Montreal.--The last important Canadian stronghold was
Montreal, and here Vaudreuil and Levis made their final stand. Three
English armies were sent against the place. Murray ascended the St.
Lawrence, Haviland advanced from Lake Champlain, and Amherst with eleven
thousand men proceeded from Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence. The
French, weakened by desertions and discouraged by defeats, offered
little resistance; on September 8 articles of capitulation were signed
and the struggle for New France was practically ended. Forts Miami,
Detroit, Mackinac, and St. Joseph soon surrendered; of the mainland
colonies Louisiana alone remained in the possession of France and this
also she was destined to lose.
George III becomes king.--The year 1760 also saw the breaking of French
power in India. Colonel Eyre Coote decisively defeated Count Lally at
the battle of Wandewash and the next year Pondicherry was captured,
putting an effectual end to French influence in the Carnatic. When
English success was at its height George III ascended the throne of
England. He opposed the war of conquest which Pitt was waging, desiring
to break the power of the Whig oligarchy which long had dominated
English politics. In 1761 Pitt resigned but the king was unable to bring
the struggle to an immediate close, for Charles III of Spain renewed the
family compact with France, and Spain entered the war.
Operations in the West Indies and the Philippines.--Against the new
antagonist England's sea power was overwhelmingly superior. In 1761
Rodney was sent to take command in the West Indies. He found Dominica
already in English hands. Rodney immediately ordered the blockade of
Martinique and in February, 1762, the island was surrendered. Shortly
afterward Granada, the Grenadines, and St. Lucia were occupied. Admiral
Pocock was sent out with reinforcements, and a great fleet of
fifty-three war vessels, besides transports and other craft, with an
army of fifteen thousand proceeded against Havana. In June the place was
invested by land and sea. On July 30 Moro Castle was carried by storm,
and on August 13 the city surrendered. Nine ships of the line and loot
to the value of £3,000,000 fell into English hands. The extinguishment
of French power in India made it possible to turn attention to the
Philippines, and a squadron under Draper was sent against Manila. The
place was feebly garrisoned and quickly surrendered, the capitulation
taking place on October 5.
The Peace of Paris.--France, Spain, and England were ready for peace. At
the decisive moment Russia had turned to the side of Prussia, and
Austria was unable to continue the war alone. France made overtures to
England for peace, and on November 3, 1762, the preliminaries were
signed. The definitive treaty between England, France, and Spain was
signed at Paris on February 10, 1763. France surrendered to England
Canada, St. John's, Cape Breton, and all that part of Louisiana which
was east of the Mississippi except the Island of Orleans. France
retained certain fishing rights on the Newfoundland banks and was given
the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. She also obtained Martinique,
Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, and St. Lucia. Belle Isle and Gorée were
restored to France, but England kept Sénégal. Minorca was restored to
England. In Asia English conquests were restored to France but no
fortifications were to be erected by her in Bengal. The preliminary
agreements had arranged matters with Spain. In exchange for Havana,
Florida was ceded to England. Manila was eventually restored to Spain as
the news of the capture did not arrive until the preliminaries had been
signed. Louisiana had been an expensive province, and Louis XV gladly
surrendered all the territory west of the Mississippi and the Isle of
Orleans to Spain as a compensation for the losses of his ally. France
was virtually eliminated from America. England and Spain stood out as
the world's great colonizing powers.
READINGS
THE WARS OF JENKINS' EAR AND THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
Armstrong, E., _Elizabeth Farnese_; Clowes, W.L., _The Royal Navy_, III,
50-138, 263-289; Jones, C.C., _The History of Georgia_, I, 314-369;
Mahan, A.T., _The Influence of Sea-Power upon History, 1660-1783_, pp.
254-279; McCrady, E., _The History of South Carolina under the Royal
Government, 1719-1776_, pp. 187-229; Parkman, F., _A Half-Century of
Conflict_, II, 33-256; Thwaites, R.G., _France in America_, 105-123;
Walton, J.S., _Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial
Pennsylvania_, 9-121; Wood, W., _The Great Fortress_; Shea, J.G.,
_Catholic Church in Colonial Days_, 470-479.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
Beer, G.L., _British Colonial Policy_, 1754-1765, pp. 6-77; Casgrain,
R.R., _Wolfe and Montcalm_; Channing, Edward, _A History of the United
States_, II, 550-599; Clowes, W.L., _The Royal Navy_, III, 138-255;
Kingsford, W., _The History of Canada_, III, 387-568, IV.; Lucas, C.P.,
_A Historical Geography of the British Colonies_, V, 216-328; McCrady,
Edward, _The History of South Carolina under the Royal Government,
1719-1776_, pp. 329-352; Mahan, A.T., _The Influence of Sea-Power upon
History, 1660-1783_, pp. 281-329; Parkman, Francis, _Montcalm and
Wolfe_; Short, A., and Doughty, A.G., _Canada and its Provinces_, I,
231-312; Smith, P.H., _Acadia, a lost Chapter in American History_,
145-249; Stone, W.L., _The Life and Times of Sir William Johnson_, I,
327-555, II, 1-213; Thwaites, R.G., _France in America_, 143-280;
Villiers du Terrage, Marc de, _Les Dernières Années de la Louisiane
Française_, 48-108; Walton, J.S., _Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy
of Colonial Pennsylvania_, 121-381; Wood, W., _The Passing of New
France; The Winning of Canada_; Corbett, J.S., _England in the Seven
Years' War_; Wrong, G.M., _The Conquest of New France_.
CHAPTER XXI
THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE: THE OCCUPATION OF ALTA CALIFORNIA AND LOUISIANA BY
SPAIN (1763-1783)
READJUSTMENT IN SPANISH NORTH AMERICA
Effect of the Seven Years' War.--The outcome of the Seven Years' War
caused several readjustments in Spanish North America. It left Spain in
a position where she must restore her colonial power or sink to the rank
of a third rate nation. Renewed war with England was regarded as
inevitable. Florida was lost, and was poorly compensated for, it was
thought, by western Louisiana. The French barrier having been removed,
Spain's hold on Louisiana and the Pacific Slope was threatened by the
English, advancing both through Canada and from the thirteen colonies.
On the Pacific Slope the Russians seemed even more threatening than the
English. Added to all this, northern New Spain was overrun by
increasingly hostile tribes. Poor and unprepared though she was,
therefore, Spain was forced to get ready for another war with England,
occupy Louisiana and Alta California, strengthen the frontier defences
of New Spain against the Indians, and explore or reëxplore the northern
interior.
The Reforms of Charles II.--All these demands could be met only by the
most heroic measures; and these were applied by the energetic Charles
III. This king, a Bourbon, had come to the throne in 1759, after a long
and forceful reign as King of Naples. By the time of his accession,
Spain had already profited much by the Bourbon reforms which from time
to time had been instituted since the opening of the century, but the
national revenue was still small, commerce stagnant, the army and navy
weak, and colonial administration corrupt. Now came the new demands
entailed by the outcome of the great war. To make the program of defence
possible, it was necessary to provide revenue. This could be done only
by increasing commerce and reforming the fiscal administration of the
colonies.
Commercial reforms.--Commercial reforms were outlined in a series of
decrees enacted between 1764 and 1778. The ends at which they aimed are
indicated by the deliberations of the _junta_ held in 1765. This body
condemned especially the monopoly enjoyed by Cadiz, delays due to the
flota system, the export duties on Spanish goods, restrictions upon
intercolonial commerce, the smuggling habit, and the English monopoly of
the slave carrying trade.
Reforms of José de Gálvez.--To carry out the reforms in New Spain King
Charles sent José de Gálvez, who, as _visitador general_, was entrusted
with a complete overhauling of the administration. The special function
of Gálvez was to increase the revenues from New Spain. The amount
collected had been limited by crude fiscal methods and by corrupt
officials. Gálvez laid a heavy hand upon "graft," and devised new
sources of revenue. Conspicuous among the latter was the tobacco
industry, which he made a royal monopoly.
Explorations on the Gulf coast.--One of the first steps toward
readjustment of the frontier to the new situation was a series of
explorations looking to the defence of the northern coast of the Gulf of
Mexico against rumored dangers from the English, now in possession of
Florida. To this end, in 1766 Colonel Escandón and Colonel Parrilla
explored the Nuevo Santander and Texas coasts between Tampico and
Matagorda Bay.
Rubí's tour.--To inspect and report on the northern outposts of New
Spain, the Marqués de Rubí was commissioned. Leaving Mexico in March,
1766, he passed through the frontier establishments from Sonora to the
borders of Louisiana. He found the whole northern frontier infested with
warlike tribes, especially the Apaches and Comanches, who committed
depredations all the way from the Gila to central Texas. Rubí
recommended rearranging the northern posts so as to form a cordon of
fifteen, extending from Altar in Sonora to La Bahía in Texas. Regarding
Texas he recommended that the Comanche harassed district of San Sabá and
all of the establishments on the Louisiana border be abandoned, and that
a war of extermination be made against the Eastern Apaches, relying for
the purpose on the aid of their enemies. In 1772 most of the Rubí
recommendations were adopted in the form of a "New Regulation of
Presidios." To Hugo O'Conor, as _comandante inspector_, fell the task of
arranging the line of presidios.
Expulsion of the Jesuits.--For reasons which need not be discussed here,
in 1767 the king of Spain expelled the Jesuits from all of the Spanish
dominions. This caused a general shifting of the missionary forces, the
places of the Jesuits in the northeastern provinces being taken by the
Franciscans. The temporalities were at first put in the hands of soldier
commissioners, but were soon turned over to the Franciscan missionaries.
To Pimería Alta were sent Franciscans from the College of the Holy Cross
of Querétaro. To Lower California went members of the College of San
Fernando of Mexico, the president being Junípero Serra, already
distinguished for work in Sierra Gorda.
Gálvez in Lower California.--In 1768 the visitor, Gálvez, was called to
California and Sonora. In California he restored the temporalities to
the missionaries, consolidated the Indian pueblos, and tried to
stimulate Spanish colonization and mining, but without great success. It
was while on the Peninsula, too, that he organized the expedition to
occupy Alta California.
Gálvez in Sonora.--To end the Indian disturbance which for many years
had been menacing Sinaloa and Sonora, Gálvez sent Colonel Domingo
Elizondo at the head of eleven hundred men. The war began in 1768. After
a year of futile campaigns, chiefly against Cerro Prieto, the landing
place of the enemy, Gálvez himself took command for a time, with little
better results. Elizondo was restored to the command, and for another
year the war continued. By dint of guerrilla warfare, presents, and
coaxing, by the middle of 1771 the rebels were pacified and settled in
towns.
The Provincias Internas.--Prominent among the plans of Gálvez were the
establishment of the intendant system in New Spain, the erection of the
northern provinces into an independent commandancy general, and the
establishment there of one or more bishoprics. The project of a separate
government for part or all of the northern provinces had often been
considered. It was felt that the viceroy was overworked, and too far
from the frontier to understand its needs. The demand was sectional,
based on regional interests. In 1760 a separate viceroyalty had been
proposed, but Gálvez favored a military commandancy general. In 1776,
after he became Minister of the Indies, his ideas were put into effect.
Nueva Vizcaya, Sinaloa, Sonora, the Californias, Coahuila, New Mexico,
and Texas were put under the military and political government of a
comandante general of the Interior Provinces, directly responsible to
the king and practically independent of the viceroy, the Audiencia of
Guadalajara retaining its judicial authority. Chihuahua became the
capital, except for a short time when Arispe was the seat of government
(1780-1782). The first _comandante general_ (1776-1783) was Teodoro de
Croix, brother of Viceroy Croix, and himself later viceroy of Peru. By
writers on California history, with attention fixed on the West, he has
been regarded as incompetent.
New dioceses in the North.--In 1777 the Diocese of Linares was created
to embrace the northeastern provinces of Coahuila, Nuevo León, Nuevo
Santander, and Texas. Two years later was formed the Diocese of Sonora,
to include Sinaloa, Sonora, and the two Californias.
The intendancies.--The primary purpose of the intendancies was to
provide for the fiscal administration. A French institution, the system
had been established in Spain in 1749 with satisfactory results. In 1764
the intendancy of Havana was established, likewise with good results. In
1768 the system was tentatively established in Sonora. At that time
Gálvez favored eleven intendancies, dependent on the viceroy as
superintendent general of revenues. The plan was not put into general
operation until 1786, when Gálvez was Minister of the Indies.
The captaincy-general of Havana.--Up to the middle of the eighteenth
century the audiencia and captaincy-general of Santo Domingo comprised
all of the West Indies and Venezuela. Though nominally within the
district, Florida was a separate captaincy-general, dependent directly
on the Council of the Indies for judicial and military affairs. In other
respects it was subject to the Viceroy of Mexico. As a result of the
English war, in 1764 Havana was made the seat of an independent
captaincy-general and of an intendancy. In 1795 the Audiencia of Santo
Domingo was moved to Havana.
THE RUSSIAN MENACE
The Russian advance.--Spain had long been uneasy about upper California
because of the activities of the English, Dutch, and French. Now the
advance of the Russians seemed more threatening, and caused the long
contemplated step to be taken. In the seventeenth century the Russians
had crossed Siberia and opened up trade with China. In the early
eighteenth century large portions of northern Asia were conquered by
Russia in the interest of the east-moving fur traders. Before he died
Peter the Great set on foot the project of sending an expedition to seek
the northern passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic by going east. In
pursuance of this task Vitus Bering made his stupendous expeditions into
the Pacific (1725-28, 1733-41), in the second of which he discovered
Bering Strait, coasted the American mainland, and made known the
possibilities of profit in the fur trade.
Fur trade on the Aleutian Islands.--Bering's voyage was followed by a
rush of fur traders to the Aleutian Islands. Companies were formed,
vessels built at the port of Okhotsk, and posts established within a few
years on Bering, Unalaska, Kadiak, and other islands, for a distance of
nearly a thousand miles. The principal market for furs was China. The
fur trade was attended by wanton slaughter of animals and harsh
treatment of natives, who sometimes rebelled, as at Unalaska in 1761.
Decision of Spain to occupy Alta California.--Though Russian activities
were as yet confined largely to the Aleutian Islands, the Spanish
government feared that they would be extended down the coast. Moreover,
there was a growing friendship between Russia and England, Spain's chief
enemy. But these dangers, like others discussed during three centuries,
might have resulted in nothing but correspondence had there not been on
the northern frontier of New Spain a man of action, clothed with full
authority to act. This man was the visitor-general, José de Gálvez. On
January 23, 1768, Grimaldi, royal minister, sent the viceroy orders to
resist any aggressions of the Russians that might arise. This order,
which coincided with the views of the visitor and the viceroy, reached
Gálvez while on his way to California.
THE FOUNDING OF ALTA CALIFORNIA
The Portolá expedition.--While settling affairs in the Peninsula Gálvez
organized the expedition. It was designed to establish garrisons at San
Diego and Monterey, and to plant missions, under their protection, to
convert and subdue the natives. The command was entrusted to Governor
Portolá, and the missionary work to Father Junípero Serra, president of
the California missions. The enterprise was carried out in 1769 by joint
land and sea expeditions. The _San Carlos_ under Captain Vicente Vila
and the _San Antonio_ under Captain Juan Pérez conducted a portion of
the party, while the rest marched overland from Lower California, under
Captain Rivera and Governor Portolá.
San Diego founded.--By the end of June all but one vessel had arrived at
the Bay of San Diego. While Vila, Serra, and some fifty soldiers
remained to found a mission and presidio there, Portolá led others to
occupy the port of Monterey. Following the coast and the Salinas Valley,
he reached Monterey Bay, but failed to recognize it. Continuing up the
coast he discovered the present San Francisco Bay and then returned to
San Diego.
Monterey founded.--At San Diego affairs had gone badly. Many persons had
died, provisions were scarce, and Portolá decided to abandon the
enterprise. Persuaded by Serra, he deferred the day of departure, and
new supplies came. Another expedition to Monterey was successful, and
the presidio and mission of San Carlos were founded there in 1770.
Plans for expansion.--At last the long talked of ports of San Diego and
Monterey had been occupied. But the newly found port of San Francisco,
further north, needed protection, the large Indian population called for
more missions, settlers were lacking, and permanent naval and land bases
were necessary. One by one these matters were considered and adjusted.
To assist in the plans for expansion Serra went to Mexico in 1772 and
made many recommendations. The temporary naval base at San Blas was made
permanent, and thereafter played an important part in the development of
California. The new foundations were assured support from the Pious
Fund, and in 1771 and 1772 three new missions were founded--San
Antonio, San Gabriel, and San Luis Obispo. In 1772 California was
divided, the peninsula being assigned to the Dominicans. Politically the
two Californias were continued under one governor, with his residence at
Loreto, Fages being replaced as commander in the north by Rivera y
Moneada.
[Illustration: Alta California Settlements.]
A land route to California.--The next step was the opening of a land
route from Arizona to California, and was the work especially of two
frontier leaders. When the Franciscans in 1768 took the place of the
Jesuits in Pimería Alta, Father Francisco Garcés was sent to San Xavier
del Bac, the northern outpost. He at once began to make visits to the
Gila, and in 1771 alone he crossed the Yuma Desert from Sonóita, and the
California Desert to the foot of the western Sierras. Encouraged by
these discoveries, Captain Anza of Tubac offered to open a land route to
Monterey. The plan was approved by the viceroy, and in 1774 Anza, with
Garcés as guide and with twenty soldiers, made the expedition, with
great hardships but with notable success.
San Francisco founded.--The opening of the land route from Sonora
facilitated the occupation of the port of San Francisco. Plans for its
occupation had been discussed ever since its discovery by Portolá.
Meanwhile the region had been throughly explored from Monterey as a
base. In December, 1774, Anza was ordered to lead a soldier colony from
Sonora to occupy the port, and plans were made for a mission. Enlisting
some two hundred and fifty persons, Anza assembled them at Tubac, and in
October set out for California. Descending the Santa Cruz and Gila
Rivers to the Colorado, thence he followed his former trail to Monterey,
where he arrived in March, 1776. Aided by Father Font, he reëxplored the
Bay region, selected sites for a presidio and mission, and returned to
Sonora. In September the presidio and in October the mission of San
Francisco were founded.
A route from New Mexico.--The Sonora base for California was not
altogether satisfactory and some thought that New Mexico would serve
better. Among the latter was Father Garcés, and by a most remarkable
exploration he put his views to the test. He accompanied Anza's second
expedition to the Gila-Colorado junction, but from there set out to
explore a new route. Ascending the Colorado to the Mojave tribe, near
Needles he turned west and crossed the Mojave Desert. It was his plan to
go straight to San Luis Obispo, but his guides refused, and he threaded
Cajón Pass to Mission San Gabriel. From there he continued through Téjon
Pass into the San Joaquin Valley, descended it to the Tulare region,
emerged through an eastern pass, probably the Tehachapi, and recrossed
the desert to the Mojaves. Thence he continued east to the Moquis,
reaching Oraibe on July 2. Here he was given a cold reception, so he
turned back to the Yumas.
Exploration by Escalante and Domínguez.--Shortly after Garcés returned,
a party set out from Santa Fé to attempt reaching Monterey by a more
northern route. The party consisted of Fathers Domínguez and Escalante,
Captain Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, and nine soldiers. Leaving Santa Fé
on July 29, 1776, they went northward into Colorado, followed the
western line across the San Juan, Dolores, Grand and Colorado Rivers,
turned westward to Utah Lake and south past Sevier Lake. In October,
concluding that it was too late to attempt to cross the Sierras, they
returned eastward to Moqui, Zuñi, and Santa Fé. Thus had another great
feat of exploration resulted from the attempt to find land connection
with California.
Spanish Pueblos.--California still lacked the civil element to make it
complete in outline, and this was now provided. In 1777 Governor Neve
moved his capital from Loreto to Monterey, where he received orders from
the viceroy to take steps toward founding colonies of settlers, as a
means toward making the province self-supporting. Neve therefore
proceeded to establish two Spanish pueblos.
San José.--With fourteen families from Monterey and San Francisco, in
1777 Lieutenant Moraga founded the Pueblo of San José in the Santa Clara
Valley, near the head of San Francisco Bay, and near by the mission of
Santa Clara was founded. The pueblo was established according to the
general laws of the Indies. Five years later titles were issued to those
settlers who had fulfilled their contracts.
Los Angeles.--The second pueblo was located beside Mission San Gabriel,
in the southern part of the province. To procure colonists Rivera y
Moneada was sent in '79 to Sinaloa and Sonora. Recruiting fourteen
families, Rivera sent them overland by way of Loreto and the Peninsula.
Rivera himself, with forty-two soldiers, went with nearly a thousand
head of horses and mules over the Anza route by way of the Gila
junction, where he and part of his men were massacred. The settlers
reached their destination, and in September, 1781, the Pueblo de los
Angeles was founded, with eleven families comprising forty-six persons.
Plans for a new outpost.--The old question of advancing the Sonora
frontier northward to provide missions for the Pirnas and Yumas, and a
halfway station on the road to California, had been much discussed ever
since Anza's exploration in '74. Opinions varied as to the best
location, one proposing the Gila-Colorado junction, another the middle
Gila, another the Colorado above the Yumas, and another even the Moqui
country.
Mission-Pueblos at Yuma.--But the weight of opinion was with the
Gila-Colorado junction. The chief advocate of this location was the Yuma
chief Ollyquotquiebe. In 1776 he went with Anza to Mexico City to ask
for a mission and a presidio, made submission for his tribe, and was
baptized as Salvador Palma. In the following year the king ordered the
petition granted. Delays ensued and Palma became impatient. In 1779
Fathers Garcés and Díaz were sent, with a small garrison, to Palma's
village. Their slender outfit of presents and supplies was
disappointing, and the Yumas were dissatisfied. In the following year,
at Croix's order, two missions were founded west of the Colorado, at the
junction, but not of the usual type. Instead of a presidio, ten families
were settled near each mission to serve as a protection to the
missionaries and an example to the neophytes, who were to five among the
settlers instead of in an Indian pueblo.
The massacre.--Trouble soon ensued, and in July, 1781, while Rivera y
Moncada was on his way to found Los Angeles, the Yumas, led by Palma,
massacred Father Garcés, his three companions, Rivera and his men, and
most of the settlers. The women and children were spared. The experience
at the Yuma missions is a pointed commentary on the need of soldiers to
control mission Indians, and on the wisdom of the usual Spanish custom
of separating the neophytes from the settlers. For his part in the plan
Croix has been severely criticized, but it must be remembered that at
the time he needed every soldier available for the Apache wars, and that
the Yumas had much vaunted their friendship.
The Yumas punished.--Learning of the massacre, in September, 1781, Croix
sent Pedro Fages to the scene with one hundred and ten men from Pitic
and Altar. In the course of two journeys he ransomed some seventy-five
captives. In the following year Captain Romeu of Sonora, made a campaign
against the Yumas, killed or captured nearly two hundred, and recovered
over one thousand horses. But the massacre put an end for the time being
to the long series of efforts to establish the Yuma outpost, and
practically closed the Anza route to California.
The Santa Barbara Channel occupied.--From the first Father Serra had
been anxious to found a group of missions among the numerous Indians
along the Santa Barbara Channel, but there had been a lack of funds and
soldiers. The reduction of these tribes was important also from a
military standpoint, because they held a strategic position on the coast
and on the road to the north. With the coming of more soldiers in 1781
the desired step was taken, and in 1782 Mission San Buenaventura and the
presidio of Santa Barbara, and in 1786 Mission Santa Barbara were
founded.
With the occupation of this district California was complete in outline.
There were four presidios, each occupying a strategic position and
protecting a group of missions. In the succeeding years new missions
were planted in the interior valleys, till the total reached twenty-one.
They became marvellously prosperous, converting and giving industrial
training to thousands of Indians, and acquiring great wealth in farms
and herds. In 1784 Father Serra, the master spirit of the missions,
died.
NORTHERN EXPLORATIONS
English and Russian activities.--Continued rumors of Russian and English
activities had by now led to a new series of explorations which gave
Spain claim to the Pacific Coast for nearly a thousand miles beyond the
points reached by Cabrillo and Vizcaíno. In 1773 came rumors that an
English expedition was about to attempt to pass through the Northern
Strait to California, and that Russia was planning an expedition from
Kamtchatka to the American coast.
Pérez.--Accordingly, in 1774 Viceroy Bucarely sent Juan Pérez north in
the _Santiago_ with orders to take formal possession of the country as
far as 60°. Sailing from San Bias, and taking on Fathers Crespi and Peña
at Monterey as diarists, Pérez sailed to 55°, exploring Nootka Sound on
the way.
Heçeta and Bodega.--Pérez having failed to reach 60°, another expedition
was sent from San Bias in 1775 in two vessels, under Heçeta and Bodega y
Quadra. Heçeta reached 49°, discovering Trinidad Bay and the mouth of
the Columbia River on the way (1776). Bodega, in his thirty-six foot
schooner, reached 58°, and on the way discovered Bodega Bay.
Arteaga and Bodega.--No Russians had been found, but news had come of
the preparations being made by the English captain, James Cook, for a
voyage to the northwest coast in search of the strait. Accordingly,
another expedition was ordered by the King of Spain to explore to 70°.
Through delays it was 1779 before Arteaga and Bodega, in the _Favorita_
and the _Princesa_, left San Blas. Meanwhile Cook had made his famous
voyage to Nootka Sound. Arteaga's expedition reached 60°, where it was
forced to return because of scurvy among the crews.
LOUISIANA UNDER SPAIN, 1762-1783
The cession.--On October 9, 1762, Louis XV offered western Louisiana,
with New Orleans, to Charles III, king of Spain, both as a compensation
for the loss of Florida, and to put an end to the constant
Franco-Spanish friction over contraband trade. Charles at first rejected
the gift, but reconsidered, and the treaty of cession was signed on
November 3, the day of the signature of the preliminaries of the peace
with England.
The state of the province.--With Spain's small means and great
responsibilities, the gift was not very tempting, and Spain was not
eager to take possession of it. The ceded district embraced New Orleans
and the western watershed of the Mississippi River. The principal
settlements lay along the Mississippi and Missouri, as far as the Kansas
post, and along the lower Red River, as far as the Cadadacho post. The
bulk of the population lay between Pointe Coupée and New Orleans, where
there were over 7000 persons, of whom nearly two-thirds were colored
settlements in the lower district were La Balize, Attakapa, Opelousas,
Avoyelle, and Natchitoches. On the way to the Missouri district were the
post opposite Natchez and the Arkansas settlement. Near or on the
Missouri were St. Charles and Ste. Genevieve. Farther in the interior
were slender trading posts, such as St. Louis among the Cadadacho, a
post on the Osage, and Ft. Cavagnolle, near the mouth of the Kansas
River. The total population of the province ceded to Spain was estimated
at from 8250 to 11,500, over half of whom were colored.
Industries.--Rice, indigo, tobacco, and grain were cultivated in small
quantities, but there was little stock raising. For horses, mules, and
cattle dependence was placed upon trade with the Indians and the
Spaniards of the West, much of which trade was contraband. The principal
industries of the province were the fur trade and commerce with
Illinois. The paper money issued during the recent war, of which there
was nearly a million unredeemed, had depreciated to 25 per cent, of its
face value.
Dissatisfaction with the transfer.--It was not till September, 1764,
that the cession was known in New Orleans. The news caused consternation
and protest. Some of the inhabitants of Illinois, left under English
rule, moved across the Mississippi River to La Clede's recently founded
fur-trading post of St. Louis. When, in 1765, the British took
possession of Fort Chartres, Captain St. Ange, in charge of the latter
place, moved with his garrison to St. Louis, where he continued to rule
until Spanish possession was taken. Some French settlers from the more
southern districts moved across the Mississippi or to New Orleans. There
the feeling was intense. In January, 1765, the inhabitants held a
meeting and sent a delegate, Jean Milhet, to France to remonstrate, but
without avail, for after months of waiting he failed even to get an
audience with the king.
Ulloa expelled.--At last, in March, 1766, Don Antonio de Ulloa arrived
at La Balize as Spanish governor. The choice was not a happy one, for
although a distinguished scientist and naval officer, Ulloa had an
unpleasant and inflexible personality which made him unpopular. In July
he reached New Orleans, with ninety soldiers. But the French militia
refused to serve him, and Aubry was left in command. Bickerings and
dissatisfaction followed. The colonists demanded the redemption of the
depreciated paper money at face value; the recently arrived Acadians,
who had become indentured servants, made constant complaint, until at
last redeemed by Ulloa.
Ulloa did not confine his efforts to New Orleans, but established
Spanish garrisons at several interior posts and issued ordinances
regarding the Indian trade. In the spring of 1766, with Aubry, he
visited the settlements between New Orleans and Natchitoches, and sent
an officer to report on the best means of defending the upper posts
against the English. In 1767 he sent Captain Francisco Ruí to establish
posts on the lower Missouri at St. Charles and Bellefontaine.
The prohibition of trade with France, promulgated in October, 1768;
caused a veritable insurrection in New Orleans, and Ulloa was expelled
from the province. His departure was followed by a removal of the
Spanish garrisons from the Missouri and elsewhere in the interior, and
there was an interregnum of several months, during which Aubry governed.
O'Reilly.--Charles III now sent a man made of sterner stuff. He was
Alexandro O'Reilly, an officer who had served with distinction in
Europe, had reorganized the defences of Havana after the recent war, and
was now recalled to cope with the situation in Louisiana. With 4500
regulars he reached Balize in July, 1769. There was renewed excitement.
Some talked of independence and others of joining the English colonies;
but Aubry counselled against resistance and the disturbance subsided.
His coup d'état.--King Charles had demanded nothing more severe than the
sending of the leaders of the opposition to France, but O'Reilly was not
so mild. By a ruse he arrested a number of prominent citizens, executed
five and imprisoned others. For this violent deed he has become known as
"The Bloody O'Reilly." If the government of Charles III had been imbued
with a full sense of its responsibility, it would never have left
unpunished such a violation of the fundamental rules of justice.
The Spanish régime installed.--For thirty-four years Louisiana remained
under Spanish rule, and during that time it prospered as never before.
O'Reilly governed for a year or more with great vigor, not as governor,
but as special commissioner to establish Spanish authority. Possession
was taken of the interior posts, and by the end of 1770 the Spanish
flag had been raised at Ste. Genevieve, the last place to haul down the
French emblem. Having accomplished his coup d'état, O'Reilly was
conciliatory, and appointed numerous old French officers, like Villiers
and De Mézières, to important positions. After authority had been
established, the military force was reduced to 1200 men. Spanish law was
installed, although the French Black Code was retained. New Orleans was
given a cabildo with direct appeal to the Council of the Indies instead
of to the Audiencia of Santo Domingo. Louisiana was put under a
governor, the first incumbent being Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga. Each of
the principal subdistricts was put under a Lieutenant-governor, Pedro
Piernas going to St. Louis, Villiers to the Arkansas Post (now Fort
Carlos III), and Athanase De Mézières at Natchitoches. Until 1771
Louisiana was an independent _gobierno_ directly dependent on the
Council of the Indies. In 1771 it was attached for military purposes to
the captaincy-general of Havana, and for judicial matters to the
Audiencia of Santo Domingo. In 1795 it was attached to the Audiencia of
Havana. After 1783 West Florida and Louisiana were put under one
governor. Later the province was divided into Upper and Lower Louisiana.
Unzaga and Gálvez.--Unzaga ruled till 1776, and proved popular,
particularly since he shut his eyes to English smuggling in the lower
Mississippi River. Unzaga's successor, Bernardo de Gálvez, nephew of the
visitor, son of the viceroy, and himself a viceroy later, was a
remarkable man. He too, was popular; he married a French wife, and
stimulated tobacco raising by pledging himself to buy each year eight
hundred pounds of tobacco.
Encouragement of commerce.--Trade regulations, as promulgated by Ulloa
in 1766, restricted all trade to Spanish vessels, and certain specified
Spanish ports. Under these conditions English smugglers very soon
monopolized the trade of the lower Mississippi, and made their way among
the tribes of the Gulf coast. This contraband Unzaga tacitly permitted
for the good of the colony. In 1776 an agreement was made with France by
which Louisiana was permitted to trade with the French West Indies,
under the supervision of two French commissioners resident in New
Orleans. Gálvez now promptly seized eleven English vessels and the
commerce of the colony passed largely into the hands of the French. In
1778 the produce of the colony was admitted to any of the ports of
France or the United States, and to any of the ports of Spain to which
the commerce of any of the colonies was admitted. The exportation of
furs was encouraged by exemption from duty for a period of ten years.
English trade in Louisiana was now completely ruined. Under Spanish rule
population grew steadily and by 1803 had reached about 50,000. After the
American Revolution efforts were made to counter-colonize against the
American advance.
[Illustration: The Spanish Frontier in the Later Eighteenth Century.]
The English danger.--The principal military problems of the new
government were to keep the English out and to keep the Indians quiet.
Already English traders were entering the tribes west of the
Mississippi, ascending the Missouri and the Arkansas, and reaching the
borders of Texas overland, or ascending its rivers from the Gulf of
Mexico. Trade in Pawnee and Spanish horses extended to the English
seaboard colonies, Governor Patrick Henry being among the purchasers of
thoroughbred Spanish stock. To keep out the English, defence was
concentrated on the Mississippi and efforts made to control the Indian
tribes.
Eastern Texas abandoned.--On the other hand, since Louisiana belonged to
Spain, the defences of eastern Texas, and the weak missions which they
protected, were now withdrawn. At the same time the few settlers, some
five hundred in number, who lived on the border, were evicted and taken
to San Antonio. But they demurred, sent their Creole leader Gil Ybarbo
to Mexico to represent them, and were allowed in 1774 to settle on the
Trinity River. Five years later, taking advantage of a flood and Indian
raids, and led by Ybarbo, they moved to Nacogdoches (1779), and from
there scattered eastward toward their former homes.
The fur trade continued.--Louisiana was Spain's first colony previously
occupied by Europeans, and in it many departures were made from her
traditional system. As a means of controlling the Indians of Louisiana,
Spain utilized the corps of French traders already among the tribes,
instead of attempting to use the mission as a means of control, as was
being done at the same time in California. A regular system of licensed
traders was installed, vagabonds and unlicensed persons were driven from
the tribes, presents were annually distributed, and medals of merit
were given to friendly chiefs. St. Louis, the Arkansas post, and
Natchitoches became important centers for the fur trade and for
distributing presents. To St Louis tribes went to receive presents from
the Illinois country, the upper Mississippi, and the upper Missouri. To
remove them from English influence, tribes were induced to cross the
Mississippi to settle.
De Mézières.--One of the most difficult problems which confronted Spain
was the control of the Red River tribes, which had been friendly to the
French but hostile to the Spaniards. It was now necessary to win them
over to Spanish allegiance. This was accomplished by Athanase de
Mézières, lieutenant-governor at Natchitoches. He installed French
traders, drove out vagabonds, expelled English intruders, called in the
hostile Red River tribes to make treaties, and himself made a series of
notable tours among them. In 1770 he held a great council at the
Cadodacho post, where the Cadodacho chief Tin-hi-ou-en was mediator. Two
years later he made an expedition through the Asinai, Tonkawa, and
Wichita tribes, reaching the upper Brazos River, and going thence to San
Antonio. His excellent report first made northern Texas well known to
Spanish officials.
Croix's plans for a war on the Apaches.--It was in 1776 that the
northern provinces of New Spain were put under a _comandante general_
with his capital at Chihuahua. The first comandante, Teodoro de Croix,
arrived at the frontier in 177 7. As his first great task he set about
checking Indian hostilities, particularly those of the Apaches on the
Texas-Coahuila frontier. The essence of his plan was to unite the Red
River and the eastern Texas tribes (the Nations of the North) and
_chasseurs_ from Louisiana, commanded by Gálvez, with the soldiery of
the Interior Provinces, commanded by Croix, in a joint war of
extermination against the eastern Apaches.
Set aside by the American Revolution.--To consider the matter Croix held
a council of war at San Antonio in January, 1778. The arrangement of
details with the Indians was left to De Mézières. In 1778 he made a tour
of the upper Red River, and in the following year again visited the
Texas tribes. Spain soon afterward entered the American war, Gálvez was
unable to leave Louisiana, and the conduct of the Apache War was left
for the time being to Juan de Ugalde, governor of Coahuila.
Communication with Santa Fé and the Upper Missouri.--The explorations of
De Mézières were soon followed by the opening of routes from Santa Fé to
San Antonio, Natchitoches, and St. Louis. In this work the chief
pathfinder was Pedro Vial. Just as the American Pike in his southwestern
exploration (1807) was preceded by Vial and his associates, so Lewis and
Clark, in their ascent of the Missouri River (1804), were anticipated by
the agents of Glamorgan's fur trading and exploring company, who
operated from St. Louis to the country of the Mandans (1794-1797).
READINGS
REFORMS OF CHARLES III AND GÁLVEZ
Addison, Joseph, _Charles the Third of Spain_; Altamira y Crevea,
Rafael, _Historia de España_, IV; Chapman, C.E., _The Founding of
Spanish California_, ch. IV; Danvila y Collado, Manuel, _Reinado de
Carlos III_; Desdevises du Desert, Gaston, _L'Espagne de l'Ancien
Régime_; Ferrer del Rio, Antonio, _Historia del Reinado de Carlos III_;
Hume, M.A.S., _Spain: Its Greatness and Decay_; Priestley, H.L., _José
de Gálvez, Visitor-General of New Spain_; Rousseau, François, _Règne de
Charles III d'Espagne, 1750-1788_; Scelle, G., _La Traite Négrière aux
Indes de Castille_; Viollet, A., _Histoire des Bourbons d'Espagne_.
CALIFORNIA
Academy of Pacific Coast History, _Publications_, I-III; Bancroft, H.H.,
_History of California_, I, 110-480; Chapman, C.E., _The Founding of
Spanish California_; Eldredge, Z.S., _The Beginnings of San Francisco_,
I, 31-170; Engelhardt, Fr. Zephyrin, _Missions and Missionaries of
California_, I, 289-385; II, 3-414; Hittell, T.H., _History of
California_, I, 300-429; 441-452; 509-540; Norton, H.K., _Story of
California_, 1-103; Palou, Fr. Francisco, _Relación Histórica de la Vida
[de] ... Serra_; Richman, I.B., _California under Spain and Mexico_,
32-158.
LOUISIANA
Bolton, Herbert E., _Athanase de Mézières and the Louisiana-Texas
Frontier_, I, 66-122; Gayarré, C., _History of Louisiana_, III, 1-617;
Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the South_, 423-445; 447-456;
Houck, L., _The Spanish Régime in Missouri_, I-II; Mason, E.C., "The
March of the Spaniards across Illinois," in _Magazine of American
History_, XV. 457-470; Robertson, J.A., _Louisiana under the rule of
Spain. France, and the United States_; Shepherd, W.R., "The Cession of
Louisiana to Spain," in _The Political Science Quarterly_, XIX, 439-458;
Teggart, F.J., "Capture of St Joseph, Michigan, by the Spaniards in
1781," in _The Missouri Historical Review_, V, 214-228; Thwaites, R.G.,
_France in America_, 281-295.
CHAPTER XXII
THE NEW BRITISH POSSESSIONS (1763-1783)
PROVISIONS FOR DEFENCE, GOVERNMENT, AND THE FUR TRADE
Amherst's plan for defence.--While the Spaniards were occupying western
Louisiana the British were organizing the country ceded by France and
Spain east of the Mississippi, in Canada, and in the West Indies. In
1763 the Secretary of War asked General Amherst, commander-in-chief in
America, for a plan of defence of the British possessions. In response
he drew up a "Plan of Forts and Garrisons prepared for the security of
North America" which reveals England's outlook upon her newly acquired
territory. It provided for ten regiments of approximately seven hundred
and fifty men each. The stated purposes were: (1) to keep the king's new
subjects in Canada and Louisiana "in due subjection," (2) to keep the
old provinces "in a state of Constitutional Dependence upon Great
Britain," (3) to command the respect of the Indians, (4) to prevent
encroachments of the French or Spaniards, (5) and to protect the
colonies in case of war. The regiments were to be distributed in posts
along the St. Lawrence, about the Great Lakes, in the Illinois country,
along the lower Mississippi, and in Nova Scotia, South Carolina,
Georgia, and the Floridas.
Purposes regarding the West.--Regarding the interior posts the
particular aims expressed were to keep open the navigation of the St.
Lawrence and the Great Lakes, maintain communication between Canada and
the Gulf of Mexico, hold the western tribes in check, and guard against
French or Spanish intrusion. A post at St. Augustine was especially
desirable as a defence against Spain, and Pensacola and Mobile would
command the commerce of the Gulf as well as the tribes of the Alabama
Basin. The lower Mississippi posts were essential to control the
Chickasaws. A post at Crown Point was not only needed to maintain a
winter highway to Canada, but might also be useful to suppress
disaffection in the maritime colonies, "who already begin to entertain
some extraordinary Opinions, concerning their Relations to and
Dependence upon the Mother Country."
The Proclamation of 1763.--In October, 1763, the king issued a
proclamation creating, within the newly acquired territory, four
distinct provinces, Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada, and
providing a form of government for them. Quebec comprised the Valley of
the St. Lawrence from the western end of Anticosti Island to the 45th
parallel and Lake Nipissing. Labrador, Anticosti, and the Magdalen
Islands were attached to Newfoundland. St. Johns, Cape Breton, and the
lesser adjacent islands were attached to Nova Scotia.
East Florida extended to Appalachicola River, and was bounded on the
north by St. Mary's River and a line from the head of that stream to the
junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. The district between St.
Mary's and Altamaha Rivers, formerly in dispute between Spain and
England, was attached to Georgia. West Florida was the district south of
latitude 310 and between the Appalachicola River and the Isle of
Orleans. The Island of Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Vincent's, and
Tobago were erected into the Government of Grenada.
Crown colonies created.--These new jurisdictions were made crown
colonies. For each a governor was to be appointed, with power to call
assemblies, "in such Manner and Form as is used and directed in the
Colonies and Provinces in America which are under our immediate
Government." Until such assemblies should meet, the governors, with
their executive councils, were empowered to erect courts, having appeals
to the privy council.
The Indian reservation.--For the time being all British possessions on
the continent not included in the foregoing jurisdictions, or within the
Territory of Hudson Bay, and all lands west or north of the streams
flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, were reserved as crown lands for the
use of the Indians. No colony might grant lands within this Indian
reservation, and settlers were requested to move out. The considerable
French settlements in the reserve were ignored.
Until 1755 the English government had managed its Indian affairs through
the different colonies, but the results were far from satisfactory. In
that year the government assumed political control over the Indians,
creating a southern and a northern department, and appointing a
superintendent for each. In 1761 the purchase of Indian lands was taken
out of the hands of the colonies.
[Illustration: The New British Possessions, 1763-1783.]
Regulation of Indian trade.--The acquisition of extensive territories in
1763 called for new trade regulations. The proclamation had created an
Indian reserve and opened trade to all duly licensed subjects. In the
following year Lord Hillsborough drew up a general plan for the
management of Indians and the fur trade. It safeguarded the rights of
the Hudson's Bay Company and provided for the continuation of the two
superintendents, with three deputies for the northern and two for the
southern district. In the North all trade must be conducted at regularly
established posts, and in the South at the Indian towns. All traders
must be licensed, must trade at schedule prices, and must have no
dealings with Indians except at the prescribed places. By 1768 the plan
had proved too expensive, and the management of the fur trade was
restored to the individual colonies.
THE OCCUPATION OF THE FLORIDAS
The West Florida posts.--On August 6, 1763, Colonel Prévost took
possession of Pensacola, which became the capital of West Florida.
Shortly afterwards Mobile was occupied by Major Robert Farmar. The
French troops there withdrew to New Orleans, as did some of the people,
but most of the latter remained. Fort Tombecbé, renamed Fort York, was
given a garrison of thirty men, for the express purpose of keeping the
Choctaws hostile to the Chickasaws, but was abandoned in 1768. The
French among the Choctaws moved across the Mississippi into Spanish
territory, but continued to trade with the tribe.
The boundary and the river forts.--In 1764 the northern boundary of West
Florida was moved north to 32° 28' to take in the Natchez settlements,
and to make room for the land speculators who were seeking land grants
on the lower Mississippi. A garrison was placed at Natchez (Fort
Panmure). In connection with efforts to keep the Mississippi open and to
establish navigation through the Iberville River, Fort Bute was bunt
near the latter stream in 1766. These Mississippi posts were designed
also to prevent French and Spanish smuggling among the Choctaws. But
there was English smuggling likewise, and to stop it Spanish posts were
later built on the other bank of the river. In 1769 the troops of most
of the English posts were withdrawn to St. Augustine, but there was a
protest at once. Pensacola drew up a memorial, and immigrants recently
arrived at the Mississippi demanded protection. O'Reilly had just come
to New Orleans, and it was feared that he might have designs on West
Florida. In 1770, therefore, most of the troops were restored, and a new
garrison was established at Manchac.
Indian agents and fur magnates.--The possession of West Florida proved
an important asset to Great Britain in the control of the southwestern
Indians, especially during the Revolution. John Stuart, Superintendent
for the Southern Department, made his headquarters at Pensacola, but
Mobile was the real center of control for the whole Southwest. Subagents
convened at Mobile a great congress of all the tribes and effected an
alliance with them, and soon afterward the Indian lands about Mobile
were ceded to the English. The military authorities encouraged
inter-tribal dissensions, and the Creeks and Choctaws were frequently at
war, in which the Chickasaws sometimes joined. According to the general
system, the fur trade of the Southwest was opened to all traders having
a government license and a proper bond. The fur magnates at Mobile were
the house of Swanson and McGillivray, who by 1777 had a branch house at
Fort Bute, which conducted trade with the Illinois. At Pensacola Panton,
Leslie, and Company, the largest business house, became an important
factor in the trade and in the management of the tribes.
Politics and government.--West Florida was accorded a governor, council,
and assembly. Governor George Johnstone arrived at Pensacola in October,
1764, but the first assembly was not elected until 1766. Mobile,
Pensacola, and Campbell Town were electoral precincts at first, and
after 1778 Natchez and Manchac were represented. The brief political
experiences of the province were as interesting as those of the older
colonies in early days. The governor and assembly frequently quarreled.
In 1772 Governor Chester prorogued that body and for six years got along
without it. More harmful than these quarrels were the factional disputes
between the civil and military officials.
Development of West Florida.--When England took possession, Pensacola
consisted of some forty thatched huts and small barracks, all enclosed
within a palisade, but it was rebuilt, and practically dates from
British rule. Mobile remained largely French, and was reduced in size
by the emigration to New Orleans. British rule gave impetus to Mobile's
commerce, and by 1776 the port was paying £4000 a year to the London
custom house alone.
Immigration.--Efforts were made also to secure immigrants for West
Florida. In 1763 the Board of Trade put an advertisement regarding land
grants in the London Gazette, and in 1764 Governor Johnstone issued a
circular to attract settlers. In 1765 or 1766 a colony from North
Carolina went by sea and settled about Natchez and Baton Rouge.
Speculators obtained large grants of land about Natchez as early as
1767, among them being Daniel Clark, later a great figure at New
Orleans. Before the Revolution numerous settlers arrived from England,
the West Indies, and most of the mainland colonies, including New
England. Most of them settled on the Mississippi River between Manchac
and Natchez. In 1772 three hundred persons from Virginia and the
Carolinas are said to have been established on the lower Mississippi,
and three or four hundred families were expected that summer. As a
result, the Mississippi posts were repaired and civil government
established. In 1775 a considerable immigration from New England was led
by General Lyman. About the same time Colonel Putnam led a company from
New England to the Yazoo district. In 1777, according to the botanist
Bartram, more than half of the population of Mobile were people who had
come from the northern colonies and Great Britain.
During the Revolution West Florida was a refuge for Loyalists. In
November, 1776, Mathew Phelps led a colony of New Englanders to the
lower Mississippi. Highland soldiers defeated in North Carolina that
year took refuge in the province. Loyalists from Georgia and South
Carolina settled on the Tombigbee River and Mobile Bay, and others from
the same colonies settled on the Tensaws Bayou.
East Florida under British rule.--In East Florida, St. Augustine became
the capital and the chief military post. St. Marks on the Gulf was
occupied for military purposes and the posts of Matanzas, Picolata, and
Mosquito were also maintained for a time. The military of both East and
West Florida were under the general command at Pensacola. James Grant
was made first governor. In East Florida there was no assembly till
1781. Difficulties between military and civil authorities prevailed as
in West Florida.
At the time of the British occupation, St. Augustine was a small Spanish
town with adobe houses and narrow streets. Under British rule East
Florida prospered. Harbors were improved, and highways were constructed,
one being built from St. Mary's River to St. Augustine. In 1766 some
forty families went from the Bermudas to Mosquito Inlet to engage in
ship-building. In the following year Dr. Turnbull brought fifteen
hundred indentured colonists from the Mediterranean region and settled
them at New Smyrna. In 1776 the indentures were cancelled and the
settlers moved to St. Augustine, where their descendants still five.
During the Revolution East Florida, like West Florida, became a Mecca
for southern Loyalists.
MILITARY OCCUPATION OF THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY
Plans to occupy the Illinois country.--By the end of 1761 British troops
had taken possession of all the lake posts from Niagara to Green Bay,
besides Venango, Miamis, and Ouiatanon further south. In July, 1763,
orders were sent by the Governor of Louisiana for the evacuation of the
Illinois posts, and boats were prepared at Fort Pitt for sending four
hundred English troops to relieve the French garrisons. But the
conspiracy of Pontiac delayed the complete transfer of this region for
nearly three years.
The conspiracy of Pontiac.--Early in the war the tribes north of the
Ohio had ravaged the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontiers, but after 1758
they had been quiet, although they did not like the English. They feared
eviction from their lands, English traders had proved arrogant and
dishonest, and General Amherst was attempting a policy of economy in
presents, in spite of the criticism of the better informed Indian
agents. Pontiac, head chief of the Ottawas, organized a general revolt,
embracing the Algonquins, some of the tribes of the lower Mississippi,
and some of the Iroquois. By a simultaneous assault in May, 1763, all
but three northwestern posts--Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Niagara--fell
almost without a blow. At Presq'Isle, Le Boeuf, Venango, Mackinac,
Sandusky, St. Josephs, and Ouiatanon, there were massacres, and the
garrison fled from Green Bay.
Failure of the Loftus expedition.--It being impracticable now to send
troops to the Illinois country by way of the Ohio, this was attempted by
an expedition up the Mississippi Major Loftus was sent from Mobile with
three hundred and fifty men to occupy Fort Massac, Kaskaskia, and Fort
Chartres. In February, 1764, he left New Orleans, but when two hundred
and forty miles up the river, at Rocher à Davion, he was attacked by
Tunica Indians, whereupon he abandoned the expedition and returned to
Mobile.
Peace.--While Colonel Bradstreet reoccupied the Lakes, General Gage,
Amherst's successor, resorted to conciliation, and a series of peace
embassies were sent to the Illinois country from Mobile and from the
northern garrisons. The submission of the Ohio tribes, failure of hopes
for aid from New Orleans, and news of the transfer of western Louisiana
to Spain, led Pontiac to negotiate at Ouiatanon in 1765 with George
Croghan. At Detroit Croghan secured peace with all the western tribes.
Thomas Stirling then descended the Ohio with a detachment and in October
occupied Fort Chartres. "Thus, after nearly three years of fighting and
negotiating, British forces were in possession of the last of the French
posts in the West."
Establishment of government.--In accordance with the Treaty of Paris a
proclamation of General Gage guaranteed the inhabitants the free
exercise of the Catholic religion. Settlers were allowed to sell their
lands and emigrate, or to become British subjects on taking the oath of
allegiance. The inhabitants of Kaskaskia and other places asked and
received an extension of the time for decision to March, 1766. Many of
them emigrated to St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve, or to New Orleans. The
Proclamation of 1763 made no provision for civil government in the
Indian reserve, and local administration was left to the military
authorities and Indian agents. The French people were dissatisfied, and
many misunderstandings arose between them and the English settlers and
officers. By 1770 the complaint took the form of a demand for civil
government, which was provided in 1774 by the Quebec Act.
LAND SPECULATION AND PLANS FOR WESTERN COLONIES
Western schemes.--Before the French and Indian War grants had been made
by the British government of lands beyond the Alleghanies, and
settlement on the back lands had been favored as a means of opposing,
the French and of extending British trade. During the war the frontiers
of settlement were contracted, but, in anticipation of victory, new
grants were sought and new schemes proposed. Not only were lands
desired, but prominent men proposed new colonial governments west of the
mountains. Nearly all of the proposals involved territory in the Ohio
Valley. After the Albany Congress of 1754 Franklin urged the formation
of two barrier colonies in the West. In 1756 Thomas Pownall, ex-governor
of New Jersey, made a similar proposal. About the same time Samuel
Hazard of Philadelphia promoted the formation of a Presbyterian colony
to embrace most of the Ohio Valley and extending across the Mississippi.
In 1757 the Greenbrier Company secured 100,000 acres of land on the
western waters.
The victory over the French stimulated new speculative and colonizing
schemes for the West both in England and America. In June, 1763, the
Mississippi Company was formed, composed of prominent Virginians,
including Colonel George Washington and Richard Henry Lee. A memorial to
the king was drawn asking for 2,500,000 acres on both sides of the lower
Ohio, quit rent free for twelve years, and protection by royal forts, on
condition of settling two hundred families. Late in 1763 a pamphlet
published in Edinborough, Scotland, proposed a colony named Charlotiana,
to include the country between the Wabash, Ohio, Mississippi, and the
Great Lakes. About the same time Charles Lee proposed a colony on the
Illinois and another on the Ohio.
Effect of the Proclamation.--The Proclamation of 1763 closing the
Trans-Alleghany country to settlement seems to have checked for a time
the schemes for speculation. The Proclamation contained an implied
promise that the boundary would be revised, while it was well known that
influential politicians in England favored the opening of the West. New
schemes for western lands, therefore, were not long suppressed. In 1766
William Franklin, governor of New Jersey, launched a plan for two
colonies, one at Detroit, the other on the lower Ohio. Through the aid
of Benjamin Franklin, father of the governor, the Ohio country was
favored by the Board of Trade, but in 1768 the plan dropped from sight.
Meanwhile many other land companies were formed.
A policy of expansion adopted.--The policy of the ministry regarding the
West was vacillating, and more so, no doubt, because of the pressure of
conflicting interests. But in 1768 the ministry decided on a definite
plan for western settlement, the principle being that expansion should
be gradual and under control of imperial agents, who should purchase
land from the Indians as needed. Johnson and Stuart, Indian
superintendents, had already made tentative arrangements for revising
the proclamation line. In 1765 the Six Nations ceded their claims to
lands between the Ohio and the Tennessee. Stuart, by a series of
treaties, secured a line from the southern boundary of Virginia to the
St. Mary's River. Florida, thence along the tidewater line to the
Appalachicola River. West of that point the line was not completed, but
important cessions were made along the Mobile coast. In 1768 the former
lines were ratified, and Stuart, in two treaties with the Cherokees and
Creeks (October, November, 1768), secured the extension of the line to
the mouth of the Kanawha River on the north and to the Choctaw River on
the south. At Fort Stanwix in 1768 the Iroquois ratified essentially
their cession of 1765. The lines did not correspond, since the Iroquois
cession included Western Tennessee and Kentucky, which were not within
the other cessions. Meanwhile the southern line was modified by the
treaty of Lochaber by running it west along the southern boundary of
Virginia to the Holston River, thence direct to the mouth of the
Kanawha. The purpose of the change was to take in the recently formed
Watauga settlement.
Vandalia.--Having extinguished the Indian titles, it was now possible to
found a new colony back of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and such a project
was put on foot. Samuel Wharton of Philadelphia formed a company for the
purpose of purchasing part of the lands. The company included some of
the leading men in England and America, among them being Benjamin
Franklin and Thomas Walpole. Official aid was enlisted by including two
members of the ministry. In 1769 the purchase was made, and, in spite of
Lord Hillsborough's opposition, by 1775 the project of a new and
separate province named Vandalia had been approved by king and council.
The outbreak of the Revolution set the plan aside. Had it been carried
out it would have cut Virginia off from her back lands. The Quebec Act
of 1774 operated in the same direction, by attaching the Northwest to
Quebec. Virginia therefore resisted. Governor Dunmore opposed the
Vandalia colony, made grants of land both within and beyond it, and
joined a company which purchased Indian lands north of the Ohio.
TRANS-ALLEGHANY SETTLEMENT
Western settlements before 1763.--But it was the backwoodsmen, and not
the corporations, who opened the Trans-Alleghany country. Before the war
a few settlements had been made on the western waters, In 1748 Draper's
Meadows, on the Greenbrier, in West Virginia, were settled. Between 1750
and 1752 a settlement was made by the Ohio Company at Redstone on the
Monongahela. By 1758 several small settlements had been made on the
Holston, Watauga, and Cheat Rivers. But during the war these western
settlements were abandoned, and the frontier pushed eastward a hundred
miles or more.
The westward movement after the war.--The French and Indian War was
scarcely over when the westward movement began again, regardless of
proclamations or the deliberations of the Board of Trade. In 1760 Daniel
Boone, from the Yadkin in North Carolina, "cilled a bar" on the Watauga
River. Between 1761 and 1765 Wallen annually led hunters to the west. In
1765 Croghan surveyed the Ohio River, and the next year James Smith and
others explored the Tennessee. In 1767 Finley was in Kentucky, and
Stoner, Harrod, and Lindsay were at French Lick (the site of Nashville).
In 1767 and 1770 Boone was "prospecting" for Judge Richard Henderson, a
land speculator of North Carolina. At the same time Mansker led a party
down the Cumberland and on to Natchez. By this time others had wandered
far beyond the Mississippi and were causing the Spanish officials
anxiety.
The hunters, traders, and prospectors were followed by surveyors and
settlers. The chief participants in the movement were from the middle
region and the South: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North
Carolina. Prominent among the pioneers on the western waters were the
Scotch-Irish who had settled the back country of the older colonies and
stood waiting at the western passes.
The Appalachian barrier.--To reach the Mississippi Valley the
frontiersman was forced to pass the Appalachian barrier, extending from
Maine to Georgia. The easiest pass through it, by way of the Hudson and
Mohawk Rivers, was impeded by the Six Nations who stood between the
western frontier of settlement and the vacant lands beyond. Farther
south the barrier was traversed by a series of interlocking rivers,
flowing in opposite directions, whose valleys afforded trails. The
Susquehannah led to the Alleghany, the Potomac to the Monongahela, the
James and Roanoke to the Great Kanawha, the Great Pedee, the Yadkin, and
Catawba to the head waters of the Tennessee. A series of longitudinal
valleys on the eastern front of the southern Appalachians gave access
from Virginia and North Carolina to the upper Tennessee, from whose
valley an easy pass was found to Kentucky by way of Cumberland Gap.
The Indian barrier.--The Iroquois Confederacy, though friendly, was a
retarding force to the northern stream of emigration. The Algonquin
tribes north of the Ohio had been friendly with the French, and after
the French and Indian War they favored the French traders rather than
those from the seaboard colonies. At the southern end of the
Appalachians westward expansion was retarded by the strong confederacies
of the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. The region between
the Ohio and the Tennessee was the "dark and bloody ground" between the
northern and southern tribes, but permanently inhabited by neither. It
was this region which was opened to settlement by the Indian cessions
between 1768 and 1770. The cessions were followed immediately by a
movement of settlers into the area.
_THE SETTLEMENT OF EASTERN TENNESSEE_
The North Carolina Regulators.--The movement across the mountains was
stimulated by a popular upheaval in the back country of North Carolina.
Shortly before 1740 the Scotch-Irish and German migration reached North
Carolina and by 1765 the lands along the headwaters of the Yadkin, Haw,
Neuse, Tar, Catawba, and Deep Rivers had been occupied. Many English and
Welsh also had settled in the same region. Between the Piedmont and the
coastal plain was a sparsely settled country of pine forests. "Cut off
... from the men of the east, the men of the 'back country' felt no more
sympathy for the former than they received from them." The coast country
controlled the legislature and the courts. The men of the West
complained that they were forced to pay excessive taxes, that the
sheriffs were dishonest, and fees extortionate. An additional grievance
was the scarcity of money. During 1765-1767 the frontiersmen began to
organize and from 1767 to 1771 the back country was in a state of
rebellion. Lawyers were seized and whipped, and the Hillsboro court was
broken up. In 1771 the Regulators were defeated by Governor Tryon's
troops in the battle of the Alamance and the rebellion soon subsided.
During those troubled years many had sought new homes in the western
valleys.
The Watauga settlement.--Permanent settlement was made in eastern
Tennessee in 1769. In that year a band of pioneers moved down the valley
from Virginia and settled on the Watauga River, a branch of the
Tennessee, thinking that they were still in Virginia. A short time
afterward they were joined by settlers from North Carolina, within whose
bounds the colony proved to be. Two able leaders soon emerged. James
Robertson, a backwoodsman and a "mighty hunter," went to Watauga in 1770
and took thither a colony of sixteen North Carolina families in 1771. A
year later arrived John Sevier, a Virginian of Huguenot extraction. Like
Robertson, he was an able Indian fighter and a leader of men.
The Watauga Association.--Finding themselves outside of Virginia and
beyond the reach and protection of the North Carolina administration,
the settlers, like the Pilgrim Fathers in a similar situation, reverted
to the social compact--familiar to Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and to
back-country North Carolinians who had "regulated" horse stealing--and
formed a government for themselves. In 1772 a convention of the settlers
created an independent government called the Watauga Association. It
had a written constitution, vesting the administration in an executive
committee of five, two of whom were Sevier and Robertson. This committee
exercised most of the powers of sovereignty, making treaties,
administering justice, granting lands, and making war on the Indians. In
1776 the Watauga Association, realizing the need of help, petitioned the
Council of North Carolina to extend its government over the new
settlements, and in 1777 they were organized as Washington County.
_THE BEGINNINGS OF KENTUCKY_
The surveyors and first settlers.--Settlement had also begun in what is
now Kentucky. Ahead of the settlers went the prospectors and surveyors,
who descended the Ohio and the Kanawha to select and survey lands. In
1770 and 1772 George Washington explored lands in what is now
northeastern Kentucky. In 1773 the McAfees led a party of surveyors down
the Ohio, crossed Kentucky, and returned over the Cumberland Mountains.
In the following year several parties of surveyors and land hunters were
sent by Virginia officials to lay out bounty lands for soldiers. Others
went without official sanction. One party was led by John Floyd from
Fincastle County, Virginia, who descended the Kanawha and Ohio to the
Falls, crossed Kentucky, and returned by Cumberland Gap. During his
expedition he surveyed lands for George Washington, Patrick Henry, and
others. Attempts at settlement had already been made. In 1773 Daniel
Boone led a colony from North Carolina toward Kentucky, but was driven
back by Indians. The next year Harrod, of Virginia, founded a settlement
in Kentucky called Harrodsburg, but it was broken up by Indians, whose
hostilities drove out all settlers and land hunters.
Indian ravages.--The border war which now occurred was the culmination
of a long series of troubles between the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania
and Virginia, and the Indians of the Ohio Valley. The Delawares had been
pushed over the Pennsylvania Mountains to the Muskingum and Tuscarawas
Rivers. Among them settled the Moravian missionaries, who formed them
into Christian towns and kept them peaceful when others were hostile.
The Shawanee had been pushed north to the Scioto River, whence they
marauded the Virginia border. Behind them were the hostile tribes who
had taken part in Pontiacs War. Through 1773 an Indian uprising was
threatening, and preparations were made in the westernmost settlements
of Virginia. Early in 1774 many settlers fled from the Holston and
Clinch Valleys. Minor outrages being committed along the Ohio, alarm,
spread, and in April there was a retreat across the Monongahela, which
was crossed by more than a thousand refugees in a single day.
Lord Dunmore's War.--Governor Dunmore now prepared for war, which, there
is some ground for thinking, he helped to bring on as a means of
strengthening Virginia's claims to the Northwest. To warn the surveyors
and settlers Colonel Preston, lieutenant-sheriff and surveyor of
Fincastle County, Virginia, sent Boone and Stoner through Kentucky. They
went as far as the Falls of the Ohio, and saved most of the men on the
frontier. The governor organized a campaign, himself leading the
Virginia regulars down the Ohio, while the frontier levies were led by
Colonel Andrew Lewis. They were to meet at the mouth of the Great
Kanawha. When Lewis reached that point he was attacked before the
arrival of Dunmore by the Indians under Chief Cornstalk, whom he
defeated. Thereupon the Indians sued for peace with Dunmore, who had
entered their country north of the Ohio. In the following October a
treaty was made at Fort Pitt which kept the northern Indians quiet
during the first two years of the Revolution and made it possible to
settle Kentucky.
Henderson and Transylvania.--Harrodsburg was now refounded by Virginians
(1775) who constituted the majority of the settlers. Henderson, the
North Carolina land speculator, formed a land company, called the
Transylvania Company. To improve his title in 1775 he made a treaty with
the Overhill Cherokees paying them £10,000 for their claims to lands
along and between the Cumberland and the Kentucky. Boone, with a party
of thirty men, was sent ahead to clear a road for Henderson's colony
from the Holston River to the Kentucky (1775). It became the famous
highway known as the Wilderness Road. Henderson followed with his
colony, founded Boonesborough, built a fort, and opened a land office,
naming his colony Transylvania. He attempted to set up in the
wilderness a modified proprietary régime. Having established his colony,
he called a convention; the delegates made laws which Henderson
approved, and a compact was formed between the delegates and proprietors
defining the irrespective rights. The proprietors retained control by
reserving to themselves the veto power.
Transylvania absorbed by Virginia.--Henderson's procedure was regarded
as illegal, and he was denounced by the governors of both Virginia and
North Carolina. When the Revolution broke out the proprietors sent a
delegate to the Continental Congress and appealed to that body for
protection, but, largely through Virginia's influence, the delegation
was rejected. The Virginia settlers in Kentucky, led by Harrod, opposed
Henderson's claim to lands, appealed to Virginia, and sent George Rogers
Clark to the assembly. Virginia asserted sovereignty over Kentucky, and
stormy times continued till 1777, when Kentucky with her present
boundaries was organized as Kentucky County, Virginia.
_THE UPPER OHIO AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE_
Westsylvania.--While Henderson was founding Transylvania another region
west of the mountains was being settled and was struggling for
independent statehood. Emigrants from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia,
and other states had crossed the mountains and settled on the
tributaries of the upper Ohio in what are now western Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, and eastern Ohio. By the middle of 1776 there were said to be
25,000 families on the tributaries of the Ohio above the Scioto River.
But the land which they occupied was in dispute between Virginia and
Pennsylvania, and the Indiana and Vandalia Companies, and the settlers
took up the struggle, quarreling over land titles and jurisdiction. The
disorders prevented effective organization against the Indians. Shortly
after the Declaration of Independence the settlers memorialized
Congress, asking independent statehood as a "sister colony and
fourteenth province of the American confederacy," under the name of
Westsylvania, whose boundaries they described, but the request was not
granted.
The Cumberland settlement.--Robertson was the type of frontiersmen
desirous to be ever on the move. In 1779 he prospected at French Lick,
returned to Watauga, raised a colony, and in the fall led it forth. The
women and children were conducted by Donelson down the Tennessee and up
the Cumberland, while Robertson, guided by Mansker, led the men
overland. Nashborough, now Nashville, was founded at the Cumberland
Bend, and other stations were occupied along the river. In 1780 a
convention formed an "Association" much like that of Watauga, but after
three years of independence the district became Davidson County, North
Carolina.
THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC
The French people.--At the time of the conquest the Canadian people
numbered about 65,000 living in the St. Lawrence Valley, with several
thousand scattered among the western posts. The settlers were in the
main a frugal, industrious, unlettered, religious people. They were of
two distinct classes, the gentry and the peasant tenants. After the war
there was a considerable emigration to France of the official, noble,
and commercial classes, leaving chiefly cultivators of the soil and fur
traders. By 1775 the population had grown to perhaps 90,000, chiefly
through natural increase of the French. By 1784 the population was
113,000.
The British settlers.--The conquest left in the province and attracted
to it later a small body of British settlers but by 1775 they did not
number more than five or six hundred. Most of them lived in the towns of
Quebec and Montreal, and engaged in business, especially in the fur
trade, many as agents for English houses, others being independent
merchants. When Hillsborough restored seignorial tenure, many of them
acquired seigniories, though they continued to live by trade.
Military rule.--British rule in Canada began with the capitulation of
Montreal in September, 1760. General Amherst was made governor-general,
with lieutenant-governors at Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers. From
that time to the enforcement of the Proclamation of 1763 Canada was
under military rule. But French law and customs were followed in the
main, and there was little discontent.
Civil government established.--Civil government was established in
August, 1764. The governor was assisted by an executive council composed
of the lieutenant-governor, chief justice, and eight citizens. The
government provided by the Proclamation of 1763 was unsuited to a
population almost wholly French, professing the Catholic religion, and
living under laws and customs of their own. The Proclamation provided
for an assembly, but none was held in Quebec because the French people
would not take the test oath, and the British settlers were too few in
numbers to warrant an assembly representing them alone. Uncertainty
existed regarding tithes and the future status of the Catholic Church.
The Proclamation contemplated the establishment of British law, but
practice was uncertain. The French inhabitants were not politically
ambitious, but the British were aggressive in their demands for an
assembly and the uniform establishment of English law.
The Quebec Act.--Under these circumstances a change of system was deemed
necessary. It was provided by the Quebec Act of 1774, the first
parliamentary legislation for Canada. The act maintained the privileges
of the Catholic clergy, tithes from Catholic subjects being continued.
French civil procedure was established, with some exceptions, but
English criminal procedure was enforced. Provision was made for an
appointive executive council with powers to make ordinances for the
province, but no provision was made for a provincial assembly.
Boundaries extended.--The population of the Illinois country was similar
to that of Quebec. The French _habitants_ there had been demanding civil
government, and it had been complained by the Montreal traders that the
prosperity of Canada had been impaired by cutting off the western posts.
Therefore the boundaries of Quebec were extended to include the region
between the Ohio River and the Upper Mississippi. By the Proclamation of
1763 Labrador east of River St. John's, Anticosti, and the Magdalens,
had been attached to Newfoundland. Labrador now began to develop
commerce with the interior and the North and with Newfoundland.
Opposition to the fishing admirals of Newfoundland caused these three
districts to be annexed to Quebec in 1774.
Not intended as a blow at liberty.--The Quebec Act was regarded in the
other colonies as a blow at popular liberties and as an encroachment
upon colonies whose chartered boundaries extended into the Northwest. It
was in fact an administrative act intended primarily as a means of
providing for the interests of the great body of the inhabitants, the
French. The attachment of the Ohio country to Quebec, however, checked
the natural spread of settlement from the seaboard colonies, and the
act, on the other hand, prevented the assimilation of the French people
by the English in Canada.
The Loyalists in Canada.--During the American Revolution a considerable
number of Loyalists crossed into Canada and settled at the border posts.
Many others joined the British army against the Americans. At the close
of the war some of the border counties of New York were almost
depopulated. In 1783 there were in the Montreal district seventeen
hundred Loyalists at seventeen posts, not counting enlisted men. Of
those who migrated after the revolution the greater number at first
settled in Nova Scotia. By the end of 1784 the number there exceeded
28,000 and caused the forming of the new province of New Brunswick. Over
three thousand went to Cape Breton Island, and three times that number
to the interior of Canada. Thirteen hundred settled at Kingston and
formed the nucleus of Upper Canada, which was separated from Lower
Canada in 1791. More important than this, the Revolution determined the
course of Canadian history. In order not to be absorbed by the United
States, Canada was forced into unswerving loyalty to the British Empire.
THE NORTHERN FUR TRADERS
Supervision of the fur trade.--The fur trade of Quebec under the new
régime was supervised according to the principles of the Proclamation of
1763. The most fundamental fact was that the French monopolistic system
was discontinued, except at certain "King's posts" in the lower St.
Lawrence Valley. The trade was open to any duly licensed subject,
superintendents were established at the posts, local courts were erected
in the interior, and settlement limited to the immediate neighborhood of
the posts in order not to drive away the fur bearing animals.
The French traders ruined.--The conquest had destroyed the French fur
trading organization. Under the mercantile system then in vogue,
supplies and markets had now to be sought in England. The French
merchants were ruined, and the entire trade of the Great Lake region was
thrown into the hands of the British traders. The French _coureurs de
bois_, however, remained in the country, and, in the employ of the
British, continued to be the backbone of the fur gathering business in
the interior.
The rush to the interior.--As early as 1761 British traders of Montreal
began to enter the field left vacant by the French. Pontiac's War caused
a suspension of their activities, and during it British traders were
plundered and murdered. By 1765, however, there was a new rush to the
interior, though it was 1771 before they could safely trade in the most
remote posts on the Saskatchewan. In the meantime the Indians had
learned to take their furs to the posts on Hudson Bay or down the
Mississippi.
Extent of operations.--The American Revolution destroyed the western fur
trade of the seaboard colonies and threw the commerce of the entire
Northwest into the hands of the Quebec and Montreal traders. By the
close of the war they were conducting operations on both sides of the
Great Lakes, in the Illinois country, beyond the upper Mississippi, on
the Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Churchill, and Athabasca Rivers, to the
neighborhood of Great Slave Lake. They traded on the Assiniboine, and
may have reached the Missouri by that route.
Management of the trade.--During and after the Revolution the value of
the furs annually sent from Montreal and Quebec to London was probably
$1,000,000. The trade centered mainly in Montreal. In London great
mercantile establishments throve by the commerce. At Montreal other
great houses were founded. Detroit and Michillimackinac were interior
supply posts, where branch houses or lesser merchants conducted
business. Wintering partners and clerks went with the fleets of batteaux
into the far interior, but most of the common hands or _engagés_ were
French and half-breed _coureurs de bois_, just as in the case of the
Spanish fur trade in Louisiana. The entire business was conducted on the
credit system.
The fur magnates.--Many of the fur magnates were Scotchmen. Among the
Montreal merchants of importance in this period were Alexander Henry,
Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher, James Finlay, and Peter Pond. Henry was
one of the earliest in the West. Finlay is said to have been among the
first on the Saskatchewan River. The Frobishers were leading traders on
the Saskatchewan and Churchill. Pond was probably the pioneer on the
Athabasca, having wintered there in 1778-1789.
The Northwest Company formed.--The free access of all licensed traders
to the interior resulted in reckless competition in regions remote from
the military posts. Acts of violence were committed and Indians were
involved in the contest. Besides the grave disadvantages of competition,
there were obvious advantages of combination. In 1779, therefore, nine
enterprises were consolidated for one year. The success caused the
arrangement to be repeated, and finally in 1783-1784 the Northwest
Company was organized and became permanent. This company soon
monopolized the larger part of the Montreal trade, and became the great
rival of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Advance of Hudson's Bay Company.--After the Peace of Utrecht the
Hudson's Bay Company had returned to an era of prosperity. Urged on by
French competition, by 1700 expeditions inland had been made by Kelsey
(1691) and Sanford, and Henley House had been built a hundred and fifty
miles inland from Fort Albany; and by 1720 other minor inland
expeditions had been made by Macklish and Stewart, but in the main the
Company had held to the shores of the Bay. Instead of sending employees
inland, as did the French, reliance was placed on furs brought by the
Indians to the posts, all of which were close to the Bay. The monopoly
enjoyed was a cause of jealousy among British merchants, and critics
arose, notably Arthur Dobbs, who charged that the Company had failed in
its obligation to seek the northwest passage and explore the interior.
Coerced by criticism, between 1719 and 1737 the Company made some
explorations, but little was accomplished.
Hearne's explorations.--After 1763 criticism of the Company was
reinforced by the rise of the Montreal trade, and new explorations
northwestward were undertaken. After two unsuccessful attempts in 1769
and 1770 to reach the Coppermine River overland, in December, 1770,
Samuel Hearne set out from Fort Prince of Wales to seek "a North-West
Passage, copper-mines, or any other thing that may be serviceable to the
British nation in general, or the Hudson's Bay Company in particular."
Going west, then north, on July 18, 1771, Hearne reached the mouth of
the Coppermine River near latitude 68°, where he took formal possession
of the Arctic Ocean for the Company. Returning by way of Lake Athabasca,
which he discovered and crossed, he reached his fort on June 30, 1772.
Rival posts in the interior.--Hearne's explorations were indicative of a
new policy. Coerced by the aggressive Montreal traders, the Company now
pushed into the interior in a struggle for the mastery. Side by side the
two, companies placed rival forts on all the important streams from the
Hudson Bay to the Rockies and from the Red River of the North to Great
Slave Lake.
READINGS
Alden, G.H., _New Governments west of the Alleghanies before 1780_;
Alvord, C.W., "Virginia and the West: An Interpretation," in _The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, III, 19-38; _The Critical Period,
1763-1765_; _The Mississippi Valley in British Politics_; Alvord, C.W.,
and Carter, C.E., editors, _The New Régime, 1765-1767_; Bassett, J.S.,
"The Regulators of North Carolina," in American Hist. Assoc., _Annual
Report, 1894_, pp. 141-212; Bourinot, J.G., _Canada under British Rule,
1760-1905_ (G.W. Wrong revision), chs. 2-3; Bryce, George, _The
Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company_, chs. 8-13; Carter,
C.E., _Great Britain and the Illinois Country, 1763-1774_; "The
Beginnings of British West Florida," in _The Mississippi Valley
Historical Review_, IV, 314-341; Coffin, Victor, _The Quebec Act_;
Hamilton, P.J., Colonial Mobile, chs. 23-31; The Colonisation of the
South, chs. 20-21; Henderson, A., "Richard Henderson and the Occupation
of Kentucky, 1775," in _The Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, I,
341-363; Hinsdale, B.A., _The Old Northwest_, ch. 8; Howard, G.E.,
_Preliminaries of the Revolution, 1763-1775_, ch. 13; Roosevelt,
Theodore, _The Winning of the West_, I-II; Siebert, W.H., "The Loyalists
in West Florida and the Natchez District," in _The Mississippi Vauey
Historical Review_, II, 465-483; Stevens, W.E., "The Organization of the
British Fur Trade, 1760-1800," in _The Mississippi Valley Historical
Review_, III, 172-202; Thwaites, R.G., _Daniel Boone_; Thwaites, R.G.,
and Kellogg, L.P., editors, _Documentary History of Dunmore's War_,
1774, Introduction; Turner, F.J., "Western State-Making in the
Revolutionary Era," in _American Historical Review_, I, 70-87, 251-269;
Wallace, S., _The United Empire Loyalists_; Winsor, Justin, _The
Westward Movement_, 38-100; Wood, W., _The Father of British Canada_;
Davidson, G.C., _The North West Company_.
THE REVOLT OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES
CHAPTER XXIII
THE CONTROVERSY OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES WITH THE HOME GOVERNMENT (1763-1775)
THE BACKGROUND OF THE CONTEST
Nature of the causes.--While British statesmen were working out a system
of government for the newly acquired domains, in the empire forces of
disintegration were at work which brought on the American Revolution.
The causes of that convulsion cannot be traced to a group of events or
laws. Through a long period social, political, and economic forces were
at work which gradually brought thirteen of the mainland colonies into
open rebellion. Because this opposition is more evident after the French
and Indian War, and because the economic is the most obvious phase of
the struggle, historians have sometimes concluded that the laws passed
by parliament between 1763 and 1776 were the cause of the Revolution.
The policy pursued by the British government no doubt hastened it, but
alone does not account for it.
A mixed population.--For more than a century the colonies had been
receiving new elements which were producing a society in many respects
different from that of England. America had been the recipient of many
of the radicals, the down-trodden, and the discontented from the mother
country. The acquisition of New Netherlands had brought under British
control a considerable number of Dutch, Swedes, and Finns. The Huguenot
migration which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes had added
another element. The German and Scotch-Irish influxes had brought in
thousands. Welsh, Scotch, Irish, and Jews were also to be found in the
colonies. America, then as now, was a melting pot of the nations.
Lack of American nationality.--Influenced largely by climatic and
physiographic conditions, distinct industrial systems had developed. In
the northern colonies the small farm prevailed, in the South the
plantation system. The North produced the seamen, fishermen, and
merchants, while few of the southerners were seafarers. The frontier
with its foreign elements, its scattered settlements, and freedom from
restraint had produced a society which differed from the tide-water
region. The fur-trader, the cattleman, the lumberman, and the small
farmer were distinctly different in speech, dress, habits, and point of
view from the Boston merchant, the Philadelphia Quaker, or the Virginia
planter. Separatist tendencies were stronger than those of coalescence.
A Virginian was a Virginian and not an American. There was little in
common between the New Englander and the southern planter, or between
the people of the Hudson Valley and the Quakers.
Class distinctions.--In individual colonies society was continually
growing in complexity. Though the great mass of the population continued
to be rural, town life was becoming an important factor. Members of an
aristocracy, of which the governor was usually the central social
figure, were inclined to rear their heads above their fellows. The
merchants and lawyers, ever increasing in numbers, found themselves
outside the social pale of the official aristocracy, a source of silent
mortification which was a real force in producing radicals.
Evolution of English society.--English as well as American society had
also undergone a rapid evolution. Puritan England had passed away; the
Stuarts, the Hanoverians, and foreign conquests had transformed the
viewpoint of the Englishman. Little was there in common between John
Milton and Horace Walpole, or between a Cromwell and a Newcastle. The
sudden greatness that had come through the Seven Years' War well-nigh
turned the heads of Englishmen. To acquire wealth, to wield power, and
to live gaily seemed to be the ideals of the upper class Englishman of
the reign of George III. The colonial who still considered the mother
country as the traditional England of Magna Carta, the Puritan
Revolution, and the Bill of Rights, had as little understanding of a
Townshend as had a Townshend a comprehension of the colonial.
The assemblies control the purse.--The governmental institutions of the
colonies had gradually evolved toward a common type, whose constituent
parts were the governor, council, and assembly, the governor and
council, except in Connecticut and Rhode Island, representing imperial
or proprietary authority, and the assembly the will of the colonial
inhabitants. The power of the assemblies to control the purse had been
steadily growing, until the colonies considered the principle
established both by precedent and by inherent rights guaranteed by the
English constitution. By controlling the budgets and the salaries of the
governors, the assemblies held the whip hand over the executives.
English and colonial ideas of representation.--The meaning of the term
representation differed in England and the colonies. To the Englishman
parliament represented the British Empire and legislated for the whole
of it, allowing the colonies to handle local matters within their
chartered rights. Parliament was regarded as representing the three
estates or classes of society, rather than individuals. The idea that
every Englishman was represented by a man in whose selection he had had
a voice had not become a part of the English political system. Members
of parliament were frequently chosen in rotten boroughs. A few thousand
men at most chose the entire parliamentary body. The king's ministers,
selected from the party which could command a majority in the House of
Commons, directed public policy and enforced their will upon a
subservient commons. In America the suffrage was usually restricted by a
property or church qualification, but every member of an assembly
actually represented a colonial community and a known constituency. When
the colonial orator declared for no taxation without representation, he
was talking in the terms of a system that had grown up in America, but
which England did not begin to adopt until the Reform Bill of 1832.
The causes of the development of nationalism.--French political
philosophers and observant travelers had predicted that the removal of
French power from America would cause the colonies to seek independence.
Franklin ridiculed the idea, for he believed that colonial jealousies
were too strong to allow united action, a view which was also held by
Pitt. After the French and Indian War the English government, by
enforcing and extending the colonial system, quickened public opinion,
overthrew separatist tendencies, and brought many of the colonists to
think and act together in opposition to English policy. When this was
attained, a national consciousness had come into existence which
gradually developed into open rebellion.
Illicit traffic during the French and Indian War.--Since the reign of
Anne England had not enforced the trade laws strictly. The Molasses Act
of 1733 had been practically a dead letter from the date of its passage
and the other navigation acts had been frequently violated. Smuggling
was winked at by governors and customs officials, who in many cases
profited from the traffic. During the French and Indian War the colonies
traded extensively with the French West Indies. This was especially
galling to England, whose chief weapon against France was control of the
seas. Though the colonies in 1756 were forbidden to trade with the
French, the colonial skippers evaded the command by shipping goods to
the Dutch ports of Curaçoa and St. Eustatius, or to the French West
Indies. In 1757 parliament forbade the exportation of food stuffs from
the colonies to foreign ports, but the colonials continued to make
shipments to the French or Dutch colonies and to bring back cargoes of
molasses, sugar, and rum. To stop Dutch trade with the French colonies,
Dutch merchant vessels were seized. As the English navy gradually
isolated or captured the French West Indies, the colonials found a new
method of circumventing the regulations by shipping to Monte Cristi, a
Spanish port in Española near the French boundary. A commerce of less
importance but of similar nature was also maintained with Florida and
Louisiana. In 1760, when the English navy had gained the upper hand, the
illicit commerce diminished but did not entirely cease. When Spain
entered the war a considerable increase occurred. The naval and military
authorities did all in their power to end the traffic with the enemy,
for they considered that its continuance meant a prolongation of the
war.
Writs of assistance.--To prevent smuggling English officials resorted to
the issuance of writs of assistance. These were general search warrants
which enabled the holder to search any house, ship, or other property
where smuggled goods might be stored. The writs naturally aroused great
opposition among the merchants, who claimed that they were illegal. In
1761 when the Boston customs officers applied for the writs, the
merchants objected to them. When the merchants' cause was presented
before the Massachusetts Supreme Court, James Otis argued that the
writs, being general, were illegal and struck at the liberty of the
individual. "No acts of parliament can establish such a writ.... An act
against the constitution is void." The courts upheld the legality of the
writs but Otis's speech did much to arouse and formulate public opinion.
The Parson's Cause.--In Virginia Patrick Henry performed a similar
function in formulating public opinion. The speech which made him the
leader of the Virginia radicals was delivered in connection with a suit
brought by one of the Virginia clergy. Tobacco was the medium of
exchange in the Old Dominion and ministers were paid annually 17,000
pounds of tobacco. In 1755 and 1758, the burgesses passed acts which
allowed debts to be redeemed at two pence for each pound of tobacco.
This worked a hardship upon the ministers, who naturally desired the
benefit of the high price of tobacco to compensate them for the hard
years when prices were low. The acts were disallowed by the crown in
1759, and the ministers attempted to recover their losses. In a suit
brought in 1763 by Reverend James Maury, Patrick Henry appeared for the
vestry. Realizing the weakness of his legal position, Henry resolved to
carry the jury by an emotional attack upon the king's prerogative. He
argued that the act of 1758 was a law of general utility consistent with
the original compact between ruler and ruled, upon which government was
based, and that the king, by disallowing this salutary act, became a
tyrant and forfeited his right to the obedience of his subjects.
REFORMS OF THE GRENVILLE MINISTRY
Economy and reform.--At the end of the French and Indian War, England
was burdened with a staggering debt. To build up the resources of the
empire, increase the revenues, and protect the dominions were the
objects of the ministers of George III. In this program the colonies
were expected to play their part. The Bute Ministry planned to enforce
the navigation acts, to tax the colonies directly, and to use the
colonial revenue to support an army in America. The powers of the
admiralty courts were immediately enlarged and commanders of war
vessels were authorized to act as customs officials. Soon after
Grenville came into office (April, 1763), he ordered customs collectors
who were lingering in England to proceed at once to their colonial
stations and he instructed the governors to enforce the trade laws
rigidly.
Trade encouragement during 1764-1765.--To encourage commerce several
important provisions were made during 1764 and 1765. To stimulate the
fur business the old duties were abolished and an import duty of only
one pence a skin and an export duty of seven pence were levied. To
stimulate hemp and flax production bounties were paid on those products
shipped from the colonies to England. The bounty on indigo was somewhat
reduced but was still sufficient to protect the planters. The duties on
whale fins were repealed to the great benefit of Massachusetts. The rice
business was stimulated by allowing Georgia and the Carolinas to ship
without restrictions to the southward.
The Sugar Act.--Grenville's beneficial measures were more than offset by
the Sugar, Colonial Currency, Stamp, and Quartering Acts. The Sugar Act
"was a comprehensive measure, whose openly expressed aim was, in the
first place to raise a colonial revenue, and in the second to reform the
old colonial system both in its administrative and in its economic
features." The act confirmed and modified the Molasses Act of 1733. The
duty on sugar shipped to the British colonies was raised but that on
molasses was lowered. To injure the French island trade, the importation
of foreign rum or spirits and commerce with Miquelon and St. Pierre were
forbidden. Oriental and French textiles, Portuguese and Spanish wines,
and coffee, if brought directly to the British colonies, were taxed
heavily, but if shipped from England the duty was low. To protect South
Carolina a duty was imposed upon foreign indigo shipped to the colonies.
With a few exceptions no drawbacks were henceforth to be allowed, and
revenues derived from the Sugar Act were to be paid into the royal
exchequer. They were to be kept separate from other moneys and were to
be used only for the protection of the British colonies in America.
Stringent regulations were provided for the enforcement of the Sugar
Act and other navigation laws. At the option of the informer or
prosecutor, penalties for breach of the trade laws might be recovered in
any court of record in the district where the offence was committed or
in any admiralty court in America. The accused was required to give
security for costs if he lost his suit, but if he won his case, he was
not entitled to costs if the judge certified that the grounds of action
seemed probable. Furthermore in the Molasses Act which was now
confirmed, the burden of proof was placed upon the owner or claimant.
Every shipmaster was required to give a bond to land only enumerated
goods at European ports north of Cape Finisterre and to possess a
certificate from the customs collector at the point of loading. West
Indian goods not properly certified were to be treated as foreign goods.
Vessels cleared from British ports must contain only goods loaded in
Great Britain. This, however, did not apply to salt and Irish linen.
Breaches of these regulations subjected the law breaker to severe
penalties.
Regulation of Colonial Currency.--Another important measure was the
Colonial Currency Act. Lack of specie had compelled the issuance of
colonial paper money, and though Massachusetts had retired such issues
in 1749, most of the colonies were still suffering from depreciated and
unstable currency. To protect the English merchant, parliament passed
the Colonial Currency Act which prevented colonists from paying their
debts to the home country in depreciated currency and stopped the issues
of unsound money. The act caused a shortage of the medium of exchange at
the time that the colonists were deprived of the West Indian commerce
which had supplied them with specie to settle balances in London. The
act produced embittered feeling which paved the way for greater
opposition.
Colonial protests.--When it became known in the colonies that the
Ministry intended to enforce a more rigid policy which included the
levying of internal taxes by parliamentary enactment, vigorous protests
were made. Memorials, resolutions, and addresses poured in upon the
king, lords, commons, and Board of Trade, and numerous pamphlets
appeared which presented the economic and constitutional viewpoint of
the colonists.
The Massachusetts protest.--The Boston town meeting urged the assembly
to use its influence to protect the rights of the colonies and in its
instructions to the Boston representatives the principles were stated
that there should be no taxation without representation and that
colonials were entitled to full rights of Englishmen. It was also
suggested that other injured colonies should be asked to coöperate in
seeking redress. A committee of the assembly presented a memorial
drafted by Otis which contained the additional principle that parliament
had no right to alter the constitution. The memorial was sent to the
Massachusetts agent in England with instructions to urge the repeal of
the Sugar Act and to protest against the proposed Stamp Act. A committee
of correspondence headed by Otis was authorized to inform the other
colonies of the action of Massachusetts and to seek their coöperation.
As the action had been taken by the assembly without the consent of the
council, the governor was soon petitioned to call the general court. He
complied and a petition was drawn which temperately protested.
The Rhode Island protest.--Before the Sugar Act was passed a
remonstrance was prepared in Rhode Island, which was to be presented to
the Board of Trade if three other colonial agents would coöperate.
Committees of correspondence were also formed in various towns. After
the passage of the act the committee of correspondence of which Governor
Hopkins was a member sent out a circular letter protesting against the
Sugar Act and the proposed Stamp Act, In November, 1764, the assembly
sent a petition to the king in which the principle was stated that an
essential privilege of Englishmen was that they should be governed by
laws made by their own consent.
Connecticut protest.--In Connecticut Governor Fitch, at the suggestion
of the assembly, prepared an address to parliament which protested
against the proposed Stamp Act or any other bill for internal taxes.
This and the governor's book of _Reasons Why the British Colonies in
America should not be Charged with Internal Taxes by Authority of
Parliament_ were sent.
New York protest--In March, 1764, the New York merchants presented to
the council a memorial against the renewal of the Molasses Act. In
October the assembly appointed a committee of correspondence and sent
statements of grievances to the king and the lords, and a petition to
the commons. In the petition the significant statement was made that
the loss of colonial rights was likely to shake the power of Great
Britain.
Pennsylvania's protest.--The Pennsylvania assembly considered that
parliament had no right to tax the colony. Jackson, the colonial agent,
was instructed to remonstrate against the proposed Stamp Act and to
endeavor to secure the repeal or modification of the Sugar Act. Franklin
was sent over to assist Jackson.
Maryland and Virginia.--In Maryland the governor prevented the meeting
of the assembly, but the Virginia council and burgesses prepared an
address to the king, a memorial to the lords, and a remonstrance to the
commons. The Virginians claimed the rights and privileges that their
ancestors had had in England and laid down the fundamental principle of
no taxation without representation.
The Carolinas.--North Carolina protested strongly and in South Carolina
the assembly appointed a committee which instructed the colonial agent
to complain of the laws of trade. The instructions also declared that a
Stamp Act would violate the inherent right of every British subject to
be taxed only by his own consent or by his representatives. The governor
prorogued the assembly before a vote could be taken upon the committee's
action, but the instructions, nevertheless, were sent.
The Stamp Act.--In spite of colonial protests Grenville pursued his
policy, the appeals of the colonies being rejected under the rule that
petitions against money bills should not be received, and in March,
1765, parliament passed the Stamp Act. By its provisions stamps were to
be placed on commercial and legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers,
almanacs, playing cards, and dice. The enforcement of the act was placed
under the management of English commissioners who were empowered to
appoint persons to attend in every court or public office in the
colonies to see that the law was enforced. For infringements of the law
there were heavy penalties which might be collected through the
admiralty courts if the informer or prosecutor so elected. Certain cases
of forging and counterfeiting were punishable by death. The revenue
derived from the Stamp Act was to be paid into the exchequer to be used
for colonial defence.
Quartering Act.--The ministry intended to establish an army of 10,000
men in the colonies and the annual Mutiny Act of 1765 authorized the
sending of such troops as might be deemed necessary. This was followed
by the Quartering Act As "_the publick houses and barracks, in his
Majesty's dominions in America, may not be sufficient to supply quarters
for such forces: and whereas it is expedient and necessary that
carriages and other conveniences, upon the march of troops ... should be
supplied for that purpose_," it was enacted that, if colonial barracks
were insufficient, officers and troops were to be quartered in public
hostelries. If more room were needed, vacant buildings were to be
rented. Troops were to be supplied with fire, candles, vinegar, salt,
bedding, cooking utensils, and small quantities of beer, cider, or rum.
Persons giving houses for troops and furnishing supplies were to be
reimbursed by the province. The colonies were to furnish conveyances at
rates fixed by the act, but if the expense exceeded the rate, the
province had to make up the deficit.
Colonial opposition.--To the colonies the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act,
and the extension of admiralty jurisdiction were unconstitutional.
Trials in the admiralty courts had always been looked upon with
disfavor, as they violated the right of trial by jury. The new
regulation allowing alleged violators of the trade laws to be taken to
Halifax for trial was looked upon as a dangerous innovation. The
Quartering Act was viewed as a violation of the constitutional principle
that troops were not to be quartered upon the people. The provisions of
the law were especially aggravating to New York which, because of the
strategic position of the colony, would have to bear an undue part in
the support and transportation of troops. But the Stamp Act aroused the
greatest furor. All of the elements of discontent united against an act
which encroached upon the right of the assemblies to control taxation.
Indirect taxation was not looked upon as taxation. To the colonial
economists the navigation acts were merely trade regulations and the
right of parliament to regulate commerce was fully recognized. But a
direct tax imposed by parliament to support an obnoxious soldiery set in
motion the forces of discontent and produced a unity of opposition which
surprised the ministers of George III.
The Virginia Resolutions.--Virginia took the lead in opposition. On May
29, 1765, the burgesses resolved themselves into a committee of the
whole to consider the steps necessary to be taken in consequence of the
Stamp Act. Patrick Henry, the "rustic and clownish youth of the terrible
tongue," introduced a series of resolutions which boldly challenged the
British government. The preamble stated that, as the House of Commons
had raised the question of how far the general assembly had power to
enact laws for laying taxes and imposing duties payable by the people of
Virginia, the House of Burgesses, to settle and ascertain the same to
all future time, resolved: (1) that the first adventurers and settlers
of Virginia brought with them and transmitted to their posterity and to
other English subjects who had come to five in the colony all the rights
of the people of Great Britain; (2) that these were granted to them by
two charters of James I; (3) that taxation of the people by themselves
or by their representatives was a distinguishing characteristic of
British freedom without which the ancient constitution could not exist;
(4) that the people of Virginia had uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of
being governed by their own assembly in matters of taxes and internal
police, a right which had never been forfeited and had been constantly
recognized by the kings and people of Great Britain. (5) Therefore it
was resolved that the general assembly had the sole right and power to
lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of Virginia, and that
every attempt to vest such power in any other person or persons had a
tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom; (6) that the
inhabitants of Virginia were not bound by any law or ordinance designed
to impose any tax upon them other than those imposed by the general
assembly; (7) and that any person who maintained that Virginians were
bound to obey such laws not imposed by the assembly should be deemed an
enemy of the colony.
The resolutions precipitated an acrimonious debate in which the
democratic members of the western counties supported Henry against the
aristocratic leaders. The committee of the whole appears to have adopted
the resolutions, but on the following day the burgesses rejected the
preamble and the last two resolutions, the other five being passed by a
slender majority. Henry then left the assembly and the following
morning the conservatives expunged from the record the fifth resolution.
The manuscript of the entire series, except the third resolution which
was omitted by error, was already on its way to the other colonies and
was widely published. "Beyond question the Virginia resolves mark an
important crisis in the impending revolution."
Resistance and violence.--In June the Massachusetts general court, at
the suggestion of Otis, sent a circular letter to the other colonial
assemblies asking them to send delegates to meet at New York in the
following October to consider the danger from the Stamp Act. Before the
delegates met fierce opposition appeared in nearly every colony.
Remonstrances came from towns, counties, and assemblies. Newspapers and
pamphlets inveighed against the act, and non-importation agreements were
made in many localities. Associations called "Sons of Liberty" sprang
up. At first they worked secretly, but they soon announced their
committees of correspondence which worked to unify the opposition.
In Boston occurred riots of greater violence than in any other place. On
August 14 the stamp distributor's effigy was hung on the "Liberty Tree,"
and after other demonstrations, that night a mob demolished a building
which it was believed the collector was erecting for an office. On
August 26 the houses of two of the customs officials were sacked and the
house of Chief Justice Hutchinson was pillaged and destroyed. At Newport
the stamp distributor and a sympathizer found it necessary to seek
safety on a British man-of-war. Scenes of violence occurred in the other
colonies and the stamp distributors resigned with more haste than
dignity.
REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT
The Stamp Act Congress.--The Stamp Act Congress met at New York on
October 7, 1765. Nine colonies were represented, Virginia, North
Carolina, Georgia, and New Hampshire failing to send delegates.
Prominent among those in attendance were John Dickinson of Pennsylvania,
John Rutledge and Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, and James Otis
of Massachusetts. On October 19 a declaration of rights and grievances,
originally drafted by Dickinson, was adopted. In the declaration the
argument was presented that the colonies were entitled to the inherent
rights and liberties of native-born Englishmen, one of which was that no
taxes were to be imposed upon them except by their own consent or by
their representatives. The colonists were not and from their local
circumstances could not be represented in the House of Commons, their
only representatives being those in the colonies who alone had the
constitutional right to impose taxes upon them. All supplies to the
crown being free gifts of the people, it was unreasonable and
inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution
for the people of Great Britain to grant to the king the property of the
colonists. Trial by jury was an inherent right of every British subject
in the colonies, but the Stamp Act and other laws, by extending the
jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, had a tendency to subvert the
rights and liberties of the colonists. The duties imposed by recent acts
of parliament would be burdensome and grievous, and from the scarcity of
specie the payment of them would be impracticable. The recent
restrictions would make it impossible to purchase the manufactures of
Great Britain. The right to petition the king or either house of
parliament was also asserted. By an address to the king and by
applications to both houses of parliament, they endeavored to procure
the repeal of the Stamp Act, of clauses in recent acts which increased
admiralty jurisdiction, and of recent acts placing restrictions on
American commerce.
Repeal of the Stamp Act.--In July, 1765, Grenville fell from power, but
not because of opposition to the Stamp Act. The Marquis of Rockingham, a
man of moderate ability, was selected to form the new cabinet. The
question of the repeal of the Stamp Act came up in parliament early in
1766. During the debate in the commons on February 13, Franklin, then
agent for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, was questioned regarding the
colonial attitude, and he made it clear that the Stamp Act could not be
enforced. The American cause was strengthened by the powerful support of
Pitt and by the protests of English merchants and manufacturers who were
losing trade through colonial boycotts. After a momentous debate, the
act was repealed.
The Declaratory Act.--Although parliament had given ground it did not
surrender, for in the Declaratory Act of March 18, 1766, it asserted its
right to tax the colonies. The act declared that the colonies were
subordinate unto and dependent upon the crown and parliament, and that
the king by and with the consent of parliament had full power and
authority to make laws to bind the colonies in all cases. All
resolutions, votes, orders, and proceedings in the colonies denying the
power and authority of parliament to make laws imposing taxes and
regulations were declared null and void.
Other legislation.--The Quartering Act was then renewed, but with
certain changes to make it more effective. The imposts on textiles which
had previously been collected in America were henceforth to be collected
at the point of exportation. The duty on molasses was changed from three
pence a gallon on the foreign product to one penny a gallon on all
molasses brought to the continental colonies.
Colonial rejoicing.--The Declaratory and other acts attracted little
attention in America, where there was great rejoicing over the repeal of
the Stamp Act. The constitutional principles for which the colonists had
contended had in no wise been conceded, but to the colonist his point
seemed won. He was soon to be rudely awakened.
THE TOWNSHEND ACTS
Townshend.--In July, 1766, Rockingham fell from power and the
Pitt-Grafton Ministry was formed. Unfortunately for the colonies, Pitt
was in ill-health and took little part in shaping policies. The strong
man of the cabinet was Charles Townshend. He was fully in sympathy with
Grenville's ideas, and was responsible for a new series of irritating
acts.
Suspension of the New York assembly.--Trouble had arisen in New York
over the enforcement of the Quartering Act. In June, 1766, in reply to
Governor Moore's request that provision be made for the expected troops,
the assembly excused itself from compliance but intimated that about
£4000 then in the treasury might be used. Later the assembly passed an
act making provision for one year for a thousand men and one company of
artillery. When a request was made for full compliance with the
Quartering Act, the assembly refused. On December 19 it was prorogued,
and on June 15, 1767, was suspended by act of parliament.
Colonial customs commissioners.--Another act provided for a board of
commissioners of customs to be established in America. The preamble
stated that, as the colonial customs officials had found it inconvenient
to apply to the commissioners in England for directions when
difficulties arose, and as colonial shippers were greatly delayed in
carrying on business, commissioners were to be stationed in America.
Five commissioners were appointed with headquarters at Boston.
Revenue acts.--A new revenue act was passed "for making a more certain
and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the administration of
justice and the support of civil government, in such provinces where it
shall be found necessary, and toward further defraying the expenses of
defending, protecting, and securing" the dominions in America. Duties
were imposed upon glass, red and white lead, painter's colors, tea, and
paper. Drawbacks were allowed on coffee and cocoanuts, but chinaware was
no longer subject to drawback. Writs of assistance were declared legal.
By another act a drawback for five years was granted on tea reëxported
from England to Ireland or the colonies.
Dickinson's "Farmer's Letters."--The Townshend Acts were received with
alarm throughout the colonies. "Awed by the suddenness and magnitude of
the peril, the colonial leaders acted with circumspection and rare
self-control." The most powerful statement of the colonial viewpoint
came from John Dickinson whose "Farmer's Letters" were read throughout
the colonies, were published in London, translated into French, "and
were read by everybody in the two capitals of civilization who read
anything more serious than a playbill." Dickinson recognized the
vagueness of the constitutional relations of the colonies to the mother
country. He urged that a spirit of compromise should prevail and that no
abstract theory of sovereignty should be pushed to its logical
conclusions. He admitted that parliament possessed legal authority to
regulate the trade of the empire, but the recent attempts to raise a
revenue he considered a most dangerous innovation. "Great Britain claims
and exercises the right to prohibit manufactures in America. Once admit
that she may lay duties upon her exportations to us, for the purpose of
levying money on us only, she then will have nothing to do but to lay
those duties on the articles which she prohibits us to manufacture, and
the tragedy of American liberty is finished."
"I would persuade the people of these Colonies ... to exert themselves
in the most firm, but the most peaceable manner, for obtaining relief.
If an inveterate resolution is formed to annihilate the liberties of the
governed, English history affords examples of resistance by force."
"Let us consider ourselves as ... freemen, ... _firmly bound together_
by the _same rights_, _interests_, and _dangers_ ... What have these
colonies to _ask_, while they continue free; Or what have they to
_dread_, but insidious attempts to subvert their freedom?... They form
one political body, of which each _colony_ is a _member_."
The Massachusetts protest--In Massachusetts the Townshend Acts were
received by a public which was already irritated by the untactful course
of Governor Bernard. Soon after the repeal of the Stamp Act he had
negatived the election of Otis as speaker of the assembly, and when that
body retaliated by refusing to reelect certain members of the council,
the governor had refused to accept six members elected by the popular
party. Difficulties had also arisen when the governor demanded
compensation for those who had suffered by the Stamp Act riots and when
he demanded compliance with the Quartering Act.
The first protest of Massachusetts against the Townshend Acts was on
October 28, 1767, when the Boston town-meeting renewed the
non-importation agreement The General Court convened on December 30 and
shortly afterward the acts were read in the assembly and referred to a
committee for consideration. The committee drafted a letter to the
colonial agent which reviewed the arguments against taxation and
protested against the Townshend Acts. A petition to the king and letters
to members of the ministry were also prepared. A circular letter to the
assemblies in the other colonies, drawn by Samuel Adams, was adopted on
February 11, 1768.
The circular letter stated that it seemed necessary that the
representatives of the several assemblies should act in harmony "upon so
delicate a point" as the recent imposition of duties and taxes. The
argument regarding taxation without representation was restated, and
objection was made to the payment of the salaries of governors and
judges by the crown, to the large powers of appointment given to the
commissioners of the customs, and to the Quartering Act. Denial was made
that independence was in the minds of the Massachusetts representatives
and the letter closed with an expression of confidence in the king.
Several of the colonies sent sympathetic replies and Virginia issued a
circular letter to the other colonies calling upon them to unite with
Massachusetts in her petition for redress.
Hillsborough's reply.--When the Massachusetts protests reached England,
they came before a ministry which was prejudiced by letters from royal
officials in America. Lord Hillsborough, who had recently been appointed
to the newly created position of colonial secretary, laid the
Massachusetts protests before the cabinet. On April 21 he sent letters
to all the colonial governors, with the exception of Bernard, ordering
them to ignore the Massachusetts circular letter. If the assemblies took
notice of it, they were to prorogue or dissolve them. Bernard was
commanded to require the Massachusetts assembly to rescind its action
and to declare its disapprobation of its recent action. The
Massachusetts assembly refused and the other assemblies commended its
course.
The customs officials defied.--Acts of violence soon occurred. The
warship _Romney_ was anchored in Boston harbor and the captain angered
the people by impressing seamen, one of whom was rescued. On the same
day the sloop _Liberty_, owned by John Hancock, arrived with a cargo of
Madeira wine. The customs collector was locked up by the crew while the
cargo was landed and a false entry made. The _Liberty_ was seized and
moored under the guns of the _Romney_. A riot then occurred; the houses
of two of the customs officials were damaged and a boat belonging to the
controller was burned. The officials fled to the _Romney_ and later took
refuge in Castle William. The Boston town-meeting requested the removal
of the war vessel, but the governor refused on the ground that such
action would be beyond his jurisdiction. At Newport a revenue cutter
was burned and at Providence a coat of tar and feathers was
administered to a customs official.
Action of the Boston town-meeting and the Massachusetts
convention.--Before the occurrence of these riotous acts, the ministry
had determined to send troops to Boston. When this became known, the
town-meeting assembled in Faneuil Hall and resolved that the inhabitants
defend their rights, and they were called upon to provide themselves
with arms. When the governor refused to summon the assembly, the
selectmen called a convention of delegates from the Massachusetts towns.
Ninety-six towns responded. The governor refused to recognize the
convention, but it remained in session for six days and did not adjourn
until a statement of grievances had been formulated. On September 28,
1768, the day of adjournment, two regiments arrived at Boston.
Prisoners accused of treason to be tried in England.--The rebellious
acts of Massachusetts were condemned by parliament which also advised
the enforcement of the statute of Henry VIII which allowed the
government to bring to England for trial persons accused of treason
committed outside of the kingdom. This aroused a storm of protest. In
Virginia the burgesses adopted resolutions which asserted that the right
of taxation was vested in the House of Burgesses, that petitioning the
sovereign was an undoubted privilege of the colony, and that it was
lawful and expedient to procure the concurrence of other colonies "in
dutiful addresses, praying the royal interposition in favour of the
violated rights of America;" that trials for treason or for any felony
or crime committed in the colony should be held in the courts of that
colony, and that the sending of suspected persons beyond the sea for
trial was derogatory of the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage and
deprived the accused of summoning witnesses. The resolutions were sent
to the other assemblies. When the governor dissolved the burgesses, the
members met in a private house and drew up a non-importation agreement.
Other assemblies approved the Virginia resolutions and non-importation
agreements were signed throughout the colonies.
Departure of Bernard.--Massachusetts continued to be the center of
unrest. The unpopularity of Governor Bernard increased when it became
known that he was collecting evidence against Samuel Adams. The public
ire grew more intense when some of the governor's letters to the
Ministry were published. The council drew up charges against him and the
assembly petitioned for his recall. In July, 1770, he voluntarily
departed, leaving Hutchinson in charge.
The Boston "Massacre."--The troops remained in Boston where they were
heartily detested. Difficulties between soldiers and townspeople became
more and more frequent and in March, 1770, there was a serious
collision. On the fifth a sentinel at the custom house was pelted with
snow balls, and when he called for aid the guard came to his assistance.
A soldier was knocked down, shots were fired by the guard, and several
citizens were killed or wounded. Preston, the commanding officer of the
guard, surrendered to the civil authorities, and the privates were
placed under arrest. The selectmen demanded the withdrawal of the troops
to Castle William and Hutchinson hesitatingly complied. When the
soldiers were brought to trial, they were defended by John Adams and
Josiah Quincy, who obtained acquittal for all but two who were lightly
sentenced.
BEGINNING OF ORGANIZED RESISTANCE
Partial repeal of the Townshend Acts.--The Townshend Acts had proved a
complete failure. Exports from England to America had dropped from
£2,378,000 in 1768 to £1,634,000 in 1769. The customs were yielding
little revenue while the colonial military establishment had become
extremely expensive. In addition the colonies had been brought close to
rebellion. Lord North, who became Prime Minister on January 31, 1770,
hoped to end the commotions in America which had been so injurious to
English merchants and manufacturers. He accordingly obtained a repeal of
the duties on paints, glass, and paper, but at the suggestion of the
king, the tea tax was retained in order to maintain the principle that
parliament had the right to tax the colonies. The economic result of the
repeal was immediately evident, for in 1770 the English exports to
America reached nearly two million pounds sterling and during the next
year more than doubled.
Arbitrary attitude of the governors.--The public, however, was kept in a
state of agitation by the arbitrary acts of the governors who reflected
the royal will. In Georgia the governor vetoed the assembly's choice for
speaker, provoking a controversy which ended in the dissolution of the
assembly. In South Carolina the governor was in frequent quarrels with
the assembly, first over the salaries of the judges, then regarding the
veto of an appropriation but, and finally over convening the assembly at
Beaufort instead of at Charleston. Virginia was irritated by the royal
instructions which forbade the governor to assent to any law which would
prohibit or obstruct the importation of slaves. In Maryland the governor
by proclamation revived a law regulating fees which had expired by
limitation, an action which was looked upon as an assertion of the right
to levy taxes.
In Massachusetts the General Court, which was to have met at Boston in
January, 1770, was called to meet at Cambridge on March 15. The assembly
objected to the change of time and place and demanded a copy of
Hutchinson's instructions, but he refused to comply. The assembly would
do no business while thus constrained to hold its sessions away from
Boston, and declared that the people and their representatives had a
right to withstand the abusive exercise of the crown's prerogative.
Under protest the assembly finally proceeded to business, but another
difficulty immediately arose when the colonial troops were removed from
Castle William which was then garrisoned by the regulars. In July, 1771,
Hutchinson, who had recently been appointed governor, vetoed a bull
which provided for the salaries of the crown officials, an action which
called forth a protest from the assembly which held that royal
instructions were thus given the force of law. The following year the
assembly was informed that henceforth the salaries of the governor and
judges would be paid by the crown.
The Gaspee affair.--In Rhode Island an event occurred in 1772 which had
far-reaching influence. The numerous inlets and islands of Narragansett
Bay made smuggling easy, and revenue vessels, though constantly on the
alert, experienced great difficulty in detecting the illicit traders.
The revenue boats _St. Johns_ and _Liberty_ were destroyed by men from
Newport and the customs officials were annoyed by suits to recover
vessels and cargoes which they had seized; Admiral Montagu accordingly
ordered that seized vessels be sent to Boston. To Rhode Islanders
Dudington, the commander of the _Gaspee_, was especially obnoxious.
According to Trevelyan, "He stopped and searched vessels without
adequate pretext, seized goods illegally, and fired at the market boats
as they entered Newport harbour. He treated the farmers on the islands
much as the Saracens in the Middle Ages treated the coast population of
Italy, cutting down their trees for fuel, and taking their sheep when
his crew ran short of meat." The injured parties made their voices
heard, and the case was laid before the Admiral, who approved the
conduct of his subordinate officer, and announced that, "as sure as any
people from Newport attempted to rescue a vessel, he would hang them as
pirates." On June 9 the _Gaspee_ ran aground seven miles below
Providence and during the night the vessel was boarded, Dudington was
wounded, he and his crew were put on shore, and the vessel was burned.
The act of violence aroused the British government and orders were sent
to the governor of Rhode Island, the admiralty judge at Boston, and the
chief justices of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York to act as a
commission of inquiry. The commission held sessions in January and May,
1773, but failed to obtain any evidence.
Local committees of correspondence.--The arbitrary acts of the crown
officials, the extension of the royal prerogative, and the _Gaspee_
affair made possible the organization of the radical elements in the
colonies. In Massachusetts opposition centered in Samuel Adams, "the man
of the town meeting," who put forth pamphlet after pamphlet which struck
at the encroachments upon colonial rights. "While he restated the old
argument against the right of parliament to tax, he closely examined the
foundations of the claim of the ministers to govern by royal
instructions. He had grasped the idea that the king, lords, and commons,
as well as the colonies, were subject to the authority and bound by the
limitations of constitutional law." In the assembly, in the town
meeting, through the press, on the street, among the sailors, fishermen,
and ropemakers, he advocated the necessity of union. During the contest
over the salaries of the crown officials, Adams seized the opportunity
to put his ideas into tangible form. On November 2, 1772, in the Boston
town meeting he moved that a committee of twenty-one be appointed to
state the rights of the colonists, particularly of Massachusetts, and to
communicate and publish the same to the Massachusetts towns and to the
world as the sense of Boston "with the infringements and violations
thereof that have been or ... may be, made; also requesting of each town
a free communication of their sentiments on this subject." By January,
1773, more than eighty towns in Massachusetts had committees.
"The Boston committee of correspondence has been likened to a political
party manager. It provided for regular meetings, consulted with similar
bodies in the vicinity, stimulated the spread of committees in
surrounding towns, kept up a correspondence with them, prepared
political matter for the press, circulated it in newspapers and
broadsides, matured political measures, created and guided public
sentiment--in short, heated the popular temper to the boiling point of
revolution and then drew from it the authority to act."
Standing committees of correspondence.--Aroused by the _Gaspee_ inquiry,
the Virginia burgesses on March 12, 1773, adopted resolutions which
provided for a standing committee of correspondence and inquiry whose
business was "to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all
such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of
Administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in
America, and to keep up and maintain a correspondence and communication
with our sister colonies, respecting these important considerations; and
the result of such their proceedings, from time to time, to lay before
this House." The committee was also instructed to obtain information
regarding "the principles and authority on which was constituted a court
of inquiry, said to have been lately held in Rhode Island, with powers
to transmit persons accused of offences committed in America to places
beyond the seas to be tried." The speaker was instructed to transmit to
the speakers of the different assemblies of the British colonies on the
continent copies of the resolutions, that they might lay them before
their assemblies and request them to appoint a person or persons to
communicate from time to time with the committee of the burgesses.
The Virginia suggestion was first acted upon by the Rhode Island
assembly, which on May 15 informed Virginia of the appointment of a
committee of correspondence. Before the close of the month the
assemblies of Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts had
appointed similar committees. The South Carolina assembly acted in July,
Georgia in September, Maryland and Delaware in October, and North
Carolina in December. The New York assembly appointed its committee on
January 20, 1774, and New Jersey on February 8. The Pennsylvania
assembly dissolved without taking action.
The committees did not prove to be active agents, because (1) "there was
little or nothing for them to do;" (2) they "were chosen from members of
the assembly, all of whom were desirous of going home when the assembly
adjourned"; (3) "the assembly committees were extremely cautious about
acting on their own authority." "However, the choice of such committees
was not entirely without result. The popular assembly in each colony
received preliminary testing. Constitutional questions were raised and
discussed, and arguments disseminated.... More important still had been
the demonstration that a body could be created which might continue to
act in successful opposition to the crown when the royal governors
dissolved or prorogued the assemblies."
THE TEA CONTROVERSY
Attempted relief of the East India Company.--During this period George
III and his ministers took the fatal step of attempting to force tea
upon the colonies. The colonists had refrained from using tea which paid
a duty and had supplied themselves with smuggled tea from France,
Sweden, and Holland. At this time the East India Company was on the
verge of bankruptcy, a condition due in part to the loss of American
customers. In the company's warehouses a vast amount of tea had
accumulated. As a measure of relief the directors of the company advised
the repeal of the tea duty, but "a course which went direct to the point
was not of a nature to find favor with George the Third and his
Ministers." Instead they allowed the company a drawback of the entire
tea duty in England, but the tea was to be subject to the three penny
tax payable in the colonies.
The tea arrives.--George III was soon to learn that he could not force
tea down colonial throats. Late in 1773 several tea-laden ships arrived
at American ports. In Charleston the agents of the company resigned, and
when the duty was not paid, the collector seized the tea and stored it
in a damp cellar. In Philadelphia a public meeting resolved that the
duty on tea was illegal and persons who assisted in its being landed
were declared public enemies. Under pressure of public opinion the
consignees resigned and the captain of the tea vessel wisely decided not
to unload his cargo. "When New York learned that the tea-ships allotted
to it had been driven by a gale off the coast, men scanned the horizon,
like the garrison of Londonderry watching for the English fleet in Lough
Foyle, in their fear lest fate should rob them of their opportunity of
proving themselves not inferior in mettle to the Bostonians."
The Boston Tea Party.--The Massachusetts people had recently been
greatly irritated by certain private letters of Hutchinson, Oliver, and
Paxton. The letters had been obtained in England by Franklin and had
been sent under the seal of secrecy to some of the Massachusetts leaders
who, however, published them. Before the excitement subsided three
tea-laden vessels arrived at Boston. Hutchinson refused to allow the
ships to leave until regularly cleared and this could not be done until
the entire cargo had been unloaded. A mass meeting held in the Old South
Church resolved that the tea should not be landed, and when the governor
ordered the dispersal of the meeting, the bearer of the proclamation met
with insult. Neighboring towns agreed to assist Boston, with force if
necessary, and a guard watched the vessels to see that none of the tea
was landed. On December 17 the cargo would be seized by the collector
for non-payment of duty. On the evening of December 16, fifty or sixty
men disguised as Indians boarded the tea ships, rifled the chests, and
threw the contents into the bay.
The course of Massachusetts.--The British government was being sorely
tried by Massachusetts. On January 29, 1774, a petition of the general
court for the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver came before the Privy
Council Committee for Foreign Plantations. The petition was pronounced a
seditious document. Franklin was summoned before the committee, was
charged with intercepting letters, and was dismissed from the deputy
postmaster-generalship. Soon after the Boston Tea Party, the assembly
voted to impeach Justice Oliver for accepting a salary from the crown.
In retaliation Hutchinson dissolved the assembly and soon left the
colony.
LORD NORTH'S COERCIVE POLICY
The intolerable acts.--The revolutionary acts which were taking place in
America, especially those in Massachusetts, caused deep concern in
England. Pitt and Burke favored conciliation as the only means of
preserving the empire, but the king insisted upon repression. The
ministry speedily adopted a legislative program to punish Massachusetts,
and parliament legalized the ministerial policy by passing the so-called
intolerable acts.
Boston Port Act.--The first of these acts closed the port of Boston from
June 1, 1774, until such time as "it shall be made to appear to his
Majesty, in his privy council, that peace and obedience to the laws
shall be so far restored in the said town of Boston, that the trade of
_Great Britain_ may safely be carried on there, and his Majesty's
customs duly collected." The king was not to open the port until the
inhabitants of Boston had given full satisfaction to the East India
Company and to the revenue officers and others who had suffered by the
recent outbreaks.
Massachusetts Government Act.--By the "regulating act" the people of
Massachusetts were deprived of most of their chartered rights. After
July 1, 1774, the council was to be appointed by the king instead of by
the assembly. The governor was to appoint and remove, without the
consent of the council, all judges of the inferior courts, the attorney
general, provosts, marshals, and other officers belonging to the council
or courts of justice. Sheriffs were also appointed by the governor but
could not be removed without the consent of the council. The chief
justice and judges of the superior court were to be appointed by the
governor, but were to hold their commissions during the king's pleasure,
and they could not be removed unless by order of the crown. Grand and
petit juries were to be summoned by the sheriffs instead of being chosen
in town meetings. Except for elections, town meetings were to be called
only by consent of the governor and discussion was to be limited to
subjects stated in the leave. The people were still allowed to elect the
assembly.
Administration of Justice Act--The third act provided, "That if any
inquisition or indictment shall be found, or if any appeal shall be sued
or preferred against any person, for murther, or other capital offence,
in the province of the _Massachusetts Bay_, and it shall appear, by
information given upon oath to the governor.., that the fact was
committed by the person against whom such inquisition or indictment
shall be found, or against whom such appeal shall be sued or
preferred..., either in the execution of his duty as a magistrate, for
the suppression of riots, or in the support of the laws of revenue, or
in acting in his duty as an officer of revenue, or in acting under the
direction and order of any magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or
for the carrying into effect the laws of revenue, or in aiding and
assisting in any of the cases aforesaid; and if it shall also appear, to
the satisfaction of the said governor ... that an indifferent trial
cannot be had within the said province, in that case, it shall and may
be lawful for the governor ... to direct, with the advice and consent of
the council, that the inquisition, indictment, or appeal, shall be tried
in some other of his Majesty's colonies, or in _Great Britain_." The act
also made it possible to transport witnesses to the scene of the trial.
Quartering Act, June 2, 1774.--The fourth law was entitled "An act for
the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his
Majesty's service in North America." It provided that, if any officers
or soldiers should be without quarters for twenty-four hours after a
proper demand had been made, the governor might order that uninhabited
houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings be made fit for quarters.
The law was to remain in force until March 24, 1776. Though the act was
general in its terms, in reality it was intended "to facilitate the
establishment of a temporary military government in Massachusetts." Of
ominous import was the appointment of General Gage as governor of
Massachusetts.
The Quebec Act.--The Quebec Act which extended the province of Quebec to
the Ohio River also aroused the anger of Massachusetts, New York,
Connecticut, and Virginia, as it deprived those colonies of large tracts
of western lands which they claimed under their ancient charters. It was
not intended as a coercive act, but was so considered in the colonies.
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Call for a congress.--On May 10 a copy of the Port Act was received in
Boston. On the twelfth the committee of correspondence met with eight
neighboring committees and recommended non-intercourse with Great
Britain. The other colonies were asked to follow the same course. While
this was taking place the four additional regiments which Gage had
called for began to arrive and on June 1, 1774, the port was blocked by
men-of-war. Boston began to receive money and supplies from other towns
and colonies, and a new impetus was given to the formation of committees
of correspondence. Committees in New York and Philadelphia recommended
the appointment of delegates to a general congress. The Virginia
burgesses resolved to set aside June 1 as a day of fasting and prayer.
The governor dissolved the house, but the burgesses assembled on May 27
at the Raleigh Tavern and adopted a resolution calling for a congress.
Copies of the resolution were sent to the other assemblies.
On June 17 the Massachusetts assembly resolved, "That a meeting of
committees from several colonies ... is highly expedient and necessary,
to consult upon the present state of the colonies, and the miseries to
which they are and must be reduced by the operation of certain acts of
Parliament respecting America, and to deliberate and determine upon wise
and proper measures, to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for
the recovery and establishment of their just rights and liberties, civil
and religious, and the restoration of union and harmony between Great
Britain and the colonies, most ardently desired by all good men:
Therefore, resolved, that the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., the Hon. Thomas
Cushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine, Esqrs., be
appointed a committee ... to meet with such committees or delegates from
the other colonies as have been or may be appointed, either by their
respective houses of burgesses or representatives, or by convention, or
by the committees of correspondence appointed by the respective houses
of assembly, in the city of Philadelphia, or any other place that shall
be judged most suitable by the committee, on the 1st day of September
next; and that the speaker of the house be directed, in a letter to the
speakers of the house of burgesses or representatives in the several
colonies, to inform them of the substance of these resolves."
Meeting of the First Continental Congress.--Every colony but Georgia
responded to the call. In September over fifty delegates assembled in
Carpenters' Hall at Philadelphia. Among them were John and Samuel Adams
of Massachusetts, John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, Richard Henry Lee,
Patrick Henry and George Washington of Virginia, Roger Sherman of
Connecticut, John Jay of New York, and Edward and John Rutledge of South
Carolina. "The congress of 1774 was not thought of by the people as a
congress in the modern legislative sense. It was rather a convention of
ambassadors of subordinate, but distinct communities which had found it
needful to take counsel of one another regarding a crisis in their
common relations to the parent state, in order, if possible, to adopt
some common plan of action. It was essentially an advisory or
consultative body. In another aspect it may be regarded as the
completion of the revolutionary party organization of which the basis
was laid in the committees of correspondence."
The Suffolk Resolves approved.--The delegates were soon divided into
well-defined groups; the radicals led by Samuel Adams wanted resistance,
the conservatives headed by Joseph Galloway favored compromise. The
radicals succeeded in getting Congress to approve the resolves recently
drawn up in the Suffolk County convention in Massachusetts. The resolves
declared that no obedience to the recent acts of parliament was due from
Massachusetts, advised that no money be turned into the treasury by the
tax-collectors until the restoration of the constitution, denounced as
enemies the king's councillors who had not resigned, and threatened
armed resistance. Congress published these resolves with its resolutions
commending the course of Boston.
A plan of union.--The conservatives favored a plan of union proposed by
Galloway, which provided for a crown appointed president-general and a
council of deputies chosen every three years by the legislatures. The
acts of the council were to be subject to parliamentary veto and acts of
parliament relating to the colonies might be vetoed by the council. The
plan was defeated by a narrow margin.
The Declaration and Resolves.--On September 7 a committee of two from
each colony had been appointed to draw up a statement of the rights of
the colonies, instances of their violation, and means of restoring them.
Agreement on the committee's report was reached on October 14. The
declaration of grievances thus adopted complained that parliament had
imposed taxes upon them and under various pretences, but in fact for the
purpose of raising revenue, had established a board of commissioners
with unconstitutional powers, and had extended the jurisdiction of the
admiralty courts, not only for collecting duties, but for trial of
causes arising merely within the body of a county. Complaint was also
made that judges had been made dependent on the crown for salaries, that
standing armies had been kept in times of peace, and that the removal to
distant places for trial of prisoners charged with treason and certain
other crimes had been legalized. The intolerable acts were described as
"impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as unconstitutional." Other
complaints were the dissolution of assemblies when they attempted to
deliberate on grievances, and treating with contempt petitions for
redress.
Congress accordingly resolved that the inhabitants of the English
colonies in North America were "entitled to life, liberty and property:
and they had never ceded to any foreign power whatever, a right to
dispose of either without their consent;" that they were entitled to the
same rights as their ancestors; "that the foundation of English liberty,
and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in
their legislative council: and as the English colonies are not
represented ... in the British parliament, they are entitled to a free
and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial
legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be
preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal policy, subject only to
the negative of their sovereign." For the mutual interests of both
countries they consented to parliamentary regulation of external
commerce. The right of trial by their peers of the vicinage, rights
confirmed by royal charters and secured by provincial codes, and the
right of assembly and petition were asserted. Keeping of a standing army
in time of peace without the consent of the legislature of the colony
where the army was kept was declared illegal. The exercise of
legislative power by a crown appointed council was declared
"unconstitutional, dangerous and destructive to the freedom of American
legislation."
"All and each of which the ... deputies, in behalf of themselves, and
their constituents, do claim, demand, and insist on, as their
indubitable rights and liberties; which cannot be legally taken from
them, altered or abridged by any power whatever, without their own
consent, by their representatives in their several provincial
legislatures."
The acts passed by parliament since 1763 to which they were opposed were
then enumerated. "To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot
submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain will, on a
region of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found
happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to
pursue the following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a
non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or
association. 2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain,
and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare
a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered
into."
Non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation.--By commercial
restrictions the delegates hoped to force the British government to
change its policy. On September 22 Congress voted to request colonial
merchants and others not to place orders for British goods and to delay
or suspend orders already sent until Congress could make known its
policy. Five days later it resolved that from December 1 there should be
no importation of goods from Great Britain or Ireland, or of British or
Irish make, and that such goods be neither used nor purchased. On
September 30 it was resolved that exportation to Great Britain. Ireland,
and the British West Indies ought to cease after September 10, 1775,
unless grievances were redressed, and a committee was appointed to
formulate a plan for the enforcement of non-importation,
non-consumption, and non-exportation.
The Association.--On October 20 the delegates adopted the "Association"
which provided that after December 1 British or Irish goods, East India
tea, molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, and pimento from the British
plantations or from Dominica, wines from Madeira or the Western Islands,
and foreign indigo should not be imported into British America. It was
agreed that slaves should not be imported or purchased after December 1,
and slave traders were not to be allowed to rent vessels or purchase
goods. Non-exportation was not to be put into force until September 10,
1775, but if redress had not been obtained by that time, American goods
would be cut off from Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies. Rice,
however, might be exported to Europe. Congress agreed to encourage
frugality, economy, and industry, to promote agriculture, the arts, and
manufactures, especially of wool, and to discourage extravagance and
dissipation. Merchants and manufacturers were not to raise prices. A
committee in each county, city, and town was to observe the conduct of
persons, and if violations of the Association were discovered, the truth
was to be published in the newspapers. If any colony did not accede to
the Association, intercourse with that colony was to be cut off.
Attempts to obtain coöperation of other Colonies.--Congress also made an
effort to obtain the cooperation of neighboring colonies by an address
to the people of Quebec and by letters to the inhabitants of St. Johns,
Nova Scotia, Georgia, and East and West Florida. A memorial to the
people of British America, an address to the people of Great Britain,
and a petition to the king were also prepared. May 10, 1775, was set as
the date for the assembly of another congress, and on October 26 the
First Continental Congress dissolved.
North's conciliatory resolution.--In January, 1775, parliament began
consideration of the petition to the king and other papers relating to
America. Chatham moved the withdrawal of the troops from Boston but the
motion was defeated. On February 1 he presented a plan of conciliation
based upon mutual concessions, but this was also rejected. On February
20 Lord North undertook the unexpected rôle of conciliator by a
resolution which was considered in committee of the whole and passed by
the commons a week later. The resolution provided "that when the
Governour, Council, and Assembly, or General Court, of any ... colonies
in _America_, shall propose to make provision ... for contributing their
proportion to the common defence, (such proportion to be raised under
the authority of the General Court, or General Assembly, of such
Province or Colony, and disposable by Parliament,) and shall engage to
make provision also for the support of the Civil Government, and the
Administration of Justice, in such Province or Colony, it will be
proper, if such proposal shall be approved by his Majesty and ...
Parliament ... to forbear, in respect of such Province or Colony, to
levy any Duty, Tax, or Assessment, or to impose any farther Duty, Tax,
or Assessment, except only such Duties as it may be expedient to
continue to levy or to impose for the regulation of commerce; the nett
produce of the Duties last mentioned to be carried to the account of
such Province or Colony respectively."
The Restraining Act.--The effect of North's resolution was nullified by
the Restraining Act, which, in spite of Burke's powerful speech on
conciliation, became law on March 13. This act confined the commerce of
the New England colonies to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West
Indies, and prohibited the New Englanders from fishing in the northern
fisheries, until "the trade and commerce of his Majesty's subjects may
be carried on without interruption." In April the act was extended to
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South
Carolina. The British government thus closed the door of conciliation
and made the American Revolution inevitable.
READINGS
Adams, J., _Works_, II, 337-517; Adams, S., _Writing_, II-III; Becker,
C.L., _Beginnings of the American People_, 202-253; Beer, G.L., _British
Colonial Policy, 1754-1765_, 72-315; Bigelow, J., _The Life of Benjamin
Franklin_, II, 7-337; Channing, E., _A History of the United States_,
III, 29-154; Dickinson, J., _Writings_, in Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, _Memoirs_, XIV, 307-406; Doyle, J.A., "The Quarrel with
Great Britain, 1761-1776," in _Cambridge Modern History_, VII, 148-208;
Fisher, S.G., _The Struggle for American Independence_, I, 1-300;
Frothingham, Richard, _The Rise of the Republic_, 158-455; Henry, W.W.,
_Patrick Henry_, I, 24-357; Howard, G.E., _Preliminaries of the
Revolution_; Hutchinson, P.O., _The Diary and Letters of his Excellency
Thomas Hutchinson_, I; Johnson, E.R., _History of Domestic and Foreign
Commerce of the United States_, I, 84-121; _Journals of the Continental
Congress_, I (Worthington C. Ford, ed.); Lecky, W.E.H., _History of
England in the Eighteenth Century_, III, 290-460; Lincoln, C.H., _The
Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania, 1760-1776_; MacDonald, William,
_Select Charters_, 272-396; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_,
Part I, 1-253; Tyler, M.C., _Literary History of the American
Revolution_, I; _Patrick Henry_, 32-134; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American
Revolution_, 3-24; Becker, C.L., _The Eve of the Revolution_; Eckenrode,
H.J., _The Revolution in Virginia_; Schlesinger, A.M., _The Colonial
Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776_.
CHAPTER XXIV
FROM LEXINGTON TO INDEPENDENCE (1775-1776)
THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES
Enforcement of the Association.--The Association adopted by the
Continental Congress was approved throughout the colonies. In county and
town meetings, in assemblies, provincial congresses, or special
conventions, the patriot party expressed its approval. Though the New
York assembly refused to sanction the proceedings of Congress, the
committee of correspondence and many counties chose inspection
committees. In Georgia the patriots had a difficult time, but when the
provincial congress assembled at Savannah in March, 1775, forty-five of
the deputies ratified the Association and local inspection committees
were formed.
Military preparations.--Throughout the colonies military preparations
were in progress. In October, 1774, Charles Lee wrote from Philadelphia
to an English nobleman, "Virginia, Rhode Island and Carolina are forming
corps. Massachusetts Bay has long had a sufficient number instructed to
become instructive of the rest. Even this Quakering province is
following the example." In December the provincial convention of
Maryland recommended that all males between the ages of sixteen and
fifty should form themselves into military companies. Delaware made
provision for the arming and drilling of militia. Connecticut ordered
the towns to double their military supplies, and Rhode Islanders seized
forty-four cannon from the Newport batteries.
Whigs, neutrals, and Tories.--In spite of the military ardor thus
displayed, public opinion was by no means a unit. In general the people
were divided into three groups, patriots, neutrals, and Loyalists. Among
the patriots, or Whigs as they were called, was a small group of
ultra-radicals who favored independence. A great majority of the Whigs
stood for strenuous opposition to British policy but not for
independence. The neutrals in the main presented three shades of
opinion: those with patriot sympathies but who were still wavering,
those who were indifferent or were religiously opposed to violence, and
those who had Loyalist leanings but had not made a definite decision.
The third great group was composed of Loyalists or Tories. These were
not all of like mind, one portion being openly in favor of the king but
not ready to take up arms, the rest being openly belligerent. As the
Revolution progressed shadings within groups gradually disappeared,
wavering neutrals linked themselves with patriots or Loyalists, and
sections became distinctly Whig or Tory.
Even before the adoption of the Association, ill feeling showed itself.
As Howard says, "Tarring and featherings was becoming the order of the
day.... Loyalists were bitterly stigmatized as Tories and traitors, and
the cause of liberty was sullied by acts of intolerance and
persecution." Channing says, "The story of tarring and featherings,
riotings and burnings becomes monotonous, almost as much so as the
reading of the papers that poured forth from counties, towns,
conventions, meetings, congresses, and private individuals."
Revolution in Massachusetts.--The people of Massachusetts refused to
submit to the Regulating Act. The "mandamus" councillors were threatened
with violence and either declined the appointment or resigned, and the
courts were unable to sit. On September 1, 1774, Gage sent soldiers to
seize some powder stored near Boston and a rumor spread that the war
ships had fired on Boston. The militia began to gather from neighboring
counties, and Israel Putnam summoned the Connecticut militia to march to
the assistance of Boston.
Gage refused to allow the meeting of the assembly called for October 5,
but most of the representatives met at Salem where they declared
themselves a provincial congress. A few days later the congress moved to
Concord and then to Cambridge. It appointed a committee of safety which
was empowered to call out the militia, and other committees attended to
the collecting of stores and general defence. After the gathering of the
second provincial congress on February 1, 1775, the committee of safety
under the leadership of John Hancock and Joseph Warren was authorized to
distribute arms.
Lexington.--On April 18 the watchful patriots discovered that British
troops were preparing for an expedition, and William Dawes and Paul
Revere were sent to spread the alarm. Soon after dawn of April 19 the
British troops approached Lexington where they found sixty or seventy
minutemen under arms. When they did not obey the order to lay down their
arms and disperse, a shot was fired, followed by a volley which killed
eight and wounded ten of the colonials. The regulars went on to Concord
where another encounter occurred at the old North Bridge where the
British had stationed a guard. After destroying some stores, the troops
started back toward Boston. By this time the militia had gathered, and
the incensed farmers and villagers from behind trees, rocks, and fences
poured in a deadly fire which did not slacken until the soldiers were
relieved at Lexington by troops under Lord Percy. When the march was
resumed the battle began again, nor did it cease until the weary
soldiers reached Charlestown.
[Illustration: Boston with Environs During the Revolution (Based on map
in G.O. Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_, Part I, at end).]
Boston besieged.--The news of Lexington started thousands of New England
volunteers toward Boston. John Stark led the New Hampshire men; Israel
Putnam left his plow in the furrow to lead the Connecticut volunteers;
and Nathanael Greene headed the Rhode Islanders. The volunteer forces in
a few weeks were reinforced by large bodies of colonial troops. The
Massachusetts congress voted to raise thirteen thousand six hundred men,
and it called upon the other New England colonies to bring the army up
to thirty thousand. The Rhode Island assembly voted to raise fifteen
hundred men, and Connecticut six thousand, two-thirds of whom were to be
sent to the aid of Boston. Gage, who had been reinforced with troops
under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, found his army of six or seven
thousand veterans shut up in Boston by an undisciplined and poorly
organized force, which, however, outnumbered him three or four to one.
Bunker Hill.--The city was open to attack from Dorchester Heights and
the Charlestown hills. To forestall the British, the colonials decided
to occupy Bunker Hill. On the night of June 16 Colonel William Prescott
was sent to fortify the position. For reasons which are not entirely
clear, he led his men to Breed's Hill where a redoubt was constructed.
When dawn disclosed the fortification, the warships and batteries opened
fire. Prescott asked for reinforcements and small detachments came to
his assistance. A British council of war was called. Clinton suggested
the seizure of the causeway on Charlestown neck, a movement which would
have cut off the colonial force from the mainland. But Gage and Howe,
underestimating the fighting ability of their opponents, foolishly
insisted upon a frontal attack. Twice the British were repulsed with
staggering losses, but during the third charge the colonials exhausted
their ammunition and were forced to retreat, first to Bunker Hill and
then back to their own lines. Though the colonials technically had
suffered a defeat, great was the rejoicing over the battle, for colonial
troops had proven their prowess against the British regulars and had
taken a toll of two for one.
Ticonderoga and Crown Point--While the troops were gathering about
Boston, it occurred to Benedict Arnold that Ticonderoga would be an easy
prize. He submitted his ideas to Warren and the committee of safety, who
authorized him to proceed with not over four hundred men to reduce the
fort. On the way to Boston Arnold had divulged his thoughts to certain
Connecticut friends who immediately organized an expedition with the
same object. Ethan Allen and others from the Hampshire grants had also
conceived the idea of capturing the fortress and were on the march when
joined by Arnold, who had gone forward ahead of his troops. Immediately
the question of rank arose and after considerable discussion Allen and
Arnold agreed to command jointly for the time being.
On May 10 Ticonderoga surrendered without a struggle and this was
followed by an easy conquest of Crown Point and Ft. George. By this time
Allen completely ignored his colleague, but the arrival of about a
hundred of Arnold's men gave him his opportunity. Having captured a
British schooner Arnold decided to make a raid on St. Johns. The town
was easily captured and a British sloop fell into the hands of the
audacious colonial. The operations supplied the Whig army with much
needed artillery and stores, and it opened the way for operations in
Canada.
Rebellion in Virginia.--Virginia at the same time was in a state of
rebellion. The second revolutionary convention assembled at Richmond in
March, 1775, and Patrick Henry boldly sounded the call to arms. The
governor, Lord Dunmore, in alarm ordered the removal of the gunpowder
from the magazine at Williamsburg and soon several thousand armed men
made ready to march on the capital. When some of the leaders hesitated,
Henry placed himself at the head of an armed band and marched toward
Williamsburg. The governor discreetly agreed to pay for the powder, but
two days later (May 6, 1775) issued a proclamation charging the people
"not to aid, abet, or give countenance to the said Patrick Henry, or any
other persons concerned in such unwarrantable combinations." In May a
legal assembly was called but the members appeared in arms, and an
attempted conciliation failed when it became known that a trap was
prepared to kill any one who tampered with the magazine. Fearful of the
mob, the governor fled to a war vessel.
The Mecklenburg Resolves.--The news of Lexington aroused every colony.
South Carolina immediately raised two regiments. In North Carolina some
of the frontiersmen held a meeting at Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and
passed resolutions that crown commissions in the colonies were null and
void, and that colonial constitutions were suspended. They also made
governmental regulations until Congress could provide laws for them. The
original resolutions were destroyed and afterward were reproduced from
memory in the form of the so-called "Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence" of May 20. Reliable historians now reject the authenticity
of this document, but the original resolves were undoubtedly genuine.
THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
The delegates.--The Second Continental Congress assembled at
Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, all but Georgia and Rhode Island being
represented. On May 13 Lyman Hall, representing St. John's parish,
Georgia, arrived, but not until July 20 was notice received that Georgia
had acceded to the Association and appointed delegates. Stephen Hopkins,
the first Rhode Island delegate to appear, arrived May 18. Peyton
Randolph of Virginia was elected president, but he found it necessary to
leave Congress on May 24, and John Hancock was chosen president. Most of
the delegates had been in the first Congress; among the new members was
Benjamin Franklin, who had recently returned from England; Thomas
Jefferson was elected to represent Virginia in the place of Peyton
Randolph.
Nature of the work of Congress.--The conservative Whigs were still in
the majority. They favored another petition to the king, but the state
of war was recognized by all and Congress shouldered the responsibility
of directing the Revolution as a defensive war. The early activities of
Congress were devoted mainly to the raising, organizing, and equipping
of the armies, to building and equipping a fleet, to perfecting the
organization of the Revolution, to protecting the frontiers and
obtaining alliances with the Indians, to enforcing the Association, to
justifying the Revolution and seeking aid outside of the thirteen
colonies, and to seeking redress from the British crown.
Military preparations.--Congress worked strenuously to raise troops and
to obtain munitions and other stores. Efforts were made to stimulate
recruiting, to perfect the organization of the militia, and to hasten
the assembling of forces. The manufacture of cannon, guns, and gunpowder
was encouraged and attempts were made to increase the supplies of lead,
nitre, and salt. Congress recommended to the various assemblies and
conventions that they provide sufficient stores of ammunition for their
colonies and that they devise means for furnishing with arms such
effective men as were too poor to buy them.
Organization of the army.--The armies already in the field were
recognized by Congress. On June 14 a committee was appointed to draft
rules for the army and on the following day Washington was appointed to
command the continental forces. Arrangements were soon made for the
appointment of four major-generals, eight brigadier-generals, and minor
officers. The first major-generals were Artemus Ward, Charles Lee,
Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam, Schuyler being placed in command of
the New York department. Rules and regulations for the army were also
adopted and provision was made for the establishment of a hospital.
Organization of the navy.--For the protection of the coasts Congress at
first depended upon the efforts of individual colonies, recommending
that they make provision, by armed vessels or otherwise, for the
protection of their harbors and navigation on their coasts. Colonial
vessels were utilized to capture British transports, but it soon became
evident that a navy under congressional control would be more effective.
During October, 1775, Congress decided to fit out four vessels and on
November 28 adopted rules for the regulation of the navy. On December 13
provision was made for the building of thirteen war craft and on the
twenty-second officers were appointed. Ezek Hopkins was made
commander-in-chief of the fleet; the captains were Dudley Saltonstall,
Abraham Whipple, Nicholas Biddle, and John B. Hopkins. Among the
first-lieutenants was John Paul Jones.
Prizes and privateers.--On November 25 Congress adopted regulations
regarding prizes, and advised the legislative bodies to erect admiralty
courts or to give to the local courts admiralty jurisdiction. It also
provided "That in all cases an appeal shall be allowed to Congress, or
such person or persons as they shall appoint for the trials of appeals."
In March, 1776, Congress resolved "That the inhabitants of these
colonies be permitted to fit out armed vessels to cruize on the enemies
of these United Colonies." In April Congress adopted a form of
commission and instructions to commanders of privateers, and decided to
issue letters of marque and reprisal.
First steps in financing the Revolution.--The financing of the
Revolution was one of the most difficult tasks confronting Congress. The
first step in raising money was taken on June 3, 1775, when a committee
was appointed to borrow £6,000 to purchase gunpowder. A committee was
also appointed to bring in an estimate of money necessary to be raised.
On June 22 Congress resolved to emit $2,000,000 in bills of credit and
pledged the "confederated colonies" for their redemption. Once embarked
upon the perilous course of paper finance, issue followed issue in rapid
succession. At first the promissory notes passed readily, but they soon
began to depreciate and eventually became worthless. Nevertheless they
carried the Revolution through its most trying years.
Establishment of a post office.--The need of "speedy and secure
conveyance of intelligence from one end of the Continent to the other"
was recognized and a committee was appointed to consider the
establishment of posts. On July 26 the post office was established,
Benjamin Franklin being elected Postmaster General. He was authorized to
establish "a line of posts ... from Falmouth in New England to Savannah
in Georgia, with as many cross posts as he shall think fit."
An Indian policy adopted.--Control of the Indians was vital for the
safety of the frontier. It was felt that if the British ministry should
induce the tribes to commit hostile acts, the colonies would be
justified in entering into alliances with Indian nations. It was hoped
that the Iroquois might be kept neutral. "Talks" were prepared, goods
to be used as presents were purchased, and money was provided. The
frontier was laid off into three departments which were placed under
commissioners. The Six Nations and tribes to the north of them were in
the northern department; tribes between the Iroquois and the Cherokee
were in the middle department; and the Cherokee and Indians south of
them were in the southern department.
Enforcement of the Association.--Congress continued the policy of trade
restriction. On May 17 it resolved that exports to Quebec, Nova Scotia,
the Island of St. Johns, Newfoundland, Georgia except St. John's parish,
and to East and West Florida, must cease, and that supplies must not be
furnished to the British fisheries. After Georgia appointed delegates,
the colony was admitted to the Association. On June 2 Congress resolved
that no bill of exchange, draught, or order of any British officer
should be honored, and that no money, provisions, or other necessaries
be furnished the British army or navy.
On June 26 Congress resolved that, as attempts were being made to divide
the people of North Carolina and defeat the Association, it was
recommended to that colony to associate for the defence of American
liberty and to organize the militia, Congress offering to provide pay
for a thousand men in the colony. On July 4 a resolution was adopted
that the restraining acts were "unconstitutional, oppressive, and
cruel," and that commercial opposition should be made to them.
As doubts had arisen with respect to the true spirit and construction of
the Association, on August 1 Congress defined it as follows: "Under the
prohibition ... to export to, or import from, the Islands of Great
Britain and Ireland, this Congress intends to comprise all exportation
to, and importation from, the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Sark,
Alderney, and Mann, and every European island and settlement within the
British dominions: and that under the denomination of the West Indies,
this Congress means to comprehend all the West India islands, British
and foreign, to whatever state, power, or prince belonging, or by
whomsoever governed, and also the Summer islands, Bahama Islands,
Berbicia and Surinam on the Main, and every island and settlement within
the latitude of the southern line of Georgia and the Equator."
The necessity of obtaining supplies forced Congress to make special
provisions for the importation of munitions of war. On July 15, 1775, a
resolution was adopted that "every vessel importing Gun powder, Salt
petre, Sulphur, provided they bring with the sulphur four times as much
salt petre, brass field pieces, or good muskets fitted with Bayonets,
within nine Months from the date of this resolution, shall be permitted
to load and export the produce of these colonies, to the value of such
powder and stores aforesd, the non-exportation agreement
notwithstanding." On November 2 Congress adopted a resolution to close
the ports until March 1, but from time to time special provisions were
made for the exportation and importation of goods. The delegates
frequently discussed the question of opening the ports, as shown by John
Adams's _Autobiography_ which says: "This measure ... labored
exceedingly, because it was considered as a bold step to independence.
Indeed, I urged it expressly with that view, and as connected with the
institution of government in all the States, and a declaration of
national independence." On April 6, 1776, the ports were opened to world
commerce except trade with Great Britain and her possessions.
Letter to the people of Canada.--The congressional leaders hoped to
strengthen their resistance by obtaining the coöperation of the
Canadians. A letter "to the oppressed inhabitants of Canada" was
approved on May 29. Congress condoled with them "on the arrival of that
day, in the course of which, the sun could not shine on a single freeman
in all your extensive dominion.... By the introduction of your present
form of government, or rather present form of tyranny, you and your
wives and your children are made slaves.... We are informed you have
already been called upon to waste your lives in a contest with us.
Should you, by complying in this instance, assent to your new
establishment [the Quebec Act], and a war break out with France, your
wealth and your sons may be sent to perish in expeditions against their
islands in the West Indies. We yet entertain hopes of your uniting with
us in the defence of our common liberty."
Attempts to influence public opinion in the British Empire.--Congress
hoped by appeals to the inhabitants of the British Isles to arouse
public opinion, thereby bringing pressure to bear upon a Ministry and
subservient parliament which had shown themselves to be irresponsible
and tyrannous. Addresses to the people of Great Britain and Ireland were
accordingly prepared. A letter to the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and liveries
of London was drawn up expressing thanks "for the virtuous and
unsolicited resentment you have shown to the violated rights of a free
people." A letter of friendship was sent to the assembly of Jamaica and
a communication regarding commerce was sent to Bermuda.
Statement to the army.--On July 6 Congress approved a declaration
setting forth the causes and necessity of taking up arms, which was to
be published by Washington upon his arrival at Boston. The declaration
presented the usual arguments regarding constitutional rights and gave
an account of the progress of events. That independence was desired was
denied in the following words: "We have not raised armies with ambitious
designs of separating from Great Britain, and establishing independent
states. We fight not for glory or for conquest.... In our own native
land, in defence of the freedom that is our birth right,... and for the
protection of our property ... we have taken up arms."
Petition to the king.--The radicals believed that a war of independence
could not be avoided, but the conservatives restrained them, hoping that
the force of public opinion, a bold show of resistance, and commercial
restrictions would change the ministerial policy. Another direct appeal
to the king was decided upon and on May 29 resolutions were adopted,
"that with a sincere design of contributing by all the means in our
power, not incompatible with just regard for the undoubted rights and
true interests of these colonies, to the promotion of this most
desirable reconciliation, an humble and dutiful petition be presented to
his Majesty." The petition, signed on July 8, was couched in respectful
terms as the following quotation shows: "We ... beseech your Majesty,
that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to
procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned
by the system before mentioned, and to settle peace through every part
of your dominions, with all humility submitting to your Majesty's wise
consideration whether it may not be expedient for facilitating those
important purposes, that your Majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by
which the united applications of your faithful colonists to the throne,
in pursuance of their common councils, may be improved into a happy and
permanent reconciliation; and that, in the mean time, measures may be
taken for preventing the further destruction of the lives of your
Majesty's subjects; and that such statutes as more immediately distress
any of your Majesty's colonies may be repealed."
Reply to Lord North.--As several of the colonies were desirous of
knowing the congressional attitude toward Lord North's conciliatory
resolution, on July 31 Congress adopted a formal report which closed
with the following statement: "When the world reflects how inadequate to
justice are these vaunted terms; when it attends to the rapid and bold
succession of injuries, which have been aimed at these colonies, when it
reviews the pacific and respectful expostulations, which ... were the
sole arms we opposed to them; when it observes that our complaints were
either not heard at all, or were answered with new and accumulated
injury,... when it considers the great armaments with which they have
invaded us, and the circumstances of cruelty with which they have
commenced and prosecuted hostilities; when these things we say, are laid
together and attentively considered, can the world be deceived into an
opinion that we are unreasonable, or can it hesitate to believe with us,
that nothing but our own exertions may defeat the ministerial sentence
of death or abject submission."
Stubborn attitude of the government.--George III and his ministers had
gained no wisdom from the rebellious attitude in America. The petition,
which had been entrusted to Richard Penn, reached London on August 14,
but not until a week later did Lord Dartmouth, the secretary for the
colonies, consent to look at a copy of the document and not until
September was it presented to the king. On August 23 George III
published a proclamation which declared the Americans rebels, and after
his examination of the petition, the king saw no reason for revising it.
At the next session of parliament acts were passed which prohibited
trade with the thirteen colonies, ordered the seizure and confiscation
of ships engaged in trade with them, and permitted British commanders
to impress sailors from seized vessels.
The German mercenaries.--A reorganization of the cabinet had forced the
amiable Dartmouth out of the colonial office, his successor being Lord
George Germaine. Lord Rochford was made secretary of state for the
southern department, and Lord Suffolk was retained in the northern
department to which office fell the business with Germany. The British
army was sadly in need of recruits. In Scotland the men of Argyllshire
and Inverness-shire readily entered the army for colonial service, but
in Ireland and England the people showed little enthusiasm for a war
which was intended to subdue their freedom-loving brethren over the
seas. To raise the necessary troops the king turned to the continent. An
attempt to obtain the use of the Scotch troops which had long been in
Dutch service failed and Catherine II refused to furnish Russian
infantry, but in Germany British overtures met with better success. The
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, the Duke of Brunswick, and some other needy
princes were willing to sell the services of their subjects for British
gold. During the war over thirty thousand mercenaries were hired in
Germany for service in America. In the words of Lecky, "The conduct of
England in hiring German mercenaries to subdue the essentially English
population beyond the Atlantic, made reconciliation hopeless, and the
Declaration of Independence inevitable."
PROGRESS OF THE WAR
Burning of Falmouth.--Events were also taking place in America which
were convincing the public that the war for independence must be fought
to the bitter end. In October, 1775, four British war vessels sailed
into the harbor of Falmouth, now known as Portland, and set fire to the
town. Three-fourths of the dwellings were destroyed and a thousand
unoffending people were made homeless.
The Canadian campaign.--The efforts of Congress to enlist the Canadians
in the colonial cause did not meet with success and the invasion of
Canada was determined upon. Two forces were sent northward. One under
Richard Montgomery was to proceed by the Lake Champlain route, seize
Montreal, and then march to Quebec. The other under Benedict Arnold was
to go up the Kennebec and down the Chaudière, and join the other force.
Montgomery captured Montreal and then made a juncture with Arnold. On
December 31 an attack was made on Quebec, but Montgomery was killed,
Arnold was wounded, and the forces were repulsed. But in spite of
terrible sufferings in his army, Arnold kept Quebec in a state of
blockade the rest of the winter.
Siege of Boston.--When Washington arrived at Cambridge, he found a
disorganized army which was short of food, ammunition, and uniforms, and
without hospital service. Fortunately the British did not take advantage
of the situation, and gradually the commander brought order out of
chaos. By March, 1776, Washington was prepared to make an offensive
move. Taking advantage of the fact that the British had not fortified
Dorchester Heights, on the night of March 4 colonial troops seized the
position which commanded Boston. On the seventeenth the British army,
accompanied by about a thousand Loyalists, sailed for Halifax.
Fighting in Virginia and North Carolina.--While Washington was besieging
Boston, Lord Dunmore was making reprisals along the Virginia rivers.
After the defeat of some of his Loyalist supporters at Great Bridge, the
governor caused the burning of Norfolk on January 1, 1776. North
Carolina was also torn by civil war. Governor Martin had been driven
from the colony, and from the refuge of a war vessel commissioned Donald
McDonald to collect an army of Loyalists in the central and western
counties. He also appealed to Sir Henry Clinton for aid. With a force of
sixteen hundred men McDonald marched toward the coast, but on February
27, 1776, he was met by patriot forces at Moore's Creek and his Loyalist
army was practically annihilated. When Clinton's fleet appeared off the
coast, ten thousand North Carolina militia were ready to meet him.
Clinton lingered for a time off Cape Fear and then sailed to Charleston
where he hoped to arouse the Loyalists of the coasts and the German
settlers of the interior.
Defence of Charleston.--Edward Rutledge with six thousand militia
prepared to defend the city. Colonel Moultrie, with his forces back of
rude fortifications on Sullivan's Island, made ready to defend the
harbor. On June 28 the fleet attacked. Most of the British shot buried
themselves in the palmetto logs and banks of sand from behind which
Moultrie's men poured a fire which wrought havoc on the crowded decks.
An attempt to make a landing proved a failure and Charleston was saved.
THE LOYALISTS
The people not united.--Up to 1774 the majority of Americans were not
united in opposition to British policy, but acts of violence and
retaliation, the meeting of Congress, and the organization of
revolutionary committees, brought about a rapid crystallization of
public opinion. Loyalty to Great Britain was the normal state. The Whigs
were the nullifiers and eventually the secessionists. That they were
able to perfect an organization and carry on a successful rebellion has
obscured the fact that they were in reality but an active minority. The
masses were indifferent or were loyal supporters of Great Britain. It is
impossible to estimate accurately the number of Loyalists; they varied
with localities and fluctuated with the fortunes of war. Some historians
estimate them as a third of the population, others as one-half.
The Tory element in the colonies.--The great Loyalist stronghold was New
York. There the moderate Tories had controlled the situation for several
years. They had favored the assembling of the First Continental
Congress, but when that body adopted the Association, they opposed it.
After the battle of Lexington the Whigs grew in power and succeeded in
setting up a provincial congress. But several counties remained
Loyalist, and until the occupation of New York City by British troops a
state of civil war existed in the province. After that event the British
lines furnished a refuge for Tories from all the colonies.
Next to New York Pennsylvania contained the largest Tory element. There
the Quakers, the proprietary interests, and a large German population
combined to oppose the Whig movement. In New Jersey, Maryland, and
Delaware, the Tory element was so numerous that only with the greatest
difficulty did the Whigs obtain the support of those colonies for
independence. In New England the Loyalists were not powerful. In
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island they formed an
insignificant part of the population, but in the region which afterward
became the state of Vermont and in Connecticut they were numerous enough
to be a menace.
In the South, Virginia was dominated by the Whigs. The impolitic acts of
Lord Dunmore had alienated all but a small element of the population.
The Scotch merchants of Norfolk and many planters had supported the
governor, but his reprisals on the coast, his proclamation offering
freedom to negroes and indented servants who would enlist, and the
burning of Norfolk destroyed the Tory power in the province. North
Carolina, which had recently been torn by the War of the Regulators was
probably about equally divided, and in South Carolina and Georgia the
farmers and cattlemen of the interior were usually Loyalists; but the
British naval demonstrations and the defeat of Tory bands did much to
win converts to the Whig cause in the three southern colonies.
A classification of the Loyalists.--The Loyalists, or Tories as they
were called in derision, have been classified by Professor Van Tyne as
the office holders whose incomes depended upon the existing régime;
those whose friends were among the official class or who depended upon
that class for preferment; the majority of the Anglican clergy; the
conservative people of all classes, especially the wealthy merchants,
the aristocracy of culture, of dignified professions and callings, and
of hereditary wealth, and those who held office by virtue of wise
selection; the king worshipers, who were moved by theory of government
rather than by concrete facts; the legality Tories who believed that
parliament had a constitutional right to tax the colonies; the religious
Tories whose dictum was fear God and honor the king; and the factional
Tories who were influenced by family feuds and political animosities.
The religious division.--The religious factor was one of the most
important causes of division. An Anglican bishopric for the colonies had
long been contemplated and the dissenting churches believed that the
ministry was about to urge its establishment. In New England where the
Congregational church was in the ascendency and in those sections where
the Presbyterians and Baptists were powerful, the establishment of an
episcopate was especially feared. Already the Anglican church numbered
three hundred parishes in America. Throughout the colonies it was the
church of the official class and in the South it was the church of the
aristocracy. The southern Episcopalians were divided on the paramount
political questions, but in New York the religious and political parties
coincided. New York politics for many years had been factional, the De
Lanceys who were Episcopalians being leaders in invariable opposition to
the Livingstons who were Presbyterians. Both in New York and Connecticut
those of the Episcopal faith were almost invariably Loyalists.
The Tory argument.--The Tories believed in no taxation without
representation, but they differed with the Whigs in their interpretation
of the word representation. The Tories accepted the English meaning
which was based upon the idea that a man enjoyed representation not by
the fact that he had voted for a member of parliament but by his
belonging to one of the three great estates of the nation, each estate
being represented in parliament. They admitted that this was an
imperfect type of representation, but it was the ancient constitutional
type. They believed that the relationship of the colonies to the mother
country should be defined more clearly, but they did not believe that
the Whigs had a right to demand a fundamental change in the constitution
of the British Empire.
Moses Coit Tyler has pointed out that the other Tory arguments were
based upon questions of expediency, (1) Was it expedient to reject the
taxing power of parliament? (2) Was separation from the empire
expedient? The Whigs argued that parliamentary taxes might become
confiscatory. The Tories replied that parliament recognized the
principle that all parts of the empire should be taxed equitably and
justly, and that a powerful minority, which counted among its members
Fox and Burke, were bent upon protecting the colonies. The Tories could
see no reason for separation. They pointed out that until the beginning
of 1776 the Whigs had consistently disavowed the idea of independence.
Why then this sudden change? The Tories believed that concessions were
about to be made which would make separation unnecessary and
undesirable.
Persecution of the Loyalists.--After Lexington the Loyalists became
intolerable to the Whigs. They must show their allegiance to the
patriot cause or suffer the consequences. The favorite method of
persecution was tarring and feathering, but riding the Tory on the
liberty pole or ducking occurred frequently. Under the direction of the
revolutionary committees freedom of speech was suppressed and the
liberty of the press was destroyed. Any one who opposed the Association
was considered an enemy; he must agree or be persecuted. When the
Loyalists attempted to form counter associations, they were met with
stern methods of repression. Whig clergymen held conferences in Loyalist
communities to try to convert them, and obdurate places were visited by
armed bands. When the Tories attempted to arm, their leaders were
seized.
Congress attempts to control the Loyalists.--The Loyalists were lacking
in organization, and when the governors were driven from the colonies,
they lost their natural leaders. When calls for aid came from the
deposed officials, many Tories formed bands and attempted to coöperate
with the British forces. So serious was the situation that Congress, as
early as October, 1775, recommended to the revolutionary governments
that they arrest every person who might endanger the colonies or "the
liberties of America." On December 30 a congressional committee reported
that the Tories of Tryon County, New York, had collected arms and
munitions, and that several Loyalists had enlisted in British service.
Orders were issued to General Schuyler to seize the stores, disarm the
Tories, and apprehend their leaders.
Congress extends the olive branch.--Congress hoped to win over a large
part of the Loyalists and on January 2, 1776, it passed a pacific
resolution which stated that as certain honest, well-meaning, but
uniformed people had been deceived by ministerial agents, it recommended
to the various committees and friends of American liberty to treat such
persons with kindness and attention, to view their errors as proceeding
from want of information, to explain to them the true nature of the
controversy, and to try to convince them of the justice of the American
cause. The colonial governments were instructed to frustrate the
machinations of enemies and restrain wicked practices. It was the
opinion of Congress that the more dangerous ones should be placed in
custody, and to accomplish this the local authorities were given the
right to call to their aid the continental troops.
The Queen's County Tories.--Immediately afterward Congress learned that
the Tories of Queen's County, New York, were especially troublesome.
Congress accordingly decided that they should be put outside of the
protection of the United Colonies, that all trade and intercourse with
them should cease, and that none of them should be allowed to travel or
reside outside of that county without a certificate from the
revolutionary government of New York. Violators of this provision were
to be imprisoned for three months and lawyers were forbidden to try
causes for them. Troops were sent into the county.
Disarming of the Loyalists.--A congressional committee which had under
consideration the defence of New York, on March 14 advised the disarming
of the Loyalists on Staten Island. Congress immediately ordered that
eight thousand men be sent to the defence of New York and recommendation
was made to all the colonies to disarm all persons "notoriously
disaffected to the cause of America," or who refused to associate to
defend, by arms, the United Colonies. The confiscated arms were to be
used in arming troops.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The colonies advised to form temporary governments.--Up to the beginning
of 1776 the Whigs disavowed the purpose or desire for independence. But
in spite of the view of the conservatives, Congress had been forced to
assume the direction of the war and had been called upon to advise
several of the colonies regarding the course to be pursued in organizing
their governments. In answer to an inquiry from Massachusetts, Congress
replied that no obedience was due to the parliamentary act altering the
charter, and that the governor and lieutenant-governor were to be
considered absent and the offices vacant. As there was no council, the
provincial convention was advised to write letters to the inhabitants of
the places which were entitled to representation in the assembly,
requesting them to choose representatives; and when the assembly was
chosen, it was to elect councillors, "which assembly and council should
exercise the powers of Government, until a Governor, of his Majesty's
appointment, will consent to govern the colony according to its
charter." New Hampshire was advised to call a full and free
representation of the people who might establish such a form of
temporary government as would "produce the happiness of the people and
most effectually secure peace and good order in the province" during the
dispute with Great Britain. Similar advice was given to South Carolina
and Virginia.
Paine's "Common Sense."--The attitude of the British government, the
events on the Canadian frontier and about Boston, and the burning of
Falmouth and Norfolk, fanned the flames of rebellion to a white heat.
When Tom Paine issued his pamphlet _Common Sense_, "the first open and
unqualified argument in championship of the doctrine of American
Independence," he found a receptive audience. The pamphlet held up to
scorn the idea of kingship, argued that the security and happiness of
the British people were due to their character and not to their
constitution, asserted that the British colonial system was based upon
English self-interest, and that only injuries and disadvantages would
result from continued allegiance to Great Britain. Reconciliation, Paine
argued, would result in the ruin of America, because England, ruled by
self-interest, would still be the governing power, because any
arrangement which might be obtained would be a temporary expedient, and
because nothing but independence would keep the peace of the American
continent. From every point of view, independence, he declared, was
necessary. "The period of debate is closed. Arms, as the last resort,
must decide the contest.... By referring the matter from argument to
arms, a new era for politics is struck; a new method of thinking hath
arisen. All plans, proposals, and so forth, prior to the nineteenth of
April ... are like the almanacs of last year." The pamphlet met with
immediate success. It was read throughout the colonies and convinced
thousands that independence was necessary.
The independence movement in the three southern colonies.--Early in 1776
three southern colonies took definite steps toward independence. In
February a small revolutionary group in Savannah instructed delegates to
agree to any measure for the general good which might be adopted by
Congress. In March South Carolina gave similar instructions, and on
April 12 the provincial congress of North Carolina instructed its
delegates to concur with representatives from other colonies in
declaring independence. In spite of the action of South Carolina, the
colony was probably unconvinced of the necessity of separation from
Great Britain until the Charleston hostilities.
Congress advises the colonies to suppress the authority of Great
Britain.--On May 10 Congress recommended to the various assemblies and
conventions that where no sufficient government had been established,
such governments as would best conduce to the happiness and safety of
the people and of America in general should be established. Five days
later Congress adopted a preamble to this resolution which contained the
significant statement that the exercise of every kind of authority under
the British crown should be suppressed and all the powers of government
exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies.
The German mercenaries.--On May 21 Congress received copies of the
treaties which Great Britain had made with the Duke of Brunswick, the
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and the Count of Anhalt-Zerbst, by which they
agreed to furnish about seventeen thousand troops to be used against the
rebellious colonies. These treaties were immediately published and were
a potent force in bringing some of the wavering colonies to instruct
their delegates for independence.
Lee's Resolution.--In Virginia a convention was called to form a new
government, and on May 15 the Virginia delegates in Congress were
instructed to propose independence. Accordingly on June 7 Richard Henry
Lee moved in Congress "That these United Colonies are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from
all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection
between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally
dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual
measures for forming foreign alliances. That a plan of confederation be
prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their
consideration and approbation."
The debate on the resolution.--A declaration of independence at that
time was opposed by James Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, John Dickinson,
Edward Rutledge, and others. They declared that they were friends of the
measure but thought that it should be postponed until the people
demanded it. The middle colonies, they thought, "were not yet ripe for
bidding adieu to British connection, but ... were fast ripening." They
argued that a declaration which was not unanimous would cause foreign
powers either to refuse to make alliances with the colonies or to insist
upon hard terms. It was believed that a successful termination of the
New York campaign would make alliances possible on excellent terms.
John Adams, Lee, Wythe, and others argued for an immediate declaration.
They saw no reason for waiting for every colony to express itself. They
argued that a declaration of independence alone could bring about
desired alliances. Without it the colonies would never know whether or
not aid could be obtained from France or Spain. It was pointed out that
the New York campaign might not be successful and that an alliance ought
to be made while affairs bore a hopeful aspect. If an alliance were made
at once with France, she might assist in cutting off British supplies
and might divert enemy forces by an attack on the British West Indies.
It was also pointed out that an immediate alliance would assist the
people, who were in need of clothing and money.
Committees appointed.--It was decided to get the consent of the colonies
before issuing the declaration, but a committee composed of Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R.
Livingston was appointed to prepare the document. Congress also decided
to appoint committees to formulate a plan of confederation and to draft
a form of treaties.
New England takes formal action.--The New England colonies had favored
independence for some time. They now took formal action. In May Rhode
Island instructed its delegates to agree to any acts which would hold
the colonies together. In June Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New
Hampshire instructed their delegates to support Lee's resolution.
The independence movement in the middle colonies.--The middle colonies
still stood out and Congress made great efforts to induce them to give
their support. After a hard struggle with Governor William Franklin, on
June 22 the provincial congress of New Jersey authorized its delegates
to agree to independence. Pennsylvania had been held back by the
Quakers, Germans, and proprietary interests. When the conservative
assembly refused to sanction independence, a vast crowd assembled in
Philadelphia and voiced its displeasure. The Loyalists were terrorized
and a patriot convention was formed which agreed to favor independence.
Delaware formed a new government but failed to instruct its delegates
regarding independence. In Maryland the provisional government induced
Governor Eden to leave the colony and a special convention called by the
council of safety gave the delegates the desired instructions. New York
failed to express itself in favor of the great measure.
The Declaration of Independence.--On July 1 Lee's motion was debated in
Congress, John Adams speaking for an immediate declaration of
independence and Dickinson for delay. When the debate closed, nine
states voted in the affirmative. Pennsylvania and South Carolina opposed
immediate action; the Delaware vote was a tie, and the New York
delegates were excused from voting. The final vote was postponed until
the next day. The arrival of Rodney of Delaware gave the vote of that
state for the Declaration. Dickinson and Morris did not appear and the
other delegates from Pennsylvania voted in the affirmative. The South
Carolina delegates, influenced by news that a great British fleet was
off New York, took matters in their own hands and voted for
independence. New York alone stood out.
The congressional committee had entrusted the preparation of the
Declaration to Thomas Jefferson. After it had undergone the fire of
criticism, on the evening of July 4 the document was approved by twelve
states. On the following day copies signed by President Hancock and
Secretary Thomson were sent to the various assemblies. The other
signatures were added later. Although the New York delegates had not
voted for the Declaration, on July 9 the New York provincial congress
approved it, completing the long chain of states which stretched along
the Atlantic seaboard from Nova Scotia to East Florida.
Contents of the Declaration.--This immortal document begins by setting
forth certain "self-evident truths" concerning the rights of mankind and
the nature of government. Then follow in nearly thirty paragraphs a list
of charges against King George III, and a review of the efforts of the
colonies to obtain redress. The last paragraph declares, in the
resounding words of Lee's Resolution, "That these United Colonies are,
and of right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are
absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved." A new nation had been born.
READINGS
MILITARY EVENTS AND THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Bolton, C.K., _The Private Soldier under Washington_; Channing, Edward,
_History of the United States_, III, 155-206; Fiske, John, _The American
Revolution_, I, 100-197; Greene, F.V., _The Revolutionary War_, 1-27;
_Journals of the Continental Congress_ (Worthington C. Ford, ed.),
II-VI; Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_,
III, 461-500; Smith, J.H., _Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony_, I,
107-165; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_, I, 254-390; Van
Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_, 24-49; Winsor, Justin, _Narrative
and Critical History_, VI, 1-274; Adams, C.F., _Studies Military and
Diplomatic_, 1775-1865, pp. 1-21.
THE LOYALISTS
Flick, A.C., _Loyalism in New York_ (Columbia University, _Studies in
History_, etc., XIV, No. 1.); Tyler, M.C., "The Party of the Loyalists
in the American Revolution," in _The American Historical Review_, I,
24-45; Van Tyne, C.H., _The Loyalists in the American Revolution_;
Wallace, S., _The United Empire Loyalists_.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Friedenwald, H., _The Declaration of Independence_; Hazelton, J.H., _The
Declaration of Independence_; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American
Revolution_, II, 133-171; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_,
50-101; Becker, C.L., _The Eve of the Revolution_, 200-256.
CHAPTER XXV
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MUDDLE STATES (1776-1777)
THE CONTEST FOR NEW YORK
Preparations to defend New York.--After the evacuation of Boston it was
realized that New York would be a probable point of attack and great
exertions were made to put it in a state of defence. Washington arrived
on April 13, 1776; his troops, delayed by bad roads, came straggling in,
and new levies began to arrive, the army being gradually augmented until
it numbered about twenty thousand men. But the effective fighting force
was several thousand less, for disease was ever present. Furthermore the
raw recruits were poorly trained and equipped, and there were not enough
artillerymen to man the batteries. The only cavalrymen who appeared were
a small force from Connecticut and these, for reasons best known to
himself, Washington did not retain in service. The defences were
strengthened by works at Paulus Hook on the Jersey shore, and others on
Governor's Island and at Red Hook on Long Island. Eleven redoubts were
erected on Manhattan Island along the battery and up to a point opposite
Hell Gate, and the hamlet of Brooklyn was fortified with seven redoubts.
Obstructions were placed in the Hudson and a second line of defence was
established at Forts Washington and Lee. Many historians point out that
New York should have been abandoned, for Washington's army was too small
to cope with the British, the Tories were certain to keep the enemy
informed of the movements, the defences were not powerful enough to
control the water approaches, and an active enemy could run by the
defenses and land troops in the rear of the American army. To make the
situation worse, the line of hills on Long Island, known as Brooklyn
Heights, commanded New York. To occupy them it was necessary to divide
the army, and in case of defeat, the defenders would be separated by a
difficult channel from the main army on Manhattan Island. As Trevelyan
observes, Washington "placed, and kept, his troops in a position where
they were certain to be defeated, and where, when defeated, they would
most probably be surrounded and destroyed."
The British plan.--The British government hoped to annihilate the armies
and cut off New England from the other colonies. By occupying New York
and sending converging armies, one from the north, the other up the
Hudson, the government believed that it could accomplish its purpose.
Large reinforcements were sent to Quebec, and during July and August,
1776, British forces were concentrated on Staten Island and a great
fleet assembled. The first forces to arrive at New York were those under
General Howe which he brought from Halifax. Large reinforcements under
Admiral Lord Howe and forces under Clinton and Cornwallis augmented the
army until it numbered about thirty thousand men.
An attempt at conciliation.--Lord Howe hoped that peace could be made,
and soon after his arrival, he addressed a letter to "George Washington,
Esquire," but the epistle, which failed to recognize the position of the
commander-in-chief, was returned. A personal envoy from Lord Howe also
met with a rebuff. The British admiral had prepared a circular letter to
several of the royal governors setting forth his authority as
commissioner and stating the conciliatory terms sanctioned by the
cabinet. These contained a mere promise of pardon to those who returned
to allegiance and assisted in the restoration of tranquillity. In fact
John Adams was marked out for a halter, but this was not divulged. The
letters fell into the hands of Congress which ordered that they be
published "that the good people of these United States may be informed
of what nature are the commissioners, and what the terms, with the
expectation of which, the insidious court of Britain has endeavoured to
amuse and disarm them...."
Battle of Long Island.--General Howe finally decided to attack the
American position on Long Island. On the twenty-second and twenty-third
of August twenty thousand troops and forty cannon were disembarked at
Gravesend Bay, six or seven miles south of Brooklyn, but not until the
evening of the twenty-sixth did the British advance. Washington had been
misinformed as to the size of the landing force and had stationed only
nine thousand men on Long Island. These were under General Nathanael
Greene, but stricken by illness, he was forced to retire from the
command on August 23, and Sullivan who succeeded him was superseded by
Putnam on the twenty-fifth. Washington spent the twenty-sixth on the
island and superintended the disposition of the forces.
The chief line of defence was the densely wooded Brooklyn Heights which
were crossed by several roads. One ran up from Gravesend near the coast;
four miles to the eastward two wagon roads from Flatbush penetrated the
heights; three miles farther east a highway ran from the village of
Jamaica. About five thousand men were sent to defend the Gravesend and
Flatbush roads but Jamaica Pass was neglected. The British frontal
attacks met with stubborn resistance from the forces of Stirling and
Sullivan, but their valor was useless for a large British force pushed
along the Jamaica road and got in the rear of the American positions. A
portion of the army succeeded in getting back to the Brooklyn
intrenchments, but Sullivan and Stirling with about eleven hundred men
were captured and several hundred were killed.
The withdrawal from Brooklyn.--Howe, who remembered the disastrous
frontal attack at Bunker Hill, decided not to attack the Brooklyn
defences until supported by the fleet, which was held back by an adverse
wind. His caution saved the American army. Washington saw that Brooklyn
was untenable and he secretly planned to evacuate it. A brave show of
force was made by bringing over three regiments and by keeping up a
fusillade while water craft were being collected. Favored by a
subsidence of the storm and by a fog, during the night of the
twenty-ninth the entire army was successfully withdrawn.
Harlem.--After the battle of Long Island the British commissioners made
overtures to Congress and a committee composed of Franklin, Edward
Rutledge, and John Adams went to Staten Island for a conference, but it
failed completely. There was nothing to do but to fight it out. That
Manhattan Island should have been abandoned immediately after the defeat
at Brooklyn Heights has been maintained by strategists, but Congress
hesitated to evacuate New York City and Washington does not appear to
have insisted upon a withdrawal. As Trevelyan observes, "It is equally
difficult to explain satisfactorily why Howe was so long about
landing..., and why Washington was so slow in evacuating the city." On
September 10 Hancock informed Washington that Congress did not desire to
have him hold the city longer than he thought proper. Washington
immediately acted. The removal of stores was hastened and most of the
troops were withdrawn to Harlem Heights about halfway up the island, but
Putnam was left in the city with some infantry and artillery, and five
brigades were posted at points along the eastern shore. Not until
September 13 did the British begin the movement for the occupation of
Manhattan Island. On that day and the next several war vessels moved up
into the East River and at eleven o'clock on the morning of the
fifteenth British forces landed at Kip's Bay. There the American troops
disgraced themselves by slight resistance followed by a confused flight.
Howe neglected to follow up his initial success; had he done so he could
have cut off the garrison of New York, but his procrastination allowed
Putnam's force to rejoin the main army. Not until four in the afternoon
did the British commence "a stately progress northward" and not until
the next morning did they attack the American position. This time
Washington's troops behaved well and the British were checked.
White Plains.--For four weeks the British army remained in front of the
American position at Harlem. Howe finally decided upon his plan of
campaign; leaving a force to protect New York City, on October 12 he
moved his main army to the Westchester Peninsula with the object of
getting on the flank and rear of the American army, and cutting off its
supplies from the east; war ships were sent up the Hudson to cut off a
retreat into New Jersey. After his landing on the peninsula Howe's
movements were very slow and it was not until October 25 that he took up
a position a few miles south of White Plains, The dilatory movement had
given Washington the opportunity of moving his army to the mainland, and
when Howe finally arrived near White Plains, he found the American army
blocking his advance.
The British commander had just been heavily reinforced and his
overwhelming army should have made short work of Washington's forces,
but again Howe failed to win a decisive victory. On October 28 he
ordered a general engagement and the first assault drove in the American
outposts. A mile to the west of the main position was Chatterton's Hill
which was held by fourteen hundred men. Against this hill Howe sent
eight regiments. Five which advanced for a frontal attack were checked
and the defenders only retired when outflanked by the other three. A
general engagement did not develop and on October 31 Washington retired
to a line of heights somewhat back of his former position.
[Illustration: Northern New Jersey, New York and Its Environs during the
Revolution (Based on map in G.O. Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_,
Part II, Vol. I, at end).]
The withdrawal from Quebec.--While Washington's army rested at White
Plains, heartening news came from the north; and especially good news it
was, for during the summer the reports from the Canadian border had been
filled with stories of defeat and distress. Congress had made great
efforts to reinforce the army before Quebec, but on May 1 when General
Thomas arrived to take command, he had found less than two thousand men
assembled and half of them were in the hospitals. Within a week the
first British reinforcements arrived and Carleton took the offensive.
Thomas was forced to fall back to Sorel and the Americans were driven
from their camp near Montreal.
The army falls back to Crown Point.--On June 5 General John Sullivan
arrived at Sorel with three thousand troops. As Thomas had died of the
smallpox Sullivan took command. He determined to attack Three Rivers but
the surprise failed and his troops were routed. On June 14 an English
fleet carrying Carleton's army came up the river. Sullivan immediately
broke up his camp and retired to Crown Point, where for the time being
he was out of reach of the enemy, for Carleton's vessels were of too
deep draft to navigate the Sorel River. But disease proved to be more
dangerous than the British, for smallpox and dysentery carried off the
men by hundreds.
Ticonderoga becomes the base.--General Philip Schuyler was in command of
the northern department with headquarters at Albany and General Horatio
Gates was now in charge at Crown Point. In July Gates withdrew most of
the depleted force to Ticonderoga. Large numbers of troops were sent
north so that by August the garrison numbered thirty-five hundred.
Arnold equipped a fleet of small vessels which he hoped would delay if
it would not check the British advance.
Valcour Island.--During the summer Carleton's shipyard at St. Johns was
busy building the fleet which would give him control of Lake Champlain.
On October 4 Carleton advanced with an army of twelve thousand men.
Arnold started with his fleet manned by only five hundred men to harass
the advance. He ran into the narrow channel between Valcour Island and
the western shore and there on October 11 encountered the light advance
craft of the British fleet. For five hours he held his own. During the
night he withdrew his shattered boats to an island twelve miles to the
south where he attempted to repair the damage. On October 13 when the
fog lifted, it disclosed the British fleet. Arnold immediately sent off
his best vessels and with his crippled ships stayed to fight. One vessel
struck its colors but Arnold ran his flag ship and four gondolas into a
creek and burned them. He then hastened to Ticonderoga where he
displayed tremendous energy in strengthening the fortifications. The
spirited fight on the lake, the strength of the American position, and
the lateness of the season convinced Carleton that it was useless to
continue the operations. On November 3 he evacuated Crown Point and
began the withdrawal to Canada. Washington was thus relieved from the
danger of an enemy from the north.
Tactical movements.--Before he was aware of Carleton's withdrawal, Howe
had determined to force Washington's army into the open. He sent a force
of Hessians to occupy the northern end of Manhattan Island and on
November 5 moved his main army to Dobb's Ferry on the Hudson, from which
vantage point he could strike at Fort Washington, advance toward Albany,
or threaten Philadelphia. Washington's position was endangered and the
situation was made doubly precarious by the fact that his army was being
depleted by desertions and by the termination of enlistments. To
counteract the British movement he sent one corps to Hackensac in New
Jersey, and Heath's division was stationed at Peekskill to protect the
Hudson. Charles Lee was left at White Plains with about seven thousand
men subject to future orders.
Forts Washington and Lee.--The British moved next against Forts
Washington and Lee, which, garrisoned by about five thousand men, were
under the supervision of General Greene. They ought to have been
abandoned, but Washington unfortunately left the decision to his
subordinate who believed that they could be held. On November 16
overwhelming forces advanced against Fort Washington which was obliged
to surrender. Cornwallis secretly sent six thousand troops across the
Hudson and on November 20 advanced against Fort Lee. He all but
surprised it and Greene, with the greatest difficulty, succeeded only in
saving the garrison.
THE NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN
Retreat to the Raritan.--The fall of the forts had added greatly to the
difficulty of the situation, for Washington's army was in danger of
being enveloped. To avert disaster he determined to retreat into New
Jersey. He accordingly crossed the Passaic and moved to Newark. The
forces under Lee were ordered to join the retreating army, but that vain
and conceited officer, who had visions of becoming commander-in-chief as
soon as Washington was eliminated, refused to obey orders. On November
28 Washington marched out of Newark and as his rear guard left the town
the advanced guard of the British entered it. The American army pushed
on to New Brunswick where it found a temporary haven behind the Raritan.
On December 1 Cornwallis's troops reached the river, but there he was
halted by an order from Howe not to advance until he arrived with
reinforcements.
Expedition against Rhode Island.--A week later Howe came up with a
single brigade. Instead of concentrating his troops to crush the remnant
of Washington's army, the British commander decided to send two
divisions to conquer Rhode Island. They easily occupied the island but
it was a fruitless venture for "several thousand Royal troops were
thenceforward locked up in a sea-girt strip of land no larger than the
estate of many an English Lord-Lieutenant."
Retreat across the Delaware.--Washington's army was constantly reduced
by desertion and sickness, and the New Jersey people failed to rally to
his assistance. It has been estimated that not a hundred men enlisted
during the retreat across the state. The people of New Jersey paid
dearly for their indifference, for during the winter they were
constantly subjected to indignities from the Hessians who were billeted
upon them. Among the atrocious acts was the pillaging of Princeton
College. Taking advantage of British inactivity, Washington prepared to
retire beyond the Delaware, from New Brunswick having ordered the
collection of boats for many miles along the river front. Covering his
retreat with fourteen hundred of his best troops under Stirling, the
army and stores were landed on the Pennsylvania shore. When the British
troops arrived on the eastern bank, they were forced to halt, for not a
boat was available and the short-sighted Howe had failed to provide his
army with pontoons.
To the British commander the campaign was over and he prepared to go
into winter quarters, fancying that the rebellion was practically
crushed and that the spring campaign would be a mere parade. The Whig
use appeared to be lost and gloomy forebodings and grumblings of
discontent took the place of declamation and heroics. On December 10
Congress resolved to defend Philadelphia but two days later it adjourned
and hied away to Baltimore. Washington's lack of authority had
frequently hampered his military operations, but this difficulty was now
removed, for before adjournment Congress resolved, that until otherwise
ordered, Washington was to have full power to direct operations.
Washington's army reinforced.--The dispirited army which crossed the
Delaware was soon strongly reinforced. After many days of inaction,
General Lee had left his camp at White Plains with the intention, as he
grandiloquently put it, of reconquering New Jersey. After the retreat of
Carleton, Schuyler had sent seven battalions under Sullivan to assist
Washington, but Lee succeeded in getting control of four of them. On
December 13 he was captured at a tavern at Baskingridge. As soon as
Sullivan heard of it, he started the troops for the Delaware and on the
twentieth of December joined Washington. Four other battalions from
Schuyler's army arrived shortly afterward and General Mifflin brought in
a goodly body of Pennsylvania militia. Before Christmas the army
numbered eight thousand.
Position of the Hessians.--To the east of the Delaware was a Hessian
division under Colonel Von Donop, Colonel Rail being stationed at
Trenton with three regiments. Rail had taken to measures to strengthen a
naturally weak position; highways converged to the north of the village
and artillery stationed at the junction could sweep the streets.
Scouting parties and spies informed Washington that Rail's troops were
scattered through the town and that the place was practically without
defences.
Trenton.--Washington determined to strike. With the greatest secrecy he
perfected his plans. One body of troops under Cadwalader was to attack
Von Donop's position at Bordentown and Ewing with a thousand men was to
strike at troops stationed on Assumpink Creek, while Washington with
Greene and Sullivan in command of twenty-four hundred men and eighteen
cannon were to advance against Trenton from the north. During a furious
tempest on Christmas night Washington succeeded in crossing the
Delaware, but Ewing failed to get over and Cadwalader crossed too late
to coöperate. At four in the morning Washington's troops began the weary
march toward Trenton. While the valiant army was toiling over the frozen
roads, the Hessians were sleeping off the effects of their Christmas
wassail. At 8:15 the American forces drove in the Hessian outposts.
Aroused from his bed Rail tried to make a stand, but the streets were
raked with round shot and the sharpshooters fired relentlessly into the
huddled Hessians, several hundred of whom fled across the Assumpink
Creek bridge and escaped to Bordentown. Rail tried to rally his men but
fell mortally wounded. When Sullivan cut off the retreat to the south
and Greene ordered up his reserves, resistance ended. Nine hundred
prisoners, a thousand muskets, six field pieces, and a large quantity of
stores fell into the hands of the successful commander. But not in terms
of men and guns should the battle of Trenton be judged. Its importance
lies in the fact that Washington had won a clean cut victory when the
Whig cause was tottering and by that victory had raised the drooping
spirits of a despairing nation.
Movements of the armies.--When the news of Trenton reached New York, it
roused the British from their fancied security. Lord Cornwallis at the
head of eight thousand men proceeded by forced marches toward the west.
Washington had determined to hold a position east of the Delaware, and
on December 30 he again crossed the river and by January 2, 1777, had
assembled five thousand men and forty pieces of artillery just below
Trenton. As Cornwallis approached the American position, he realized the
costliness of a frontal attack, and decided that as soon as his forces
assembled he would attempt a flanking movement from Allentown.
Princeton, January 3, 1777.--Washington saw the danger and decided on a
daring plan. On the night of January 2 all was activity in the American
camp. Sentinels challenged, infantry moved about in the light of the
camp fires, and the sound of pick and shovel was plainly audible to the
British. But in the darkness to the rear another kind of activity was in
progress. Cannon, stores, and baggage were being silently moved to
Bordentown and Burlington, and at one in the morning the bulk of the
army began a stealthy march which at daybreak brought them out within a
mile and a half of Princeton. Three of Cornwallis's regiments had
remained there during the night and were now under way. Suddenly the
first of these troops under Colonel Mawhood found themselves confronted
by the American advance guard. The British charged bravely, scoring an
initial success, but Washington's presence in front of his lines
steadied the troops and they soon forced a retreat. Sullivan then led
the advance against the two remaining regiments, which were driven
through and beyond Princeton, leaving three hundred prisoners in
Washington's hands. The roar of the guns brought the unwelcome tidings
to Cornwallis that the American army had escaped, had cut across his
rear, and had defeated three of his crack regiments.
Morristown.--Five miles beyond Princeton Washington turned to the north
and soon established his army in a powerful position at Morristown where
they remained in security the rest of the winter. Howe made no attempt
to dislodge his opponent, but concentrated ten thousand troops in camps
at New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. The Jersey people had been cured of
their Toryism; supplies poured into the American camp, while the British
experienced the greatest difficulty in securing fuel and food, and by
March 1 were reduced to a ration of salt provisions and "ammunition
bread." When Washington reached Morristown he had about four thousand
men and during the winter his army did not increase, but he made the
most of the opportunity to drill his men and perfect his organization.
Throughout the country men were drilling for the spring campaign, powder
mills were being built, and lead mines were being opened. The greatest
shortage was in muskets, but fortunately these were obtained from
France.
Middlebrook.--In May, 1777, everything was in readiness and Washington
led his army to a powerful position at Middlebrook, only a few miles
from the British camp at New Brunswick. On June 13 Howe transferred
large forces to the southern bank of the Raritan, but he failed to draw
Washington from his point of vantage and on the nineteenth he began the
withdrawal of his army to Staten Island, having had the satisfaction
only of a rear guard action with Stirling's division.
THE STRUGGLE WITH BURGOYNE
British plans for 1777.--Howe's plan for the campaign of 1777 called for
fifteen thousand more troops. With this addition he believed that he
could crush Washington and conquer Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New
York. The subjugation of the southern colonies would then be attempted,
followed by operations in New England. But Lord Germaine thought
otherwise. Ignoring the general in the field, he planned to send a force
under St. Leger down the Mohawk Valley, a second army under Burgoyne to
penetrate New York by the Lake Champlain route, while Howe was to
proceed up the Hudson Valley. The three armies were to meet at Albany.
The plan looked good on paper, but it failed to take into account the
long distances to be traversed and the difficulties of transportation on
the frontier. When Germaine planned the campaign, he should have sent
precise orders to Howe, but this he failed to do, and on May 18 he even
wrote acquiescing in the proposed expedition against Philadelphia and
expressing the hope that the business might be concluded in season so
that Howe could coöperate with Burgoyne.
Ticonderoga and Ft. Independence.--On June 15, 1777, General Schuyler
learned that Burgoyne's army was in motion and that St. Leger was
concentrating forces on the upper Mohawk. The American army was in a
sorry plight for smallpox and dysentery were still the bane of the
northern department. Congress had done much to destroy efficiency by
temporarily removing Schuyler. At a time when all should have been
working in harmony, Gates was intriguing with members of Congress to
overthrow his superior. The advance part of the army was at Ticonderoga.
Across the narrow bay Fort Independence had been erected and a bridge
connected the fortifications, which were commanded by General St. Clair
who had only twenty-five hundred men to man works which demanded ten
thousand defenders.
[Illustration: The Region of Burgoyne's Invasion (The large map is based
on E.G. Foster's _Historical Chart_; the inset is from Trevelyan, _The
American Revolution_, Part II, Vol. I).]
Burgoyne captures the forts.--Late in June Burgoyne's flotilla carrying
about eight thousand soldiers reached Crown Point. His engineers soon
discovered the fundamental weaknesses of the American position. Mt. Hope
dominated the passage to Lake George and Sugar Hill towered above the
forts. On July 2 the former position was occupied by the British and on
July 5 St. Clair saw Sugar Hill bristling with cannon. He realized that
the forts were untenable and on the night of July 6 he loaded his
stores and light artillery on barges and sent them under convoy to
Skenesborough. The main body of troops under St. Clair attempted to
reach the same place by a circuitous route which led through
Hubbardtown.
The disastrous retreat.--Burgoyne's vessels broke through the
impediments and pursued the American flotilla. They encountered it at
anchor in South Bay and short work they made of it. The Americans
destroyed the stores and buildings on the shore before they retreated.
General Fraser had been sent in pursuit of St. Clair's forces and at
Hubbardtown he fell in with the American rear guard and defeated it. St.
Clair succeeded in getting his troops to Ft. Edward where he joined
Schuyler. Only three thousand men barred the way to Albany.
The withdrawal to Stillwater.--Schuyler sent out calls for help to New
England, to New York, and to Washington. While waiting for
reinforcements he destroyed the standing crops, drove off the stock, and
broke up the roads. Having despoiled the country, he abandoned Fort
Edward and withdrew to Stillwater on the west bank of the Hudson. It was
not long before reinforcements began pouring in. Although his army was
inferior to that of Howe, Washington sent on Morgan's riflemen and he
ordered Putnam to send two brigades. General Lincoln was sent to
organize the New England militia and Benedict Arnold was called from
Connecticut to help Schuyler.
Bennington.--Burgoyne reached the head of Lake Champlain on July 10, but
from that point his progress was exceedingly slow, the twenty miles to
Ft. Edwards being traversed in as many days. Schuyler's work of
devastation had been complete and the British commissariat suffered
accordingly. To replenish his depleted stores, Burgoyne embarked upon a
rash enterprise. At Bermington large quantities of stores had been
collected and a Tory named Philip Skene suggested that they would be an
easy prize. Burgoyne followed Skene's advice and sent Colonel Baum with
five or six hundred troops to make the capture. Near Bennington John
Stark was in command of two brigades of New England troops and at
Manchester were the remnants of regiments which had retreated from
Hubbardtown. On August 15 Baum came in touch with Stark's forces, but he
hesitated to attack and proceeded to intrench. The New England troops
gradually encircled the position, and when they attacked on the
afternooon of the sixteenth, they killed, wounded, or captured nearly
the entire force. While the Americans were engaged in plundering the
camp, they were suddenly attacked by another force of six hundred under
Breymann, sent by Burgoyne at Baum's request. Things were going badly
for Stark's men when Seth Warner with forces from Manchester arrived.
After a sharp contest Breymann's troops were driven from the field with
a loss of a third of the rank and file. The day's fighting had deprived
the invaders of a considerable force which they could not afford to lose
in the face of an army which was increasing daily.
Oriskany.--While Burgoyne was advancing, St. Leger was invading the
Mohawk Valley. On August 3 his army of British regulars, Hessians,
Canadians, Tories, and Indians invested Ft. Stanwix. Colonel Herkimer
gathered the Tryon County militia and went to the relief of the fort,
but at Oriskany, which was only six miles from the fort, he was
surprised. In the desperate battle the losses were higher in proportion
to men engaged than in any other battle of the war. Herkimer was killed
and so badly cut up were the militia that the expedition was unable to
proceed.
Ft. Stanwix relieved.--Schuyler realized the danger of a flank attack
from the Mohawk Valley. St. Leger must be checked. Schuyler called for a
volunteer to lead a relief expedition. Arnold offered his services and
at the head of eight hundred men advanced up the valley. As he proceeded
his force was continually increased by recruits. As he approached Ft.
Stanwix, Arnold succeeded in creating the impression that his army was
of overwhelming numbers. The Senecas were the first to desert St. Leger
and the Tories soon made off to the woods. Abandoned by his allies, St.
Leger retreated, leaving behind stores, tents, and artillery. The battle
of Bennington and the retirement from the Mohawk Valley sealed the fate
of Burgoyne.
Gates supersedes Schuyler.--By the middle of August Schuyler had the
satisfaction of being in command of a force which outnumbered Burgoyne's
army. But on August 19 Horatio Gates arrived at Albany with a commission
to take command. Gates was a man of little ability, but of an
unscrupulous, intriguing, and ambitious nature. He had spent many
months at the seat of government influencing members of Congress, a task
made easy by the fact that the New England delegates disliked Schuyler.
With victory already assured, Gates came forward to reap the honors.
Burgoyne was in a sorry plight. His line of communication was in danger
of being cut and his force had been reduced to about six thousand
effectives. In vain he looked for despatches from Howe, but though he
had sent ten messengers, an ominous silence was his only answer. Two
courses were open to him; an ignominious retreat or an advance that at
best was but a forlorn hope. Fortunately for the American cause he chose
the latter.
First battle of Bemis's Heights, September 19.--On September 13 the
British army crossed the Hudson on a bridge of boats and encamped at
Saratoga. Six miles to the south was a table land called Bemis's Heights
which the Americans had fortified. Between the heights and the river
stretched a pasture five hundred yards in width. It was a position
easily defended provided Gates extended his left wing. This he failed to
do and Burgoyne, quick to see the opportunity for a turning movement,
disposed his forces in such a manner that while Philips in command of
the British left and Burgoyne in the center engaged the American army,
General Fraser on the right could encircle the heights. Arnold saw the
danger and besought Gates to let him attack the British right. Gates
finally consented and Arnold immediately flung his men against Fraser's
position. A confused fight occurred in the tangled underbrush, and
though Morgan's riflemen got out of hand, the effect of the attack was
to stop Fraser's advance. Having been reinforced, Arnold threw his
troops against the British center at Freeman's Farm. A very hot
engagement ensued and victory would probably have resulted had Gates
engaged Philips, but the American commander failed to attack and the
British left came to the assistance of the hard-pressed center. At
nightfall Arnold fell back a short distance, but he had saved the
American army and had inflicted such great injury that Burgoyne was
unable to continue the battle the next day.
Clinton fails to coöperate.--The British commander fortified his
position and there his army remained inactive for more than a
fortnight. The situation was daily becoming more critical, for Lincoln
had succeeded in cutting the line of communication with Canada. A
belated despatch had reached Burgoyne informing him of Howe's expedition
against Philadelphia. He also received information which led him to
believe that Clinton expected to clear the Hudson and come to his
relief. Early in October Clinton captured three forts on the lower
Hudson, but instead of following up his success, he returned to New York
and left the northern army to its fate.
Second battle of Bemis's Heights.--The situation in the American camp
was far from harmonious. Gates had not mentioned Arnold's division in
his official report of the recent battle. This slight was followed by
studied insults and cowardly persecution. The protests of the regimental
officers caused Arnold to postpone his resignation, but Gates deprived
him of his command and elevated Lincoln. On October 7 Burgoyne again
prepared to attack the American lines. His initial assault was repulsed
and Fraser was mortally wounded. Soon after the fighting began Arnold
put himself at the head of his old troops and broke the British center.
The British right wing was also forced back, but Gates did nothing to
follow up the advantage. Arnold seized the opportunity and assaulted
Freeman's Farm. There he was repulsed but he turned his troops against a
redoubt on the right and carried it by assault. The redoubtable general,
however, was severely wounded, his thigh bone being shattered, but his
generalship had won the battle which broke the British army.
Burgoyne's surrender.--The day after the battle Gates pushed forward his
left wing, a movement which threatened to pen Burgoyne between the
Hudson and a hostile army. The British commander should have sunk his
heavy guns in the river and beaten a hasty retreat, but instead he
attempted to save his stores and artillery. He fell back eight miles and
took a position on the north bank of Fishkill Creek near Saratoga. Gates
threw a force across the Hudson which prevented a crossing, troops were
posted on the flank of the British Camp and the main army was drawn up
on the south bank of Fishkill Creek. The British were trapped and
Burgoyne at last realized that the game was up. On October 13 he called
a council of war at which it was decided to negotiate terms. Gates
demanded an unconditional surrender, but Burgoyne refused and the next
day Gates, who appears neither to have been able to win a battle or to
make the most of a fortunate situation created by the bravery and skill
of another, agreed that Burgoyne should surrender with the honors of war
and that his army should be given free passage to Great Britain upon the
condition that they would not serve in North America during the war.
Congress, to its shame, did not carry out the agreement and the troops
were kept as prisoners in America.
THE CONTEST FOR PHILADELPHIA
Howe moves on Philadelphia.--While the northern army was struggling with
Burgoyne, another great contest was taking place in Pennsylvania.
Germaine had not given Howe definite orders to coöperate with Burgoyne
and, in fact, had approved the proposed expedition against Philadelphia.
After the retirement from before Middlebrook, Howe's movements were a
mystery to Washington. In July he learned that the British fleet was
being prepared for a voyage, but whether the enemy would sail up the
Hudson, or strike at Boston, Philadelphia, or Charleston, he could not
tell. To forestall an advance northward Washington moved his army toward
the New York highlands. On July 31 he heard that the British fleet had
appeared in Delaware Bay. Immediately the American army was started for
Philadelphia, but before the city was reached the astonishing news came
that the fleet had disappeared. Washington immediately went into camp
twenty miles north of Philadelphia to await developments. Two weeks
later the British fleet sailed into Chesapeake Bay and on August 25 the
army, which numbered seventeen thousand, began to disembark at the Head
of Elk at the northern end of the bay.
Battle of the Brandywine.--As soon as Washington heard of the British
landing, he started his army southward. On August 24 eleven thousand men
paraded through the spacious streets of Philadelphia and on September 9
the army was posted on the north bank of the Brandywine. The main road
to Philadelphia crossed the stream at Chad's Ford and here Wayne's
division was stationed. Below the ford the steep banks were defended by
a small force of militia. Above Wayne were Greene's well-drilled
brigades, and the right was held by Sullivan. On September 10 Howe
concentrated his army at the Kennet Square meeting house, where he
divided it into two columns. At four the next morning Cornwallis in
command of one column started for the upper fords of the Brandywine; by
making this wide detour it was hoped that he could get in the rear of
the American right wing. An hour later General von Knyphausen in command
of the other column advanced toward Chad's Ford. He drove a small group
of skirmishers across the stream, arranged his army as if for an
assault, and opened with his artillery. Washington spent the morning in
uncertainty, but at length Sullivan sent word that Cornwallis's troops
were getting in his rear. Washington immediately ordered him to throw
his entire force across the path of the enemy, but the movement was not
carried out with precision and soon the wings of Sullivan's force were
routed. Stirling, who held the center, made a gallant defence, but with
both flanks exposed, he was forced to retire. When Von Knyphausen heard
the firing, he advanced across Chad's Ford, and carried Wayne's
intrenchments. Washington had ordered Greene to go to Sullivan's
assistance. His men covered four miles in about forty minutes and then
came into action against Cornwallis's victorious troops. For an hour the
battle raged with great intensity, and as darkness set in, Greene drew
off his men. His stubborn fight had saved the army, which was brought
together at Chester.
Paoli.--Washington moved his army thirty-five miles up the Schuylkill
and the British encamped south of the river near Valley Forge. To harass
the rear of Howe's army Washington sent Wayne's division across the
Schuylkill. At 1 A.M. on September 21 this force was surprised near the
Paoli Tavern. The British fell upon the American camp with sword and
bayonet, and before the grim work was over Wayne had lost more than
three hundred men.
The British in Philadelphia.--On September 23 the British army crossed
the Schuylkill and began to advance toward Philadelphia. When the news
reached the city a Whig exodus began, probably a third of the population
taking their departure. Congress removed the prisoners, archives, and
most of the stores; upon Washington it conferred dictatorial powers
for sixty days in the vicinity, and then adjourned to Lancaster and
later to York. On September 25 Howe entered the capital.
[Illustration: Morristown, New Jersey, to Head of Elk, Maryland (1777)
(Based on map in G.O. Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_, Part. III,
op. p. 492).]
Germantown.--Within a week Washington was ready to try to retake the
city. The approach from the northwest lay through Germantown. In the
outskirts Howe had stationed a strong force of infantry. Near the center
of the village the fine brick mansion of Benjamin Chew, the Chief
Justice of Pennsylvania, formed the pivot of the second line of defence
which was commanded by Colonel Musgrave. A mile to the rear lay the bulk
of the British army. Washington planned to advance in four columns.
Armstrong with the Pennsylvania militia on the right was to get in the
rear of the British left. Sullivan commanded the next column to the east
and was followed by the reserve under Stirling. A third column was
commanded by Greene, and the Maryland and New Jersey militia, forming
the fourth column, were to strike the British right. Save for a few
shots fired by Armstrong's men, the militia failed to get into the
fighting.
The dawn of October 4 broke in a dense fog, which destroyed the
possibility of coöperation and led to much confusion. Sullivan's men
arrived first and soon drove the British from their advanced position.
Then followed an attack which centered at Chew's house where Musgrave
and his men had taken refuge. The sound of the firing attracted some of
Greene's men who joined in the attack. The brick walls proved too strong
for the American three-pounders, and most of the forces of Sullivan and
Greene passed on to attack the next line where five brigades of royal
troops were drawn up along a narrow lane. The American units became
separated, Greene having advanced a considerable distance ahead of
Sullivan's troops. Suddenly Sullivan's force broke and fled in an
unaccountable panic. This placed Greene in great jeopardy, for his flank
was exposed and British reinforcements were approaching, but he coolly
saved his men and guns. So heavy were the British losses that no serious
attempt was made to follow the retreating army which was able to get
away with all its artillery.
Opening the Delaware.--Philadelphia was firmly held by the British but
the Delaware was still closed. At Billingsport a fort had been built
and an obstruction had been thrown across the river. Another obstruction
blocked the passage below Mud Island, on which stood Fort Mifflin and
opposite on the Jersey shore was Ft. Mercer. A flotilla of small craft
patrolled the Delaware. On October 4 part of Lord Howe's fleet anchored
in the river and two days later the obstruction at Billingsport was
removed. On October 22 Colonel von Donop attempted to capture Ft. Mercer
but he met with a bloody repulse. After this defeat the British
proceeded with more caution in the reduction of Ft. Mifflin. Shore
batteries were constructed which bombarded Mud Island for days. On
November 15 two battleships navigated the difficult channel and soon
battered the walls of the fort to pieces. At nightfall the garrison
abandoned the fortress. Four days later Ft. Mercer was evacuated when an
overwhelming force advanced against it, and on November 21 most of the
American vessels were set on fire by their crews. Communication with New
York was thus opened and Howe prepared to settle down in Philadelphia
for the winter.
Valley Forge.--In marked contrast to the comfort of the British camp was
the condition of the American army. Washington had chosen Valley Forge
for his winter quarters and there a fortified camp was constructed and
rude cabins erected to house the men. The camp soon became a charnel
house, for Congress failed to supply the necessary food and clothing,
and sickness inevitably resulted. For days the men were without meat and
existed on dough baked in the embers. "Fire-cake" and water became the
ration for breakfast, dinner, and supper. Blankets were lacking and the
men were soon barefooted and in tatters. On Christmas day the winter
broke with great severity and soon the hospitals, which were mere hovels
unsupplied with beds, were crowded with the dying.
The Conway Cabal.--The anguish of Washington was intensified by an
intrigue which threatened to deprive him of his command. This centered
about Gates and an Irish soldier of fortune named Conway who had been
sent over from France by Silas Deane. In November, 1777, Congress had
vested the management of military affairs in a Board of War. Gates was
made president of the board and Conway was appointed inspector general
of the army. They were supported by the New England delegates in
Congress and by those who opposed the Fabian policy of Washington.
Fortunately the intrigues of Conway and Gates to displace Washington
became known to the public and so great was the popularity of the
commander-in-chief that Congress dared not remove him.
READINGS
Charming, Edward, _History of the United States_, III, 210-273; Fisher,
S. G., _The Struggle for American Independence_, I, 490-574, II, 1-174;
Fiske, John, _The American Revolution_, I, 198-344, II, 25-81, 110-115;
Greene, F. V., _The Revolutionary War_, 28-131; Hildreth, Richard,
_History of the United States of America_, III, 140-162, 186-237; Lecky,
W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, IV, 1-41, 55-98;
Smith, J.H., _Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony_, I, 193-606, II;
Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_, II, 172-349, III, 1-147, IV,
111-319; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_, 102-135, 157-174,
227-247; Winsor, Justin, _Narrative and Critical History_, VI, 275-447;
Adams, C.F., _Studies Military and Diplomatic_, 1775-1865, pp. 22-173.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE WAR AS AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEST
THE FRENCH ALLIANCE
The French motives.--On February 6, 1778, France entered into an
alliance with the United States. That event changed the war from a
struggle between England and her former colonies to an international
contest in which Spain and Holland were soon engaged. The motives of
France in entering the contest have been variously ascribed to revenge
for the loss of her possessions and the desire to regain them, to the
intellectual movement in France, to the desire to build up French
commerce at the expense of England, and to the fear that Great Britain
would adjust the difficulties with the colonies and unite with them in
an attack upon the French West Indies. Professor Corwin, who has
recently examined the question, concludes that these explanations are
not adequate. He contends that the basic principle of French diplomacy
was the maintenance of leadership in Europe, and that in return for this
commanding position, France was willing to forego the extension of her
dominion. In the Seven Years' War French prestige had been destroyed; to
rebuild it was the object of her statesmen.
The policy of Vergennes.--In 1774 Louis XVI became king. No better
intentioned ruler ever mounted a throne but his weak will and
vacillating course led to his undoing. For two years Turgot was the
reigning influence at the council board. He installed a system of
economy and reform, which, had it been adhered to, would probably have
saved France from the throes of her great revolution. Turgot's plans ran
counter to the policy of Vergennes, the foreign minister, who desired to
see his country take its place in the sun as the dictator of European
politics. The attainment of Vergennes's policy was based upon three main
ideas: the preservation of peace on the continent by a close alliance
with Austria; a renewal of the Family Compact with Spain; and the
humbling of England. The last was to be accomplished by the building up
of the French navy, by secretly aiding the colonies, and when the time
seemed auspicious, by entering into an alliance with them, an alliance
in which Vergennes hoped that Spain would join. To win over the latter
power and to overcome the aversion of Louis XVI to aiding rebellious
subjects were the immediate problems of Vergennes.
Vergennes wins over the king.--A secret agent, Bonvouloir, was sent to
America to ascertain the condition of the colonies. His first report,
which reached Paris in March, 1776, gave a favorable statement of the
military situation. Vergennes immediately attempted to convince the king
that secret aid should be given the colonies. He argued that the
prolongation of the struggle would be advantageous to France and Spain
as it would weaken both contestants, and he pointed out that England
would probably attack the French West Indies as soon as the present war
was over. Aided by Beaumarchais, the author of _Le Mariage de Figaro_,
Vergennes countered the advice of Turgot and won over the king to his
plan.
Deane and Beaumarchais.--The secret committee on foreign correspondence
of the Continental Congress in March, 1776, sent Silas Deane to Paris.
His presence became known to Lord Stormont, the British ambassador, who
demanded his deportation, but France refused and continually aided him
in securing supplies. The French government also loaned the colonies a
million livres and obtained a similar amount for them from Spain. When
news of the Declaration of Independence reached Paris, Vergennes urged
that France and Spain enter the war, but Washington's defeats around New
York held back both countries. France continued to aid the colonies, the
business being transacted by Beaumarchais through the fictitious house
of Hortalez et Cie. Beaumarchais also drew heavily upon his private
fortune to assist the colonies.
Franklin.--The delay of France in making an open alliance caused
Congress to appoint a commission composed of Silas Deane, Arthur Lee,
and Benjamin Franklin Of all colonials Franklin was the best known in
Europe. As a scientist, philosopher, wit, and statesman, his name was
familiar to all classes in the French capital. His unpretentious dress,
unaffected manners, and simplicity of life made him seem to Parisians
the impersonation of the natural man of Rousseau's philosophy. On the
street, at the theater, in the salon, Franklin was the center of
interest. Artists made busts of him and jewelers exhibited his
countenance on medallions, watches, and snuff-boxes. Franklin soon
discovered that he could not hurry matters; he quietly bided his time,
never losing an opportunity to win supporters to the American cause.
Even the court became enthusiastic, and Marie Antoinette, with little
understanding or prophetic vision, applauded the republicans of America.
The American proposals.--In January, 1777, the commissioners presented
their views to Vergennes. They proposed that France and Spain furnish
the United States eight ships of the line, twenty or thirty thousand
stand of arms, and a large quantity of cannon and ammunition. Congress
in return offered the two nations a commercial treaty and a guarantee of
their possessions in the West Indies. Vergennes was unable to comply but
he advanced two hundred and fifty thousand livres as the first
instalment of a secret loan of two millions. In February the
commissioners suggested that, if France and Spain became involved in war
because of a treaty with the United States, the states would not
conclude a separate peace. In March they proposed a triple alliance
between France, Spain, and the United States. The bait for Spain was the
conquest of Portugal, and the war was to continue until England was
expelled from North America and the West Indies.
The attitude of Spain.--The American proposals included both France and
Spain, and in the latter country the commissioners met with a stumbling
block. Spain at first showed a friendly attitude. Through the firm of
Josef Gardoqui and Sons supplies were secretly furnished to the United
States, but when Arthur Lee attempted to go to Madrid, he was turned
back by the Spanish authorities, who preferred to work in secret. In
February, 1777, the Count de Florida Blanca became minister of foreign
affairs. To Florida Blanca Spain's interests must take precedence over
those of France in determining Spanish policy. Difficulties with
Portugal had been adjusted, and Florida Blanca could see no advantage in
an immediate war with Great Britain. He was willing to keep the contest
in America going until both parties were exhausted. Then Spain and
France might enter the war, Spain to get the Floridas and France to
obtain Canada. But as to the recognition of American independence, king
and minister were unalterably opposed.
Lafayette.--Of no little importance in bringing France and the United
States together was the coming of the young nobleman Lafayette to
America. Fired by the Declaration of Independence, he determined to
enlist in the American cause. In April, 1777, Lafayette with the Baron
de Kalb and several other officers sailed for America. They reached
Philadelphia on July 27 but Congress gave them a chilly reception.
Nothing daunted, Lafayette proudly announced that he asked nothing but
the opportunity of serving as a volunteer. Congress was deeply impressed
by his unselfish attitude and promptly made him a Major-General.
Washington received him gladly, took him into his military family and
through the long war, with the exception of a period when he was
promoting American interests in France, he served as a trusted officer
of the commander-in-chief.
The French alliance.--During the summer of 1777 the American question
was held in abeyance at Paris but Burgoyne's surrender stirred Vergennes
to action. He appears to have feared that Great Britain was about to
effect a reconciliation with the United States. To prevent it he
believed that France must openly espouse the American cause. One more
effort was made to draw Spain into the alliance, but the reply proved
unfavorable. On January 7, 1778, at a French royal council meeting the
final decision was made and on February 6 treaties of commerce and
alliance were signed. The latter agreement was described as a defensive
alliance to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, and
independence of the United States, as well in matters of government as
in commerce.
Lord North attempts conciliation.--When news of Burgoyne's surrender
reached London, hope of subduing the rebellion by force was temporarily
abandoned and Lord North was empowered to try his hand at conciliation.
On February 17, 1778, the Prime Minister presented his plan to the
Commons. He proposed (1) the repeal of the tea duty, (2) the passage of
an act removing apprehension regarding parliamentary taxation of the
colonies, (3) opening the port of Boston, (4) restoration of the
Massachusetts charter, (5) opening the fisheries, (6) restoration of
commerce, and (7) full pardon to those engaged in rebellion. (8)
Prisoners charged with treason were not to be brought over the sea for
trial, and (9) no bill for changing a colonial constitution was to be
introduced in parliament except at the request of the colony involved.
(10) Regulation of colonial courts was to follow colonial opinion, and
(11) officials were to be elected by popular vote subject, however, to
the approval of the king. (12) The royal treasury was to assist in the
withdrawal of colonial currency, and (13) a promise was given that the
question of colonial representation in parliament would be considered.
The Carlisle Commission.--A royal commission was to visit America to
settle points in dispute. Headed by the Earl of Carlisle, the commission
proceeded to Philadelphia but it was soon discovered that nothing could
be accomplished. General Howe had been recalled and Clinton, who was
placed in command, was under orders to evacuate Philadelphia. The
alliance with France was already known in America and nothing short of a
recognition of independence would satisfy the Whig leaders.
Change in British plans.--The French alliance brought about a complete
change in British plans. Henceforth garrisons were to be kept in New
York, Newport, Canada, and the Floridas, and hostilities on the mainland
were to be devoted to the destruction of coastwise trade and coast
towns, and to the harassing of the frontiers by Indian raids. Attacks in
force were to be made on the French possessions in the West Indies.
Evacuation of Philadelphia and the battle of Monmouth.--In pursuance of
this plan in May, '78, the British prepared to evacuate Philadelphia.
General Howe returned to England and Clinton took command. Most of the
stores, some of the troops, and about three thousand Loyalists were
placed on transports, and the main army on June 18 started on its march
across New Jersey. Washington succeeded in getting in touch with the
British army ten days later at Monmouth. Clinton's forces were stretched
out to such an extent that it was difficult to bring them into action.
Washington sent Lee to attack, but after a slight demonstration, the
poltroon ordered a retreat. Lee's cowardice gave the British time to
form and a bloody battle followed which ended only with nightfall. In
the darkness the British army broke camp and when morning dawned it was
beyond the reach of Washington.
The coming of D'Estaing.--On April 15 Admiral D'Estaing sailed from
Toulon in command of twelve ships of the line and five frigates which
carried four thousand infantry. The voyage was pursued in a leisurely
fashion which gave Lord Howe time to get his transports out of the
Delaware and concentrate the fleet at New York. It also made it possible
for a reinforcement under Commodore Byron to arrive in American waters.
Not until July 8 was D'Estaing's fleet within the Delaware capes. After
landing Gérard, the French minister, the admiral proceeded to New York.
Though the French fleet was superior to the British, D'Estaing failed to
attack.
The failure at Newport.--Instead he entered into a plan with Washington
to take Newport which was garrisoned by five or six thousand British
troops. Sullivan, with about a thousand continental soldiers and several
thousand militia, was to coöperate with the French fleet. The opening
was auspicious. The war vessels ran by the batteries and anchored in the
inner waters. The British commander to prevent capture destroyed several
frigates and small craft. On August 9 Sullivan moved nine thousand
troops to the island. The same day Howe's fleet appeared at the entrance
of Narragansett Bay and D'Estaing, carrying his infantry with him,
sailed out to meet the enemy. Before the fleets could engage a terrific
storm arose which scattered the vessels. Howe finally regained New York
and D'Estaing sailed to Boston for repairs, leaving Sullivan unsupported
and in a precarious position. When word came that Clinton was sending
large reinforcements, Sullivan abandoned the siege.
D'Estaing in the West Indies.--D'Estaing lingered at Boston ten weeks
and then sailed for the West Indies. Before his arrival a French force
from Martinique had captured Dominica. The English retaliated by
capturing St. Lucia, and when D'Estaing attempted to relieve it, he was
replused. On June 18, 1779, the French occupied St. Vincent and on July
2 Grenada. On July 6 Byron attacked the French fleet off Grenada, but
D'Estaing had the better of the fighting although he failed to follow
up his victory. After attempting the relief of Savannah, the French
commander despatched part of his fleet to the West Indies and then
sailed for Europe.
Stony Point and the evacuation of Newport.--After the Newport failure
Washington drew a cordon about New York and strengthened the line of the
Hudson. On May 31, 1779, Clinton seized the fortifications at Stony
Point and Verplanck's Point, but on July 16 General Wayne carried the
works at Stony Point. Clinton also sent raiding parties to the
Chesapeake and along the Connecticut coast, but in October he ordered
the evacuation of Newport and concentrated his forces at New York.
The second French expedition.--Washington still hoped for effective help
from the French fleet in the West Indies, but his hopes were blasted
early in 1780 by the arrival in the islands of British naval
reinforcements under Admiral Rodney, who during April and May fought
three indecisive actions with the French fleet. Largely through the
influence of Lafayette France was induced to send a large force to
America in 1780. In July a fleet of seven vessels convoying six thousand
men commanded by Rochambeau arrived at Newport. The second division,
however, was blockaded at Brest and was unable to sail. Washington's
hopes mounted high but they were soon dashed again, for Clinton, who had
just returned to New York after the capture of Charleston, was able to
send a considerable armament to blockade the French at Newport, and
there they remained for months to come.
Arnold's treason.--During the long contest Washington had often been
disappointed by the incompetence of his subordinates, but Nathanael
Greene and Benedict Arnold had seldom been found wanting. The former was
soon to win fame as the conqueror of the South; the other chose a path
which made his name despised. Arnold had not been justly treated by
Congress, although he had the absolute confidence of Washington.
Brooding over his wrongs and convinced that the country would welcome
the reëstablishment of the king's authority, he determined to play the
part of a General Monk. While in command of Philadelphia, he entered
into a treasonable correspondence with Clinton. He then asked for the
command of the great fortress at West Point. This was readily given to
him and there he perfected his plans to deliver this key position of the
Hudson to the British. Clinton sent Major André to communicate with
Arnold, but upon his return on September 23, 1780, André was captured
and on his person were found papers which disclosed the plot. André was
condemned and hung as a spy, but Arnold made good his escape to the
British lines.
THE WAR IN THE WEST
Competition for the support of the Indians.--The westward movement
across the mountains was almost simultaneous with the outbreak of the
Revolution, and the western settlements were soon drawn into the
current. The frontiersmen held back the Indian allies of the British,
and by settlement and conquest secured large areas of the back country.
At the opening of the war both British and Americans made great efforts
to secure the support of the Indians, but in the main the tribes favored
the British who did not encroach upon their lands and whose posts on the
frontiers were centers for the distribution of presents and for the work
of the traders. During the war British agents were kept at work among
the tribes, distributing presents and weapons, and often leading the
Indian raids.
The Cherokee War.--In the summer of 1776 the Cherokee went on the
warpath. From their villages in the southern Alleghanies they were in a
position to raid the frontier settlements of Georgia, the Carolinas,
Virginia, and Tennessee. The Cherokee towns were in three groups. The
upper towns inhabited by the Overhill Cherokee were along the mountain
streams that ran into the Tennessee. The lower towns were in the
foothills of the back country of Georgia and South Carolina. In the
mountainous region between were the middle towns. During June and July
Cherokee war parties, at times assisted by Creeks and Tories, fell upon
the Georgia and Carolina frontiers and upon the Watauga settlements. The
Georgia invaders were met by Colonel Samuel Jack at the head of two
hundred rangers who drove them back and destroyed one or two of the
lower towns. In North Carolina the Indians came down the Catawba and
drove the settlers into the blockhouses. General Griffith Rutherford
raised the frontier levies and chased the Indians back to their
villages. In South Carolina the Cherokees from the lower and middle
towns, aided by Tories and led by the British agent, Cameron, descended
upon the settlements. Colonel Andrew Williamson collected eleven hundred
militia, defeated the invaders, and by the middle of August destroyed
the lower towns. In July seven hundred Overhill Cherokee raided the
Watauga settlements. One party under Chief Dragging Canoe attacked the
settlers about Eaton's Station, but the frontiersmen sallied forth and
defeated the Indians at Island Flats. For three weeks Fort Watauga was
invested by another band, but so stubborn was the defence conducted by
Robertson and Sevier that the Indians abandoned the siege. The
Carolinians and Virginians determined to carry the war into the enemy's
country. In September Rutherford and Williamson completely destroyed the
valley towns of the Cherokee; and in October Colonel William Christian
led the Virginia troops into the Overhill country, destroyed the
principal village, and brought the warriors to terms.
Indian raids in the Northwest, 1776-1778.--In the Northwest the memory
of the Battle of the Kanawha kept the Indians quiet for a time while the
diplomats struggled for mastery. Colonel George Morgan was made
congressional agent at Fort Pitt, while Hamilton at Detroit was the most
active British agent on that frontier. In the fall of 1776 Hamilton sent
raiding parties along the border. During 1777 the frontiers of
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky were kept in a state of terror.
Colonel Morgan urged an expedition against Detroit, and when his advice
was rejected, he resigned. Governor Patrick Henry sent Virginia militia
to relieve Kentucky and Congress sent General Hand to defend the upper
Ohio. Hand and his successor, McIntosh, had little success, for the
raids continued and by the end of 1778 Kentucky was nearly depopulated.
Willing's raids.--In 1777 James Willing, a former resident of Natchez,
obtained permission from Congress to make an expedition down the
Mississippi to secure the neutrality of the Tories in the Southwest.
Descending the Ohio from Pittsburg, his expedition became a raid on the
Loyalist plantations along the Mississippi. Far from having the desired
effect, the raid drove the inhabitants into active resistance. In May
Willing led a second expedition down the Mississippi but he failed to
win over the inhabitants. The Chickasaw and Choctaw went over to the
British side. The Southwest had thus definitely taken its stand against
the United States.
Clark conquers the Northwest.--To Virginia fell the task of conquering
the Northwest. The chief actor in the enterprise was George Rogers
Clark, who, though only twenty-six, had already played a prominent part
in Kentucky. With one hundred and seventy-five frontiersmen, mainly
Virginians, in June, 1778, Clark descended the Ohio to Fort Massac,
crossed Illinois, and in July took Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, St.
Philippe, and Cahokia, and French sympathizers secured the submission of
Vincennes. Hamilton at once organized a force at Detroit to retake the
lost posts. In December he occupied Vincennes without difficulty, but
was unable to proceed farther. In February, 1779, after a difficult
march over flooded prairies, Clark captured Hamilton and his force. In
December, 1778 the Virginia legislature erected the territory north of
the Ohio into the county of Illinois, John Todd being made civil and
Clark military head. Clark planned the capture of Detroit, but was
unable to get the necessary aid. Instead, in 1780 he founded Fort
Jefferson on the Mississippi near the mouth of the Ohio and it soon
became the center of a settled area.
Depredations of the Iroquois and Tories.--On the New York frontier
Burgoyne's invasion had aroused the Iroquois and even after his defeat
the Six Nations, except the Tuscaroras, Oneidas, and part of the
Mohawks, adhered to the British. Many Tory refugees settled among the
Indians and incited them to go on the warpath. In July, 1778, a force of
Tories and Iroquois, mainly Senecas, descended into the Wyoming Valley
and laid it waste, killing and capturing many of the inhabitants.
Continental troops presently reoccupied the valley and in October the
Indian town of Unadilla. The Indians and Tories retaliated by a descent
on Cherry Valley. The depredations continued in 1779. Troops sent out
from Ft. Stanwix destroyed the Onondaga villages. The Indians then
assailed the Schoharie Valley and the western settlements in Ulster
County, and spread destruction about Pittsburg.
Expeditions sent into the Iroquois country.--So extensive were the
depredations that Congress decided to send an overwhelming force into
the Iroquois country. Three brigades from Washington's army were
assembled at Wyoming under Sullivan. While he was waiting for a New York
brigade to join him, Chief Brant and his warriors burned Minisink and
ambushed the militia who went in pursuit. Sullivan at the head of five
thousand men passed up the Chemung branch of the Susquehanna, defeated a
strong force of Indians and Tories on the site of modern Elmira, and
then burned eighteen Indian villages and destroyed the crops. Sullivan,
however, failed to attack Niagara which was a British stronghold.
Another expedition from Pittsburg ascended the Alleghany and destroyed
the Indian villages along the river. These operations scattered the
Indians and Tories but did not destroy them, and frequent depredations
occurred on the New York and Pennsylvania frontiers during the remainder
of the war.
SPAIN IN THE WAR[1]
Spain enters the war.--When Spain became a factor in the war in 1779, a
new element entered the contest in the West. During 1778 Vergennes did
not relax his efforts to induce Spain to become a belligerent. But
Carlos III and Florida Blanca had no intention of risking a war with
Great Britain unless they were well paid for their assistance. Not until
they were certain that France would assist in the recovery of Gibraltar
and the Floridas did they consent to make war. On another point the king
was insistent; he refused to recognize the independence of the United
States. The secret convention of Aranjuez between France and Spain was
signed on April 12, 1779, and in June Spain definitely entered the war.
Gálvez on the lower Mississippi.--Orders were given at once to seize the
British posts on the Mississippi. With a hastily built fleet, Bernardo
de Gálvez, the Governor of Louisiana, ascended the Mississippi at the
head of fifteen hundred men. On September 7 he took Fort Bute at
Manchac, and then proceeded to Baton Rouge which he captured, the
capitulation including Fort Panmure at Natchez. Meanwhile Grandpré had
taken two small British outposts and a fleet had captured eight British
vessels on Lake Pontchartrain.
[1] See map on page 400.
British attack on St. Louis.--As soon as war was declared, the British
planned to capture New Orleans. An expedition from the north was to
descend the Mississippi, attack St. Louis, reconquer the Illinois
country, and meet General Campbell at Natchez with a force from
Pensacola. The campaign against St. Louis was directed by Sinclair,
commander at Mackinac. Emmanuel Hesse, a trader, was sent to assemble a
force of Indians at the Fox-Wisconsin portage. In March, 1780, seven
hundred and fifty men left Mackinac and joined Hesse at Prairie du
Chien. To coöperate Charles Langlade was sent with Indians via Chicago,
while Captain Bird, despatched from Detroit, was to raid Kentucky. None
of the plans succeeded. Leyba, the commander at St. Louis, was
forewarned and was aided by George Rogers Clark. On May 26 the British
attacked St. Louis but were repulsed and forced to withdraw. Bird's
expedition also miscarried, and Campbell's movement was frustrated by
Gálvez.
The Spanish expedition against St. Joseph.--Sinclair at once planned a
second expedition for the spring of 1781. Learning of the project,
Cruzat, the new commander at St. Louis, prepared a counter stroke. He
despatched parties up the Mississippi and to Peoria, and sent sixty-five
men under Purée to destroy the stores at St. Joseph. On February 12 the
post was taken in a surprise attack and the stores destroyed.
Capture of Mobile and Pensacola.--Meanwhile more important events had
been taking place on the Gulf of Mexico. In February, 1780, Gálvez
sailed from New Orleans with two thousand men to capture Fort Charlotte
at Mobile, and on March 14 the place capitulated. Going to Cuba for
reinforcements, after losing one fleet in a hurricane, in February,
1781, he sailed with fourteen hundred men to attack Pensacola. After a
siege of nearly two months, General Campbell with more than eight
hundred men surrendered. A simultaneous French and Spanish attack on
Jamaica was next planned, and Gálvez sailed for Santo Domingo to command
the Spanish forces, but the campaign was made unnecessary by the ending
of the war. Spain had played an important part. She had defeated the
British attempt to gain control of the Mississippi, had enabled Clark
to maintain his hold on the Northwest, and had recovered Mobile and
Pensacola.
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND THE DUTCH ALLIANCE
Washington's fleets.--From the beginning of the war American vessels
were an important factor. They captured supply ships and transports,
harassed commerce, captured many small war vessels, and protected
trading vessels. At the opening of hostilities Washington turned to New
England to supply him with vessels, and during the siege of Boston he
sent out ten armed craft which made several important captures of arms
and supplies. When operations were transferred to New York, he also
engaged several vessels which rendered good service.
Congress provides a navy.--Largely through the influence of the Rhode
Island delegates, Congress was convinced that a navy should be provided,
and by January, 1776, ten vessels had been purchased and the building of
thirteen others authorized. Before the end of the war over forty vessels
were added to the high seas fleet in addition to minor craft on Lake
Champlain.
First cruise of the fleet.--In February, 1776, Esek Hopkins, who had
been appointed commander-in-chief of the navy, put to sea with a fleet
of eight vessels. He cruised to the West Indies, captured New
Providence, and sailed away with eighty-eight cannon, fifteen mortars,
and a large quantity of stores. The fleet sailed to Long Island and off
the eastern end it captured two small vessels, but on April 6 it allowed
the _Glasgow_ to escape.
Nature of the operations during 1776-1777.--By the end of 1776 the navy
had been increased to twenty-five vessels. During the year it was
constantly engaged in commerce destroying, and in capturing transports
and small war craft. The operations were confined mainly to American and
West Indian waters, although before the end of the year the _Reprisal_,
which carried Franklin to France, had captured several vessels in
European waters. During 1777 the congressional vessels, privateers, and
state cruisers captured four hundred and sixty-seven vessels, many being
taken near the British Isles. The depredations caused great alarm in
England and the West Indies; merchants were often deterred from
shipping goods, insurance rates and prices rose, and the demands for
escorts became insistent.
Privateers.--The swift sailing craft of the Yankee skippers made ideal
blockade runners and commerce destroyers, and hundreds of them put to
sea. During the war Massachusetts commissioned nine hundred and
ninety-eight. While the greater number of these vessels put out from New
England, other states gave many commissions, Maryland alone
commissioning two hundred and fifty. It is estimated that during the war
the privateers captured or destroyed six hundred vessels with cargoes
valued at $18,000,000, besides making several important captures of
troops and supplies.
State navies.--With the exception of New Jersey and Delaware, the states
had navies, the largest being those of Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina. At times these
operated independently, sometimes in conjunction with privateers, and at
other times as adjuncts of the regular navy. They were used chiefly to
protect the trade in home waters and for coast defence.
The Penobscot expedition.--The most pretentious operation undertaken by
a state navy was the attempt to capture Penobscot in 1779. The British
had established a naval base near the mouth of the Penobscot River and
Massachusetts determined to break it up. Fifteen hundred men were loaded
on privateers and transports, and were convoyed by the _Warren_, the
_Diligent_, and the _Providence_. The expedition arrived off the
Penobscot late in July, but before it could take the fort, a larger
British fleet appeared (August 13). The privateers and transports
scattered, but the three war vessels were forced to run up the river
where their crews destroyed them.
The navy during 1778-1779.--During 1778 the British navy succeeded in
greatly decreasing the depredations of American vessels. By the close of
the year the national navy was reduced to fourteen. But in 1779 the
fleet was somewhat rehabilitated by the securing of several French
vessels.
The Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis.--In 1779 the most famous sea-fight
of the Revolution occurred. John Paul Jones was given command of an old
French East Indiaman which was refitted with forty-two guns and renamed
the _Bonhomme Richard_. In August the French frigate _Alliance_ and
three small vessels accompanied the _Bonhomme Richard_ on a cruise along
the west coast of Ireland, northern Scotland, and the eastern coast of
England, several prizes being taken. On September 23 off Flamborough
Head Jones sighted a large merchant fleet convoyed by the forty-four gun
frigate Serapis and the smaller _Countess of Scarborough_. The _Bonhomme
Richard_ engaged the _Serapis_ in one of the most thrilling of naval
battles. For three and a half hours the frigates fought at close range,
much of the time being lashed together. Although Jones's vessel was in a
sinking condition, he refused to surrender. When the English captain had
lost more than a third of his crew, he pulled down his flag. The
_Pallas_ captured the _Countess of Scarborough_. Jones placed his crew
on board the _Serapis_, and the squadron soon after arrived at the Dutch
port of Texel.
Decline of the navy.--When Charleston surrendered in 1780, four ships
fell into British hands and only six vessels were left in the American
navy. At the same time parliament voted to increase the naval service.
The American coast was closely blockaded, and though cruisers
occasionally got through, the navy ceased to be an important factor in
the war.
The league of armed neutrals.--As the war progressed England's exercise
of the right of search on the high seas provoked the neutral powers. At
that time international law recognized a belligerent's right to seize
enemy's goods, but not the vessel in which they were being carried.
England acted within the law, but her seizures worked great hardship
upon neutrals. Largely through the influence of Frederick the Great, who
had not forgiven England for abandoning him in the Seven Years' War,
Catherine II of Russia was induced to champion the cause of the neutral
states. On February 26, 1780, she addressed a message to the neutral
courts which asserted, (1) that neutral vessels should be allowed to
navigate freely even upon the coasts of powers at war; (2) that, with
the exception of contraband, goods belonging to the subjects of
belligerents should be free in neutral ships; (3) that naval stores and
provisions of neutrals should not be considered contraband; (4) that a
port must be effectively guarded to constitute a blockade; and (5) that
the above principles should be considered as rules in determining the
legality of prizes. Denmark and Sweden promptly entered into an
agreement with Russia mutually to protect their commerce, by force if
necessary, the arrangement being known as the League of Armed
Neutrality. The principles proclaimed by the Czarina were approved by
France and Spain. The Netherlands joined the league in November, 1780;
Prussia came in in May, 1781, and the Empire in October. Even Portugal,
the ancient ally of England, and Turkey became parties to the league.
Attitude of the Netherlands.--At the opening of the American Revolution
there were two parties in The Netherlands; the English party headed by
the stadtholder, William V, and the Anti-Orange party which had strong
French leanings. The strength of the Anti-Orange party lay chiefly in
Holland and in the large cities, especially in Amsterdam where the great
merchants were powerful. The Dutch people watched the contest between
the United States and Great Britain with a filial interest, looking upon
it as a counterpart of their own struggle for independence, but policy
forced the government to remain neutral.
St Eustatius.--The Dutch merchants saw an opportunity for immense
profits in supplying the United States with war materials. The Dutch
island of St. Eustatius in the West Indies became the center for a vast
trade in contraband goods. The island became a veritable storehouse for
the goods of all nations and here the American skippers brought tobacco
and indigo, or gave promissory notes or continental currency in exchange
for munitions of war. Great Britain complained of the trade and
succeeded in getting the States General to prohibit the export of arms
and munitions except by special permission from the Dutch admiralty, but
nevertheless the traffic went merrily on. When British war vessels began
to patrol the waters about the island and search vessels for contraband,
it aroused the ire of the Dutch merchants.
The Scotch brigade and the Jones incident.--Two incidents added greatly
to the ill-feeling which was growing rapidly between the two countries.
The British government asked for the loan of the Scotch brigade, a body
of troops which had been in Dutch service for many years. The government
gave a suave answer. It was willing to loan the soldiers, but not for
service outside of Europe. As George III wanted the troops for American
service, the answer was practically a refusal. Another incident which
increased the irritation was the sojourn of John Paul Jones at Texel.
For over two months he remained on Dutch soil, while the government
quibbled over its rights to order his departure.
British seizures.--During 1778 British seizures of Dutch vessels
increased and the demands of the merchants for convoys became more and
more insistent. France took advantage of the situation to bring The
Netherlands to her side. Special commercial privileges in France had
been granted to several of the Dutch cities. France now decided to force
the Dutch government to take a more decided stand toward England by
cutting off the special privileges to all the Dutch cities except
Amsterdam. This led to a demand for an immediate adjustment with France
and for convoys to protect Dutch vessels against British seizures. A
climax was reached on December 31, 1779, when an encounter occurred
between the convoys of a Dutch fleet and British war vessels. The result
was soon evident, for The Netherlands began to build a large fleet.
The secret agreement.--The United States maintained secret agents in The
Netherlands throughout the war. For several years they made unsuccessful
attempts to obtain a loan, but the authorities of Amsterdam finally
communicated to C.W.F. Dumas, the United States representative, that
they desired to conclude a treaty provided Congress would not enter into
engagements with Great Britain which might prove harmful to Dutch
interests. Jean de Neufville, a prominent Amsterdam merchant, at the
suggestion of Van Berckel, the pensionary of Amsterdam, visited
Aix-la-Chapelle in 1778, where he met William Lee, an American
representative to Germany and Austria; together they formulated the
draft of a treaty which, however, was not to be considered until after
the recognition of American independence by Great Britain. The agreement
had no legal force, for Amsterdam could not enter into a treaty without
the consent of the other provinces.
The declaration of war.--In 1780 Henry Laurens sailed for The Hague for
the purpose of negotiating a loan and making a treaty with The
Netherlands. On September 3 he was captured off Newfoundland. Among his
papers was a copy of the secret compact drawn by Neufville and Lee. The
British government demanded from the States General a disavowal of the
action of Amsterdam and the punishment of Van Berckel. The States
General finally disavowed the act but declared its incompetence to
punish Van Berckel. On November 20, in the midst of the controversy, the
States General decided to join the league of armed neutrals. When this
became known at London, the British minister was ordered home, and on
December 20 George III issued a manifesto which was a virtual
declaration of war.
READINGS
THE FRENCH AND SPANISH ALLIANCES
Corwin, E.S., _French Policy and the American Alliance of 1778_, pp.
1-216; Hale, E.E., _Franklin in France_; Lecky, W.E.H., _History of
England in the Eighteenth Century_, IV, 42-54, 99-129, 166-185; Perkins,
J.B., _France in the American Revolution_; Phillips, P.C., _The West in
the Diplomacy of the American Revolution_; Trescot, W.H., _Diplomacy of
the American Revolution_; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_,
Part II, 387-476; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_, 203-226;
Wharton, F., _The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United
States_, I.
THE WEST IN THE REVOLUTION
Alvord, C.W., "Virginia and the West," in _Mississippi Valley Historical
Review_, III, 19-38; Alvord, C.W., ed., _Kaskaskia Records, 1778-1700_,
Introduction; Gayarré, C, _History of Louisiana, the Spanish
Domination_, ch. 3; Hamilton, P.J., _Colonial Mobile_, ch. 31; Hamilton,
P.J., _The Colonization of the South_, ch. 23; James, J.A.,.ed., _George
Rogers Clark Papers, 1771-1781_, Introduction; Roosevelt, Theodore, _The
Winning of the West_, I, 272-327, II, 1-213; Teggart, F.J., "The Capture
of St. Joseph, Michigan, by the Spaniards in 1781," in _Missouri
Historical Review_, V, 214-228; Thwaites, R.G., and Kellogg, L.P.,
editors, _Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1778_, Introduction and
maps; _The Revolution on the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777_, Introduction and
maps; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_, 269-288; Winsor,
Justin, _The Westward Movement_, 101-187; Esarey, L., _A History of
Indiana_, I, 47-91; McElroy, R.M., _Kentucky in the Nation's History_,
62-113.
THE NAVY, ARMED NEUTRALITY, AND DUTCH INTERVENTION
Clowes, W.L., _The Royal Navy_, L.H., 353-538; Edler, F., _The Dutch
Republic and the American Revolution_ (Johns Hopkins University,
_Studies in History and Political Science_, XXIX, 187-424); Jameson,
J.F., "St. Eustatius in the American Revolution," in _The American
Historical Review_, VIII, 683-708; Maclay, E.S., _A History of American
Privateers_, 43-222; _A History of the United States Navy_, I, 34-151;
Paullin, C.O., _The Navy of the American Revolution_; Trevelyan, G.O.,
_George the Third and Charles Fox_, II, 36-72; Van Loon, H.W., _The Fall
of the Dutch Republic_, 174-287; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American
Revolution_, 309-319.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION (1778-1781)
THE WAR IN THE SOUTH
Conquest of Georgia.--When France became the ally of the United States,
British statesmen realized that the conquest of New England and the
middle states was impossible, but they still hoped to conquer the South.
From East Florida the British forces could strike at Georgia, and in
November, 1778, the operations began. Thirty-five hundred men were sent
south from New York, and General Prévost with two thousand soldiers
advanced from Florida. On December 29 British forces captured Savannah
and shortly afterward occupied Augusta. Within six weeks Georgia was
under British control.
Reconquest fails.--General Lincoln, who had been placed in command in
the South, determined to reconquer Georgia. He sent Ashe with fifteen
hundred men to recapture Augusta, but the force was surprised and
defeated. When Lincoln moved against Augusta, Prévost advanced against
Charleston. The manœuvre succeeded and Lincoln was forced to hasten
back to assist in the defence of the city. Prévost, his purpose
accomplished, slowly retired to Savannah. Numerous letters were sent to
the French admiral asking him to coöperate against the British. In
September, 1779, D'Estaing sailed for Savannah; Lincoln advanced to
assist him, and the city was besieged. On October 9 an attempt was made
to carry the works by assault, but the allies were repulsed with a loss
of over eight hundred men. Lincoln wished to continue the siege but
D'Estaing refused. Despatching a portion of his fleet to the West
Indies, with the rest he sailed for France, and Lincoln withdrew to
Charleston.
Capture of Charleston.--With Georgia secure, Clinton determined to make
another attempt to capture Charleston. He sailed from New York with over
eight thousand men, and twelve hundred were brought from Savannah. On
February 11, 1780, the troops from New York were landed thirty miles
south of Charleston and they soon advanced to the Ashley River. Lincoln
should have abandoned the city but instead he foolishly determined to
defend it. Gradually Clinton drew his lines about the city. On April 13
Tarleton defeated the American cavalry which had kept the lines of
communication open, and when British reinforcements arrived from New
York the investment was completed. Soon the garrison and inhabitants
were almost starving. On May 6 Tarleton dispersed the mounted militia at
the crossing of the Santee River; on the following day Fort Moultrie
surrendered, and the situation became hopeless. On May 12 Lincoln signed
articles of capitulation; over five thousand men, nearly four hundred
pieces of artillery, and vast quantities of military stores fell into
British hands.
Completion of the conquest of South Carolina.--After the fall of
Charleston, Clinton sent out three expeditions; one northward under
Tarleton against Buford's regiment which was advancing from Virginia,
another toward Augusta, and a third toward Camden. Buford started to
retreat but Tarleton overtook him at the Waxhaws and almost annihilated
his force. The other expeditions met with little resistance and Clinton,
believing that the conquest of South Carolina was complete, sailed for
New York with a portion of the army, leaving Cornwallis in command of
about eight thousand men.
Gathering of a new army.--Several weeks before the fall of Charleston,
Washington had sent DeKalb southward with Maryland and Delaware
regiments and these were reinforced by militia as they advanced. South
of the Virginia line they passed through a barren country, shortage of
supplies and poor roads making their progress very slow. At the Deep
River they encamped and there they were joined by Gates who had been
appointed by Congress to the command of the southern department. Gates
pressed on toward Camden, receiving local reinforcements as he advanced.
Camden.--A British force had collected at Camden and Cornwallis hastened
from Charleston to take command. Gates decided to attempt a surprise
attack on the British force at Camden, thirteen miles away. Cornwallis
contemplated a similar movement against Gates and the two armies left
their encampments about the same hour on the night of August 15. At
daybreak they met, but the militia proved to be no match for the British
soldiers and fled almost without firing a shot. The regulars stood firm
for a time, but when DeKalb fell mortally wounded and Tarleton's cavalry
swept along their flank and rear, the line gave way and the retreat
turned into a rout. Gates fled from the field and such was his haste
that three days later he was at Hillsborough, nearly two hundred miles
away. Shortly afterward Tarleton surprised and dispersed Sumter's band,
and resistance seemed completely broken.
[Illustration: The War in the South (1778-1781) (Based on E.G. Foster,
_Illustrative Historical Chart_).]
Partisan warfare.--British arms had defeated the American armies, but
the people of South Carolina were not conquered. The merciless raids of
Tarleton's cavalry and Ferguson's Loyalists kept the spirit of
resistance alive. Marion, Sumter, and Shelby gathered bands of patriots,
who from swamp and forest pounced down on isolated detachments, captured
the escorts of supply trains, intercepted messengers, and broke up
companies of Loyalists. Between July and December, 1780, twenty-seven
battles or skirmishes were fought on Carolina soil.
King's Mountain.--Next to Tarleton, Major Ferguson was probably the most
hated and most feared of Cornwallis's officers. His camp at Ninety-Six
became a center of Loyalist recruiting, and his band of partisans grew
to a thousand strong. They lived on the country, and the property of no
man was safe. Ferguson boasted that if the frontiersmen from over the
Alleghanies troubled him, he would cross the mountains, lay waste their
valleys, and hang their leaders. On September 20, 1780, the borderers
under the leadership of Colonel William Campbell, Sevier, and Shelby
gathered at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River and started across the
mountains. Ferguson heard of their coming and decided to teach the
frontiersmen a lesson. He pitched his camp on the crest of King's
Mountain, a position which would have been impregnable had his opponents
been drilled in the tactics of European battlefields. But the Watauga
men had been schooled in Indian warfare. Three times they charged up the
steep mountain sides. After an hour of hot fighting the resistance began
to weaken, and when Ferguson was killed, his troops threw down their
arms and asked for quarter. The victory of the mountaineers is justly
looked upon as the turning point in the war in the South, for it gave
new fife to the waning cause in the Carolinas.
Greene in command.--The difficult task of reconquering the South was
assigned to General Nathanael Greene. On December 2 he arrived at
Charlotte where Gates handed over to him a poorly disciplined and
half-starved force of about two thousand men. With this insignificant
army and aided by local militia and the partisan bands, Greene was
confronted with the task of reconquering a province which was occupied
by a skillful general whose veteran army outnumbered him four to one.
His plan of campaign was matured with rare judgment. He proposed to use
a mobile force of about two thousand men to keep Cornwallis busy, while
Marion and Sumter harassed the enemy, prevented foraging, and broke up
convoys.
The Cowpens.--Early in January, 1781, the main British army was at
Winnsborough. Hoping to divide it, Greene sent Morgan with about a
thousand men to threaten Augusta and Ninety-Six. The rest of the
American army was stationed at Cheraw, sixty miles east of Winnsborough.
When Cornwallis heard of Morgan's raid, he sent Tarleton in pursuit with
eleven hundred men. Tarleton came in touch with Morgan at The Cowpens.
The battle at first was stoutly contested, but Colonel Washington's
cavalry turned the scale and Tarleton's force was almost annihilated.
Greene's retreat.--Morgan had accomplished his purpose and immediately
started to rejoin the main army. When Greene heard of the victory, he
realized that Cornwallis would retaliate, and a pitched battle with the
larger British army meant disaster. Furthermore reinforcements were on
their way from Virginia and Maryland. Greene's decision was a vital one.
He determined to fall back to make a juncture with Morgan and to draw
Cornwallis away from his base into a hostile and difficult country.
Turning over the command of the main army to Huger with orders to march
northward with all speed, Greene rode nearly a hundred and fifty miles
in a pouring rain and joined Morgan in his bivouac on the Catawba. He
had judged Cornwallis rightly. The British general divested his army of
all unnecessary baggage and pressed forward, but in spite of his
efforts, the American army escaped him. From river to river Greene
retreated while Huger fell back rapidly, the two lines gradually
converging until on February 8 they united at Guilford. From there the
retreat was continued across the Dan into Virginia. The Fabian policy
had succeeded, for Cornwallis had been drawn over two hundred miles from
his base and had gotten in such a position that, even if he won a
battle, a victory would be barren.
Guilford.--Cornwallis was running short of supplies and he could not
with safety continue the pursuit. He decided to fall back to
Hillsborough. Greene, whose army had been considerably reinforced,
decided to follow the retiring British. When Cornwallis learned that the
American army was advancing, he determined to risk a battle. On March
15 the armies met at Guilford. Greene posted his force of about
forty-five hundred men in three lines, while the British army was
stretched out in one long row without supporting reserves, a disposition
made necessary by the fact that it numbered only twenty-two hundred and
fifty men. When the British charged, the Carolina militia-men who
occupied the front fine gave way and fled from the field. The Virginia
militia who held the second line stood their ground more firmly, but
when their right flank was enveloped, they too retreated. The hard
fighting came when the British met the continental troops of the third
line. Twice the British regulars were repulsed, and had Greene followed
up the success, he might have won a victory. But he had no intention of
risking the destruction of his army. When the British advanced for a
final assault, Greene decided to fall back. Covering his retreat with
the first Virginia regiment, he retired from the field. He had lost the
battle, but the result was as valuable as a victory.
Cornwallis retreats to Wilmington.--Cornwallis had lost nearly thirty
per cent, of his fighting force; he was almost without supplies, and his
foragers were being picked off by the Carolina guerrillas. His hospital
service was deplorable. Leaving seventy of his most sorely wounded men
to the tender mercies of General Greene, Cornwallis loaded the rest of
his wounded on carts, and started on the long journey to Wilmington, the
nearest base of supplies.
The reconquest of South Carolina and Georgia.--Greene followed
Cornwallis only as far as the Deep River and then turned to reconquer
South Carolina. In this work he was ably assisted by Marion, Sumter,
Pickens, and Lee, who during April, May, and June captured several of
the outlying British posts, the most important being Augusta, which
evacuated on June 5. On April 25 Greene encountered Lord Rawdon's force
near Camden. The British won the battle, but again they possessed a
barren field, for so heavy were their losses that they retreated to
Charleston. Greene next invested Ninety-Six. When he heard that Rawdon
was marching to its relief, he attempted to carry it by storm. The
assault failed and Greene gave up the siege. Lord Rawdon was unable to
maintain his army away from his base. He accordingly ordered the
evacuation of Ninety-Six and returned to Charleston. Soon afterward he
sailed for England, leaving Stewart in command. The last important
engagement occurred on September 8 at Eutaw Springs. The American army
was again defeated, but Greene as usual gathered the fruits of victory,
for Stewart, who had lost forty per cent of his effectives, moved back
to Charleston. In a campaign of eleven months Greene had lost every
pitched battle, but the interior of the Carolinas and Georgia had been
cleared of the enemy, who retained only Savannah, Charleston, and
Wilmington.
THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN
Arnold and Cornwallis in Virginia.--When Benedict Arnold joined the
British, he was rewarded with a brigadier-general's commission and sent
to Virginia to cut off Greene's retreat if Cornwallis succeeded in
driving that astute commander out of the Carolinas. Arnold marched up
the James River and burned Richmond, but when the Virginia militia
gathered in large numbers, he retreated to Portsmouth, where Lafayette,
who had been sent to command in Virginia, held him in check. In the
spring of 1781 Cornwallis transferred his forces to Petersburg, and
Arnold was sent to Connecticut to conduct a campaign of rapine.
Reinforcements were sent from New York and with an army of over seven
thousand men Cornwallis began the conquest of Virginia, but he received
no Loyalist support and he failed to crush the forces of Lafayette.
After several weeks of ineffectual campaigning, he retired to Yorktown
where he established himself behind strong fortifications.
Rodney and De Grasse in the West Indies.--The safety of Cornwallis's
army depended upon the control of the sea. Since the beginning of the
war the British had kept the sea lanes open. Time and again the fleet
had enabled them to win victories or to extricate themselves from
dangerous positions. Washington realized this and the burden of his
letters to Franklin was the necessity of naval superiority. Vergennes
made every effort to equip an overwhelming fleet and in March, 1781, a
great armament under De Grasse sailed for the West Indies. And none too
soon did they arrive, for Rodney was carrying all before him. In January
he had been reinforced by eight ships of the line under Hood and on
February 3 the British fleet captured St. Eustatius. This was followed
by the seizure of St. Martin and Saba. On April 28 De Grasse arrived at
Martinique and on the following day he fought an indecisive action with
Hood. An attempt on St. Lucia failed but soon afterward he captured
Tobago. He then repaired to Martinique where he received despatches from
Washington which determined him to sail for the Chesapeake.
Washington's plans.--When the news reached Washington that De Grasse had
left France, he conferred with Rochambeau. Together they drew up a
despatch to the French admiral in which they gave him his choice of
coöperating with the land forces against New York or of sailing to the
Chesapeake. When De Grasse received the despatch, he determined to
strike at Cornwallis. On August 14 Washington received his reply and he
immediately formulated a masterly plan of action. He decided to move
Rochambeau's force and a portion of the continental army to Virginia,
leaving General Heath with several New England regiments at West Point.
Letters were written with the express intention that they should be
intercepted by the British. These and the sudden activity of American
engineers in constructing extensive works near Sandy Hook convinced
Clinton that he had better sit tight behind his defences.
De Grasse and Graves.--On August 30 De Grasse arrived in the Chesapeake
and on September 5 a fleet of nineteen British vessels under Admiral
Graves appeared off Cape Henry. The fleets engaged and Graves's fleet
was so badly crippled that it was forced to return to New York.
Unmolested, a fleet of transports from Rhode Island carrying supplies
and siege guns, and convoyed by eight war vessels, sailed into the
Chesapeake. At the crucial moment the British had lost control of the
seas.
The assembling of the army.--On August 20 the allied army began the
passage of the Hudson, but not until they were near Philadelphia were
the officers informed of their destination. At the Head of Elk
Washington learned that De Grasse had arrived and that he had brought
three thousand French infantry from the West Indies. After the allied
army reached Williamsburg, it was reinforced by the troops under
Lafayette, by the West Indian contingent, and by thirty-five hundred
Virginia militia. With an army of sixteen thousand men and the greatest
fleet that had ever assembled in American waters, Washington was in a
position to win an overwhelming victory.
Yorktown.--The siege of Yorktown began on September 28. Earthworks were
thrown up within six hundred yards of the British lines and on October 9
a terrific bombardment began. Five days later two outlying works were
carried by storm and at short range the allied artillery did fearful
execution. On the sixteenth a British counter-attack failed and on the
following day an attempt to escape across the river was frustrated. When
this failed the British commander knew that his fate was sealed. On
October 19 Cornwallis surrendered and seven thousand soldiers became
prisoners of war.
The last struggle in the West Indies.--Yorktown was the last important
event on the mainland, but the fighting continued in the West Indies. On
January 11, 1782, De Grasse captured St. Christopher and on the
twentieth took Nevis. After receiving reinforcements, he planned the
conquest of Jamaica, but the arrival of twelve ships from England so
strengthened the British fleet that the project was not carried out. On
April 12 Rodney defeated De Grasse in a final engagement off Dominica,
an event which profoundly influenced the peace negotiations.
THE TREATY OF PEACE
Western Questions.--The conquests of George Rogers Clark, the entrance
of Spain into the war, and the operations of Gálvez turned the attention
of congressional leaders to peace terms. Would Spain be willing to grant
the United States free navigation of the Mississippi? How much territory
in the Southwest would Spain demand? Would France support Spanish
pretensions? Such were the questions which disturbed American statesmen.
To advance the interests of the United States, on October 4, 1779,
Congress appointed John Adams peace commissioner and John Jay
representative at Madrid.
Adams and Vergennes.--Adams arrived at Paris in February, 1780. He
surprised Vergennes by disclosing powers to conclude treaties of peace
and commerce with Great Britain. The protests and arguments of the
French minister finally convinced Adams that he had better wait until he
received new instructions from Congress, but he offended Vergennes by
charging that France was purposely not exerting herself to the utmost.
Vergennes distrusted Adams, for he thought that he represented the New
England viewpoint which, Vergennes had been led to believe, was friendly
to Great Britain. He informed Adams that in the future he would deal
with Franklin.
Congressional instructions of June 15, 1781.--La Luzerne, the French
representative at Philadelphia, made great efforts to have Adams curbed
and to prevent a premature negotiation with Great Britain. In this he
was assisted by the low state of affairs in the fall and winter of 1780.
Congress finally decided to place the negotiations in the hands of a
commission composed of Franklin, Jefferson, Jay, Adams, and Henry
Laurens. Jefferson did not leave the United States and Laurens, who was
captured by the British, did not arrive at Paris in time to take an
important part in the negotiations. The instructions of the
commissioners gave them considerable liberty of action, but they were to
undertake nothing without the knowledge of the French ministers and were
ultimately to be governed by their advice and opinion.
Jay in Spain.--In the meantime Jay had been having a difficult time in
Spain. He was not officially received, and though granted occasional
interviews by Florida Blanca, he was unable to make any progress toward
the formulation of a treaty. When he was called to Paris in the summer
of 1782 to take part in the peace negotiations, he had no illusions
concerning the objects of Spain, objects which he seems to have believed
were seconded by France.
The changed situation in 1782.--The commissioners were in a far stronger
position than their instructions of 1781 implied. Yorktown had proved
that American independence was assured, and Rodney's recent victory had
weakened France at a time when her apparent support of Spain was liable
to become troublesome. The situation in England had also changed. Lord
North had fallen from power and at the head of the new ministry was
Rockingham. Shelburne held the portfolio for the home and colonial
departments and Fox was secretary of state for foreign affairs. This
ministry held together from March until July, 1782, when Rockingham
died. Fox, who had been unable to agree with Shelburne regarding the
handling of American affairs, resigned, and Shelburne became Prime
Minister.
Opening of negotiations with Great Britain.--On July 9, when Adams was
at The Hague and before Jay had arrived, Franklin opened the negotiation
with Oswald, the British agent, by presenting the basis of a treaty by
which Great Britain was asked to acknowledge the independence of the
United States, to settle boundaries and confine Canada within the bounds
which maintained before the passage of the Quebec Act, and to
acknowledge the right of Americans to fish on the Newfoundland banks and
elsewhere.
Jay's suspicions of Vergennes.--The first hitch in the negotiations
occurred when it was found that Oswald was instructed to conclude a
peace or truce with the "colonies or plantations." On August 10 Jay and
Franklin conferred with Vergennes about Oswald's commission. Jay
contended that independence should be acknowledged by Great Britain
before a treaty was negotiated, but Vergennes thought that this was of
little consequence. When the question of conflicting Spanish and
American claims was brought up, Vergennes became reticent, but his
principal secretary, Rayneval, said that he thought the United States
claimed too much. On September 7 Rayneval presented a memorial which
proposed that the lands west of the mountains be divided into three
Indian territories; lands north of the Ohio to be under the protection
of Great Britain; south of the river the territory to be divided so that
Spain would control the southwestern portion and the United States the
northeastern part. On September 9 Jay learned that Rayneval had left
secretly for England. Jay became thoroughly alarmed, for he believed
that if the United States would not yield territory to Spain, Vergennes
was ready to force his views by negotiating with England. Whether or not
Jay was right in his suspicions has been a much argued question. No
matter what the ultimate answer may be, the views of Jay became the
determining factor in the course pursued by the American commissioners.
Without consulting Franklin, Jay prevailed upon Benjamin Vaughan to
visit Shelburne with the object of counteracting Rayneval's supposed
mission and to let Shelburne know that the American commissioners were
not to be bound by French views. A satisfactory commission was
immediately issued to Oswald and negotiations proceeded with
seriousness.
Proposal of October 8, 1782.--In October the American commissioners
submitted proposals to Oswald. This preliminary draught provided that
the independence of the United States be recognized by Great Britain and
that the boundaries were to be as follows: "The said States are bounded
north by a line drawn from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, along the
highlands which divide those rivers which empty themselves into the
river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to
the northernmost head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle
of that river to the 45th degree of north latitude, and thence due west
in the latitude 45 degrees north from the equator, to the
northwesternmost side of the river St. Lawrence...; thence straight to
the south end of the Lake Nipissing, and thence straight to the source
of the river Mississippi; west by a line to be drawn along the middle of
the river Mississippi, from its source to where the said line shall
intersect the 31st degree of north latitude; south by a line to be drawn
due east from the termination of the line last mentioned, in the
latitude of 31 degrees north of the equator, to the middle of the river
Apalachicola or Catahouchi; thence along the middle thereof to its
junction with the Flint River; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's
River; thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic
Ocean, and east by a line to be drawn along the middle of St. John's
River from its source to its mouth in the bay of Fundy...." The subjects
of Great Britain and the United States were to enjoy the use of the
fisheries, common commercial privileges, and the free navigation of the
Mississippi. No provision was made for compensation to Loyalists, or for
the collection by English merchants of debts in America.
Proposals of November 5.--The preliminary proposal was unsatisfactory to
Shelburne. He accordingly sent Henry Strachey, an under official, to
assist Oswald in making other arrangements. About this time Adams also
arrived from The Hague. The negotiations proceeded without serious
complications and in November a second draught was ready. In several
important particulars it differed from the previous document. The Maine
boundary on the east was to be a line drawn through the middle of the
St. Croix River to its source, and thence directly north to the
highlands which divide the rivers of the Atlantic from those which empty
into the St. Lawrence; the line was to follow those highlands to the
northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River, thence down that river
to the forty-fifth parallel, and then straight west until it struck the
Mississippi. British creditors were to "meet with no lawful impediment
to recovering the full value or sterling amount of such _bona fide_
debts as were contracted before the year 1775," but compensation to
Loyalists was studiously omitted. A secret article was added to the
effect, that if at the end of the war Great Britain should be, or should
be put, in possession of West Florida, the boundary separating that
province from the United States should be "a line drawn from the mouth
of the river Yazoo,... due east to the river Apalachicola, and thence
along the middle of that river to its junction with the Flint River,
etc."
British proposal of November 25.--The failure to provide for the
Loyalists caused the English government to submit other propositions
which differed in two important particulars from the previous proposals.
The northern boundary was changed west of the point where the
Connecticut River crossed the forty-fifth parallel. From that point it
was to follow the present international boundary to the Lake of the
Woods, and from the northwestern point of that lake was to run due west
to the Mississippi. The southern boundary was to leave the Mississippi
at "the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude," then
"to be drawn due east ... in the latitude of 31 degrees north of the
equator to the middle of the river Apalachicola," and from there it was
to follow the line of the proposal of October 8. Articles were also
inserted which provided that restitution should be made of all estates,
rights, and properties in America which had been confiscated during the
war, that no one was to suffer in life or person, or be deprived of
property on account of the part which he had taken in the war, that
imprisoned Loyalists were to be set at liberty and pending prosecutions
dropped. The right of Americans in the use of the fisheries were
somewhat abridged.
Provisional articles of November 30.--The British proposals were
satisfactory to the American commissioners except those regarding the
Loyalists and the fisheries. After considerable discussion an agreement
was reached and provisional articles were signed. The people of the
United States were given unrestricted fishing privileges "on the Grand
Bank and on all the other banks of Newfoundland," in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and elsewhere, and the right of curing fish along the
unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, and on the shores of
the Magdalen Islands and Labrador. The idea of indemnity for Loyalists
was not incorporated, the articles merely pledging that Congress would
make recommendations to the state legislatures that there should be no
more confiscations or prosecutions, and that claimants of confiscated
lands be allowed to use legal means of recovering them and might go at
liberty for one year without personal risk. The articles also provided
that the treaty should not be concluded until terms of peace had been
agreed upon between France and Great Britain. The action of the American
commissioners in arriving at an agreement without consulting the French
ministers was not pleasing to Vergennes, but Franklin adroitly pacified
him. It is probable that Vergennes did not have a deep feeling of
resentment, for he soon obtained a loan of six million livres for the
United States.
Preliminary agreements between England, France, and Spain.--Preliminary
articles between England, France, and Spain were drawn in January, 1783.
Spain failed to obtain Gibraltar, but received Minorca and the Floridas.
France received no territory on the mainland of North America. French
fishermen were granted important rights in the Newfoundland fisheries,
and Great Britain gave to France Dunkirk, St. Lucia and Tobago, Senegal,
and Gorée, and certain recent conquests, and guarantees of commercial
privileges in India. France restored to Great Britain Grenada, the
Grenadines, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Christopher, Nevis, and
Montserrat, and territory on the Gambia River.
Final agreements.--On September 3, 1783, all the definitive treaties
were signed, the treaty between the United States and Great Britain
being the same as the provisional articles of November 30. In the treaty
the boundaries of the United States were apparently defined with
exactness, but the statement of the Maine and northwestern boundaries
proved to be ambiguous and became the subject of future disputes with
Great Britain; the southern boundary agreement led to future
difficulties with Spain, as did the question of the navigation of the
Mississippi. The treaty was, however, a great triumph for American
diplomacy. The United States had emerged from the contest as an
independent power, with a vast domain stretching from the Mississippi to
the Atlantic, and from the Great Lakes to the Floridas.
The dispersion of the Loyalists.--During the war many Loyalists had fled
to England, to Canada, to the West Indies, or to Florida. A still larger
number had taken refuge behind the British lines, or had joined the
British Army. After the treaty, as persecutions continued, the British
government arranged for the transportation of all who wished to leave
the United States, offered them homes in the other British colonies,
granted half pay to the officers after their regiments were reduced, and
appointed a commission to provide compensation for losses. Many
thousands of Loyalists left the country. Of these the more influential
went to England. About two hundred families went to the West Indies. The
larger number migrated to Canada, where, as "United Empire Loyalists,"
they laid the foundation of British Canada.
READINGS
THE WAR IN THE SOUTH AND THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN
Fisher, S.G., _The Struggle for American Independence_, II, 228-535;
Greene, F.V., _The Revolutionary War_, 180-281; Lecky, W.E.H., _History
of England in the Eighteenth Century_, IV, 130-165, 199-220; McCrady,
Edward, _History of South Carolina in the Revolution_, 1780-1783;
Trevelyan, G.O., _George the Third and Charles Fox_, II, 94-172.
THE TREATY OF PEACE
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, LII, 346-373; Corwin,
E.S., _French Policy and the American Alliance_, 217-377; Fiske, John,
_The Critical Period_, 1-49; Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the
Eighteenth Century_, IV, 255-322; McLaughlin. A.C., _The Confederation
and the Constitution_, 3-34; Wharton, Francis, _The Revolutionary
Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States_, V-VI; Winsor, Justin,
_The Westward Movement_, 203-224.
CHAPTER XXVIII
GOVERNMENTAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE REVOLUTION
The Association a step toward sovereignty.--The First Continental
Congress was called to deliberate and determine upon measures to recover
rights and liberties of which the colonies had been deprived and to
restore harmony with Great Britain. Although the Congress was
consultative in nature, it completed the revolutionary organization and
made unity of action possible. The adoption of the Association was a
fundamental step toward sovereignty. It could only be interpreted to
mean that the colonies intended to enforce their will upon the mother
country. Furthermore, Congress provided means to enforce the Association
within colonies. While the petitions and addresses which were sent forth
were couched in respectful terms, the tone of the declaration and
resolves was distinctly revolutionary, and when considered in connection
with the Association, it becomes evident that the iron hand of a
sovereign power was even then visible through the mists of revolution.
THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Nature of Congress.--The Second Continental Congress which convened at
Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, was a purely revolutionary body, a
"creature of emergency." In its inception it was in no sense a sovereign
body, but was rather a great central committee, representing the
revolutionary elements in the various colonies, which assumed the
supreme directing power until 1781. The colonies had displayed no
regularity in the method of selecting the delegates. The two New
Hampshire delegates were chosen by a convention of deputies who had been
appointed by various towns. The five delegates of Massachusetts were
chosen by the provincial congress. The Rhode Island assembly chose two
delegates, and the Connecticut house of representatives five. In New
York twelve delegates were selected by a provincial convention. The
five delegates from New Jersey were chosen by the assembly, as were the
nine from Pennsylvania and the three from Delaware. In Maryland a
meeting of deputies chose seven delegates, three or more of whom might
represent the colony. In Virginia a convention of delegates selected
seven. In North Carolina a convention chose three delegates who were
approved by the assembly, and in South Carolina the assembly appointed
five. Georgia at first was represented by a delegate from a single
parish.
Original powers of the delegates.--The delegates were not empowered to
perform sovereign acts, but were considered as a central revolutionary
committee, which was to take such measures as would be best calculated
to recover and establish American rights and liberties, restore harmony
between Great Britain and her colonies, and advance the best interests
of the colonies. As the revolutionary movement spread and acts of
violence occurred, necessity forced Congress to perform many acts which
were not contemplated in the original instructions of the delegates; but
from first to last it was lacking in sovereign powers and was always the
creature of the states.
Causes of the weakness of Congress.--The fundamental cause of the
weakness of Congress was its lack of legal powers. When executive acts
were necessary, the delegates were never certain that their joint action
would be upheld by the states. Congress had no power to enforce its
will, or to coerce an unruly state. Another source of weakness was the
constantly changing personnel of Congress, the numbers varying from
twenty-four to a hundred. Many of the strongest members were sent on
foreign missions, leaving important work to be done by men who had had
little experience in public affairs. Sectional jealousy frequently
interfered with concerted action; the small states feared the larger
ones; states holding no western lands were suspicious of those with such
possessions; and theological differences made it difficult for New
Englanders to work with delegates from the middle and southern states.
In 1777 when Vermont was asking to be admitted as a state, New England
and New York found their interests to be conflicting, as both claimed
jurisdiction over the Green Mountain country. Some of the members
stooped to petty acts for self-aggrandizement, breeding suspicion in
the minds of many. Congress was housed at Philadelphia in the state
house, which was poorly arranged for a body whose business was mainly
conducted by committees. Military necessity twice forced Congress to
hasten from the city, the first time in December, 1776, when it fled to
Baltimore, the second time after the battle of the Brandywine, when it
became an exile, first at Lancaster and later at York.
Nature of the business of Congress.--Dr. Albion W. Small has classified
the business of Congress under the following heads: (1) To dispose of
sundry applications in behalf of individuals; (2) to consider requests
for advice and aid to individual colonies; (3) to act as the mouthpiece
of the patriotic party; (4) to serve as an organ of communication
between the collective colonies and other communities or individuals;
(5) to devise peace plans and measures for the general good; (6) to
devise offensive and defensive measures to be urged upon the individual
colonies; (7) to raise, organize, and regulate a continental army, and
assume general direction of military affairs.
Organization of Congress and conduct of business.--When Peyton Randolph
found it necessary to leave Congress, the delegates chose John Hancock
president and Charles Thomson secretary, the latter serving until 1781.
Most of the work was carried on by committees. When a vote was taken in
Congress, the members did not cast their ballots as individuals, but
each state delegation cast a solid affirmative or negative vote. Usually
committees met in the morning from 7 to 10, Congress from 10 A.M. to 4
or 5 P.M., and committees from 6 to 10 P.M. The president's duties were
manifold, for in addition to acting as presiding officer, he carried on
correspondence with the commander-in-chief, with state governors, and
with, local committees.
Early acts of Congress.--In spite of the conservatives who at first were
in the majority and who desired to hold in check the revolutionary
forces, circumstances forced Congress to exercise executive authority
long before the Declaration of Independence. In June, 1775, Congress
ordered the raising and organizing of an army, authorized a loan for the
purchase of gunpowder, and issued $2,000,000 in bills of credit. In
September provision was made for the fitting out of a navy, and steps
were taken to open relations with foreign powers, to supervise the
frontiers, and to establish a post-office. In the chaos which resulted
from the overthrow of the chartered governments, several of the state
revolutionary bodies appealed to Congress for advice. In answer to the
Massachusetts appeal, Congress advised that, as no obedience was due to
parliament and as the crown officials were absent, the provincial
congress was to summon the representatives to an assembly which was to
choose a council, and together the two bodies were to govern until
difficulties were adjusted with the crown. Similar advice was given to
New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia. The various colonies were
also advised to erect prize courts. In March, 1776, it advised the
colonies to disarm the Loyalists, and soon afterward authorized the
fitting out of privateers and opened the ports to all countries not
subject to Great Britain. In May it urged all colonies which had not yet
formed state governments to do so and declared that British authority
should be suppressed. On July 4, 1776, it adopted the Declaration of
Independence.
Judicial functions.--With the increase of privateering, prize courts
became necessary, and in November, 1775, Congress advised the colonies
to erect courts in which cases of capture might be tried by jury and
appeals made to Congress. During 1776 the custom was followed of
appointing a congressional committee to hear each appeal, but in
January, 1777, a standing committee of five was appointed to hear all
appeals. The increasing business and the need of legally trained men
made it apparent that the committee system could not long handle the
prize cases, and in January, 1780, a permanent court of appeals was
established, which may be looked upon as a forerunner of the supreme
court.
Military affairs.--When hostilities began, Congress acted on the theory
that the colonies were loyal to the king, but were opposing Gage's
ministerial army. Events soon forced it to take measures of defence,
committees being appointed in May, 1775, to consider how military stores
might be procured. On June 15 Washington was chosen commander-in-chief
and on the following day a committee was appointed to draw up his
commission and instructions. Congress also selected four major-generals,
eight brigadier-generals, a quartermaster-general and
commissary-general. Later a clothier-general was appointed.
At first military affairs were handled by congressional committees, but
in January, 1776, a committee was appointed to consider the
establishment of a war office. Five months later Congress adopted the
committee's plan which provided for a Board of War and Ordnance to
consist of five members of Congress and a secretary. In 1777 this
congressional board was done away with and a new board, consisting of
persons who were not members of Congress, was created, Gates being
placed at its head. Congress also appointed an inspector-general, Thomas
Conway being the first incumbent, being followed by Steuben. The system
of supplying the army was found to be deficient and to rectify matters
the commissary department was reorganized in 1777 and again in 1778.
Congress continued to keep in touch with the army by sending special
committees to examine actual conditions.
Naval affairs.--To handle maritime affairs a naval committee was
appointed whose "active life lasted from October, 1775, until January,
1776, during which time it laid the foundation of the navy." On December
14, 1775, a marine committee, composed of one member from each colony,
was chosen to take charge of the building and fitting out of vessels,
and this committee soon assumed direction of naval affairs. Agents to
superintend the work of construction were employed, and on the
recommendation of the committee, Congress appointed prize agents. In
November, 1776, a board of three naval experts was created to execute
business under the direction of the maritime committee and a similar
board was appointed in April, 1777, to handle affairs in New England
alone. The marine committee continued until October, 1779. By that time
it became evident that a more efficient system was needed and Congress
appointed a Board of Admiralty consisting of three commissioners and two
members of Congress. The board remained in charge of naval affairs until
the governmental reorganization of 1781.
Foreign affairs.--To direct diplomacy was one of the difficult functions
of a Congress whose members were but little versed in the intricacies of
foreign courts. In the fall of 1775 a "secret committee on foreign
correspondence" was chosen. In March, 1776, Silas Deane was sent to
France, and in September of the same year a commission to handle
American interests in Europe, composed of Franklin, Jefferson, and
Deane, was appointed. Jefferson, however, remained in America and Arthur
Lee was substituted. To obtain financial aid had been the chief object
up to the Declaration of Independence, but after that Congress and its
agents directed their energies not only to the securing of funds, but to
obtain recognition by France and Spain, and to make military and
commercial alliances. In 1777 the secret committee was changed to the
"committee on foreign affairs," an organization which conducted the
foreign policy up to 1781.
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
Fiscal machinery.--The most difficult problem which Congress had to
solve was the raising of sufficient funds to carry on the Revolution. To
handle the public moneys and devise means for raising revenue, fiscal
machinery gradually came into existence. In 1775 two treasurers were
appointed to receive and disburse public funds. Soon a committee of
claims of thirteen members was appointed, and in February, 1776, a
standing committee of five known as the Treasury Board, which supervised
financial officials and attended to the emission of instruments of
credit. This board, under which was an auditor-general at the head of
the office of accounts, was the germ of the later treasury. In 1778 the
book-keeping system was remodeled and a comptroller, auditor, treasurer,
and two chambers of accounts were provided. In 1779 the old treasury
board was set aside and in its place a commission of five was appointed,
of which three were not congressional delegates.
Bills of credit.--Congress had three principal means of raising money:
by issuance of bills of credit, by requisitions upon the states, and by
domestic and foreign loans. In addition there was a considerable income
from prizes and captures. The need of raising money drove Congress to
the doubtful expedient of issuing large quantities of paper money
unbacked by bullion or specie but based upon the credit of the states.
Between June, 1775, and November, 1779, Congress authorized the issuance
of $241,552,780 in denominations varying from one-sixth of a dollar to
sixty-five dollars. In addition the states issued over $200,000,000 in
paper money. Such large amounts of unbacked paper could lead to but one
result, a steadily increasing depreciation. At first the people took the
continental money with little protest, but as issue followed issue in
rapid succession, depreciation set in, and by January, 1779, the ratio
of currency to specie was eight to one, by June twenty to one, and by
the end of that year forty to one. In May, 1781, it ceased to pass as
currency. Financiers have found it difficult to estimate the specie
value of the various issues, but a careful economist has calculated that
it was worth between $37,000,000 and $41,000,000.
Requisitions upon the states.--As military demands became more and more
insistent, Congress found it necessary to make requisitions upon the
states. The demands were met in a niggardly manner; between November,
1777, and February, 1781, the moneys received, figured in specie value,
amounted to only $2,737,000. In 1780 Congress was driven to demanding
specific supplies, such as corn, meat, and hay.
Domestic loans.--With the exception of a small loan for the purchase of
gunpowder, Congress did not authorize a domestic loan until October,
1776, when it voted to borrow $5,000,000 at four per cent, and to
establish state loan offices. Subsequent loans were at six per cent.
After money from foreign loans began to come in in September, 1777,
interest on the domestic debt was paid, enabling Congress to borrow more
freely than before. From October, 1776, to September, 1777, only
$3,787,000 was obtained from the states, and during the rest of the war
$63,289,000 in paper was subscribed.
Foreign loans.--Most of the foreign financial aid came from France. In
the years before France formally recognized the independence of the
American states, large sums were loaned to Congress. In May, 1776,
Vergennes secured a loan of a million livres from the French treasury
and also obtained a small loan from Spain. Through the fictitious
company of "Hortalez et Cie" in Paris organized by Beaumarchais, and the
Spanish firm of Josef Gardoqui and Sons, large quantities of clothing,
military stores, and considerable sums of money were placed at the
disposal of the revolutionary agents. During 1777-1780 Congress borrowed
from France $1,633,500.
STATE GOVERNMENTS DURING THE REVOLUTION
Organization of state governments.--As resistance to British authority
intensified during 1775, the colonies took steps to organize for
resistance. The colonial governors were forced to leave and the
committees of safety assumed temporary executive functions. In most of
the colonies revolutionary conventions were called which took over the
legislative power until it became apparent that the difficulties with
Great Britain could not be settled. As it grew more and more evident
that the war was to be fought for independence, the conventions took
steps to organize state governments. Several of them asked advice
concerning such action from the Continental Congress, and that body
finally advised all the colonies to proceed on the assumption that they
no longer owed allegiance to the crown. The constitutional convention
introduced a new principle in the theory of the state. Up to this time
governmental authority had rested in England. Henceforth the powers of
sovereignty were to emanate from the will of the people, the
constitutional convention being the embodiment of the sovereign will.
Type of state governments.--In the formation of governments the states
were guided by experience in colonial statecraft. The new constitutions
disclosed the influence of the struggle with Great Britain, the framers
seeking to protect the commonwealths from the possibility of
encroachment of the executive at the expense of the legislative
departments. The influence of the political philosophy which insisted
that the separation of the departments of government was the safeguard
of popular rights was also apparent in the new constitutions. Although
they displayed a marked divergence on minor points, in general a common
type of government prevailed. In most of the states the legislative
department was in two parts, a lower and an upper house; the lower,
usually elected for a year, represented the people at large, and the
upper, serving for longer periods, represented the wealthier classes. In
all but one state a property qualification was required for voters and
representatives, and in most cases the property qualification was higher
for members of the upper chamber. There was no uniformity in
designation, the lower chamber being variously called the house of
representatives, house of commons, or assembly; the upper house was
usually called the legislative council, but in Virginia it was known as
the senate, a designation afterward commonly adopted. The executive was
usually weak, being vested either in a governor with limited power or in
a small group. So well adapted to the needs of a state were the colonial
charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island, that they continued to use
their charters as constitutions for many years, merely substituting the
authority of the people for that of the king.
Variations from type.--Several of the state constitutions contained
unusual features. In Pennsylvania the radical convention in 1776 framed
a constitution which provided for a legislature of one chamber and an
executive council which could not veto an act of the assembly. Every
seven years a council of censors was to be chosen by the voters to see
that the constitution had not been violated. By a two-thirds vote the
censors could summon a convention to amend the constitution. Georgia
also set up a unicameral legislature. The Virginia constitution of 1776
contained a declaration of independence. It also provided that all bills
must originate in the lower house and that money bills could not be
amended by the senate. A privy council of eight members was chosen by a
joint ballot of both houses. This body and the two houses selected the
governor. The South Carolina constitution of 1778 provided for the
election of the upper house by the people and the governor was deprived
of the veto power. By the New York constitution of 1778, the governor
was elected by the people, but he had neither appointive nor veto power,
those functions being exercised respectively by a council of
appointments chosen from the senate by the assembly, and by a council of
revision composed of the governor, chancellor, and two or more judges of
the supreme court. Objections raised by the council of revision could be
defeated by a two-thirds vote of both houses. The first constitution of
Massachusetts provided for a legislature of two houses, the upper
chamber acting as a multiple executive. In 1780 a new constitution was
accepted by the people. This provided that the governor be given
military powers and the appointment of judges. He was to be advised by a
council of nine elected from the senate by both houses.
Selection of the judiciary.--Divergences appeared in the methods of
selecting judges. In Connecticut and Rhode Island they were appointed
annually by the assemblies. In Georgia the chief justice was appointed
by the assembly, but the people elected the county judges annually; in
New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania the assemblies chose the judges
for seven years; in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland the governor
and council appointed the judges who held office during good behavior;
in other states the legislatures appointed them for varying terms.
The courts.--The states established superior tribunals which were
authorized to review and correct decisions of inferior courts. In
Georgia the county courts, when presided over by the chief-justice,
acted as a final court of appeal. In New Jersey the governor and council
constituted the highest appellate tribunal. In Virginia the constitution
provided for a court of appeals which passed upon the constitutionality
of laws and heard appeals. In Maryland and South Carolina the appellate
courts were composed of the presiding officers of the district courts.
In the other colonies the supreme court fulfilled the same function. The
colonial system of county courts to try the smaller civil cases, and
courts of session, composed of justices of the peace, for trial of petty
criminal cases were retained.
English law the basis of American jurisprudence.--The English common-law
forms of writs and legal process were continued with all their
technicalities, a usage which has been one of the stumbling blocks in
the attempts to simplify legal methods in the United States. "Either by
the constitutions or by legislative enactments, English common law, and
all those English statutes hitherto recognized and acted upon in the
colonies respectively, were made the basis of state jurisprudence. The
force of law was also continued to all existing colonial statutes until
repealed or altered, except in South Carolina, where a particular
enumeration and reënactment was made of the colonial statutes intended
to be recognized."
The revolutionary state of Vermont.--In the Green Mountain region a new
state was in the making. There New York claimed jurisdiction but her
authority had never been established and in April, 1775, the inhabitants
of the mountain country held a convention, eventually drew up a
constitution, and asked Congress to recognize Vermont as a state. New
York succeeded in defeating the movement in Congress, but the
Vermonters, nothing daunted, proceeded to organize their government. The
new revolutionary state soon became embroiled in disputes with New
Hampshire and Massachusetts. These and the continued opposition of New
York caused Congress to delay recognition, and Vermont was not formally
admitted to the union until 1791, but to all intents and purposes it was
a sovereign state from 1775.
Attempts at Western State-Making.--In the course of the Revolution,
likewise, the settlements beyond the Alleghanies were trying experiments
in state-making. The Watauga Association in eastern Tennessee, the
Transylvania government in Kentucky, and the Nashborough, Association
are all examples. These western communities reverted to the compact
theory of government, and their experiences illustrate the democratic
tendencies of the frontier. As yet, however, the communities were too
weak to succeed in the midst of conflicting elements and each reverted
for a time to the subordinate position of a county of the older state.
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
The confederation movement.--When danger from without threatened, a
union of the colonies as a device of safety had often been suggested,
but separatist tendencies had always proved too strong for the
federationists. Franklin had been a friend of the idea of union, in 1754
having penned the Albany plan. In July, 1775, when it became apparent
that the colonies were facing a great war, he proposed a league of
friendship whose affairs should be conducted by a general congress in
which each colony should have representation according to its
population. Franklin's plan was not adopted, but it focused attention
upon the growing need of a confederation. The Continental Congress was a
revolutionary body which had no power save the sufferance of states
which were themselves revolutionary. Whether or not those states were to
retain sovereign powers depended entirely on the outcome of the
struggle. To insure a successful issue, it was believed that a more
perfect organ than the Continental Congress should be devised to conduct
the Revolution.
Work of the confederation committee.--When Lee's independence resolution
was introduced in the Continental Congress on June 7, 1776, it was
accompanied by a motion to appoint a committee to draw up articles of
confederation. On June 12 a committee composed of one delegate from each
colony was chosen, among the members being John Dickinson, Samuel Adams,
Roger Sherman, and Edward Rutledge. On July 12 the committee reported a
plan of confederation, drawn mainly by Dickinson, which provided that
each state should have a single vote in a central congress, and that an
affirmative vote of nine states should be necessary to pass any measure.
Adoption of the articles.--Stress of business, military events which
forced the hasty departure of Congress from Philadelphia on several
occasions, and divergence of views prevented speedy action. On two ideas
only was there agreement. The delegates were convinced that the English
imperial system was wrong in its theory of taxation; whatever the form
of the central government might be, it must not take from the states the
power of taxation. They were also agreed that the executive power of the
central government must be weak. The debates turned upon three main
questions, taxation, representation, and congressional power to settle
boundary disputes. Dickinson's plan proposed that taxation should be
apportioned among the states according to population; this aroused the
opposition of the Southerners, who objected to the slaves being counted
as population. Franklin objected to Dickinson's proposal of one vote per
state on the ground that it was an inequitable arrangement. In reply it
was argued that the confederation was a league of friendship to be
formed for a specific purpose and in consequence each state ought to
have equal power. In regard to congressional power to settle boundary
disputes, a difference arose between those states which possessed
western lands and those which did not. Not until November, 1777, did
Congress give the articles a favorable vote and on June 26, 1778, a form
of ratification was adopted. Delegates from the New England states, New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina signed the articles on
July 9, North Carolina on July 21, Georgia on July 24, and New Jersey on
November 26, 1778; Delaware on May 5, 1779, and Maryland not until March
1, 1781. In consequence of the tardy action of Maryland, the
Continental Congress continued to conduct the war almost to its
conclusion.
The more important provisions of the articles.--The preamble stated that
the delegates had agreed "to certain articles of Confederation and
perpetual union." Article I named the confederacy "The United States of
America." Article II said, "Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom
and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not
by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in
Congress assembled." Article III stated the purpose of the entrance of
the states into a league of friendship as follows: "for their common
defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general
welfare." Article IV declared that the free inhabitants of each state
should be "entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in
the several States" and provided for the extradition of criminals. It
also stated that, "Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these
States to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and
magistrates of every other State."
Article V provided that delegates should "be annually appointed in such
manner as the legislature of each State shall direct," and that Congress
should convene annually on the first Monday in November. No state was to
be represented in Congress by less than two nor more than seven members,
and in determining questions, each state should have one vote.
Article VI dealt mainly with prohibitions upon the states. Without the
consent of Congress, no state was to enter into treaties, confederation,
or alliance with foreign courts, nor was any state to lay imposts or
duties which might interfere with any stipulations in treaties entered
into between the United States and foreign powers. Such naval and
military forces were to be maintained by the states in time of peace as
Congress might deem necessary, and no state was to engage in war without
the consent of Congress unless actually invaded or in danger of Indian
attack.
Article VIII provided that expenses incurred for common defence or for
the general welfare, when allowed by Congress, should be defrayed out of
a common treasury, to "be supplied by the several states, in proportion
to the value of all land within each state, granted to or surveyed for
any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon
shall be estimated according to such mode as the United States in
Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint."
Article IX dealt with the congressional powers. Congress was given the
exclusive power (1) of determining peace or war except in the cases
mentioned in Article VI, (2) of sending and receiving ambassadors, (3)
of entering into treaties and alliances, provided such agreements did
not interfere with the rights of the states to lay such imposts and
duties on foreign goods as they were subjected to by foreigners, or
prohibit exportation or importation, (4) of establishing rules for
deciding prize cases, (5) of granting letters of marque and reprisal in
time of peace, (6) of establishing admiralty courts, and (7) of settling
disputes between two or more states, an elaborate procedure in such
cases being prescribed.
Congress was also given the exclusive power (8) of regulating the alloy
and value of coin struck by its authority or by that of a state, (9) of
fixing the standard of weights and measures, (10) of regulating affairs
with Indians not members of states provided state rights were not
infringed, (11) of establishing and regulating post offices and postage,
(12) of appointing military officers except regimental officers, (13) of
appointing naval officers, and (14) of making rules and regulations for
the army and navy.
Other powers of Congress were (15) "to appoint a committee, to sit in
the recess of Congress, to be denominated 'a Committee of the States,'
and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to appoint such
other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the
general affairs of the United States under direction..., (16) to
ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of
the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying
the public expenses, (17) to borrow money or emit bills on the credit of
the United States, (18) to build and equip a navy, and (19) "to agree
upon the number of land forces, and to make requisition from each state
for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in each
state." With the exception of a vote upon adjournment, all measures
required the assent of nine states. No period of adjournment was to be
longer than six months.
Article X provided that the committee of the states should be authorized
to execute the delegated powers of Congress during recesses. Article XII
stated that bills of credit, loans, and debts should be considered as a
charge against the United States and for whose payment the United States
and the public faith were pledged. Article XIII provided that every
state should abide by the acts of Congress, that the union should be
perpetual, and that no alteration should be made in the articles by
Congress unless afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state.
Fundamental weaknesses of the articles.--Admirable as this document was
in many respects, it contained weaknesses which were certain to make the
union temporary rather than perpetual. It failed to give the central
government sufficient power. The articles were distinctly the instrument
of a confederation of sovereign states, and not the constitution of a
federal state. Congress was not given the power to raise money or to
regulate commerce. It could not compel the states to pay the national
debts, to live up to treaties, or to raise armies. The articles provided
for no distinct executive department, but this was remedied in part by
congressional acts. With the exception of the fourth, fifth, and seventh
provisions of Article IX, judicial matters were left to the states. The
required vote of nine state to pass measures necessarily hindered the
passage of needed regulations. The requirement that every state
legislature must give its consent before an amendment could be passed
made it well-nigh impossible to change the instrument.
GOVERNMENTAL REORGANIZATION
Organization of executive departments.--The failure of the congressional
committee system to perform executive functions had grown more apparent
as the war progressed, and in the closing days of the Second Continental
Congress measures were taken to concentrate the executive departmental
work under individual heads. During January and February, 1781, the
Continental Congress created four new offices: superintendent of
finance, secretary at war, secretary of marine, and secretary of foreign
affairs, a foreshadowing of the later cabinet. The policy thus
inaugurated was continued under the new Congress which held its first
sitting on March 2, 1781.
The work of Robert Morris.--The failure of the bills of credit, the
insufficiency of state support, and the weakness of foreign credit had
made it evident that the financial system must be reorganized;
accordingly the treasury commission was abolished and finances were
placed in the hands of Robert Morris, a successful merchant of
Philadelphia who had rendered valuable assistance as a member of the
Pennsylvania assembly and of Congress. Morris realized that retrenchment
and economy must be his watchwords. In the words of Dewey, he endeavored
"to collect the requisitions from the States, to create a national
revenue and impost, and place the revenue on a specie basis...." He also
sought to establish foreign credit and to found a United States bank. At
every turn he was handicapped by local prejudice, petty bickerings over
taxation, and the lack of power of the central government.
Foreign loans and requisitions upon states.--The adoption of the
Articles of Confederation immediately strengthened foreign credit, for
during 1781-1783 loans of $4,719,000 were obtained from France, $174,017
from Spain, and $1,304,000 from the bankers of Holland. The loans from
Spain and Holland, however, probably would not have been obtained had it
not been for the entry of those powers into the war. Requisitions upon
states during the same period yielded $3,058,000 in specie value, but
the proposals of Morris to institute a land tax, poll tax, excise, and
tariff came to naught.
The Bank of North America.--In 1780 Congress had tried to establish a
financial institution called the Bank of Pennsylvania, but it had been
of little service. Morris planned a sounder institution to be known as
the Bank of North America with a capitalization of not over $10,000,000.
Only $70,000 was raised by private subscription and the government set
aside $200,000 in specie which had recently arrived from France. From
this bank during 1782-1783 the government borrowed on short term loans
$1,272,842. As Congress repaid the bank before other creditors, a small
working balance was maintained on which the government could draw for
immediate needs.
War and navy departments.--Owing to factional quarrels, it was not until
January, 1782, that General Benjamin Lincoln was made secretary at war.
No one was appointed for the department of marine, and the work was
turned over to the already overburdened superintendent of finance. The
office of agent of marine was created, and this Morris held from
September, 1781, until November, 1784.
Department of foreign affairs.--The first secretary of foreign affairs
was Robert R. Livingston of New York, a former member of the committee
which formulated the Declaration of Independence and famous later as
minister to France at the time of the Louisiana purchase. He held office
from August, 1781, to June, 1783, being succeeded in 1784 by John Jay.
The department as conducted under Livingston consisted of the secretary,
two assistant secretaries, and a clerk.
Conclusion.--Thus during the stress of war national and state
governments had come into existence. Necessity had forced the people to
act and though the leaders at times groped blindly and took many a false
step, the political capacity of the American people had asserted itself
and triumphed. They profited by their experiences and showed themselves
ready to cast aside useless institutions and try new ones which gave
fair promise of success. A government of the people, for the people, and
by the people had come into existence which challenged the doctrine that
the sovereign ruled by right divine.
READINGS
Bolles, A.S., _Financial History of the United States, 1774-1780_;
Bullock, C.J., _Finances of the United States from 1775 to 1789_;
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, III, 431-462; Dewey,
D.R., _Financial History of the United States_, 33-56; Foster, J.W., _A
Century of American Diplomacy_, 1-40; Guggenheim, J.C., "The Development
of the Executive Departments, 1775-1789," in J. Franklin Jameson,
_Essays in the Constitutional History of the United States in the
Formative Period, 1775-1789_; Hatch, L.C., _Administration of the
American Revolutionary Army_; Hildreth, Richard, _The History of the
United States of America_, III, 374-410; Learned, H.B., _The President's
Cabinet_, 47-63; McLaughlin, A.C., _The Confederation and the
Constitution_, 35-70; Paullin, C.O., _The Navy of the American
Revolution_, 31-251; Small, A.W., "The Beginnings of American
Nationality," in Johns Hopkins University, _Studies in History and
Political Science_, 8th Series, Parts I and II; Sumner, W.G., _The
Financier and Finances of the American Revolution_; Van Tyne, C.H., _The
American Revolution_, 175-202; Hunt, G., _The Department of State_,
1-37.
INDEX
Abenaki Indians, 257, 266;
war of, 313.
Abercromby, General James, in French and Indian War, 376, 377, 378.
Acadia, colonization, 85-86;
captured by England, restored to France, 86, 87;
during War of Spanish Succession, English expeditions against, 271;
conquest of, 272;
attacked by French during War of Austrian Succession, 364, 365;
French policy in, 366;
during French and Indian War, 374.
Acapulco, Mexico, commercial port, 86.
Acatic, Nueva Galicia, in the Mixton War, 40.
Accau, explorer in Minnesota with Father Hennepin, 100.
Ácoma, New Mexico pueblo, 46, 72, 73.
Adams, John, defence of British soldiers, 443;
in First Continental Congress, 452;
argues for Declaration of Independence, 479;
member of committee for drafting the Declaration, 479;
diplomacy in France and Holland, 532-533;
peace negotiations, 533-538.
Adams, Samuel, circular letter, 440-441;
trouble with Governor Bernard, 443;
the man of the town meeting, 445-446;
in First Continental Congress, 451;
on committee to draft Articles of Confederation, 550.
_Adelantados_, 54-55.
Administration of Justice Act, 450.
Admiralty, English, 182-183;
courts, 349.
Africa, early ideas concerning, 1-2;
Ptolemy's conception of, 1-2;
trade with desired, 5;
exploration of west coast, 5;
Prester, John, 5;
Sénégal and Gorée captured by English, 380;
Sénégal given to British by Peace of Paris, 382.
African Company, formed to break Dutch monopoly, 196.
Agriculture, in Spanish colonies, 21, 75;
in French Canada, 92, 93;
in French West Indies, 94-95;
in New England, 216-217, 330-331;
in the Middle English colonies, 120, 122, 124, 128, 332;
in the South, 333-335,
in the British West Indies, 339-341;
in Bermudas, 130;
in Dutch colonies, 169, 170, 171, 173.
Aguas Calientes, 58, 59;
mines of, 58.
Aguayo, Marquis of, expedition to Texas, 296-297.
Aguilar, Marcos de, governor in Mexico, 48.
Aijado Indians, 243.
Ailly, Pierre d', author of _Imago Mundi_, 2, 7.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, 366.
Alabama Indians, 251, 270.
Alabama River, 62.
Alamance, battle of the, 415.
Alarcón, Hernando de, explores Colorado River, 45.
Alarcón, Martin de, governor of Texas, and of Coahuila, 294-295.
Albany, 332.
Albany Congress, 371, 411.
Albemarle, Duke of. _See_ Monk.
Albermarle district, settlement, 207;
population, 211;
Culpeper rebellion, 211.
Alberoni, 279, 359.
Albórnoz, royal _contador_ of New Spain, 48.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, founding of, 290.
Alburquerque, Portuguese viceroy in India, 24.
Alcalá, University of, 76.
_Alcaldes_, 14, 34, 55.
_Alcaldía Mayor_, administrative district, 59.
Aleutian Islands, Russian fur trade, 388.
Alexander, Pillars of, 1.
Alexander VI, Pope, assignation of discoveries between Spain and
Portugal, 11.
Alexander, Sir William, grant on Long Island, 150.
Algonquin Indians, friendly to French, 257;
a barrier to English expansion, 414.
Alibamon, judicial department of Louisiana, 279.
Alleghany Mountains, Spanish explorations in, 1566-1568, 64;
Spanish trade in, 211;
French and English traders cross, 101-102;
English traders cross, 211, 258, 367. 369;
in the French and Indian War, 372-374, 378;
Proclamation of 1763, 404, 411;
settlers cross, 413;
a barrier to settlement, 414;
in the American Revolution, 512.
Allen, Ethan, 462.
Allouez, Jesuit missionary in New France, 96, 97, 101.
Alva, Duke of, 52.
Alvarado, Pedro de, lieutenant of Cortés, 33, 36;
_alcalde mayor_ of City of Mexico, 34;
conquest of Guatemala and San Salvador, 37-38;
claim to Cíbola, 44;
explorations in Peru and the South Sea, 46-47;
governor and captain-general of Guatemala, 49;
death, 47, 49.
Amadas, Philip, takes possession of Roanoke Island, 110.
Amazon Island, Cortés seeks, 37.
Amazons, kingdom of, sought by Raleigh, 110.
Amherst, Jeffrey, English general, 377, 378, 379, 381, 409;
plan of defence of British New World possessions, 403-404;
governor-general of Canada, 419.
Amichel, province of, 26, 37;
map showing, 43.
André, Major John, hanged as a spy, 512.
Andros, Edmund, governor of New York, 197, 262, 263;
governor-general of the Dominion of New England, 194;
overthrow, 194-195.
Anglican Church, in the eighteenth century, 337-338.
Anguilla, Island, government, 206.
Anian, Strait of, 24, 25, 67-68, 72. _See_ the Strait of Anian.
Annapolis Royal, 272.
Anne of Austria, regent of France, 80.
Anne, Queen of England, colonial policy, 350-352.
Anson, Commodore George, attacks Spanish possessions, 363;
admiral in French and Indian War, 377.
Anticosti Island, 82, 420.
Antigua, settled by English, 133, 252;
incorporated with Leeward Islands, 206;
population, 340.
Anza, Juan Bautista, opens route from Arizona to California, 391;
leads colony from Sonora to San Francisco, 391;
governor of New Mexico, explores in Colorado, 292.
Apache Indians, 45:
enslavement of, 23;
hostility, 285;
wars with, 298, 305, 401;
missions for, 299.
Apalachee (Apalachen), Indian settlement, 41, 42, 98;
missions, 247, 253, 254, 270;
revolt of, 270.
Apalachicola Indians, 269.
Appeals, 351-352.
Appointments, 352.
Arabs, theories of concerning geography, 1-2.
Aragon, kingdom of, 13-14.
Argall, Captain Samuel, expedition against French settlements, 86, 136.
Aricara Indians, 283.
Arika Indians, alliance with English, 270.
Arispe, capital of Provincias Internas, 387.
Aristotle, his conception of the world, 1.
Arizona, 72,236;
Kino's explorations in, 302;
mining excitement at Arizonac, 304;
Keller and Sedelmayr in, 304;
land route to California, 391.
_See_ Pimería Alta, Sonora.
Arkansas region, De Soto and Moscoso in, 42;
Oñate in, 73;
judicial department of Louisiana, 280;
French traders in, 283-286;
English traders in, 102, 400;
Tonty's fort in, 100, 102;
under Spanish rule, 400.
_See_ La Harpe, Du Tisné, Tonty.
Arkansas Post (Fort Carlos III), 398.
Arkansas River (Napestle River), 42, 73, 100, 102, 283-285;
Spanish expeditions to, 291.
Arlington, Earl of, proprietary grant in Virginia, 185;
interest in Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
Armada, "the Invincible," defeat of, 52-53, 105.
Arnold, Benedict, operations at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 462;
invasion of Canada, 471;
at Valcour Island, 487-488;
in campaign against Burgoyne, 495-499;
treason, 511-512;
in the British army, 530.
Arriola, Andrés de, founds Pensacola, 275.
Arroyo Hondo, boundary between Texas and Louisiana, 300.
Arteaga, expedition up Pacific coast, 395.
Arthur, Gabriel, on Tennessee River, 1673, 211.
Articles of Confederation, confederation movement, 549;
work of the confederation committee, 550;
adoption of the articles, 550-551;
provisions, 551-555;
weaknesses, 553.
Aruba Island, settled by the Dutch, 167.
Asia, classical ideas regarding, 1;
early contact with America, 2;
visits of Polo, 3;
trade route to, 5;
search for northwest passage to, 106, 108, 164, 213;
Portuguese trading settlements in China and Japan, 24;
China a market for Russian trade, 388.
_Asiento of 1713_, The, 273, 289.
Asinai (Hasinai, Tejas, Texas), Indians, 251.
Assemblies, control of the elections and purse, 352;
increasing power, 357, 426-427.
Association, the, adopted by the First Continental Congress, 455;
enforcement, 458, 466-467;
an act of sovereignty, 539.
Association for the Defense of the Protestant Religion, 189.
Atondo y Antillón, Admiral, attempt to colonize Baja California,
241-242.
Atzcapotzalco, Aztec center, Mexico, 28.
Aubry, in command in Louisiana after cession to Spain, 396-397.
Audiencia, of Santo Domingo, 20;
of the Confines of Panamá and Nicaragua, 50;
of Guatemala, 50;
of Havana, 398;
of Mexico (New Spain),
creation of, 38, 48;
friction with Cortés, 42;
powers, 48;
composition, 48;
replacement of, 49;
Second Audiencia, 49;
of Manila, 68;
of Nueva Galicia (Guadalajara), 55;
expeditions sent out by, 55-56, 387;
of Panamá, 49, 50;
of Nicaragua, 50.
Augusta, Georgia, founded, 316;
fur traders of, 369;
evacuated by British, 529.
Austin, Ann, 189.
Austria, 359-360.
Avalon, 125.
Avalos, lieutenant of Cortés, 36, 37.
Ávila, Alonso de, envoy for Cortés to Audiencia of Santo Domingo,
and to the court of Charles V, 34.
Aviño, mine of, 56.
Axacan (Virginia), 117.
Ayllón, colony in Carolina, 26.
Ays, Florida, settlement at, 64.
Ayscue, Sir George, expedition to West Indies and Virginia, 153.
Azcué, Fernando de, expedition across Rio Grande, 248.
Azilia, project for colonizing Georgia, 315.
Aztecs, arrival in Valley of Mexico, 27-28;
development of power, 28;
discontent of subject peoples, 33;
revolt against, 33;
overthrown by Cortés, 33;
limits of Aztec conquest, 39.
Bacon, Roger, his conception of geography, 2.
Bacon's Rebellion, 185-187.
Baffin, William, discovers Baffin Bay, 213.
Bahama Channel, route of Spanish treasure ships, 62, 64.
Bahama Islands, 10;
enslavement of Indians on, 23;
settlement, 152, 206.
Bahía (Brazil), captured by Dutch West India Company, 252.
Baja California. _See_ California, Lower.
Balboa, Vasco Nuñez de, 28, 29, 42;
discovery of the Pacific, 25;
executed by Pedrarias, 29.
Balearic Isles, 13.
Baltimore, Lord. _See_ Calvert.
Bank, of England, 351;
of North America, 554;
of Pennsylvania, 554.
Baptists, in Rhode Island, 220;
in West New Jersey, 226;
in South Carolina, 231.
Barbados, occupied by the English, 132, 252;
attached to the Windward Islands government, 206;
unrest, 207;
migrations, 207;
furnishes settlers for South Carolina, 208, 210;
trade with South Carolina, 210;
influence upon South Carolina, 230, 231;
social and economic conditions in the eighteenth century, 340.
Barbuda, Island, 206, 252.
Barcelona, 10;
county of, 13.
Barker, English freebooter, 66.
Barlowe, Arthur, expedition of 1585, 110.
Barroto, seeks La Salle's colony, 249.
Barrowists, 135.
Bartram, botanist and traveler, cited, 408.
Bastidas, Spanish explorer, 24.
Baton Rouge, captured by Gálvez, 515.
Bay of the Bidayes (Galveston Bay), visited by La Harpe, 283.
Bay of Chaleurs, 82.
Bay of Espíritu Santo (Matagorda Bay), 249, 297.
Bay of Juan Ponce, 64.
Bay of St. Bernard, 283.
Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de, assists United States
during Revolution, 506.
Behaim's globe, 7.
Bellefeuille, explores Tennessee River, 102.
Beltrán, Fray Bernaldino, expedition to New Mexico, 72. _See_ Espejo.
Bemis Heights, first battle of, 497;
second battle of, 498.
Benavides, Fray Alonso de, Franciscan Missionary, 243;
report on New Mexico in 1630, 243.
Benbow, John, English vice-admiral, victories in West Indies, 268.
Bennington, Battle of, 495-496.
Bergen, New Jersey, 198.
Bering, Vitus, 388;
explores American coast, 388.
Berkeley, John, Lord Berkeley, receives West New Jersey, 198;
sells territory to the Quakers, 200;
Carolina proprietor, 208.
Berkeley, Sir William, governor of Virginia, 159;
struggle with the Commonwealth, 160;
begins second administration, 183;
abuses in administration, 184;
Bacon's rebellion, 185-187;
expedition to the West, 211;
Carolina proprietor, 208.
Bermuda Islands, visited by English, 118;
charters of 1612 and 1614, 120;
settlement, 130, 251;
population, 130;
economic importance, 130;
government, 130;
during Puritan Revolution, 152;
Somers Island Company dissolved, 206;
a crown colony, 206;
migration of settlers, 206;
Scotch migration, 324.
Bernard, Francis, Governor of Massachusetts, 440, 441, 442-443.
Béthencourt, de, Norman voyager to the Canaries, 4.
Biencourt, French official in Acadia, 85-86.
Bienville, Governor of Louisiana: first administration, 276;
under the Compagnie d'Occident, 279-280, 284;
royal governor, 280-281.
Bigot, intendant in Canada, 368,375.
Bill Williams Fork (River in Arizona), Farfán on, 73;
Sedelmayr on, 304.
Bills of credit, 544-545.
Biloxi, Mississippi, founded by French, 267, 276:
settlement moved to Mobile Bay, 276;
judicial department of Louisiana, 279.
Bimini, De León seeks, 40.
Black Code of Louisiana, The, 280, 398.
Blair, William, 229.
Blathwayt, William, secretary of Lords of Trade, 182.
Block, Adrian, Dutch trader, 165.
Blommaert, Samuel, Patroon, 170;
in Sweden, 175.
Board of Admiralty, created, 543.
Board of Trade, 346-347, 348, 354.
Board of War and Ordnance, 543.
Bobadilla, rule in West Indies, 17.
Bodega y Quadra, expeditions up Pacific coast, 395;
discovers Bodega Bay, 395.
Boisbriant, French commander in Illinois, 284.
_Bonhomme Richard_, sea-fight with the _Serapis_, 518-519.
_Book of the Tartars_, 3.
Boone, Daniel, on Watauga River,413;
effort to colonize Kentucky, 416;
opens "Wilderness Road," 417.
Boonesborough, Kentucky, founded, 417.
Boscawen, English admiral, 377, 380.
Bosque, Fernando del, expedition across Rio Grande, 248.
Boston, settled, 142;
population, 331;
resolutions against sending troops, 442;
Massacre, 443;
committee of correspondence, 446;
Tea Party, 447-448;
Port Act, 449;
siege, 461, 471.
Bourgmont, on Missouri and Kansas rivers, 1724, 284.
Boyano, Spanish explorer in North Carolina, 1567, 64.
Braddock, Major General Edward, campaign and defeat, 371-372.
Bradford, New Jersey, 199.
Bradford, Governor William, at Scrooby, 137;
_History of Plymouth Plantation_, 137;
elected governor of Plymouth, 139.
Bradstreet, English lieutenant-colonel, expedition against Fort
Frontenac, 378.
Brandenburgers, in the West Indies, 253.
Brandywine, Battle of, 499-500.
Brant, Iroquois chief, 515.
Brazil, Portugal's claims to, 11, 24;
French attempts to colonize, 84, 251;
Dutch colonization in, 166;
Brazos River, Texas, Coronado on, 1541, 45;
De Mézières on, 401.
Bréboeuf, French Jesuit, work among the Hurons, 88.
Breed's Hill, 461.
Brewster, William, at Scrooby, 137.
British East India Company, 70.
Brooke, Lord, interest in the Caribbean, 133;
holdings in Connecticut Valley, 149;
obtains lands in New Hampshire, 157.
Brooklyn, captured by the British, 484.
Brownists, 135.
Bruselas (Costa Rica), founding of, 31.
Bucarely, Viceroy of New Spain, 1771-1779;
sends explorers to Northern Pacific, 395.
Buddhist priest, supposed visit to America, 499 A.D., 2.
Buen Aire Island, settled by Dutch, 167.
Buffalo Plains, Spanish expeditions to, 72, 73.
Bunker Hill, Battle of, 461-462.
Burgoyne, General John, at Boston, 441;
New York campaign, 493-499.
Burke, Edmund, on conciliation, 456.
Burlington, New Jersey, body of laws, 201;
description of, 225-226.
Burma, Portuguese in, 24.
Bustamente y Tagle, expedition down Arkansas River against
Comanches, 291.
Bute Ministry, policy of, 429-430.
Button, Sir Thomas, explores Hudson Bay, 213.
Buzzard's Bay, settled by Pilgrims, 139.
Byllynge, Edward, proprietor West Jersey, 201, 202.
Bylot, explores Baffin Bay, 213.
Byng, English admiral, defeats Spanish fleet, 359.
Byron, Commodore John, in American Revolution, 510.
_Cabildo_, Spanish town council, 20;
membership and functions, 20.
Cabinet, development in the reign of Anne, 350-351;
system, 353.
Cabo del Engaño, discovered by Ulloa, 44.
Cabot, John, explorations of, 26, 105-106.
Cabral, Portuguese explorer, 24.
Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez, explores Pacific coast, 47.
Cacaxtle Indians, in Texas, expedition against, 248.
Cadereyta[**check], Nuevo León, founded, 247.
Cadillac, Lama the, founder of Detroit and of Louisiana, governor
of Louisiana, 277-278, 282.
Cadodacho Indians, La Harpe visits, 283.
Cahokia, captured by Clark, 514.
Cakchiquels, Indians of Guatemala, conquest of, 38.
Calderón, Bishop of Cuba, visits Florida in 1674, 254.
Cale, province sought by De Soto, 41.
Calender Stone, Aztec, 27.
Calicut, voyage to, 5.
California (Lower and Upper): expedition of Cabrillo and Ferrelo, 47;
on route of Manila trade, 68;
raids of Drake and Cavendish, 70;
new explorations, Cermeño and Vizcaíno, 70-71;
Oñates expedition by land, 73;
insular theory of California geography, 73, 241.
California, Lower: Cortés's colony in, 42;
Ulloa's voyage round the Peninsula, 44;
seventeenth century efforts to occupy, 240-242;
pearl fisheries, 240;
Iturbi's voyage, 240;
later attempts, 240-241;
Kino and Atondo, 242;
Jesuit occupation, 306-308;
Salvatierra and companions, 306;
expulsion of the Jesuits, 307, 386;
Franciscans in, 386;
Gálvez in, 386;
Dominicans in, 391.
California, Upper: threatened by Russia, 388;
derision of Spain to occupy, 388;
the Portolá expedition, 389;
Junípero Serra, 389;
San Diego and Monterey founded, 389;
plans for expansion, 389;
map, 390;
a land route from Arizona, 391;
San Francisco founded, 391;
communication with New Mexico attempted, 391;
explorations of Garcés, Escalante, and Domínguez, 392;
Neve governor, 392;
founding of pueblos San José and Los Angeles, 392;
the halfway post at Yuma and the Yuma massacre, 393-394;
Santa Bárbara and San Buenaventura founded, 394;
northern explorations by sea, 394-395.
Calvert, Cecilius, second Lord Baltimore, 126;
receives proprietary grant of Maryland, 126;
his powers and rights, 127, 128.
Calvert, Charles, proprietor of Maryland, 188-189.
Calvert, George, stockholder in Virginia Company, 125;
early history, 125;
becomes Baron of Baltimore, 125;
application for Virginia grant, 125-126;
death, 126.
Calvert, Leonard, governor of Maryland, 129.
Calvinism, in France, 78;
in New York, 222.
Cambridge Agreement, 142.
Cambridge, settled, 145.
Camden, fighting at, 525-526.
Campbell Colonel William, at King's Mountain, 527.
Canada, search for Northwest passage, Frobisher, Davis, Gilbert,
60, 108-109;
early French voyages, 81-82;
Acadia settled, 85-86;
St. Lawrence Valley exploration, settlements, fur trade,
seigniories, 86-93;
Newfoundland fisheries, 106;
Hudson's Bay Company, 212-214, 423;
struggle for fur country, 257-261;
in Wars of English and Spanish Successions, 262-267, 271-273;
Vérendrye in the West, 287-288;
in War of Austrian Succession, 364-366;
in French and Indian War, 374-383;
under British rule, 403-406, 419-424;
the Montreal traders, 421-424;
during American Revolution, 450, 462, 467, 470;
Loyalists, 421, 472-476; 493, 538.
_See_ Acadia, Colonial administration, English colonies, French
colonies, French and Indian War, fur trade, Hudson's Bay Company,
Jesuits, Loyalists, Montreal, Northwest Company, Quebec, the
intercolonial wars.
Canada Company, 141.
Canadian River, Oñate expedition to, 73.
Canary Islands, discovery of, 3;
other visits to, 4;
acquired by Spain, 8;
factor in trans-Atlantic navigation, 8;
natives of as colonists in Florida and Texas, 255, 298.
Cancer, Fray Luis, expedition to Florida, 61.
Cano, Francisco del, explorer in Coahuila, 59.
Cape Ann, settlement, 140.
Cape Blanco, California, 5, 71.
Cape Bojador, 2.
Cape Breton Island, 273, 365-383;
siege and defence of Louisbourg, 364-365.
Cape Fear, 26.
Cape Fear River, Ayllón at, 41.
Cape Finisterre, battles off, 365.
Cape Gaspé, 82, 87.
Cape of Good Hope, discovery of, 5;
trade route to Far East, 5.
Cape Horn, discovery of, 165.
Cape Mendocino, California on route of Manila galleon, 70.
Cape Nun, early voyages to, 3-4.
Cape St. Vincent, 4.
Cape Verde, reached by Portuguese, 5.
Cape Verde Islands, discovery of, 5.
Capuchins, in Louisiana, 280.
Carabajal, Luis de, governor of Kingdom of New León, 60;
expeditions and colonies, 60-61;
arrest and condemnation, 61.
Caria, Island of, 25.
Caribs, enslaved, 23;
De León's war against, 40.
Cárdenas, discovers Grand Canyon, 45.
Cardona, Thomas, monopoly of pearl fishing, 240.
Caribbean Sea. _See_ West Indies, Lesser Antilles, and
individual islands.
Carleton, General Sir Guy, 487, 488.
Carlisle Commission, 509.
Carlisle, Lord, receives grant in the Caribbean, 132.
Carlos III, attitude toward American Revolution, 515.
Carmelites, in Louisiana, 280.
Carolinas, Gordillo and Quexos in Chicora, 26;
Ayllón's colony of San Miguel in, 40-41;
De Soto in North Carolina Piedmont, 42;
attempt of De Luna and Villafañe at Santa Elena (Port Royal), 61-62;
Ribaut's Huguenot colony at Port Royal, 62, 84;
Spanish post at Santa Elena, 64;
exploration of Pardo and Boyano, 64;
missions at Santa Elena and Orista, 64-65;
Menéndez's expeditions up coast, 65;
traders in, 102;
Carolina traders cross the Alleghanies, 102;
grant to Sir Robert Heath, 207;
settlement of Albemarle district, 207;
charters of 1663 and 1665, 207-208;
the proprietors, 208;
Locke's constitution, 208;
settlements, 208, 254;
effect on Spanish frontier policy, 254;
development of the colony, 210;
unrest at Charleston, 210-211;
the Albemarle region, 211;
Culpeper's rebellion, 211;
under William III, 346;
separation, 313;
Yamassee War, 314;
overthrow of proprietors, 314-315.
_See_ also Albemarle District, North Carolina, South Carolina.
Carpenters' Hall, 452.
Carpini, John de Plano, author of _Book of the Tartars_, 3.
Carrero, Alonso, explorer in Central America, 32.
Cartagena, despoiled in War of English Succession, 262;
bombarded and besieged in War of Jenkins' Ear, 361, 363.
Carteret, Sir George, grant in the Jerseys, 198;
obtains East New Jersey, 198-199;
Carolina proprietor, 208;
interest in Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
Carteret, Philip, governor of East New Jersey, 198-199.
Cartier, Jacques, in the St. Lawrence, 81-82;
map showing explorations, 83.
Carver, Governor John, goes to Leyden, 137;
removal to Plymouth, 137;
confirmed as governor, 138;
death, 139.
_Casa de Contratación_, 19;
duties and organization, 19;
subordinate to Council of Indies, 20.
Casas Grandes (Nueva Vizcaya), 56, 242.
Casco Bay settlement, 140;
submits to Massachusetts, 158;
attacks on, 262, 263.
Castañeda, explores coast of Central America, 29.
Castile, kingdom of, 13-14;
ownership of Spanish America, 19.
Castilla del Oro, province of, settlement, organization, and
jurisdiction of, 28-29.
Catalonia, 13.
Catawba Indians, hostile to French of Louisiana, 270, 369.
Catherine de Medici, 78.
Catherine II, of Russia, the League of Armed Neutrals, 519.
Catholic Church, 13-14;
Charles V protector of, 16;
its agencies against the Reformation, 52;
leaders, 78, 79;
in Maryland, 128, 229;
in New York, 223;
in Canada under British rule, 420.
_See_ California, Canada, Louisiana, Florida, New Mexico,
Texas, Missions.
Catholic League, The, 79.
Cattle industry, in Spanish colonies, 19, 21, 58, 75, 240;
in the English colonies, 310, 334.
Cavendish, Thomas, English freebooter, 70;
circumnavigation of the globe, 108.
Cavelier, Abbé Jean, brother of La Salle, urges colonization of
Louisiana, 275.
Cavelier, Robert, sieur de la Salle. _See_ La Salle.
Caymán Islands, granted to Providence Island Company, 133.
Cebú, Philippines, settled by Spaniards, 68.
Cedros (Cerros) Islands, 71, 307.
Celaya, Mexico, founded, 59.
Cempoalla, Cortés at, 33.
Central America, exploration of eastern coasts, 23-26;
Maya and Nahua civilizations, 26-28;
Castilla del Oro, 28-29;
Balboa and Pedrarias, 29;
Panamá founded, 29;
discovery of the Pacific and South Sea exploration, 29-31;
map, 30;
conquest of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, 31;
of Guatemala, San Salvador and Honduras, 31, 37, 38, 39;
of Yucatán, 38;
exploration of the San Juan River, 31-32;
the dukedom of Veragua, 32;
continued struggle, 32.
Cermeño, Sebastián Rodríguez, explores California coast, 71.
Cerro de la Plata, Texas, 248.
Ceuta, Moorish stronghold, 4.
Ceylon, visited by the Polos, 3;
acquired by Portugal, 24.
Ceynos, _oidor_ of New Spain, 49.
Chagres, Central America, captured by England, 361.
Chalchuites, mine of, 56.
Challons, Henry, voyage of 1606, 116.
Champlain, Samuel de, explorations, 85, 87;
associated with Sieur de Monts, 86;
sends expedition in search of Northwest Passage, 88;
last days, 88.
Chamuscado, Francisco Sánchez, expedition to New Mexico, 72.
Chancellor, Richard, expedition to Russia, 106.
Chapuis, Jean, expedition to New Mexico, 286.
Chapultepec, Mexico, 28.
Charcas (San Luis Potosí), Mexico, founded, 59.
Charles I, of England, policy of, 112-114;
the tobacco business, 124-125;
end of personal rule, 152.
Charles II, of England, grant to the Duke of York, 178;
restoration, 179;
general policy, 179;
navigation acts, 180-181;
policy of imperial defense, 181;
fiscal system, 181;
orders return of Governor Berkeley, 187;
attitude toward Massachusetts, 189-190;
grants charters to Connecticut and Rhode Island, 190;
royal commissioners, 190-191;
sends Edward Randolph, 192-193;
annulment of Massachusetts charter, 193;
royal commission to the colonies, 197;
issues charter to Hudson's Bay Company, 213-214.
Charles III, of Spain, reforms of, 384-385.
_See_ Carlos II.
Charles V, emperor, 14, 16;
his inheritance, 16;
elected Holy Roman Emperor, 16;
his European contests, 16;
expansion of New Spain during his reign, 16;
emigration policy, 21;
sale of Spain's claim to the Moluccas, 46;
abdication, 52.
Charleston, South Carolina,
founded, 210, 254;
social conditions, 231;
Spanish expedition against, 270;
commerce, 335;
defense against British, 471;
captured by Clinton, 524-525.
Charlestown, Massachusetts, settled, 142.
Charles Town, South Carolina, 208.
Charlotiana, proposed colony of, 411.
Charlotte Bay, Menéndez at, 64.
Chauvin, French fur trader, associated with de Monts, 85.
Charnisay, struggle with LaTour in Acadia, 86.
Cherokee Indians, unite against France, 270;
French influence, 314;
Cuming's Mission, 315;
attack English during French and Indian War, 369, 378-379;
cede lands, 412, 417;
retard expansion, 414;
war during the Revolution, 512-513.
Cherry Valley, 514.
Chesapeake Bay, Menéndez's plans for, 64;
Jesuit mission at, 65.
Chester, Governor of West Florida, 407.
Chiametla, Mexico, Ibarra at, 56.
Chiaha, Georgia, Boyano at, 64.
Chiapas, Mexico, population in 1574, 75.
Chichén Itza, Maya ruins, 27.
Chickasaw Indians, French alliance with, 276;
French war with, 281;
hostile to English, 403, 407, 414;
on the British side during Revolution, 514.
Chickasaw Trail, 211-212, 369.
Chico, conquistador in Jalisco, 36, 37.
Chicora, region in Carolina, attempt to colonize, 26, 40-41.
Chihuahua, Mexico, 41, 56;
industrial development, 58;
advance of settlement in, 242;
Missions established, 242;
discovery of the mines, 289;
advance down the Conchos Valley, 290;
capital of the Interior Provinces, 387.
Chile, trade with, 66.
China, early contact with America, 2;
travelers' tales of, 3;
Portuguese trading settlements in, 24;
search for northwest passage to, 82, 88, 100;
market for Russian traders, 388.
Chipewyan Indians, trade with Hudson's Bay Company, 214.
Chirinos, _veedor_ of New Spain, 48.
Choctaw Indians, hostile to French, 280, 281;
French smuggling among, 406;
at war with Chickasaws, 407;
retard English expansion, 414;
on the British side during Revolution, 514.
Cholula, Mexico, Cortés at, 33.
Chozas, Father Pedro, Franciscan Missionary in Georgia, 65.
Christian, Col. William, 513.
Christiansen, Dutch navigator, 165.
Church, Benjamin, expedition against Acadia, 271.
Cíbola (New Mexico), search for, 42-46.
Cipango. _See_ Japan.
Claiborne, William, trouble with Maryland, 128.
Clarendon, Earl of (Edward Hyde), Carolina proprietor, 208.
Clark, Daniel, speculator at Natchez, 408.
Clark, George Rogers, conquers Northwest, 514;
assists Spanish commander at St. Louis, 516.
Clamorgan, fur trader at St. Louis, explores Missouri River, 402.
Clifford, English freebooter, 66.
Clinton, Gen. Sir. H., at siege of Boston, 461;
at Charleston, 471;
captures forts on the Hudson, 498;
in command of British forces in America, 509;
evacuation of Philadelphia, 509;
Monmouth, 509-510;
reinforces Newport, 510;
seizes points on the Hudson, 511;
orders raids, 511;
orders evacuation of Newport, 511;
concentration at New York, 511;
blockades Newport, 511;
correspondence with Arnold, 511;
captures Charleston, 524-525.
Coahuila, province of, Vaca crosses, 41;
Tlascaltecan Indians used as colonists in, 60;
founding of, 248;
development, 248-249, 292,387;
map, 250.
Coça, Alabama, Spanish colony at, 61, 62.
_See_ Coosa.
Coddington, William, Rhode Island
magistrate, 148;
governor, 159.
Codrington, English general, attacks Guadeloupe, 1703, 268.
Codrington College, 339.
Coíba, Island of, Balboa granted, 29.
Colbert, controller general of finances of France, 81;
policy with regard to New France, 81, 94.
Coligny, Admiral, Huguenot leader, 52, 78-79.
Colima, founded, 37.
College of New Jersey, 339.
Colleton, James, governor of Carolinas, 211.
Colleton, Sir John, interest in Carolinas, 207-208.
Colonial administration: _Spanish_, beginnings in the West Indies,
8, 19-23;
establishment of the viceroyalty of New Spain, 47-50;
under Philip II, 52-55;
the merchant fleets, 66;
administrative subdivisions, 75-76;
frontier administration in the 17th century, 234-237;
Jesuit control in Lower California, 306-307;
reorganization of New Spain after 1763;
the reforms of Charles III and Gálvez, 384-388;
in Louisiana, 397-398;
_French_, Colbert's policy, 81;
in Canada, 85, 87, 90;
reorganization, 91;
Talon, 92;
seignorial grants, 92;
in West Indies, 93-96;
in Louisiana, 276;
the Company of the Indies, 278-280;
the royal governors, 280-281;
English, policy of the Early Stuarts, 113-114;
regulation of tobacco industry, 122-125;
during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate, 153;
under the Later Stuarts, 179-183;
William III's reorganizations, 343-350;
under Anne, 350-352;
under the Whigs, 353-357;
organization of new possessions after French and Indian War,
403-423;
on the Eve of the American Revolution, 425-426;
_Dutch_, in New Netherlands, 166, 167-168;
patroon system, 169-170;
struggle for popular rights, 172-173.
Colonial Currency Act, 431.
Colorado River, exploration of, 45;
Grand Canyon discovered, 45;
Kino, Keller, Sedelmayr, and Consag at, 302, 304.
Colorado, State; Spanish explorers in, 291-292.
Columbia River, discovered by Heçeta, 395.
Columbus, Bartholomew, in England, 7.
Columbus, Christopher, early life, 7;
sojourn in Spain, 7;
commission, 8;
discovery of America, 8-10;
map showing voyages, 9;
sojourn in West Indies, and return to Europe, 10;
rule in West Indies, 16-19;
second and third voyages, 16-17;
charges against, 17;
fourth voyage, 24;
attempted colony on Veragua coast, 28.
Columbus, Diego, rule and work of in West Indies, 17, 20.
Comanche Indians, barrier to French expansion, 285;
treaty with, 286;
French advance through country of, 286.
Commerce and Trade, with Africa, 5;
with Asia, 5;
Portuguese in the East, 24;
slave trade, 5, 23, 107, 196, 197, 253, 385;
of Spanish Colonies, 8, 16-19, 29, 46, 47, 75, 118, 164, 166,
234, 251-252, 268, 269, 273, 292, 307, 359, 384, 398, 400;
Casa de Contratación, 19-20;
trading voyages, 23-24;
San Juan River route, 31-32;
route of fleets, 62, 64;
Spanish monopoly, 65-66;
freebooters, 62, 66-67, 70;
Puerto Bello, 32, 360, 361;
Vera Cruz port, 66;
the Manila galleon, 66-70, 307;
Acapulco port, 86;
pearl fisheries, 68, 71, 240, 243-244;
the Pichilingues, 240;
reforms of Chas. III, 385;
Louisiana trade, 398;
Spanish horse trade, 400;
French West India Company, 91-92, 94, 96;
Company of St. Christopher, 93, 94;
Company of Hundred Associates, 87, 90;
Company of New France, 91;
Company of Isles of America, 94;
Compagnie du Nord, 273;
Crozat's grant, 276-278;
Compagnie d'Occident, 279-284;
Dutch commercial expansion, 164-166;
in Java, 164;
in Guiana, 166-167, 251-252;
Dutch East India Company, 164-165;
Dutch West India Company, 166, 252;
in New Netherlands, 173-174;
Danes in West Indies, 253;
Russian trade in China, 388;
Early English trade expansion, 105-107;
East India Company, 70, 108, 447;
Muscovy Company, 106;
Eastland Company, 108;
Venetian Company, 107;
Newfoundland fisheries, 106;
Northeast Passage, 106, 108, 164, 213;
Hawkins in Brazil, 107;
Company of Cathay, 109;
Guiana, 130-132;
Canada Company, 141;
Council of Trade, 114, 182;
Committee on Trade and Plantations, 153, 344;
Navigation Acts, 153, 180-181, 348-349, 351, 354-355;
Mercantilist System, 179;
Admiralty Courts, 182-183, 349;
Customs Officials, 183, 439;
Council for Trade and Plantations, 182;
Board of Trade, 346-348, 543;
African Company, 196, 199;
Hudson's Bay Company, 212-214;
Asiento of 1713, 273, 289;
Trade of New England, 217, 331;
Rhode Island, 216;
Massachusetts, 217;
New York, 221-222, 331-332;
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 225-226;
Delaware, 332-333;
Virginia and Maryland, 188, 228-229, 333-334;
South Carolina, 102, 230-231;
English Florida, 407-408;
Detroit, 422;
of Bermudas, 130;
of Barbados, 210, 340;
of West Indies, 339-341, 356, 398;
St. Eustatius Island, 341, 428;
Leeward Islands, 340;
smuggling, 359-360, 361, 385, 398, 406, 428;
Grenville's policy, 429-437;
Townshend Acts, 438-439;
North's policy, 449-451;
policy of First Continental Congress, 454-455;
Board of Admiralty, 543.
Commission for Foreign Plantations, trouble with Massachusetts,
145-146.
Committees of Correspondence, 436, 445-447.
Committee on Foreign Correspondence, 543.
Committee on Trade and Plantations, 153, 344.
Committee for Foreign Plantations, 153.
Committee of Trade, Plantations, and Foreign Affairs, 153.
Compagnie d'Occident, rule in Louisiana, 278-280;
trade in the trans-Mississippi West, 282.
Compagnie du Nord, competition with Hudson's Bay Company, 273.
Company of Cathay, 109.
Company of Hundred Associates, 87, 90.
Company of the Indies. _See_ Compagnie d'Occident.
Company of Isles of America, organization, 93;
activities and settlements, 94.
Company of New France, surrender of rights, 91.
Company of Royal Adventurers trading to Africa, 196.
Company of St. Christopher, 93, 94.
Compostela, capital of Nueva Galicia, 39, 45, 55.
Conant, Roger, 141.
Conchos Indians, 242.
Conchos River, 72;
Spanish advance down valley of, 290.
Congregational Church, in New England, 220;
in New York, 223;
in East New Jersey, 224;
in South Carolina, 231.
Connecticut, early claimants, 149;
migration of 1635-1636, 149;
Pequot War, 149-150;
"Fundamental Orders," 150;
code of 1650, 155;
member of New England Confederation, 156;
incorporation of new towns, 158;
charter of 1662, 190;
attitude toward royal commissioners, 191;
King Philip's War, 191-192;
Dominion of New England, 194-195;
charter restored, 195;
population, 216;
religion, 220;
education, 220;
restoration of charter, 334;
protest against Grenville's policy, 432;
navy, 518.
Consag, Father Fernando, explores Gulf of California, 304, 307.
Conspiracy of Pontiac, impedes English occupation of Ohio Valley,
409, 417.
Continental Army, 464.
Continental Congress. _See_ First Continental Congress,
Second Continental Congress.
Convention of Aranjuez, 515.
Conway Cabal, 503-504.
Cook, Captain James, voyage to Nootka Sound, 395.
Cooper, Anthony Ashley. Lord Ashley, Carolina proprietor, 207-208;
interest in Hudson's Say Company, 213.
Copala, Mexico, Ibarra seeks, 56.
Coppermine River, discovered by Hearne, 424.
Corazones, Sonora, settlement at, 45.
Córdova, Francisco Hernández de, conquests in Central America,
explores Yucatán, 25, 31, 32.
Cornwallis, Edward, Governor of Acadia, 366.
Cornwallis, Gen. Lord, captures Ft. Lee, 489;
New Jersey campaign, 489-493;
at Brandywine, 500;
in command in South, 525;
Camden, 525-526;
operations in the Carolinas, 527-529;
in Virginia, 530;
Yorktown, 532.
Coronado, Francisco Vásquez, governor of Nueva Galicia, 40;
expedition to Cibola and Quivira (New Mexico and Kansas), 44-46;
conquest of Pueblo Indians, 45.
_Corregidores_, 14, 49.
_Corregimientos_, 55, 76.
Cortés, Hernando, 25, 31;
conquests, 32-38;
revolt of and departure from Cuba, 32;
founds Vera Cruz, 33;
at Mexico City, 33;
contest for royal favor, 34;
governor and captain-general, 34;
spread of his conquests, 36-39;
expelled from Vera Cruz, 36;
march to Honduras, 38;
return to Spain, 38;
explorations on South Sea and in California, 42-44, 46;
contest for leadership, 44;
administrator, 47-48;
_residencia_, 48;
honored in Spain, 49.
Cortés, Martin, second Marquis of the Valley, 53-54.
_Cortes_, governing bodies in Castile and Aragon, 14.
Costa Rica, conquest of, 31.
Cotton, John, pastor of Boston church, 146;
the Hutchinsonian Controversy, 148.
Council for Foreign Plantations, 181.
Council for New England, 136-137;
grants patent to Plymouth, 319;
land grants, 140;
resigns charter, 146.
Council for Trade and Plantations, 182.
Council of Blood, 52.
Council of the Indies, organization, duties, and authority, 19-20;
promulgates _New Laws_, 50.
Council of the Inquisition, 14;
expulsion of Jews and Moors, 14.
Council of State, English, 152, 153.
Council of Trade of 1622, 114;
of 1625, 114;
of 1660, 182.
Council of Trent, 52.
Council of Virginia, 113.
_Coureurs de bois_, 90, 100, 102, 257, 422.
Courten, William, proprietor in Barbados and Carolina, 132, 133.
Court of High Commission, 135.
Couture, Jean, on Tennessee River, 102.
"Cowpens," established on the English frontier.
Cowpens, battle at, 528.
Coxe, Daniel, New Jersey proprietor, 202.
Craven, William, Lord Craven, Carolina proprietor, 208.
Cree Indians, trade of Hudson's Bay Company with, 214.
Creek Indians, Spanish missions among, 255;
French influence, 314;
English diplomacy and trade among, 316, 407, 412;
retard English expansion, 414.
Criminals, 336.
Croghan, surveys in Ohio Valley, 413.
Croix, Teodoro de, first commandant-general of the Interior
Provinces, 387, 304;
plans war on Apaches, 401.
Cromwell, Oliver, heads military party, 152;
member of Committee of Trade, Plantations, and Foreign Affairs,
153;
Lord Protector, 154;
conquers Jamaica, 253.
Crown Colonies, British, established in 1763, 404.
Crown Point, 313, 462, 487.
Crozat, Antoine, trade monopoly in Louisiana, 276-277;
government, 277;
attempts at trade expansion, 278;
surrender of patent, 278.
Crusades, effect on travel and geographical knowledge, 3.
Crúzate, Governor, attempts to reconquer New Mexico, 246.
Cuartelejo, El, Colorado, Urribarri's expedition to, 291;
Villazur's, 296.
Cuauhtemoc, Aztec ruler, executed by Cortés, 33, 38.
Cuba, explored by Columbus and Ocampo, 10, 17, 25;
Cortés in, 32;
decline of, 67;
English attempt to conquer, 363.
Cubero, governor of New Mexico, subdues Pueblos, 247;
founds Albuquerque, 290;
sends expedition to El Cuartelejo, 291.
Cuernavaca, Mexico, estates of Cortés at, 53.
Culiacán, founded, 39;
visited by Vaca, 41; point of departure for Friar Marcos, 44;
for Coronado, 45;
for Ibarra, 56;
population, 58.
Culpeper, Thomas, Lord, proprietary grant in Virginia, 185;
governor of Virginia, 187.
Cumberland settlement, Tennessee, 419.
Cuming, Sir Alexander, mission to the Cherokees, 315.
Curaçao, settled by the Dutch, 167, 252;
trade, 428.
Cusihuiriáchic, Chihuahua, settled, 242.
Customs officials, 183, 439.
Dale, Sir Thomas, deputy-governor of Virginia, 119;
policy, 121.
Danes, in the West Indies, 253.
Daniel, Robert, English colonel, 269.
Davenport, Reverend John, a founder of New Haven, 156.
Davidson County, North Carolina, 419.
Davila, Gil González. _See_ González.
Davis, John, seeks northwest passage, 66, 109.
Dawes, William, 460.
Deane, Silas, mission to France, 506.
De Chastes, in fur trading company, 85.
De Caylus, French admiral, 365.
Declaration of Independence, 476-481.
Declaratory Act, 438.
Deerfield, Massachusetts, massacre at, 271.
Delaware province, economic and social conditions in the eighteenth
century, 332-333;
separation from Pennsylvania, 350.
Delaware Indians, 416.
Delaware, Lord, governor of Virginia, 118-119.
Delaware River, Washington's retreat across, 489-492;
opened by the British, 502.
De León, Alonso, governor of Coahuila, 248;
founds Texas, 249, 251.
De León, Juan Ponce, explores coast, 17, 25, 26;
war against the Caribs, 40;
attempts to colonize Florida, 40.
De León, Luís Ponce, governor in Mexico, holds _residencia_ of
Cortéz, 48.
DeLepe, explorer, 24.
Delgado, Marcos, explores western Florida, 249.
DeLignery, 287, campaign in Wisconsin, 1715, 287.
De Louvigny, victory over Foxes in Wisconsin, 1716, 275, 287.
De Luna, Tristán, expedition to Florida, 61-62.
De Medici, Catherine, 78.
De Medici, Mary, 79, 80.
De Mézières, Athanase, rule in Red River Valley, 398, 401.
Denmark, joins League of Armed Neutrals, 520.
Denonville, Governor, campaign against Iroquois, 258-259.
Department of foreign affairs (United States), 555.
De Soto, Hernando, in Central America, 31;
governor of Florida, 41;
expedition of, 41-42, 44;
death, 42.
D'Estaing, Comte, in command of French fleet, 510;
failure at Newport, 510;
in West Indies, 510-511;
fails to relieve Savannah, 511, 524.
_Destruction of the Indies, The_, work by Las Casas, 50.
De Tracy, lieutenant-colonel of New France, 94.
Detroit, founding of, 101;
occupied by French, 267, 368;
fur trading post, 422:
during American Revolution, 513, 514.
De Troyes, captures Hudson Bay posts, 261.
Díaz, Bartholomew, explores African coast, 5.
Díaz, Melchior, explores Colorado River, 45.
Dickinson, John, member of the Stamp Act Congress, 436;
author of the _Farmer's Letters_, 439:
member of First Continental Congress, 452;
attitude toward Declaration of Independence, 478;
on committee to draw up Articles of Confederation, 550.
Dieskau, Baron, 374.
Dinwiddie, lieutenant-governor of Virginia, 369.
Disallowance, 351-352.
Dollard, resistance to Iroquois, 91.
Dolores y Viana, Father, missionary in Texas, 299.
Dominica Island, captured by French, 510;
battle between Rodney and De Grasse, 532.
Dominicans, in New Spain, 61;
field of work, 236.
Domínguez, Father Francisco, explores Utah Basis, 392.
Donelson, pioneer in Kentucky, 419.
Dongan, Thomas, governor of New York, 197-198;
policy toward Indians, 258.
Dorchester, settled, 142.
Dorchester Heights, 471.
Douro River, Portugal, 4, 13.
Dover, New Hampshire, 140;
Puritan settlers, 157;
claimed by Massachusetts, 157.
Drake, Francis, freebooter in West Indies, 66;
raid on Pacific coast, 70;
accompanies Hawkins, 107;
attack on Nombre de Dios, 107;
on Chagres River, 107;
circumnavigates globe, 108;
rescues Roanoke Island colonists, 110.
Drake's Bay, California, 70.
Ducasse, French naval commander, in intercolonial wars, 262, 268, 269.
Duchesneau, intendant of New France, 97;
recalled, 98.
Ducour, French commander, surrenders Louisbourg, 377.
Dudley, Thomas, deputy governor, 142;
governor, 146.
_Duke's Laws_, 197.
Duluth, fur trader in Minnesota and Wisconsin, 100.
Dunmore, Lord, governor of Virginia, 413;
war with Indians of Ohio Valley, 417;
difficulties in 1775, 462-463.
Duquesne, Marquis, governor-general of Canada, 368;
plans to occupy Ohio country, 368.
Durango, Mexico, founding of, 56;
industrial development, 58;
capital of Nueva Vizcaya, 242.
Durham, Massacre at, 266.
Du Rivage, French explorer on Red River, 1719, 283.
Dutch, destroy English settlement on Schuylkill River, 155;
in American Revolution, 520-522;
revolt of the Netherlands, 52;
Dutch freebooters in the Caribbean, 66;
commercial expansion of the Netherlands, 164;
East Indian trade, 164;
Henry Hudson, 165;
Cape Horn route discovered, 165;
the West India Company, 166;
the Dutch in Brazil, Guiana, and the Antilles, 166, 251-252;
New Netherlands, 167-174;
the government, 167;
Peter Minuit, 167-168;
the patroon system, 169-170;
frontier rivals, 170;
Van Twiller and Kieft, 170-171;
Indian wars, 172;
Stuyvesant, 172;
struggle for popular government, 172-173;
industries, 173-174;
conquest of New Sweden, 175-177;
New Netherlands absorbed by the English, 177-178, 196-197;
Dutch pirates on the Pacific, 240.
Dutch East India Company, 164-165.
Dutch Reformed Church, 223.
Dutch West India Company, 166, 252.
Du Tisné, explores Osage and Arkansas country, 283.
Dyer, Mary, 189.
East India Company, English, formed, 70, 105;
tea concessions, 447.
East Indies, commerce of, 70.
Eastland Company, 106.
East New Jersey, population, 221;
social conditions, 223-224;
religion, 224;
education, 224.
_See_ New Jersey.
Eaton, Theophilus, a founder of New Haven, 150.
Eaton's Station, 513.
Echagaray, ordered to explore Bay of Espíritu Santo, 249.
Ecija, expedition from Florida to Virginia, 1609, 118-119.
Edict of Nantes, 79.
Edisto Island, ravaged by Spaniards, 1686, 255.
Education, in New Spain, 50, 53;
colleges and universities, 76;
in New England, 220-221;
in New York, 222-223;
in East New Jersey, 224;
in Chesapeake Bay region, 229;
in South Carolina, 231;
in English colonies in the eighteenth century, 338-339.
Edwards, Jonathan, 338.
Elcano, completes Magellan's voyage round the world, 25.
Eleutheria Island, settled, 152.
Eliot, John, missionary to Indians, 156.
Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 199.
Elizabeth, Queen of England, policy, 105;
English expansion during reign, 107-111.
El Paso district, beginnings of, 245;
attached to New Mexico, 245.
Emigration. _See_ Immigration and Population.
_Encomiendas_, origin of, 22;
granting of in conquests, 31, 34, 40, 55;
upheld by Cortés, 47-48; _New Laws_ concerning, 50;
cessation of, in West Indies, 67;
in New Spain, 55, 75.
Endicott, John, founds Salem, 141.
England, the Tudor Period, 104-105;
under the early Stuarts, 112-113;
the Puritan movement, 135-136;
the Restoration, 179;
the mercantilist system, 179;
the Triple Alliance, 359;
in the War of Jenkins's Ear, 361-364;
in the War of the Austrian Succession, 364-366;
in the Seven Years' War, 369-383;
new possessions after 1763, 403-424;
controversy with American colonies, 425-555.
English colonies in North America, general history:
beginning of English expansion, 1485-1603, 104-110;
the Tudor period, 104-105;
commercial expansion, 105-107;
the Cabots, 105;
Newfoundland fisheries, 106;
Muscovy and Levant companies, 106;
Elizabethan sea-dogs, 107-108;
search for a Northwest passage, 108-109;
attempts to colonize Virginia and Guiana, 109-110;
the colonies under the early Stuarts, 112-113;
colonial administration, 113;
the founding of Virginia, 114-125;
the founding of Maryland, 125-129;
the Bermudas, 129;
Guiana, 130;
the Lesser Antilles, 132;
Providence Island Company, 133;
the beginnings of New England, 135-150;
the Puritan movement, 135-136;
Plymouth colony, 136-141;
attempts on New England coast, 141-142;
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 142-146;
Rhode Island and Connecticut, 146-151;
the English colonies during the revolutionary period, 152-163;
the old colonies under the later Stuarts, 179-195;
colonial policy and administration, 179-181;
machinery of government, 181-183;
expansion under the later Stuarts, 196-214;
New York, 196-198;
the Jerseys, 198-202;
Pennsylvania, 202-206;
expansion in the islands, 206-207;
the Carolinas, 207-211;
Western trade and exploration, 211;
Hudson's Bay Company, 212-214;
English Mainland colonies at end of 17th century described--
society, industry, education, religion, population, 216-232;
the struggle with the French for the fur country, 257-261;
the War of the English Succession, 261-267;
the War of the Spanish Succession, 267-273;
the English in the Piedmont, 309-328;
the Westward Movement, 309-311;
defense of the northern frontier, 311-312;
reorganization of the Carolinas, 312-315;
Georgia, the buffer colony, 315-316;
the German and Swiss migration, 316-322;
the Scotch-Irish, 322-326;
significance of settlement of the Piedmont, 326-328;
the English colonies in the middle 18th century, population,
industry, labor systems, society, religion, education, 329-339;
Barbados, Leeward Isles, and Jamaica, 339-341;
the English colonial system, 343-357;
reorganizations by William III, 343-350;
development during the reign of Anne, 350-352;
under the Whigs, 353-357;
a quarter century of conflict with France and Spain, 359-383;
Spain and the powers, 359-361;
War of Jenkins' Ear, 361-364;
War of the Austrian Succession, 364-366;
the conflict in the Ohio Valley, 366-369;
the French and Indian War, 369-382;
the Peace of Paris, 382;
the new British possessions, 1763-1783, 403-424;
general provisions for defense, government, and fur trade, 403-406;
occupation of the Floridas, 406-409;
military occupation of the Illinois country, 409-410;
western land schemes, 411-413;
the westward movement into Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Upper
Ohio country, 413-419;
the province of Quebec, 410-421;
the northern, fur traders, 421-424;
the causes of the American Revolution, 425-456;
the background of the conflict, 425-429;
the policy of the Grenvile Ministry, 429-437;
the repeal of the Stamp Act, 431-432;
the Townshend Acts, 438-443;
organized resistance, 443-447;
the Tea Controversy, 447-449;
Lord North's Coercive Policy, 440-451;
the First Continental Congress, 451-456;
the opening of hostilities, 458-463;
the Second Continental Congress, 463-470;
the Loyalists, 472-476;
the Declaration of Independence, 476-480;
the struggle for the middle states, 482-504;
the war as an international contest, 505-522;
the French Alliance, 505-512;
the war in the West, 512-515;
Spain in the war, 521-522;
the dose of the war, 524-532;
the treaty of peace, 532-538;
governmental development during the Revolution, 539-555.
Episcopal Church, in New England, 220;
in New York, 222;
in Pennsylvania, 226;
in Virginia, 229;
in Maryland, 229;
in South Carolina, 231.
Eric the Red, colonization of Greenland, 2.
Escalante, Father Silvestre de, explores Utah Basin, 392.
Escandón, Colonel José de, colonizes Gulf Coast, 299-300, 385.
Escobar, Cristóbal, Jesuit provincial, urges colonization of Colorado
River, 304, 307.
Española (Haiti), 10;
spread of settlements in, 17;
gold mining, 19;
other industries, 19;
emigration to, encouraged, migration from to mainland forbidden, 21;
decline of, 67.
_See_ also West Indies.
Espejo, Antonio de, expedition to New Mexico, 72.
Espinosa, Gaspar de, explores Central America, 29-30, 42.
Espinosa, Fray Isidro Felix, Franciscan missionary and historian in
Texas, 292, 293.
Espíritu Santo, settlement in Texas, 36;
Bay of, 249, 297.
Esquivel, Juan de, colonizes Jamaica, 17.
Estete, explores Nicaragua, 32.
Estrada, royal treasurer of New Spain, 48;
governor in Mexico, 48.
Eutaw Springs, 530.
Executive departments of United States government, 553, 554-555.
_See_ Second Continental Congress.
Exeter, New Hampshire, settled, 157.
Fabry de la Bruyère, expedition up Canadian River, 286.
Fages, Pedro, expedition against the Yumas, 394.
Falmouth burned, 470.
Far East, travelers in, and books regarding, 3;
change in trade route to, 5.
Farfán, Marcos, explores Arizona, 73.
Farmar, Major Robert, expedition to the Illinois, 406.
_Farmer's Letters_, 439-440.
Farnese, Elizabeth, 279, 359, 360, 361.
Fenwick, John, 201.
Ferdinand and Isabella, 13-14.
_See_ also Isabella, Queen of Spain.
Ferrelo, explores north Pacific coast with Cabrillo, 47.
Feudalism, in Maryland, 125-129.
Finlay, James, Montreal fur magnate, 423.
Finley, explorer in Kentucky, 413.
First Continental Congress, call, 451-452;
meeting, 452;
Suffolk resolves, 452;
plan of union, 452-453;
declaration and resolves, 453-454;
commercial agreements, 454-455;
Association, 455;
attempts to secure cooperation of other colonies, 455;
beginnings of sovereignty, 539.
Fisher, Mary, 189.
Fishing industry of New England, 217, 331.
Fletcher, Colonel Benjamin, governor of New York, 345.
Florida Blanca, Count of, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, 507-508;
policy, 515.
Floyd, John, prospector in Kentucky, 416.
Florida, Indians, 23;
explored, 125, 126;
assigned to Narváez, 37;
Spanish attempts to colonize:
De León, 40;
Ayllón, 40-41;
De Soto, 42;
Fray Luis Cancer, 61;
De Luna, 61-62;
French attempts to colonize, and expulsion of by Spain, 62-63, 83-84, 251;
founding of St. Augustine, 62;
map, 63;
new settlements, 64;
Jesuit missions, 64-65;
Franciscan missions, 65;
Pareja's work on Indian languages, 65, 253;
missions in Apalachee district, 247;
English encroachment, 253-255;
Pensacola founded, 255, 275;
during War of Spanish Succession, 269-271;
siege of St. Augustine, 269-270;
destruction of the Apalachee missions, 269-270;
Spanish expedition against Charleston, 270;
Indian uprising, 270;
the Tuscarora War, 271;
Pensacola captured by French, 295;
ceded to England, 382, 384;
captaincy-general of, 387.
Florida, East, under British rule, 404;
occupation and development, 408-409;
refuge for Loyalists, 409.
Florida, West, joined with Louisiana, 398;
extent under British rule, 404;
possession taken by British, 406;
posts in, 406;
boundary and the river forts, 406-407;
center of control for Indians and for trade of the Southwest, 407;
politics and government, 407;
development under British rule, 407-408;
immigration encouraged, 408;
land speculation, 408;
Loyalist refuge during the Revolution, 408.
Fonseca, Archdeacon, head of Spanish department of Indian affairs,
16, 19, 34;
victory of Cortés over, 34.
Fonseca Bay, discovered, 29.
Font, Father Pedro, Franciscan missionary with Anza, explores in
California, 391.
Forbes, English commander, expedition against Fort Duquesne, 377, 378.
Fort Bute, captured by Gálvez, 515.
Fort Casimir, 177.
Fort Caroline, French fort in Florida, 62, 84.
Fort Christina, 175.
Fort Crêvecœur, Illinois, 98.
Fort Edward, 495.
Fort Elfsborg, 175.
Fort Frederica, 316.
Fort Frontenac, abandoned, 259;
reoccupied, 265.
Fort George, 462.
Fort Good Hope, 170.
Fort Independence, 493-494.
Fort Jefferson, 514.
Fort King George, 315.
Fort Lee, captured by the British, 488-489.
Fort Mercer, 503.
Fort Miami, LaSalle at, 98.
Fort Mifflin, 503.
Fort Orange (Albany), 167.
Fort Panmure, at Natchez, captured by Gálvez, 515.
Fort Rosalie, at Natchez, 278, 280.
Fort St. Louis, built by La Salle in Texas, 99.
Fort Stanwix, 496.
Fort Tombecbé, Alabama, 281, 406.
Fort Toulouse, on Alabama River, fur depot and Jesuit mission, 278.
Fort Washington, captured by British, 488.
Fox, George, visit to New Jersey, 109;
religious views, 202;
visit to America, 203.
Fox Channel, 213.
Fox Indians, wars with, 284, 285, 287;
massacre, 287.
France, during colonial period, 52-53, 78-80, 88, 89, 279, 295,
359, 360, 363, 364, 375;
causes of alliance with the United States, 505;
policy of Vergennes, 505-506;
Deane and Beaumarchais, 506;
Franklin's influence, 506-507;
American proposals, 507;
Lafayette, 508;
the alliance, 508;
operations of D'Estaing, 510-511;
Rochambeau, 511;
alliance of 1779 with Spain, 515;
peace treaty, 532-538;
loans to the United States, 554.
Franche Comté, 52.
Francis I of France, 16.
Franciscans, in New Spain:
in Nueva-Vizcaya, 58;
Monastery at Saltillo, 59;
in Florida, 65;
field of work, 236;
in Chihuahua, 242;
in New Mexico, 243, 245, 246-247, 290;
take over work of the Jesuits in northeastern provinces, 386.
_See also_ Serra, Garcés, Missions.
Franco-Spanish border, 300-301;
Texas-Louisiana boundary, 300;
New Mexico border, 300-301.
Franklin, Benjamin, influence on education, 339;
plan of union, 371;
interest in the West, 412;
agent for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, 437;
the intercepted letters, 448;
member of Second Continental Congress, 463;
Post Master General, 465;
member of committee for drafting the Declaration of Independence, 479;
diplomacy in France, 506-507;
peace negotiations, 533-538;
views regarding the Articles of Confederation, 550.
Franklin, William, Governor of New Jersey, land scheme, 411;
attempts to defeat Independence, 479.
Frederick the Great and League of Armed Neutrals, 519.
Freebooters in New World, 62, 66, 70.
_See_ Privateers.
Freedom of the press, 356-357.
Freeman's Farm, 497, 498.
French colonies in North America, France during the colonial period, 78-81;
early colonizing efforts, 81-84;
first voyages, 81;
Carriers and Roberval, 81-82;
Ribaut and Laudonnière, 82-84;
Acadia, 85-86;
the fur monopoly, 85;
Port Royal, 85;
Charnisay and LaTour, 86;
the English conquest, 86;
the St. Lawrence Valley, 86-93;
Quebec founded, 86;
Champlain, 87-88;
Company of Hundred Association, 87;
English conquest, 87;
Nicolet, 88;
the Jesuits, 88;
map, 89;
Montreal founded, 90;
the New Company, 90;
_Coureurs de bois_, 90;
reorganization, 91;
centralist system established, 91;
Laval, 91;
Iroquois War, 91;
the West India Company, 91;
Talon, 92;
Seigneurial grants, 92;
the West Indies, 93-96;
the West India Company, 94;
map, 95;
the Upper Lake region and the Mississippi Valley, 96-102;
two lines of approach, 96;
Upper Lake posts and missions, 96;
Marquette and Joliet, 96-97;
Frontenac, 97;
La Salle's fur trade monopoly, 98;
descends the Mississippi, 98;
his colony in Texas, 98-99;
explores in the Southwest, 100;
Duluth, Le Sueur, and Perrot on the upper Mississippi, 100-101;
the Illinois country, 101;
on the Tennessee, 101-102;
Anglo-French rivalry during Wars of English and Spanish Successions,
214, 257-273;
the founding of Louisiana, 275-278;
Iberville, 275;
Spanish resistance, 275.
Biloxi, 270;
alliances with the tribes, 276;
Bienville, 276;
Crozat, 276;
Natchitoches, Fort Toulouse, and Natchez, 278;
Louisiana under the Company of the Indies, 278-280;
the Mississippi Bubble, 278;
New Orleans founded, 279;
War with Spain, 279;
government, 279;
the Natchez War, 280;
Louisiana under royal governors, 280-286;
Bienville again, 281;
the Chickasaw war, 281;
the Illinois country attached to Louisiana, 281;
the Missouri lead mines, 282;
the French in the trans-Mississippi West, 282-286;
La Harpe, DuTisné, Bourgmont, 283-284;
advance toward New Mexico, 284-286;
the western fur-trade, 284;
Mallet, Fabry, Satren, Chapuis, 286;
the far Northwest, 287-288;
the Fox wars, 281;
new Sioux posts, 287;
Vérendrye and the Post of the Western Sea, 287-288;
Franco-Spanish border conflicts, 289, 291-297, 300-301;
the struggle with England, 359-383:
the War of the Austrian Succession, 364-366;
the conflict on the Upper Ohio, 366-369;
the French and Indian War, 369-383;
the fall of Quebec, 379;
the Peace of Paris, 382;
France expelled from America, 363.
French and Indian War:
approach of, 366-369;
preparations in Acadia, 366;
activities on the Ohio, 366-369;
the Ohio Company, 367;
the French frontier strengthened, 367-368;
French occupation of the upper Ohio, 368-369;
Washington's mission, 369;
the southern frontier, 369;
Virginia prepares, 369-370;
Washington's first campaign, 370;
apathy of colonial legislatures, 370-371;
the Albany convention, 371;
preparations for war, 371;
the council of governors, 371-372;
Braddock's campaign, 372;
harrying of the frontiers, 372-374;
map of the western frontier, 1763, 373;
operations in Acadia, 374;
the Crown Point campaign, 374;
the Niagara campaign, 374-375;
diplomatic revolution, 375;
French preparations, 375;
English preparations, 375-376;
fall of Oswego, 376;
Pitt becomes the moving spirit, 376;
Louisbourg and Ft. William Henry, 376;
English victories in India, 376, 377;
preparations and plans, 1758, 377;
capture of Louisbourg, 377;
Abercromby's defeat, 377-378;
Frontenac and Duquesne, 378;
Kerlérec and the southern Indians, 378;
the Cherokee War, 378-379;
operations in the West Indies, 379;
the campaigns of 1759;
Niagara captured, 379;
the fall of Quebec, 379-380;
important naval operations, 380;
the French fail to recapture Quebec, 381;
capture of Montreal, 381;
George III becomes king, 381;
operations in the West Indies and the Philippines, 382;
the Peace of Paris, 382.
French West India Company, 91-92, 94, 96;
settlements in the West Indies, 252.
Fresnillo, Mexico, mine of, 56.
Frobisher, Benjamin and Joseph, Montreal fur magnates, 423.
Frobisher, Martin, voyages in search of a northwest passage, 66, 108-109.
Frontenac, Count, governor and lieutenant-general of New France,
96, 259, 263;
sends Joliet in search of the Mississippi, 96;
founding of Fort Frontenac, 97;
change in government and resulting friction, 97;
recalled, 98;
reappointed, 259, 263;
conduct of French campaign in War of the English Succession, 263, 264;
his Indian policy, 263;
reopens the fur trade, 265.
Fuenleal, Sebastián Ramirez de, president of Audiencia of New Spain, 49.
Fuerte River Valley, Sinaloa, Jesuit missions in, 239.
Fuller, William, heads rebellion in Maryland, 162.
"Fundamental Orders" of Connecticut, 150.
Fur Trade: early French in Acadia, 85;
of St. Lawrence Valley, 87-90, 213-214;
_coureurs de bois_, 90;
of Mississippi Valley, 98-102;
rivalry of French and English, 102;
in New England, 155,158, 217;
of the Dutch, 165-166, 167, 171, 173-174;
of Carolinas, 211;
Hudson's Bay Company, 214-215, 260-261;
in New York, 222;
in Pennsylvania, 226;
of South Carolina, 231, 255;
struggle for the northern fur country, 257-261;
French sphere of influence, 257;
English policy, 257-258;
French policy under La Barre and Denonville, 258-259;
temporary French ascendency, 261;
the Alabama border, 270;
in English colonies in the 18th century, 331, 332, 334, 335, 367;
in French Louisiana, 270, 276-278;
in trans-Mississippi West, 284-285, 300, 396;
in the Saskatchewan Valley, 287-288;
Russian, on the Pacific coast, 388;
in Louisiana under Spain, 398, 400-402;
in New British possessions after 1763, regulations, 404-406, 421-422;
in West Florida, 407; in the Ohio Valley, 409;
in Canada, 421-423;
the Northwest Company, 423;
competition with Hudson's Bay Company, 423-424.
Fusang, conjecture concerning location, 2.
Gadsden, Christopher, member of the Stamp Act Congress, 436.
Gage, General Thomas, 410, 459, 461.
Gali, Francisco de, ordered to explore Pacific Coast, 70.
Galissonière, Marquis de la, governor of Canada, 368.
Galloway, Joseph, 452-453.
Galveston Bay, La Harpe at, 283.
Gálvez, Bernardo de, governor of Louisiana, 398,401;
operations on the lower Mississippi, 515;
captures Mobile and Pensacola, 516.
Gálvez, José, visitador general to New Spain, 385;
Minister of the Indies, 387;
reform of the revenue system, 385;
tobacco monopoly, 385;
in Lower California, 386;
organized expedition to Alta California, 386, 387;
pacification of Sonora, 386;
plans for intendant system, 386-387;
creation of new dioceses, 387;
captaincy-general of Havana, 387.
Gama, Vasco da, voyage to Calicut, 5, 24.
Gámara, seeks La Salle's colony, 249.
Garay, governor of Jamaica, explorations, 25-26, 37.
Garcés, Father Francisco, Franciscan missionary, explorations from San
Xavier del Bac, 391;
with Anza, opens land route to California, 391;
seeks route from New Mexico, 391, 393;
founds mission-pueblo at Yuma, 393;
massacred, 393.
_Gaspee affair_, 444-445.
Gates, General Horatio, at Crown Point, 487;
intrigues with Congress, 493;
in command against Burgoyne, 496-499;
Conway Cabal, 503-504;
in the South, 525;
defeated at Camden, 525-526.
Gates, Sir Thomas, governor of Virginia, 118.
Geography, growth of knowledge, 1-4.
George I, 353;
colonial system under the Whigs, 353-357.
George II, colonial system under the Whigs, 353-357.
George III, becomes king, 381;
policy, 429;
proclamation of rebellion in America, 460-470;
the American Revolution, 425-555.
Georgia, De Soto crosses, 42;
Spanish post in Guale (northern Georgia), 1566, 64;
Boyano explores, 1567, 64;
Jesuit missions in Guale and Orista, 1568, 64-65;
Franciscan missions on coast, 573-597, 65;
destroyed in uprising, 1597, 65;
restored to resist English, 253-254;
Yamassee revolt against Spaniards, 255;
English attack on missions, 255;
English traders among Creeks, 255;
Anglo-Spanish border raids during War of Spanish Succession, Spanish
frontier contracted, 270;
early English movement into, 315;
Azilia, 315;
motives of Oglethorpe, 315;
charter, 315;
government, 316;
early English settlements, 316;
defense, 316;
German migration, to, 321;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 326;
economic conditions, 335;
defense against Spaniards during War of Jenkins' Ear, 361-362, 363-364;
trouble with the governor, 444;
attitude toward the Association 458;
Cherokee War, 512-513;
conquest by British, 534;
reconquered by Greene, 529-530.
Georgian Bay, explored, 87, 88.
Germaine, Lord George, 470, 493.
German mercenaries, 470, 478.
German migration to America, causes, 316-317;
early movement to Pennsylvania, 317-318;
migration to New York, 318-319;
later migration to New York, 318-319;
later migration to Pennsylvania, 319;
to New Jersey, 319;
to Maryland, 319-320;
to Virginia, 320;
to North Carolina, 320;
to South Carolina, 321;
to Georgia, 321;
to New England, 321-322;
to Nova Scotia, 322.
Germantown, battle of, 502.
Germany, 16.
Geronymite friars, in West Indies, 23.
Gibraltar, Anglo-Spanish conflict over, 359, 360.
Gila River, 45;
plans for exploration, 304;
Garcés on, 391;
Yuma mission on, 393.
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, voyage of, 66;
attempts to found a colony, 109.
Gillam, Zachariah, voyages to Hudson Bay, 213.
Gist, Christopher, explores Ohio Valley, 367.
Glen, governor of South Carolina, 369.
Goa, India, Portuguese in, 24.
Godyn, Samuel, 170.
Golfo Dulce, Cortés visits, 38.
Gómez, Stephen, explores North Atlantic coast, 26.
Gondomar, Spanish ambassador in England, 132.
González, Dávila, Gil, expeditions in Central America, 29-30, 31, 38.
Gordillo, explores Atlantic coast, 26.
Gorges, Lord Edward, land grants, 140, 146.
Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, sends vessels to New England, 136;
land grants, 140, 146, 157;
interest in Canada and Laconia companies, 141;
loss of estates, 157-158.
Gorges, Sir Robert, land grant, 140;
attempted settlement at Weymouth, 140.
Gorges family, opposition to Massachusetts Bay Company, 141.
Gourgues, Dominique de, attacks Spaniards in Florida, 64, 84.
Governor's Island, 171.
Granada, Nicaragua, founding of, 31;
population, 75.
Granada, Spain, conquest of kingdom of, 13.
Gran Quivira (Kansas), expedition of Coronado to, 45;
of Humana, 72-73;
of Oñate, 73;
of Alonso de Vaca, 243.
Grand Canyon of the Colorado, discovered, 45.
Grant, Colonel, expedition against Cherokees, 379.
Grant, James, first English governor of East Florida, 408-409.
Grasse, De, French admiral, in the West Indies, 530-531;
defeats Graves, 531;
defeated by Rodney, 532.
Graves, Admiral, 531.
Graydon, John, English vice-admiral, commander of West Indian fleet,
268.
"Great Awakening," 338.
Great Bridge, 471.
Great Khan, visits of Europeans to court of, 3.
Greene, Nathanael, in command of Rhode Island volunteers, 461;
loses Ft. Washington, 488-489;
at Trenton, 491;
at Brandywine, 500;
at Germantown, 502;
in command in the South, 527;
retreat, 528;
Guilford, 528-529;
reconquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 529-530.
"Green Sea of Darkness," Arabian notion of, 2.
Greenbrier Company, 411.
Greenland, discovery and colonization, 2-3.
Grenada, acquired by England, 404;
occupied by the French, 510;
restored to Great Britain, 537.
Grenville, Sir Richard, freebooter, 60;
expedition to Roanoke Island, 110.
Grenville Ministry, 430-436.
Grijalva, exploring expeditions, 25, 32.
Grimaldi, Spanish minister, 388.
Groseilliers, fur trader in Great Lake region, influence in
establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
Guachichile Indians, Coahuila, 59.
Guadalajara, seat of Audiencia, 27, 40, 50, 55, 58, 75, 387;
seat of Province of Santiago de Jalisco, 249.
Guadalajara, New Mexico officer leads pearl hunting expedition in
Texas, 244.
Guadeloupe Island, international contests over, 93, 252, 262, 382.
Guadiana (Durango), diocese of, 242.
Guale (Georgia), Spanish presidio in, 64;
Jesuit mission in, 64-65.
Guanajauto, mines, 58;
founding of City of Santa Fé de, 58.
Guanajá Islands, 25.
Guatemala, Maya civilization, 27;
conquest of, 31, 37-38, 39;
expedition of Niño to, 42;
Audiencia of, 50;
population, 75.
Guerrero (state), Mexico, Zacatilla founded in, 37.
Guiana, 66, 80;
tales about, 110;
English interests in, 130, 132;
early English expeditions to, 132;
Spanish opposition to English settlement, 132;
Dutch colonization, 166-167;
English, Dutch, and French posts, 251-252.
Guilford, Connecticut, 150.
Guilford, New Jersey, 199.
Guilford, battle of, 528-529.
Guillen, Father, Jesuit missionary in California, 307.
Guise, Francis and Henry, 53, 78, 79.
Gutiérrez, Alonso, governor of Veragua, 32.
Guzmán, Nuño de, governor of Victoria Garayana (Pánuco), 37, 48;
president of Audiencia of Mexico, 38, 48;
conquest of Sinaloa (Nueva Galicia), 39, 40;
claim to Cibola, 44;
enmity to Cortés, 48.
Haiti, Columbus's expedition to, 10;
named Española, 10. _See_ Española.
Halifax, Lord, 354, 366.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, founding, 366.
Hamilton, English major-general in War of Austrian Succession, 268.
Hamilton, British commander at Detroit, raids of, 513, 514;
captured, 514.
Hampton Court Conference, 136.
Hancock, John, trouble with customs officials, 441-442;
distributes arms, 460;
president of Second Continental Congress, 463, 541.
Hapsburgs, French hostility to, 80.
Harcourt, Robert, attempts to colonize Guiana, 132.
Harlem, battle of, 485.
Harper's Ferry, founded, 320.
Harrod, pioneer settler in Kentucky, 413, 416.
Harrodsburg, Kentucky, 416, 417.
Hartford, Dutch fort at, 149; founding of the town, 149.
Havana, Cuba, founded, 19;
decline of, 67;
captaincy-general and intendancy of, 387;
Louisiana attached to, 398;
Audiencia of, 398.
Harvard College, 220-221, 339.
Harvey, Sir John, governor of Virginia, 124-125.
Hawkins, John, English freebooter, 66;
slave trade, 107.
Hawkins, William, voyages to Guiana and Brazil, 107.
Hazard, Samuel, plan for western colony, 411.
Hearne, Samuel, explorations, 423-424;
reaches Arctic Ocean and discovers Lake Athabasca, 424.
Heath, Sir Robert, grant in the Carolinas, 207.
Heçeta, Bruno de, expedition up North Pacific coast, 395.
Henderson, Judge Richard, land speculator in Kentucky, 413;
founds Transylvania, 417-418.
Henley House, Hudson's Bay Company post, 423.
Hennepin, Recollet missionary among the Illinois, 97, 101;
in Minnesota, 98;
meets Duluth, 100.
Henry, Alexander, Montreal fur magnate, 423.
Henry, Patrick, buys Spanish horses in the West, 400;
in the Parson's Cause, 429;
Virginia Resolutions, 435-436;
member of First Continental Congress, 452;
heads armed resistance, 462-463;
sends militia to Kentucky, 513.
Henry VII, policy, 104;
Cabot, 105-106.
Henry the Navigator, prince of Portugal, 4-5;
his objects, 5;
explorations, 5;
map showing, 6;
beginning of slave trade, 5.
Henry IV, of France (Henry of Navarre), 53;
Huguenot leader, 78, 79;
reforms of, as king, 79;
assassination, 79.
Henry VII of England, 7.
Herkimer, Colonel Nicholas, 496.
_Hermandad_, local police, 14;
recognized as state agency by Ferdinand and Isabella, 14.
Hessians, in American Revolution, 489-491.
Heyn, Piet, capture of Bahía, 166;
capture of Vera Cruz fleet, 252.
Hidalgo, Father Francisco, missionary in Texas, 249, 292.
Hill, General Sir John, expedition against Quebec, 272.
Hillsboro, North Carolina, 415.
Hillsborough, Earl of, colonial secretary, 406, 413, 419, 441.
Hispaniola, English corruption of Española, which _see_.
Hoboken, New Jersey, 198.
Holburne, English vice-admiral in French and Indian War, 376.
Holland. _See_ Netherlands, Dutch.
Honduras, conquest and settlement, 24, 31, 38-39
Hooke, Sir Humphrey, leases in Virginia, 185.
Hopkins, Ezek, 464, 517.
Hopkins, John B., 465.
Horses, Spanish trade in with English colonies, 400.
Hortalez et cie, 506.
Howard of Effingham, Lord, governor of Virginia, 187-188.
Howe, Admiral Lord, attempt at conciliation, 483;
at Philadelphia, 503;
and D'Estaing, 510.
Howe, General Sir William, at Boston, 461;
New York campaign, 483-486, 488-489;
failure to coöperate with Burgoyne, 493;
Philadelphia campaign, 499-503;
recalled, 509.
Huasteca country (Tamaulipas), conquered by Cortés, 37.
Hubbardtown, 495.
Hudson Bay, exploration of, 212-213.
Hudson, Henry, exploration 1609, 165;
discovery of Hudson Bay, 213.
Hudson's Bay Company, established, 213;
trading houses, 214;
methods, 214;
French rivalry, 214, 288;
struggle for fur country, 257-261;
posts, 260-261;
in Wars of English and Spanish Successions, 273;
activity following Peace of Utrecht, 423;
Hearne's explorations, 423-424;
rivalry with Northwest Company, 424.
Huehuetoca, Canal of (Mexico), 53.
Huguenots, in France, 78, 79;
colonizing efforts, 62, 82-83;
in New England, 216;
in South Carolina, 230.
Humana, Gutiérrez de, expedition to New Mexico and Quivira, 72-73.
Hundred Associates. _See_ Company of the Hundred Associates.
Hurdaide, Captain Diego, commander in Sinaloa, 237, 239.
Huron Indians, wars with Iroquois, 258, 259.
Hurtado, Juan P., expedition against Apaches, 290.
Hutchinson, Anne, doctrines, 148;
controversy in Boston congregation, 148;
banishment, 148;
at Portsmouth and Newport, 148.
Hutchinson, Thomas, 443, 444, 448.
Ibarra, Diego de, Conquistador of Zacatecas, 55;
cattle business, 58.
Ibarra, Francisco de, miner at Zacatecas, 55-56;
list of mines opened, 56;
governor of Nueva Vizcaya, 56;
explorations, colonies, mines in northern Mexico, 56, 58;
death, 58.
Iberville, founder of Louisiana, 102, 261, 265, 266, 270, 275, 276.
Iceland, discovery and colonization, 2.
Illinois, La Salle in, 98;
Sulpicians and Jesuits (Cahokia and Kaskaskia), 101;
Tonty's fur trade, 101;
St. Denis' post at Cairo, 102;
Indians of, 258;
a judicial department of Louisiana, 280, 281;
prosperity under Company of the Indies, 281-282;
Fort Chartres, Ste. Genevieve, Vincennes, 281-282;
Missouri lead-mines, 282;
English plans to occupy, 409;
conspiracy of Pontiac, 409-410;
the Loftus expedition, 410;
establishment of English government, 410;
Quebec Act, 411;
character of population, 420;
conquered by G.R. Clark, 514.
_Imago Mundi_, possible influence on Columbus, 2, 7.
Immigration and population, Spanish colonies, 21, 75;
Sinaloa and Sonora, 240, 305-306;
Chihuahua, 289;
New Mexico, 73, 243, 244, 290;
California, 391-393;
French Canada, 93, 94;
Quebec, 419;
Loyalists in Canada, 421, 538;
French West Indies, 93, 94;
Louisiana, 279, 395-396;
the Illinois country, 281;
Bermudas, 130;
Lesser Antilles, 133, 340, 341;
Barbados, 216, 340, 341;
English mainland colonies, about 1700, 216;
Virginia, 121, 227;
Maryland, 127, 128, 227;
New England. 138, 143, 216, 217:
New Jersey, 200-201, 221;
New York, 221;
Pennsylvania and Delaware, 206, 224;
the Carolinas, 208, 230;
West Florida, 407-408;
Ohio Valley, 413-419;
German and Swiss migration, 316-322;
Scotch, Irish, 322-326;
English colonies in middle 18th century, 329-330;
on the eve of the Revolution, 425-426;
dispersion of the Loyalists, 538;
New Netherlands, 167;
New Sweden, 175.
Indé, Mexico, mines of, 56.
Indented servants, 122, 229, 336, 409.
Independents, 135, 137. _See_ Pilgrims.
India, visited by the Polos, 3;
travelers' tales regarding, 3;
discovery of new route to, 51;
Portuguese empire in, 24;
British administration of, 34;
during the French and Indian War. _See_ French and Indian War;
Events of the War in India.
Indian Ocean, Ptolemy's conception of, 1.
Indiana Company, 418.
Indians, in Spanish colonies, so-named by Columbus, 10;
Spanish policy in West Indies, 22-23;
rebellion in 1495, 22;
slavery 23, 31, 37, 56, 60-61, 72, 75;
Maya and Nahua civilization, 26-28;
native caciques used in conquest, 39;
Mixton War, 40;
Pueblo civilization in New Mexico, 46;
_New Laws_ concerning, 50, 53;
native alcaldes, 55;
Tlascaltecans as colonists, 50-60;
decline in West Indies, 67;
rebellion at Ácoma, 73;
schools for, 76;
missions as frontier defense, 236;
Yaqui wars, 239;
Pueblo revolt in New Mexico, 245;
wars on North Mexican frontier, 245-246, 248;
in Eastern Texas, 251;
Apalachee revolt, 254;
Yamassee revolt, 255;
Moqui and Zuñi resistance, 290;
Navajo, Yuta, and Comanche depredations in New Mexico, 290-291;
captives sold as slaves, 291;
the Jumanos, 243, 244, 285, 291;
destroy Vulazur's parry, 296;
Apache wars in Texas, 298-299;
the Tonkawa missions, 299;
Pima revolt in Arizona, 305;
Yuma massacre, 393-394;
Spanish policy in Louisiana, 400-401;
war on Apaches, 401;
hostilities in New Netherlands, 171-172;
in French colonies;
Huron and Iroquois wars, 88, 91, 258-259, 265;
Anglo-French rivalry for northern tribes, 257-259;
Abenaki wars, 262-265;
Frontenac's policy, 263;
competition for southern Indians, 269, 270, 276;
Natchez war on French, 278, 280;
the Chickasaw War, 281;
French among Western tribes (Asinais, Orcoquisas, Cadodachos,
Bidayes, Touacaras, Wichitas, Osages, Missouris, Pawnees, Otos,
Iowas, Kansas, Mandaos), 282-284;
Winnebagoes,296;
Apache-Comanche barrier to French advance, 285, 286;
Fox Wars, 287;
Sioux posts, 287;
Vérendrye among Manfan Cheyennes, Crows, Little Foxes, Bows, 288;
in English colonies: early attacks in Virginia, 117-119, 122;
relations with Pilgrims, 138-139;
land title theory of Roger Williams, 147;
Wilhams and the Narragansetts, 147;
Pequot War, 159-160;
English missionary work among, 156;
Opechancanough's War, 185;
the Susquehanna War, 185-186;
King Philip's War, 191-192;
Iroquois treaty with Dongan, 198;
Penn's treaty, 205;
war in the Carolinas, 210;
policy of Hudson's Bay Company, 214;
the English among the Creeks, 255;
English war on Apalachees, 270;
Indian slavery in Carolina, 270;
the Tuscarora War, 271, 320;
barriers to Westward Movement, 310-414;
Yamassee War, 314;
Creeks and Cherokees, 314, 316;
alliances on Georgia frontier, 362;
during French and Indian War, 372;
Kerlérec and southern Indians, 378;
Cherokee War, 378;
English policy after 1763, 404-407;
Pontiac's War, 409-410;
land cessions in West, 412;
ravages in Kentucky, 416;
Lord Dunmore's War, 417;
policy of Continental Congress, 465-466;
in American Revolution, 496, 512-515.
_See_ names of individual tribes. Indigo, 535.
Innocent IV, Pope, legate sent to the Great Khan, 3.
Inquisition, The, 52; Council of the, 14.
Intendancies, in New Spain, 387.
Intolerable Acts, 449-451.
Iriarte, seeks La Salle's colony, 249.
Irish, in New England, 216; in New York, 222.
_See_ Scotch-Irish.
Iroquois Indians (Confederation, The Six Nations), 86, 91;
Dongan's treaty with, 198, 257, 258-259, 265, 365, 369;
cession of 1765, 412;
in the Revolution, 514-515.
Isabella of Spain, aids Columbus, 7, 8, 16.
Island Flats, 513.
Italy, 13, 16.
Iturbi, Juan de, pearl hunting voyages, 240;
believes California an island, 240.
Jack, Col. Samuel, 512.
Jackson, William, English privateer, 252.
Jalisco, conquest of, 37, 39.
Jamaica, Island, under Spain, 17, 67;
granted to Providence Island Company, 133;
English conquest, 153, 234, 253;
committee for, 153;
conditions in the eighteenth century, 340-341.
Jamaica Pass, 484.
James I of England, general policy, 112, 113;
treaty with Spain, 114;
the London Company, 123;
non-conformists, 136.
James, Duke of York, proprietor of New York, 178;
Lord High Admiral, 182;
proprietary grant of New Netherlands, 196-197;
attitude toward representative government in New York, 197-198;
interest in Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
_See_ James II.
James II, consolidation of colonies, 194;
"Glorious Revolution," 194-195;
difficulties with Carolina settlers, 210-211.
_See_ James, Duke of York.
Jamestown, founded, 116-117;
Spanish resistance, 118, 251.
Janos, Chihuahua, founded, 242.
Japan, early contact with America, 2;
Polo's knowledge of, 3;
Portuguese trading settlements in, 24.
_See_ Cipango.
Java, visited by the Polos, 3;
Dutch in, 164.
Jay, John, member of First Continental Congress, 452;
in Spain, 533;
peace negotiations, 534-538;
secretary of foreign affairs, 555.
Jefferson, Thomas, member of Second Continental Congress, 463;
writes Declaration of Independence, 479, 480.
Jeffreys, Herbert, acting governor of Virginia, 187.
Jenkins, Thomas, 361.
_See_ also The War of Jenkins' Ear.
Jérez, Mexico, founded, 59.
Jesuits, in Spanish colonies;
general field, 236;
Nueva Vizcaya, 58;
Florida (Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia),64-65;
Sinaloa and Sonora (Fuerte, Mayo, Yaqui, Sonora valleys), 237-240;
map, 238;
Chihuahua, 242;
in Pimería Alta (Arizona), 301-396;
Lower California, 305-307;
expulsion, 1767, 386;
in French colonies: Canada, 87-88, 90, 91;
on the Maine border, 271;
on lakes Michigan and Syperior, 96;
in the Illinois country, 101, 280, 282;
Father Piquet's mission in New York, 368;
Louisiana (Alabama), 278;
in Maryland, 127-128;
expelled, 162.
Jews, in New England, 216;
in New York, 223.
Jiménez, discovers Lower California, 42.
John the Great, ruler of Portugal, 4.
Johnstone, George, governor of West Florida, 407,408.
Joliet, exploration of the Mississippi, 96-97.
Jones, John Paul, appointment, 465;
the _Bonhomme Richard_ and _Serapis_, 518-519;
at Texel, 520-521.
Jonquiére, Marquis de la, governor-general of Canada, 368.
Johnson, William, Indian agent, 365, 372, 374, 379.
Jordan River, Cape Fear, Ayllón at, 40.
Jumano Indians, Texas, expeditions to, 243, 244, 285.
Kalb, Baron de, 508, 525-526.
Kanawha, battle of the, 513.
Kaskaskia, 410;
captured by Clark, 514.
Kaunitz, Austrian Minister of State, 375.
Keller, Father, Jesuit missionary and explorer in Arizona, 304.
Kelsey, Henry, expedition to Winnipeg, 214.
Kent Island, 128.
Kentucky, beginnings of, 416;
Indian ravages, 416;
Lord Dunmore's war, 417;
Henderson and Transylvania, 417-418;
Virginia's claim of sovereignty over, 418;
organization as Kentucky. County, Virginia, 418;
in the Revolution, 513.
Kentucky County, Virginia, erected, 418.
Kerlérec, Governor of Louisiana, 285, 301, 378.
Kerr, English commodore, in war of the Spanish Succession, 268.
Kidd, Captain, pirate, 350.
Kieft, William, director-general of New Netherlands, 171;
trouble with Indians, 171-172;
the Council of Twelve, 171.
King Philip's War, 191-192.
King William's War. _See_ War of the English Succession.
King's College, 339.
"King's posts," fur trade at, in English colonies, 421.
King's Mountain, battle, 527.
Kingston, Jamaica, founded, 262.
Kino, Father Eusebio, Jesuit missionary and explorer, 301-304;
in Lower California, 241-242;
his map of Pimería Alta, 303;
missions and ranches established in Arizona, 302;
search for land route to California, 302;
his death, 304;
aid given to Lower California, 306.
Kirke, Captain, expedition against French, 87, 141.
Kittery, Maine, claimed by Massachusetts, 157.
Kocherthal, Joshua von, 318.
Knights of Alcántara, 14.
Knights of Calatrava, 14.
Knights of Santiago, 14;
Otomi chief made member of, 39.
Knollys, English freebooter, 66.
Knowles, Admiral Charles, attack on Española, 366.
Kublai Khan, visit of the Polos to, 3.
Labadists, 318.
La Barre, governor of New France, 94, 258, 261.
Labrador, 420.
La Clede, fur trader, founds St. Louis, 396.
Laconia Company, 141.
La Cosa, explorations of, 24.
Lafayette, Marquis de, enlists in the American cause, 508;
influences France to send a second expedition, 511;
in Virginia, 530;
in Yorktown campaign, 531.
La Harpe, Bénard de, French explorer and trader in the West,
283-284, 295.
La Junta missions, Chihuahua, 245, 290.
Lake Athabasca, discovery, 424.
Lake Chápala, Mexico, 36.
Lake Erie, La Salle on, 98.
Lake Michigan, French posts on, 96.
"Lake of New Mexico," Coahuila, 59.
Lake Ontario, discovered, 87.
Lake Superior, trading posts on, 90, 287;
Jesuit missions on, 96.
Lake Tezcuco, Cortés's fleet on, 33.
La Navidad, fort built by Columbus, in Española, 10.
"Land of War," Central America, 39.
Land grants and speculation in the Ohio Valley, 411-413.
Langlade, Charles, French trader leads attack on English, 368.
La Paz, California, attempts to colonize, 42, 71, 240-242, 307.
La Plata River, discovered by Vespuccius, 24.
La Pointe, Jesuit mission on Lake Superior, 96.
Larios, Father Juan, Franciscan missionary, in Coahuila and
Texas, 248.
La Salle, Jean Cavelier, Sieur de, 97, 98;
at Fort Frontenac, 97;
in Illinois, 98;
descends Mississippi, 98;
colony in Texas, 98-99, 249, 283;
assassination, 100.
Las Casas, Father Bartolomé de, 23;
opposition to the _encomienda_, 23, 50;
conquest of Guatemala, 39.
Las Casas, Francisco de, lieutenant of Cortés in Honduras, 38.
La Tour, Charles de, rule in Acadia, contest with Charnisay, 86.
Laud, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, tyranny, 113;
heads commission to handle dependencies, 114;
struggle with Massachusetts Bay Colony, 142-143, 145-146.
Laudonnière, French colonizer in Florida, 62, 84.
Laurain, French explorer on the Missouri River, 282.
Laurens, Henry, sent to the Netherlands, 521;
his capture, 522.
Laval, Abbé, bishop in Canada, 91.
La Vérendrye, fur trade monopoly, 287;
his "Post of the Western Sea," 287-288.
Law, John, the Mississippi Bubble, 278-279.
Lazarus (Philippine) Islands, 67.
Lea, Captain Charles, attempts to colonize Guiana, 132.
League of Armed Neutrals, 519-520.
League of Hanover, 360-375.
Leake, Captain John, 271.
Lee, Arthur, diplomat, 506;
attempts to get Spanish assistance, 507.
Lee, Charles, 411, 464, 488, 489, 490, 509.
Lee, Richard Henry, member of Western Land Company, 411;
member of the First Continental Congress, 452;
Independence Resolution, 478.
Leeward Islands, made a province, 206;
granted an assembly, 206;
extension of power, 206;
social and economic conditions in the eighteenth century, 340.
Legazpi, Miguel López de, expedition to Philippines, 68;
conquest of islands, 68.
Leisler's Rebellion, 198, 263.
Le Jeune, French Jesuit superior at Quebec, 88.
Le Moyne, Charles, 275;
seignorial grant, 93.
León, Alonso de. _See_ De León.
León (Cerralvo), City of, 60, 61, 247.
León, Nicaragua, founding of, 31.
León, kingdom of in New Spain, 13.
Lesser Antilles, slave hunting in, 23;
English settlements in, 132-133;
Dutch colonization, 167;
subdivisions, 247.
_See_ individual islands.
Le Sueur, fur trader in Minnesota and Wisconsin, 101;
quoted, 97.
Levant Company, 107.
Levasseur, French trader, occupies Tortuga, 94.
Levis, Chevalier de, 375, 381.
Lewis, Colonel Andrew, 417.
Lewis and Clark, exploration of, 402.
Lexington, battle of, 460-461.
Leyva, expedition to New Mexico, 72-73.
Lief, son of Eric, discovery of Vinland, 2.
Linares, Duke of, viceroy of New Spain, 293.
Linares, Diocese of, 387.
Lincoln, General Benjamin, organizes New England militia, 495;
operations in Georgia, 524;
at Charleston, 524-525;
secretary of war, 554.
Lindsay, explorer in Ohio valley, 413.
Line of Demarcation, 11.
Link, Father, Jesuit explorer in Lower California, 307.
Lisbon, Columbus' reception at, 10.
Little Rock, Arkansas, La Harpe visits vicinity, 284.
Littleton, James, Commodore, 269.
Livingston, Robert R., member of committee for drafting the
Declaration of Independence, 479;
secretary of foreign affairs, 555.
Llano River country, Texas, mineral deposits, 298, 299.
"Llanos de Cíbola" (Buffalo Plains), 45.
Lloyd, Thomas, president of the Pennsylvania council, 205.
Loaisa, expedition to Far East, 46.
Locke, John, prepares a constitution for the Carolinas, 208.
London Company, Charter of 1606, 116;
Charter of 1609, 117-118;
Charter of 1612, 120; charter annulled, 123.
London Gazette, 408.
Long Island, early English settlements, 150-151, 222;
granted to Duke of York, 196-197;
battle of, 483-484.
López, Fray Nicolás, Franciscan missionary, 245.
Lords of Trade, 182.
Loreto, California, founded, 306;
capital moved from, 392.
Los Adaes, mission founded, 295;
presidio and capital of Texas, 297, 298.
Los Angeles, California, founding of pueblo of, 392-393.
Loudoun, English commander, 376.
Louis XVI, attitude toward American Revolution, 505-506.
Louisiana, Under France, founding of, 275-278;
Pensacola founded, 275;
Biloxi founded, 276;
Iberville's Indian alliances, 276;
Bienville's first administration, 276;
Crozat's grant, 276-278;
attempts at commercial expansion, 278;
Indian difficulties, 278;
population, 278, 279, 281;
map, 277;
under Company of the Indies, 278-280;
the Mississippi Bubble, 278-279;
New Orleans founded, 279;
war with Spain, 279;
organization of the government, 279-280;
ecclesiastical divisions, 280;
the Natchez War, 280;
under the royal governors, 280-282;
Bienville's second administration, 280-281;
Chickasaw War, 281;
the Illinois district, 251-252;
slavery, 282;
Missouri lead mines, 282;
_Under Spain, 1762-1783_, 395-402;
ceded to Spain, 382-383, 395;
state of the province, 395-306;
population, 396;
industries, 396;
dissatisfaction with the cession, 306;
expulsion of the Spanish governor, Ulloa, 397;
O'Reilly, administration of, 397-398;
first governors, Unzaga and Gálvez, 398;
encouragement of commerce, 398, 400;
the English danger, 400;
Texas border abandoned, 400;
fur trade continued, 400-401;
De Mézières and the control of the Red River tribes, 401;
plans for war on Apaches, 401;
opening of routes to Santa Fé and the upper Missouri, 402.
Louisiana-Texas boundary question, 300, 301.
Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, siege and defense of, 364-365.
Lovelace, Francis, governor of New York, 197.
Loyal Company, The, 367.
Loyalists, formation of the group, 459;
accompany the British army to Halifax, 471;
element in the colonies, 472-473;
classification of, 473;
religious aspects, 473-474;
their argument, 474;
persecution of, 474-475;
congressional attitude toward, 475-476;
in the Cherokee War, 512-513;
in the Southwest, 513-514;
in New York, 514-515;
at King's Mountain, 527;
attempts of British to protect, 536, 537;
dispersion, 538;
in Florida, 408, 409;
in Canada, 421.
Lucenilla, attempt to colonize California, 241.
Lumbering in New England, 217, 331;
in North Carolina, 334;
in South Carolina, 335.
Lutherans, 222, 226.
Lybyer, cited on trade routes, 5.
Lyford, John, 140-141.
Lyman, General, colony in West Florida, 408.
Lynn, settled, 142.
Lyttleton, Governor of South Carolina, 378.
McAfees, the, pioneers in Kentucky, 416.
McDonald, Donald, 471.
Machias Bay settlement, 139.
Machin, Robert, English voyager to Madeira, 4.
Machuco, Diego, explores Nicaragua, 32.
Madagascar, French attempt to colonize, 80.
Madeira, visited by Englishmen, 4.
Magdalena Bay, California, 71.
Magellan, Ferdinand, voyage of, map showing, 6;
discovery of Straits, 25;
conflict aroused by his voyage, 46.
Maine, early settlements, 136, 319, 140;
Canada and Laconia companies, 141;
land grants, 157;
settlements claimed by Massachusetts, 157;
northern part granted to the Duke of York, 196-197;
frontier defense, 312-313;
German migration to, 321, 322;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 325.
Malabar, Portuguese at, 24.
Malacca, 24.
Malay Peninsula, 24.
Maldonado, oidor of New Spain, 49.
Mallet brothers, expedition to New Mexico,285-286.
Malocello, discovery of the Canary Islands, 3.
Manchester, founded, 325.
Mandan Indians, Dakota, reached by Spaniards, 402.
Mandeville, French Commander, 278.
Manhattan Island, purchase and settlement, 167.
Manila, Philippines, Audiencia of, established, 68;
captured by British, 382;
restored to Spain, 382.
Manila galleon, 66, 68;
route of, 68, 70, 307.
_See also_ Acapulco.
Manoa, fabulous city of Guiana, 110.
Manors, in Maryland, 128.
Manufactures, in New England, 217-218;
in Pennsylvania, 226;
in the Chesapeake Bay region, 229;
in middle eighteenth century, 330.
Mansker, pioneer in Kentucky, 413, 419.
Maracaibo, plundered by Jackson, 252.
Maracaibo, Gulf of, 23, 24.
Marcos, Friar, discovery of Cíbola, 44.
Margil, Antonia, Franciscan missionary in Texas, 293, 295.
Maria Theresa, 364, 375.
Marine Committee, 543.
Marion, Francis, 527-529.
Maritime science, advance of in 15th century, 4.
Markham, William, deputy-governor of Pennsylvania, 204.
Marquette, Jesuit Missionary, on the Mississippi, 97;
death, 97.
Marqués Cabrera, governor of Florida, sends expedition against
English, 255.
Martha's Vineyard, granted to the Duke of York, 196-197.
Martin and Castillo, pearl hunting expedition in Texas, 243-244.
Martinique Island, 93, 252, 262, 382.
Mary, Queen of Scots, 53.
Maryland, Baltimore's application for a grant in Virginia, 125-126;
founding, 125-129;
charter, 126-127;
first settlers, 127;
trouble with Virginia, 127-128;
early social conditions, 128;
government, 128-129;
under Puritan control, 102;
economic conditions, 188;
Charles Calvert, 188-189;
Notley's administration, 189;
rebellion of 1689, 189;
dispute with Pennsylvania over boundary, 203;
population, 227;
settled area, 227;
plantation system, 228;
commerce, 228;
system of labor, 229;
social conditions, 229;
religion, 229;
education, 229;
German migration to, 319-320;
social and economic conditions in the eighteenth century, 333-334;
under William III, 346;
trouble with the governor, 444;
navy, 518.
Mason and Dixon's line, 203.
Mason, John, land grants, 140, 146, 157;
interest in Canada and Laconia companies, 141;
death, 146.
Massachusetts, charter, 141-142;
Cambridge agreement, 142;
the "Great Migration," 142;
towns settled, 142;
form of government, 143;
the New England towns, 143-145;
representative system introduced, 145;
struggle with Laud, 145-146;
controversy with Roger Williams, 146-147;
controversy with Anne Hutchinson, 148;
Body of Liberties, 154-155;
member of the New England Confederation, 156;
claims New Hampshire and Maine settlements, 157-158;
fur trade, 158;
difficulties with Charles II, 180-190;
reception of royal commissioners, 191;
King Philip's War, 191-192;
complaints against, 192;
trouble with Randolph, 192-193;
annulment of the charter, 193;
temporary government, 193;
acquisition of Mason's rights, 193-194;
Dominion of New England, 194;
administration of Andros, 194;
overthrow of Andros, 194-195;
population, 216;
commerce, 217;
manufactures, 217;
religion, 220;
superstitions, 220;
education, 220;
literature, 221;
treaty with Maine Indians, 271;
German migration to, 322;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 324;
charter of 1691, 344;
protests against Grenville's policy, 431-432;
resists the Stamp Act, 436;
protests against the Townshend Acts, 440-441;
trouble with Governor Bernard, 440-442;
convention, 442;
trouble with Hutchinson, 444;
the tea controversy, 448;
Government Act, 449-450;
resistance to the Regulating Act, 459-460;
fighting around Boston, 460-461;
navy, 518.
Massachusetts Bay Colony. _See_ Massachusetts.
Massanet, Father Damian, Franciscan missionary in Coahuila and Texas,
249, 251.
Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, treaty with Plymouth, 138-139.
Matagorda Bay, LaSalle's colony on, 99, 100.
Matehuala, Mexico, founded, 59.
Mauro, Fra, map of the world, 5.
Maximilian I, 16.
May, Cornelius, 165-166.
Maya Indians, 26-27. _See_ Mexico.
Mayflower Compact, 138.
Mayhew, Thomas, missionary to Indians, 156.
Mayo Valley, Sonora, Jesuit missions in, 239.
Mazapil, Mexico, founded, 59.
Mazarin, administration of government of France, 80-81.
Mecklenburg Resolves, 463;
declaration of independence, 463.
Medellin, Mexico, founded, 36.
Medina-Celi, Count of, influence in favor of Columbus, 7.
Medina River, western boundary of Texas, 297.
Mediterranean, trade route to Far East, 5.
Memphis, DeSoto near, 42.
Méndez, Father, Jesuit missionary to Mayos, 239.
Mendoza, Antonio de, viceroy, crushes revolt in Nueva Galicia, 40;
sends expedition to explore Pacific, 46-47;
outfits expedition for Florida, 61;
achievements as administrator, 50;
sent to Peru, 50;
death, 50.
Mendoza, Hurtado de, expedition on west coast, 42.
Mendoza, Juan Domínguez de, expedition to Jumanos in central Texas,
245.
Menéndez de, Áviles, destroys Huguenot settlement, 62;
colonizes Atlantic coast, 64;
explores Alleghanies, 64;
expedition to Chesapeake Bay, 65.
Mennonites, in Pennsylvania, 206.
Mercado, Ginés Vásquez de, search for treasure in Durango, 55.
Mercantilist system, 179-180.
Merry Mount, 139.
Mexico, the Nahuas (Aztecs), 27;
Nahua history, 27;
the Triple Alliance, 28;
Conquest of the Valley of Mexico, 32-35;
Cortés, 32;
the march to Mexico, 33;
loss and recapture of the city, 33;
Cortés's contest with Velásquez, 34;
made governor and captain-general, 34;
the spread of the conquest, 36-40;
factors, 36;
Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, and Tehuantepec, 36;
Olid in Michoacán, 36; Colima and
Jalisco, 37;
Amichel and Pánuco, 37;
Olid, Casas, and Cortés in Honduras, 38;
Yucatán, 38;
Guzmán in Sinaloa, 39;
Querétaro, 39;
the Mirton War, 40;
establishment of the viceroyalty, 47-50;
Cortés as administrator, 47;
his powers curtailed, 48;
first and second audiencias, 48-49;
Cortés made Marquis of the Valley, 49;
Mendoza first viceroy, 49; _New Laws_, 50;
Mendoza sent to Peru, 50;
Mexico under Philip II, 52;
Luis de Velasco, second viceroy, 53;
Martín Cortés, second Marquis of the Valley, 53;
the adelantados, 54;
audiencia and diocese of Nueva Galicia, 55;
the Zacatecas Mines, 55;
Francisco de Ibarra, 55-58; Nueva
Vizcaya founded, 56-58;
Querétaro, Guanajuato, and Aguas Calientes, 58;
San Luis Potosí and Southern Coahuila, 59;
Tlascaltecan colonies, 59;
Parras, 60;
Nuevo León, 60;
New Spain at end of 16th century, 75;
frontier administration in the 17th century, 234-237;
the governors, 234;
central control, 235;
frontier autonomy, 235;
the missions, 236;
the Jesuits in Sinaloa and Sonora, 237;
Fathers Tápia and Pérez, 237;
Captain Hurdaide, 237;
missions in Fuerte, Mayo, Yaqui and Sonora valleys, 238-239;
Spanish settlements on the Pacific coast, 240;
efforts to occupy Lower California, 240-242;
pearl fishing, 240;
Iturbi's voyages, 240;
later attempts, 240;
the settlement of Chihuahua, 242;
mines of, 289;
the Conchos Valley, 290;
Diocese of Guardiana, 242;
Coahuila occupied, 247-249;
the Nuevo León frontier, 247;
Zavala's rule, 247;
Monclova founded, 248;
the College of the Holy Cross of Querétaro, 248;
Pimería Alta, 301;
Kino, 301-302;
a land route to California, 302;
missions and ranches, 302-303;
the Arizonac Mines, 304;
Keller and Sedelmayr, 304;
the Pima revolt, 305;
the Northwestern frontier in 1763, 305-306;
the Jesuits in Lower California, 306-307;
Salvatierra and his companions, 306;
readjustment following the Seven Years' War, 384-387;
Reforms of Charles III and Gálvez, 384-386;
Rubí's tour, 385;
expulsion of the Jesuits, 386;
the Provincias Internas, 386-387;
new dioceses, 387;
the intendancies, 387.
Mexico City (Tenochtitlán), 27;
Chapultepec, 28;
siege and capture by Cortés, 33;
rebuilt as a Spanish city, 34;
markets established, 47;
seat of audiencia and viceroyalty, 48-49;
canal of Huehuetoca, 53;
population, 75;
seat of archbishopric, 76;
of University, 53, 67.
Mexico, Gulf of, mapping of coast, 25-26, 249, 255, 385.
Michillimackinac, fur trade, 422.
Michoacán, 37;
Guzmán's march through, 39.
Middlebrook, 493.
Middletown, New Jersey, 198.
Miera y Pachecho, Captain Bernardo de, expedition to Utah Basin, 392.
Milan, 53.
Milford, founded, 150.
Milhet, Jean, delegate to France with protest on the Louisiana
cession, 396.
Mines and mining, in northern Mexico, 55-56, 58.
Minisink, burned, 515.
Minho River, 13.
Minuit, Peter, director-general of New Netherlands, 167, 169;
in Sweden, 175.
Missions, part in Spanish colonial expansion, 235-237.
_See also_ Dominicans; Jesuits; Franciscans; California;
Florida; Georgia; New Mexico. In French Colonies, _see_ Canada,
Catholic Church, Jesuits, Illinois, Louisiana.
Mississippi Bubble, 278-279.
Mississippi Company, 411.
Mississippi River (Rio del Espíritu Santo), discovery of, 26, 41, 42;
plans to occupy its mouth, 249.
Mississippi Valley, French approach to, 96, 102;
work of the Jesuits, 96-97, 101;
Joliet and Marquette, 96-97.
La Salle, 98;
Duluth, 100.
Missouri lead mines, 282.
Mixton war, 40.
Mobile, new site for St, Louis, 276;
judicial department of, 279;
during English rule, 403, 407-408;
captured by Gálvez, 516.
Mobile Bay, 42, 249, 255, 276.
Molasses Act, 356.
Moluccas, 42;
Spain claims sold to Portugal, 46.
Monclova, city of, 246, 247. 248, 296, 297.
Monckton, Lieutenant-Colonel, 372, 374.
Mongolia, visit of the Polos to, 3.
Monhegan Island settlement, 140.
Monk, George, Duke of Albermarle, Carolina proprietor, 208;
interest in Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
Monmouth, battle of, 509-510.
Montcalm, Marquis de, in French and Indian War, 375, 376, 377, 380.
Monte Cristi, 428.
Montejo, Francisco de, conqueror of Yucatán, 36, 38.
Montemayor, Luis de, governor of Nuevo León, 61.
Monterey, Mexico, 59;
founding of, 61;
Franciscan monastery at, 61.
Monterey, California, 2;
founding, 389;
made capital 392.
Monterey Bay, California, 47, 71, 305, 380.
Montezuma II, Aztec ruler, 28;
death of, 33.
Montgomery, English colonel, 379.
Montgomery, Richard, 470.
Montgomery, Sir Robert, grant of Azilia to, 315.
Montreal, Canada, 82, 90, 257, 263, 265, 272, 419;
association of Montreal, 90;
captured by the English, 381;
center of fur trade, 422.
Montserrat Island, occupied by English, 133, 252;
in Leeward Isles government, 206;
social conditions, 340;
restored to Great Britain, 537.
Moore, Commodore John, 379.
Moore, Governor of South Carolina, destroys Apalachee missions, 270.
Moore's Creek, 471.
Moors (Mohammedans, Berbers), expulsion from Portugal, 4;
from Spain, 13, 14, 53;
Moqui pueblos, 46, 72;
discovery of, 45;
revolt of the Indians, 45.
Moraga, Lieutenant, founds San José, California, 392.
Moral, Father, Franciscan missionary in Florida, 254.
Moravian missionaries, among Delawares in the West, 416.
Morgan, Gen. Daniel, 495, 528.
Moro Castle, Havana, captured by British, 382.
Morris, Robert, financier of the Revolution, 554.
Morristown, winter quarters of Washington's army, 492.
Morton, Thomas, founds Merry Mount, 139;
driven out, 139;
opposition to Massachusetts Bay Company, 141.
Moscoso, explores Arkansas and Texas, 42, 61.
Moultrie, Colonel Wm., 471, 472.
Moya Contreras, viceroy of Mexico, plans for exploration, 70-71.
Mulattoes and mestizos, in population of the New World, 306.
Munck, Jens, explorations in Hudson Bay, 213.
Muscovy Company, 106.
Mystic, settled, 142.
Nahua civilization, 26-28.
Nanipacna, Alabama, Spanish settlement at, 62.
Nantasket settlement, 140.
Nantes, Edict of, 79.
Nantucket, granted to the Duke of York, 196-197.
Naples, 16, 52, 361.
Narragansett Indians and Roger Williams, 146, 147;
attitude in King Philip's War, 191-192.
Narváez, Pánfilo de, sent to arrest Cortés, 33;
governor of Florida, 37;
attempted conquest of Florida, 41.
Nashborough (Nashville), founded, 419.
Nashborough Association, 549.
Natchez, founded, 278;
a judicial department of Louisiana, 279;
under the English, 406, 407, 408;
captured by Gálvez, 515.
Natchez Indians, 278;
war with French, 280.
Natchitoches, founded by St. Denis, 278;
judicial department of Louisiana, 279;
rule of De Mézières at, 401.
Naval stores, 355-356.
Navidad, port in Mexico, 40, 47, 68.
Navigation acts, of 1650 and 1651, 153;
of 1660, 180;
of 1696, 348-349;
under Anne, 351;
later acts, 354-355.
Navy of the United States, organized, 464;
vessels provided by New England, 517;
congressional provision for, 517;
early operations, 517-518;
state navies, 518;
Penobscot expedition, 518;
operations of John Paul Jones,
518-519, 520-521;
decline of the navy, 519.
Navy Department, of the United States, 554-555.
Needham, James, reaches the upper Tennessee, 1673, 211.
Negro slavery, 23, 56, 273, 276, 279, 282.
Netherlands (Holland), 16;
revolt against Spain, 52;
independent state, 53;
struggle with Spain, 164;
commercial expansion, 164;
search for northeast passage, 164;
trade to Far East, 164-165;
explorations of Henry Hudson, 165;
discovery of Cape Horn, 165;
trade on Hudson River, 165-166;
settlements in Brazil, Guiana, and the Antilles, 166-167;
New Netherlands, 167-174;
struggle with the Swedes on the Delaware, 175, 177;
absorption of New Netherlands by English, 177-178;
alliance with England and France, 359;
treaty of Seville, 360;
attitude toward American Revolution, 520;
St. Eustatius, 520;
the Scotch brigade and the Jones incident, 520-521;
British seizures, 521;
secret agreement of Amsterdam, 521;
declaration of war, 521-522;
loans to the United States, 554.
_See_ New Netherlands.
Neve, Felipe de, governor of California, 392.
Nevis Island, occupied by English, 133, 252;
in Leeward Isles government, 206;
taken by French, 268;
social conditions, 340;
captured by De Grasse, 532;
restored to Great Britain, 537.
Neville, John, English vice-admiral, 262.
Nevome Indians, Sonora, 239.
New Albion, Drake's name for California, 70.
New Amsterdam, 167-169;
surrender to the English, 197.
Newark, New Jersey, 199.
New Brunswick, 421.
New Company, successor to Company of Hundred Associates, 90.
Newcastle, Duke of, 353-354.
New England, supposed visit of North men, 3;
Confederation, 156-157;
settled area in 1700, 216;
population, 216;
agriculture, 216-217;
fur trade, 217;
fishing, 217;
lumbering, 217;
ship-building, 217;
commerce, 217, 331;
manufactures, 217-218;
standard of living, 218;
social standards, 218;
religion, 220;
superstitions, 220;
education, 220-221;
literature, 221;
French and Indian attacks, 271;
population, 329;
settled area about 1750, 329;
farming, 330-331;
lumbering, 331;
ship-building, 331;
fisheries, 331;
ships furnished during the Revolution, 517-518.
_See_ the individual colonies.
Newfoundland fisheries, 106;
English attacks on, in the War of the Spanish Succession, 271,
272, 420.
New Gothenborg, 175.
New Hampshire, early settlements, 140;
land grants in, 157;
attempt of Randolph to take it from Massachusetts, 193;
a royal colony, 194;
population, 216;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 325.
New Jersey, granted to the Duke of York, 197;
granted to Carteret and Berkeley, 197;
government of East New Jersey, 198-199;
difficulties with New England men, 199;
Quakers in West New Jersey, 199, 201;
division of New Jersey, 201;
government of West New Jersey, 201;
trouble with the Duke of York, 201;
Burlington, 202;
proprietors of East New Jersey, 202;
German migration to, 319;
economic and social conditions in the eighteenth century, 332;
under William III, 345;
surrender of proprietary rights, 350;
a royal colony, 350.
_See_ West New Jersey, East New Jersey.
New Haven, founded, 150;
government, 150;
code of 1656, 155;
member of the New England Confederation, 156;
confederation and expansion, 158.
_New Laws_, for Spanish America, 50, 55.
New Mexico,
Pueblo Indians, 44, 46, 234, 245;
Coronado's expedition, 40, 46;
exploration in later 16th century, 72-73;
colonization, 73-74;
founding of Santa Fé, 73, 243;
isolation, 242;
in the 17th century, 243-247;
missions, 243;
Benavides's report, in 1630, 243;
missionary and trading expeditions, 243-244;
in 1680, 244-245;
beginnings of El Paso, 245;
revolt of Pueblo Indians, 234, 245-247;
La Junta missions, 245, 290;
Mendoza's expedition to Jumanos, 245;
advance of French toward, 285-286, 300-301;
Moqui and Zuñi resistance, 290;
new settlements, 290;
population, 290;
Indian depredations, 290-291;
advance to northeast stimulated by French, 291;
explorers in Colorado, 291-292.
New Netherlands, early settlements, 167;
government, 167;
administration of Peter Minuit, 167, 169;
patroon system, 169-170;
the frontiers strengthened, 170;
administration of Van Twiller, 170-171;
Kieft's administration, 171-172;
Indian war, 172;
administration of Stuyvesant, 172-173;
economic development, 173-174;
conquest of New Sweden, 175, 177;
absorption by England, 177-178, 196-197.
New Netherlands Company, 165-166.
New Orleans, founded, 279, 293;
slavery and agriculture, 279;
population, 279;
judicial department of Louisiana, 279;
under Spanish administration, 398;
emigration to, 408.
Newport, Sir Christopher, voyage to Virginia, 1607, 116-117;
voyage of 1609, 118.
Newport, Rhode Island, founded, 148;
siege of, 510;
evacuated by British, 511;
occupied by Rochambeau, 511.
New Providence Island, occupied by English, 206;
captured by French and Spanish, 268, 269.
New Spain. _See_ Spanish colonies in North America; Mexico.
New Sweden, the New Sweden Company, 175;
founding of Fort Christina, 175;
administration of Governor Printz, 175;
renewed colonization, 175,177;
conquest by the Dutch, 177.
New Sweden Company, 175.
Newtown (Cambridge) settled, 145.
New York, province granted to James, Duke of York, 196-197;
seizure by the English, 197;
administration of Nicolls, 197;
administration of Lovelace, 197;
struggle for representative government, 197-198;
administration of Dongan, 198;
Leisler's rebellion, 198;
attempt to regain control of the Jerseys, 201;
deed to East New Jersey, 202;
dispute with Pennsylvania, 203;
population, 221;
industries, 221-222;
social conditions, 222;
religion, 222-223;
education, 222-223;
large estates, 223;
German migration to, 318-319;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 325;
economic and social conditions in the eighteenth century, 331-332;
a royal colony, 344-345;
protest against Grenville's policy, 432-433;
assembly dissolved, 438-439;
attitude regarding the Association, 458.
_See_ New Netherlands.
New York City, charter granted by Governor Nicolls, 197;
in the eighteenth century, 332;
captured by the British, 482-484.
_See_ New Amsterdam.
Nicaragua, conquest of, 29-30, 31, 32, 42;
audiencia of, 50.
Nicaragua, Lake, 29, 32.
Nicholson, Francis, lieutenant governor of New York, and the Leisler
rebellion, 198;
expedition against Montreal, 272.
Nicolet, Jean, French explorer in Wisconsin, 88.
Nicolls, Richard, governor of New York, 197;
sends colonists to New Jersey, 198.
Nicoya, Gulf of, Central America, 29, 31.
Nicuesa, founder of Nombre de Dios, 28.
_Niña_, one of Columbus' ships, 8.
Ninety-Six, 527, 529.
Niño, Andrés, expedition of, 29-30, 42.
"Noche Triste," 33, 36.
Nochistlán, Nueva Galicia, 40.
Nombre de Dios (Porto Bello), 24;
colony at, 28; founding of, 29, 56;
port for Spanish merchant fleet, 66;
population, 75.
Nootka Sound, explored, 395.
North, Lord, prime minister, 443;
coercive acts, 449-451;
conciliatory resolution, 455-456;
attempts conciliation, 508-509;
sends Carlisle commission to America, 509.
North, Captain Robert, attempt to colonize Guiana, 132.
North Carolina (for Spanish activities in _See_ Carolinas);
population, 227;
settled area, 227;
economic conditions, 228-229;
religion, 229;
separation from South Carolina, 313-315;
German migration to, 320;
Swiss migration to, 321;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 326;
social and economic conditions in the 18th century, 333-334;
a royal colony, 354;
the Regulators, 414-415;
protest against Grenville's policy, 433;
in the Revolution, 471, 512-513, 528-529.
_See_ Albemarle District, Carolinas.
Northern Mystery, 68.
Northmen, early maritime exploration, 2;
appearance in England, 2;
discovery and colonization of Iceland, and of Greenland, 2-3;
discovery of Vinland, 2-3.
Northwest Company, fur trade of, 423.
Northeast passage, sought by the English, 106, 108, 213;
sought by the Dutch, 164.
Nova Scotia, 3, 26, 272, 421;
English policy of defense, 312-313;
German migration to, 322.
_See_ Acadia.
Nuevo Almadén (Coahuila), 61, 247.
Nueva Andalucía, Central America, 29.
Nueva Andalucía (Sonora), 239.
Nueva Galicia, conquest of, 39;
Mixton War, 40;
audiencia and diocese of, 55, 56;
growth of, 58.
Nueva Vizcaya, founding of, 56, 58;
development, 58;
Franciscans and Jesuits in, 58;
conflicts with Nuevo León, 61;
capital, 242.
Nuevo León, Kingdom of, Tlascaltecan Indians as colonists in, 60;
extent of, 60;
development under Carabajal, 60, 61;
administration of Montemayor, 61;
conflicts with Nueva Vizcaya, 61;
frontier, 247;
Zavala's rule, 247.
Nuevo Santander (Tamaulipus), settlement of by Escandón, 299-300.
Oaxaca, Mexico, 36, 53, 75.
Ocampo, circumnavigates Cuba, 17, 25.
O'Conor, Hugo, comandante inspector in North Mexican provinces, 386.
Oglethorpe, James, motives, 315;
founding of Georgia, 316;
in war of Jenkins' Ear, 361-362, 363-364.
Ohio Company, The, 367.
Ohio River Valley, Spaniards in, 64;
French in, 98, 101, 102, 257, 281-282, 368-369;
English in, 102, 211, 367;
struggle for, 367-378;
development under English rule, 403-419.
_Oidores_, 48.
Ojeda, explorer, 23, 28.
Ojuelos, Mexico, 59.
Oklahoma, region, early Spanish explorations, 42, 45, 243;
French trade and exploration, 286, 300;
later Spanish activities, 398;
English intruders before Revolution, 401.
Oldham, John, 140-141;
opposition to Massachusetts Bay Company, 141.
Olid, Cristobal de, lieutenant of Cortés, 36;
in Michoacán and Colima, 36-37;
expedition to Honduras, 38.
Olivares, Father Francisco, missionary in Coahuila and Texas, 249,
292, 293.
Oñate, Cristóbal de, a founder of Nueva Galicia, 40, 55.
Oñate, Juan de, colonizer of New Mexico, 73;
explorations of, 74;
displaced by royal governor, 73;
believes California an Island, 240.
Oneida Indians, 265.
Onondaga Indians, 259, 265.
Opechancanough's War in Virginia, 160.
O'Reilly, Alexander, installs Spanish régime in Louisiana, 397-398, 407.
Orinoco River, 171;
Raleigh's exploration of the delta, 110.
Oré, Fray Luis de, Franciscan missionary in Florida, 253.
Oriskany, Battle of, 496.
Orista, South Carolina, Jesuit mission in, 64.
Orleans, Isle of, surrendered to Spain, 383.
Ormuz, capture of, 24.
Orozco, conquistador with Cortés, 38.
Oswego, founded, 313.
Ortega, Francisco de, founds colony at La Paz, 240.
Osage Indians, 283, 284.
Ostend East India Company, 360.
Ostimuri, Sonora district, 305, 306.
Otermin, effort to reconquer New Mexico, 245, 246.
Otis, James, opposition to writs of assistance, 429;
circular letter, 436;
member of the Stamp Act Congress, 436.
Oto Indians, French among, 284.
Ottawa, River explored, 87;
Indians, 258.
Oxenham, English freebooter, 66.
Pacific Ocean, fifth century voyages, 2;
discovery by Portuguese, 24;
by Balboa, 25;
Magellan crosses, 25;
explorations on Central American coast, 29-30;
on Mexican coast, 37, 42-44;
on California coast, 44, 46-47, 70-71, 240-241, 306-307, 389-394;
crossed by Saavedra, 42;
by Villalobos, 47;
Legazpi conquers Philippines, 67-68;
Urdaneta discovers return route, 68;
the Manila galleon, 68;
the Strait of Anian, 70;
raids of Drake and Cavendish, 78;
islands of Rica de Oro and Rica de Plata, 71;
Dutch voyages and raids, 164, 165, 240;
French interest in, 100, 285;
Vérendrye's effort to reach, 287-288;
Anson's raid, 363;
in Seven Years' War, 382;
Russian trade and voyages, 383;
Spanish exploration of the Northern Pacific, Pérez, Heçeta, and
Bodega, 395;
Cook at Nootka Sound, 395.
Padouca Indians, French among, 283.
Paine, Thomas, "Common Sense," 477.
Palenque, Maya center, 27.
Palma, Salvador, Yuma chief, 393.
Palos, Spain, port of sail of Columbus, 5.
Panamá, 24, 25;
founding, 29;
Audiencia of, 49, 50;
population, 75.
Panay, Philippines, 68.
Panton, Leslie, and Company, merchants of Pensacola, 407.
Pánuco, slave-hunting, 23;
district of, separated from Mexico, 33;
headquarters for Carabajal, 66.
Pánuco River, 25, 37.
Paoli, 500.
Paquimé (Casas Grandes), Ibarra at, 56.
Paraguay, 306.
Paramaribo, 23.
Pardo, Juan, explores Alleghanies, 1568, 64.
Pareja, Father, Franciscan missionary and writer in Florida, 253.
Paria, Central America, 29.
Parma, Duchess of, 52.
Parral, Mexico, town, garrison, and mission, 242.
Parras, colony established at, 60;
administered by Urdiñola, 60;
Santa Maria de, Jesuit mission, 60.
Parras, Laguna de, 59.
Parrilla, Diego Ortiz, Colonel, in Texas, 299;
explorations, 385.
Parson's Cause, 429.
Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 318.
Patroon system, 169-170.
Pátzcuaro, Mexico, 36.
Pauw, Michael, 170.
Pawnee Indians, 23, 283;
horse market for Atlantic coast colonies, 400.
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 366.
Peace of Paris, 382-383.
Peace of Ryswick, 266-267.
Peace of Utrecht, 273, 361.
Pearl Coast, The, 24.
Pearl fisheries, 68, 71, 240, 243-244.
Pearls, Isle of, 29.
Pecos River, 45, 46, 72.
Pedrarias de Ávila, governor of Castilla del Oro, 29-31;
expeditions, 29, 31-32;
governor of Nicaragua, 31.
Pemaquid, Maine, 262, 265.
Pembroke and Montgomery, Earl of, receives West Indian grant, 132.
Peñalosa, ex-governor of New Mexico, proposes attack on Spanish
colonies, 249.
Penn, Admiral William, conquers Jamaica, 153, 253.
Penn, William, grant of Pennsylvania, 203;
his powers, 204;
founding of Philadelphia, 204;
frame of government, 204;
first sojourn in America, 204-205;
activities in England, 205;
attempts to relieve friction in Pennsylvania, 205;
restored to his proprietorship, 346;
grants Charter of Privileges, 350;
interest in New Jersey, 199;
settles dispute over lands in West New Jersey, 201;
lands in West New Jersey, 201;
holdings in East New Jersey, 202.
Pennsylvania, the Quaker faith, 202;
coming of the Quakers, 202-203;
Penn's grant, 203;
powers of the proprietor, 204;
founding of Philadelphia, 204;
frame of government, 204;
arrival of Penn and establishment of the government, 204-205;
friction in the colony, 205;
growth, 205;
population, 224;
economic conditions, 226;
religion, 226;
education, 226-227;
German migration to, 317-318, 319;
Swiss migration to, 321;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 325-326;
economic and social condition in the eighteenth century, 332-333;
under William III, 345;
Charter of Privileges, 350;
protest against Grenville's policy, 433;
navy, 518.
Penobscot expedition, 518.
Penobscot River settlements, 139.
Pensacola (bay and settlement), bay discovered by De Soto, 42;
De Luna's expedition to, 61-62;
Ichuse settled, 62;
plans to reoccupy, 255-256;
Pensacola founded, 275;
captured by French, 279-295;
under English rule, 403, 407, 408;
reoccupied by Gálvez, 518.
Pequot War, 149-150.
Pérez, Captain Juan, with Portolá expedition, 389;
voyage up Pacific coast, 395.
Pérez, Fray Juan, influence in favor of Columbus, 7.
Pérez, Martín, Jesuit missionary in Sinaloa, 55, 237, 239.
Pernambuco, captured by Dutch West India Company, 252.
Perrot, Nicholas, posts of, in Wisconsin, 101.
Peru, 29, 46, 49, 50, 66;
viceroyalty of, 75.
Peter the Great, 388.
Petit Guave, West Indies, 262, 268.
Petition of Right, 112.
Pez, Andrés de, explorer of Gulf of Mexico, 249, 255.
Philadelphia, founding, 204;
description of, 226;
in the eighteenth century, 332-353;
First Continental Congress, 452;
Second Continental Congress, 463;
captured by the British, 500-501;
evacuated by the British, 509.
Philip II, of Spain, emigration policy, 21;
inheritance, 52;
agent of the Catholic church in the Counter-Reformation, 52-53;
Spain's weakness under, 53;
decision to colonize Florida, 62;
to establish trade with Philippines, 67;
war with France, 79;
policy toward England, 105.
Philip III, of Spain, policy regarding Virginia, 119.
Philip V, of Spain, 359.
Philippines, Spanish claim to, 46;
expeditions to, 46-47;
occupation of, 54;
conquest of, 67-68;
Legazpi's expedition, 68;
the Manila galleon, 66, 68, 69;
discovery of return route from, 69;
captured by English, 382.
Phips, Sir William, expedition against Port Royal, Acadia, 264;
expedition against Quebec, 264;
orders rebuilding Fort Pemaquid and fort on the Saco, 265.
Pichilingues, pirates in the Gulf of California, 240.
Picólo, Francisco Maria, S.J., in Lower California, 306.
Pickens, General Arthur, 529.
Piedmont, settlement of, 309-329;
significance, 326-328.
Piernas, Pedro, lieutenant-governor at St Louis, 398.
Pilgrims at Scrooby, Gainsborough, and Austerfield, 137;
removal to Leyden, 137;
Use at Leyden, 137;
causes of removal from Holland, 137;
Mayflower Compact, 138.
_See_ Plymouth Colony.
Pillars of Alexander, 1.
Pillars of Hercules, 1.
Pima Revolt, 305.
Pimería Alta (Sonora and Arizona), Jesuits in, 301-306;
exploration and settlement in Arizona, 302;
Kino's map, 303;
decline and revival of the missions, 303-304;
Arizonac mines, 304;
work of Keller and Sedelmayr, 304;
plans to occupy the Gila and Colorado, 304-305;
the Pima revolt, 305;
the northwestern frontier in 1763, 305-306.
Pimienta, captures English settlement, on Providence Island, 252.
Piñadero, attempt to colonize Lower California, 241.
Pineda, explores Gulf of Mexico, 26, 37.
_Pinta_, one of Columbus's ships, 8.
Pinzón, explores coasts, 24, 25.
Pious Fund of California, 306, 389.
Piquet, French missionary in New York, 368.
Piracy Act, 349-350.
Pirates. _See_ Freebooters.
Pitt, William, 376, 381;
opposition to the Stamp Act, 437.
Pitt-Grafton Ministry, 438.
Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, De Soto with, 41
Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, 271.
Plantation Duties Act of 1673, 181.
Platte River, Humana expedition to, 1594, 73-74;
French traders on, 285-286, 300;
Spanish plans to settle on, 295;
Villazur expedition destroyed, 1720, 296;
horse market for English colonies, 400;
Spanish fur trade on, 402.
Plowden, Sir Edmund, grant on Long Island, 150.
Plymouth Company, charter, 116;
attempts to colonize, 136.
Plymouth Colony, Mayflower Compact, 138;
settlement at Plymouth, 138;
economic development, 138-139;
trouble with western settlers, 139;
expansion, 139;
government, 139-140;
trouble with settlers at Cape Ann, 140-141;
with Morton's settlers, 141;
member of New England Confederation, 156;
the Dominion of New England, 194;
education, 220;
consolidation with Massachusetts, 340.
Pocahontas, 121.
Pocock, English admiral, captures Havana, 382.
Polo, Marco, Matteo, and Nicolo, in the East, 3, 7.
Pond, Peter, fur trader, 423.
Pontchartrain, French Minister of Marine, 275.
Pontgravé, French fur trader, 85, 86.
Pontiac, conspiracy of, 409, 417, 422.
Pope Alexander VI, assignation of discoveries between Spain and
Portugal, 11.
Pope Innocent IV, sends legate to the Great Khan, 3.
Popé, Indian leader of Pueblo revolt, 245-246.
Population. _See_ Immigration and Population.
Port Royal, Acadia, 85, 86.
_See_ also Acadia.
Port Royal, South Carolina, 62, 210.
Port Royal, Jamaica, destroyed, 262.
Port Royal Sound, Huguenot settlement on, 84.
Porter y Casante, attempt to colonize California, 240.
Portezuelos, Mexico, 59.
Porto Bello. _See_ Puerto Bello.
Portolá, expedition to California, 389;
founds San Diego, 389;
Monterey, 389;
discovers San Francisco Bay, 389.
Portoláni, 4.
Porto Rico, Island, 17, 19, 67, 253.
Porto Santo, Island, 7.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, settled, 140;
Puritan settlers in, 157;
claimed by Massachusetts, 157.
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, founded, 148.
Portugal, rise of, 4-5;
Henry the navigator, 4;
exploration and discoveries, 5-6;
map showing expansion, 6;
reception to Columbus, 10;
line of demarkation, 11;
Magellan, 25, 46;
purchase of Moluccas, 46;
a Spanish province, 53, 68;
spice trade, 67;
incorporated with Spain, 107;
joins League of Armed Neutrals, 520.
Post Office, English colonial, 35;
during the Revolution, 465.
Pownall, Thomas, western land scheme, 411.
Pragmatic Sanction, 360.
Presbyterians, in New Jersey, 202, 226;
in South Carolina, 231.
Prescott, Colonel William, 461.
Prester John, supposed Christian king in interior Africa, 5.
Preston, Colonel, 417.
Prevost, Colonel, 406.
Prevost, General Augustine, 524.
Prideaux, expedition against Niagara, 379.
Princeton, battle of, 492.
Princeton College, pillaged by Hessians, 489.
Printing press, established in Mexico, 50.
Printz, Johan, governor of New Sweden, 175.
Privateers, 465,518.
Privateers, English, French, and Dutch, in Spanish waters, 252, 271;
Spanish retaliation, 252.
Privy council, 113, 114, 343-344, 347-348, 354.
Prize courts, 542.
Prizes, 465.
Proclamation of 1763, creates crown colonies, 404;
discourages expansion, 411;
provisions for government and fur trade, 420, 421.
Protestant Reformation, 16, 52;
in France, 78-79.
Providence Island, occupied by English, 133;
English expelled by Spaniards, 134, 252.
Providence Island Company, 133-134.
Providence Plantation, founding, 147;
government, 143.
_See_ Rhode Island.
Provincias Internas (New Spain), organization of, 386-387.
Ptolemy, his conception of the world, 1, 2.
Puaray, New Mexico, 72.
Puebla, Mexico, population, 75.
Pueblo Indians, of New Mexico, 46;
revolt of, 245-247.
Puerto Bello, 32, 360, 361.
Puritan Revolution, attitude of English colonies, 152.
Purry, Jean, 321.
Putnam, Colonel, plants colony on Mississippi, 408.
Putnam, Israel, 459, 461, 464.
Pym, John, interest in the Caribbean, 133.
Quakers, Massachusetts persecution, 189;
in New Jersey, 198-202, 226;
in Pennsylvania, 202-206, 226;
in Connecticut, 220;
in Rhode Island, 220;
in New York, 223;
in North Carolina, 229;
in South Carolina, 231.
Quartering Acts, 434-436, 438, 450.
Quebec Act of 1774, 413, 450-451.
Quebec, 257, 264, 272;
founding, 86;
occupied by English, 87;
Jesuit schools in, 88;
during intercolonial wars, 257, 264, 272, 379;
British regulation of fur trade, 404-406, 421-424;
province of, under British administration, 419-421;
population in 1763, 419;
first British settlers, 419;
civil government established, 420;
Proclamation of 1763, 420;
Quebec Act, 420, 421;
boundaries extended, 420;
Loyalists in, 421;
fur trade under the British, 421-424;
American expedition against, 487.
_See_ French and Indian War.
Queen Anne's War. _See_ War of the Austrian Succession.
Queres Indians, New Mexico, 246.
Querétaro, a buffer province, conquest of, 39;
natives as agents of subjugation, 39;
battle of, 58;
founding of town, 58;
College of the Holy Cross at, 249.
Quexos, slave hunter and explorer, 26.
Quiché Indians, Guatemala, conquest of, 38.
Quincy, Josiah, defense of British soldiers, 443.
Quiroga, oidor of New Spain, 49; bishop of Michoacán, 49.
Quivira (Kansas), 45, 72, 73, 243.
Radisson, French fur trader, 90, 260;
influence in establishment of Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
Raleigh, Walter, English freebooter and colonizer, 66, 251;
interest in Mediterranean commerce, 107;
charter of 1584, 109;
attempts to colonize Roanoke Island, 110;
expedition to Guiana, 110;
final attempt to colonize Guiana, 132;
death, 132.
Ramón, Domingo, founds colony in Texas, 293, 295, 296.
Randolph, Edward, royal agent, 192;
collector of the customs, 193;
attempt to enforce trade laws, 194;
imprisonment, 194;
surveyor-general of the customs, 344.
Randolph, Peyton, 463.
Rappahannock River, Spanish mission on, 65.
Rawdon, Lord Francis, 529.
Recollet friars, activities in Canada, 87.
Red River, Spanish and French on, 42, 283,284.
Reformation, The. _See_ The Protestant Reformation.
_Regidores_, members of _cabildo_, 20;
manner of obtaining office, 20.
Renault, mining on the Missouri, 282.
Requisitions upon states, 545.
Restoration, the, 179.
Restraining Act, 456.
Revere, Paul, 460.
Revillagigedo, viceroy of New Spain, 305.
Revolution in English colonies, background of the contest and nature
of the causes, 423-429;
legislation during the Grenville Ministry, 429-436;
repeal of the Stamp Act, 436-438;
the Townshend Acts, 438-443;
beginning of organized resistance, 443-447;
the tea controversy, 447-449;
North's coercive policy, 449-451;
First Continental Congress, 451-456;
opening of hostilities, 458-463;
Second Continental Congress, 463-470;
progress of the war, 470-472;
Loyalists, 472-476;
Declaration of Independence, 476-481;
contest for New York, 482-489;
New Jersey campaign, 489-493;
struggle with Burgoyne, 493-499;
contest for Philadelphia, 499-504;
the French alliance, 505-512;
the war in the West, 512-515;
Spain in the war, 515-517;
the war on the sea and the Dutch alliance, 517-522;
the war in the South, 524-530;
the Yorktown campaign, 530-538;
the treaty of peace, 532-538;
governmental development during the Revolution, 539-555.
Ribas, Pérez de, missionary and historian in Sinaloa, 239.
Ribaut, Jean, French colonizer;
in Carolina and Florida, 62, 84.
Rica de Oro, Island, 71.
Rica de Plata, Island, 71.
Rice, 231, 313, 334-335, 356.
Richelieu, Cardinal, administration of, government of France, 79-80;
colonial policy, 80.
Rio del Espíritu Santo. _See_ Mississippi River.
Rio Fuerte, Sinaloa, 42, 56.
Rio Grande, 45, 73;
pueblo region of, 46;
population on, in 1680, 244-245;
crossed by expedition from the south, 248.
_See_ New Mexico, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Texas.
Rivas, explorer of Gulf of Mexico, 249.
Rivera y Moneada, with Portolá in California, 389.
Rivera, Juan Maria, explores in Colorado, 291-292.
Rivera, Pedro de, inspects frontier of New Spain, 297, 298,304.
Rhode Island, founding, 147;
confederation, 159;
code, 159;
government, 159;
charter, 190;
attitude toward royal commissioners, 191;
King Philip's War, 191-192;
Dominion of New England, 194-195;
charter restored, 195;
population, 216;
commerce, 216;
religion, 220;
education, 220;
restoration of the charter, 344;
protest against Grenville's policy, 432;
opposes the Stamp Act, 436;
British occupation, 489.
_See_ Providence Plantation, Roger Williams; Anne Hutchinson.
Rich, Sir Nathaniel, interest in the Caribbean, 133.
Rich, Robert, Lord Warwick, interest in colonization, 133;
land grants in New England, 140, 149;
assists Reverend John White, 141.
Rising, John, governor of New Sweden, 177.
Roanoke, lost colony of, 110.
Roanoke Island, 66, 251.
Robertson, James, pioneer in Tennessee, 415, 416, 419;
defense of Watauga, 513.
Roberval, French colonizer, 82;
commissioned viceroy and lieutenant-general of Canada, 82.
Robinson, Rev. John, at Scrooby, 137.
Rochambeau, Comte de, 511.
Rockingham Ministry, 437-438.
Rocky Mountains, 282.
Rodney, Admiral, in the West Indies, 382, 511, 530-531;
defeats de Grasse, 532.
Rodrigo del Rio de Losa, expedition to open mines of Nueva Vizcaya,
56;
cattle ranches of, 58.
Rodríguez, Fray Agustín, expedition to New Mexico, 72.
Roe, Sir Thomas, expedition to Guiana, 132.
Rolfe, John, 121.
Rosicrucians, 318.
Roxbury settled, 142.
Royal council, Spanish, 14;
divided into three councils, justice, state, and finance, 14.
Rowley, William, English vice-admiral, 365.
Rubí, Marqués de, inspects outposts of New Spain, 385-386.
Ruí, Captain Francisco, in Missouri.
Rubruquis, William de, sent to court of Great Khan, 3.
Rump Parliament, 152.
Rupert, Prince, interest in Hudson's Bay Company, 213.
Russia, 3, 375, 382, 384;
expansion across Siberia, 388;
expeditions of Bering on Pacific, 388;
fur traders on Aleutian Islands, 388;
rumors of activities of, 394.
Rutherford, Gen. Griffith, 512-513.
Rutledge, Edward, member of the First Continental Congress, 452;
defense of Charleston, 471;
on committee to draw up Articles of Confederation, 550.
Rutledge, John, member of the Stamp Act Congress, 436;
member of the First Continental Congress, 452.
Saavedra, Alvaro de, expedition across the Pacific, 42, 46.
Saavedra, Hernando, in Honduras, 38.
Saba Island, settled by Dutch, 167;
captured by English, 206, 531.
Sable Island, 81, 85.
Saco Bay, settlement, 140.
Sagres, on Cape St. Vincent, 4.
St. Augustine, Florida, founding, 62;
Franciscan monastery at, 65;
siege of, in War of the Spanish Succession, 269-270;
attacks on, in War of Jenkins' Ear, 362, 364;
under English rule, 403, 408, 409.
St. Bartholomew's, massacre of, 79.
St. Christopher Island, settled by French, 93, 94, 252;
by English, 132-133, 252;
in the Leeward Isles government, 206;
in wars, 261, 268;
social conditions, 340;
captured by De Grasse, 532;
restored to Great Britain, 537.
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, in Burgoyne campaign, 494-495.
St. Croix Island, French settlement of, 85.
St. Denis, Louis Juchereau de, founds Natchitoches, 278;
expeditions to Mexico, 278, 282-283, 293;
imprisonment, 283, 295;
raises French expedition, 297.
St. Eustatius Island, settled by the Dutch, 167, 252;
captured by the English, 206, 262;
trade, 341, 428;
in the Revolution, 520;
captured by the English, 530-531.
St. John, French fur trading post, 86.
St. John's River, 62.
St. Joseph, Michigan, captured by Spaniards, 516.
St. Julien, Peter, South Carolina trader, 369.
St Kitts. _See_ St. Christopher.
St. Lawrence River, exploration of, 81, 82;
French settlement, 86-90.
St. Leger's expedition, 493, 496.
St. Louis, Missouri, La Clede's post at, 396;
emigration to from Illinois, 396;
Spanish régime installed, 397-398;
a center for Indian control and fur trade, 401, 402;
communication with Santa Fé, 402;
British expedition against, 516;
counter expedition to Michigan, 517.
St. Louis of France, sends Rubruquis to Great Khan, 3.
St Louis, Alabama, French settlement, 276; moved to Mobile, 276.
St. Lucia Island, captured by English, 510;
attempted capture by De Grasse, 531;
given to France, 537.
St. Marks Bay, Narváez at, 41.
St. Martin Island, settled by the Dutch, 167;
captured by English, 531.
St. Mary's, Maryland, 127.
St. Thomas Island, Danes on, 253.
St. Vincent Island, occupied by French, 510;
restored to Great Britain, 537.
Salamanca, University of, 76.
Salazar, royal factor of New Spain, 48.
Salem, Massachusetts, founded, 141;
suffering at, 142;
Roger Williams controversy, 146-147;
witchcraft, 220.
Salmerón, _oidor_ of New Spain, 49.
Saltillo, Coahuila, settlement of, 59;
Franciscan monastery at, 59.
Salvatierra, Juan Maria, Jesuit missionary in Lower California, 306.
San Antonio Mission, California, 389.
San Antonio, Florida, presidio of, 64.
San Antonio, Texas, founded, 293-295;
strengthening of, 298.
San Bernabé, Lower California, 307.
San Blas, naval base for California, 389.
San Bruno, Lower California, 242.
San Buenaventura Mission, California, 394.
San Carlos Mission, California, 389.
San Diego, California, founded, 389.
San Diego Bay, California, discovery of, 47;
exploration of, 71.
Sandoval, Gonzalo de, lieutenant of Cortés, 36, 37.
Sandys, Sir Edwin, and Virginia, 120.
San Esteban (Tampico), founding of, 37.
San Felipe, Sinaloa, 58, 59;
development of, 58;
Jesuit school for boys, 237.
San Felipe, South Carolina, 64.
San Fernando, Villa of, Texas, founded, 298.
San Francisco, California, founding of, 391.
San Francisco Bay, California, 47, 71, 389.
San Francisco Xavier, Sonora, 239.
San Gabriel Mission, California, 391.
San Gerónimo, Sonora, founding of, 45;
destruction of, 56;
refounding, 59.
San José, pueblo, California, 392.
San Juan, Sinaloa, mines of, 56;
revolt of Indians at, 58.
San Juan, Sonora, mines, 239.
San Juan, Porto Rico, founded, 17;
captured by English, 66;
decline of, 67;
captured by Dutch West India Company, 252.
San Juan River, Nicaragua, exploration of, 31-32.
San Luis, Nicolás de, Otomi Chief, conquest of Querétaro, 39.
San Luis Obispo Mission, California, 391.
San Luis Potosí, conquest and settlement of, 59;
growth of, 59.
San Mateo, Florida, 64.
San Miguel de Gualdape, South Carolina, settlement of, 41.
San Miguel el Grande (Allende), Mexico, 59.
San Pedro mines, Mexico, 59.
San Sabá, Texas, mines, 248;
mission, 299.
San Salvador, Central America, conquest, 31, 37-38;
population, 75.
San Salvador Island, discovered and named by Columbus, 8, 10.
San Xavier (San Gabriel) River, Texas, mission and presidio on, 299.
Santa Ana, Father, missionary in Texas, 299.
Santa Bárbara mission and presidio, California, 394.
Santa Bárbara, Mexico, mines of, 56;
expedition from, 72.
Santa Catalina Island, California, 71, 255;
mission, 255.
Santa Clara Mission, California, 392.
Santa Cruz de Tlatelalco, Mexico,
College of, founded, 50.
Santa Cruz Island, 252.
Santa Elena (Port Royal) South Carolina, 61-62, 64, 65, 253.
Santa Fé Mission, Florida, 2, 69.
Santa Fé, New Mexico, 73, 243, 246, 290.
Santa Fé de Guanajauto, founding of, 58.
Santa Lucia, Florida, 64.
_Santa Maria_, one of Columbus' ships, 8;
wreck of, 10.
Santa Maria de Lagos, Mexico, 59.
Santa Maria de Parras, Coahuila, 60.
Santangel, Luis de, influence in favor of Columbus, 7;
loan to the Castilian treasury, 8.
Santa Cruz, Franciscan College of, at Querétaro, 249.
Santiago de Cuba, founded, 17, 18;
decline of, 67;
captured by Jackson, 252;
English attempt to conquer, 363.
Santo Domingo, 17, 67;
establishment of audiencia, 20;
population, 75;
attacks on during King William's War, 262.
Saratoga, campaign, 497, 498.
Sardinia Island, 13, 359.
Satren, Pierre, expedition to New Mexico, 286.
Sault Ste. Marie, 88;
Jesuit mission, 88, 96.
Saunders, English vice-admiral, 379, 380.
Savannah, founding, 316;
attempted relief by D'Estaing, 511;
captured by the British, 524;
failure to recapture, 524.
Saybrook, 149.
Saye and Sele, Lord, interest in the Caribbean, 133;
holdings in the Connecticut Valley, 149;
obtains lands in New Hampshire, 157.
Sayle, Captain William, governor of the Bermuda Islands, leads
colony to Segatoo, 152;
leads settlers to old Charles Town, 208.
Schenectady, New York, 263.
Schouten, William Cornelius, discovers Cape Horn, 165.
Schuyler, Captain John, 264.
Schuyler, Peter, 265.
Schuyler, Gen. Philip, appointment, 464;
in command of the northern department, 487;
defense of northern New York, 493-496;
superseded by Gates, 496.
Schuylkill River, settlement, 155.
Scotch, in New Jersey, 202;
at Port Royal, 210;
in New England, 216;
in New York, 222.
_See_ Scotch-Irish.
Scotch-Irish, causes of migration, 322-323;
seventeenth century migration, 324;
the great migration, 324;
to New England, 324-325;
to New York, 325;
to Pennsylvania, 325-326;
to the Southern Piedmont, 326;
in North Carolina, 415.
Second Continental Congress, delegates, 463;
nature of the work of the congress, 463-464;
military and naval preparations, 464;
prizes and privateers, 465;
finance, 465;
post office established, 465;
Indian policy, 465-466;
enforcement of the Association, 466-467;
letter to the people of Canada, 467;
attempts to influence public opinion in the British Empire, 468;
statement to the army, 468;
petition to the king, 468-469;
reply to Lord North, 469;
abandons Philadelphia and goes to Baltimore, 490;
second abandonment of Philadelphia, 502;
provides a navy, 517;
its nature, 539;
original powers of the delegates, 540;
causes of weakness, 540; business, 541;
organization and conduct of business, 541;
early acts, 541-542;
judicial functions, 542;
military affairs, 542-543;
naval affairs, 543;
foreign affairs, 543-544;
financial affairs, 544-545;
creates executive offices, 553.
Secretaries of State, 347, 351, 353.
Sedelmayr, Father Jacob, Jesuit missionary and explorer in Arizona,
304, 307.
Segatoo (Eleutheria) Island, settled, 152.
Segura, Father, Jesuit, founds missions in Florida, Georgia,
Carolina, and Virginia, 1568-1570, 65.
Seignorial grants in New France, 92, 93.
Seneca Indians, 259;
in St. Leger's army, 496.
Sénégal, Africa, coast of, explored, 5;
retained by British, 1763, 382.
Separatists, 135.
Sena, Junípero, 386;
president of the California missions, 389;
member of Portolá expedition, 389;
goes to Mexico, 389; death, 394.
Seven Years' War, 375, 384.
_See_ French and Indian War.
Sevier, John, Tennessee pioneer, 415, 416;
defense of Watauga, 513;
at King's Mountain, 527.
Seville, 10;
treaty of, 366.
Shaftesbury. _See_ Cooper.
Shawnee Indians, 417.
Sheffield, Lord, land grant to, 140.
Shelby, Isaac, 527.
Shenandoah Valley, settlement, 320.
Sherman, Roger, member of First Continental Congress, 452;
on the committee for drafting Declaration of Independence, 479;
on committee to draw up Articles of Confederation, 550.
Ship-building, 217, 331, 332.
Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, 364. 374, 375-376.
Shrewsbury, New Jersey, 198.
Sicily, 16, 359, 361.
Sieur de Argaud, New World project, 275.
Sieur de Monts, fur trader. 85, 86.
Silao, Mexico, founded, 58.
Silva, Father Juan de, Franciscan missionary in Florida, 65.
Sinaloa, conquest of, 39;
development of, 56, 305-306, 387;
Jesuits in, 237-240;
map of, in seventeenth century, 238.
Sinclair, British commander at Mackinac, expedition against St.
Loins, 516.
Sioux Indians, French among, 287.
Six Nations. _See_ the Iroquois Indians.
Slavery, beginning of the traffic, 5;
slaves in Spain, 13;
enslaving of the Indians, 22, 23, 31, 37, 56, 60-61, 72, 75, 270, 298;
practiced by Mayas and Nahuas, 27;
negro slavery, 23, 56, 273, 276, 279, 281, 282, 361;
in French settlements, 94;
St. Thomas, slave-trading station, 253;
English monopoly of slave-carrying trade, 385;
Dutch slave trade, 196;
English slave trade, 196, 197;
in tobacco colonies, 229;
in South Carolina, 230, 334-335;
in Georgia, 316;
Rhode Island slave trade, 331;
in various colonies, 336;
in the West Indies, 339-341.
Sloughter, Henry, governor of New York, 198, 344-345.
Smith, James, explorer on the Tennessee, 413.
Smith, John, in Virginia, 117;
explorations on the New England coast, 136.
Smuggling, 350-360, 361, 385, 398, 406.
Smythe, Sir Thomas, interest in Mediterranean trade, 107;
in Virginia Company, 120.
Society for Propagating the Gospel, 338.
Solís, Juan de, explorer, 25.
Sombrerete, Mexico, 55, 56.
Somers, Sir George, wrecked on Bermuda Islands, 129;
forms Somers Island Company, 130.
Somers Island Company, 130;
dissolved, 206.
Sonora, Mexico, 41;
Jesuits in, 237, 230-240;
map, 238;
development, 305-306, 387;
Indian disturbances, 1768-1771, 386.
_See_ Pimería Alta.
Sons of Liberty, 436.
Sosa, Castaño de, alcalde-mayor in Nuevo León, 60;
expedition to New Mexico, 72.
Sothell, Seth, 211.
Soton, French trader on the Tennessee, 102.
South America, explorations of Portuguese in, 5;
Columbus' discovery of mainland of, 17;
explorations of coasts of, 23-24, 25;
Spanish conquests, 50.
Southampton, on Long Island, settled, 151.
South Carolina (for early history see Carolinas) in later 17th
century, population, commerce, religion, education, society,
230-231;
separation from North Carolina, 313-315, 354;
Spanish resistance to English advance, 253-256;
Yamassee revolt against Spaniards of Georgia, 255;
English raids on Georgia missions, 255;
South Carolina traders among the Creeks;
Anglo-Spanish border, struggle during War of Spanish Succession, 269-271;
expeditions against Florida, 269-270;
Spanish attack on Charleston, 270.
South Company, 174-175.
South Sea. _See_ Pacific Ocean.
Spain, during the conquest, 13-16;
unification of, 14;
Charles V, 15-16;
under Philip II, 52-53, 67;
decline in the 17th century, 232;
relations to the Powers, 1715-1739, 359-361;
attitude toward American Revolution, 507-508;
in American Revolution, 515-517;
operations on lower Mississippi, 515;
repulse of British at St. Louis, 516;
expedition against St. Joseph, 516;
capture of Mobile and Pensacola, 516-517;
in League of Armed Neutrals, 520;
loans to United States, 554.
Spanish Armada, defeat of, 52-53.
Spanish Colonies in North America, general history, the discovery,
7-11;
the founding of New Spain, 13-50;
occupation of West Indies, 16-19;
beginnings of colonial administration and policy, 19-23;
exploration of mainland coasts and search for strait, 23-26;
Maya and Nahua civilization, 26-28;
conquest of Central America, 28-32;
conquest of Valley of Mexico, 32-36;
spread of conquest in southern Mexico and Central America, 36-40;
exploration of Florida, Cíbola, Quivira, California and Philippines,
40-47;
establishment of viceroyalty of New Spain, 47-50;
expansion in later 16th century, 52-76;
New Spain under Philip II, 52-55;
the mines of northern Mexico, 55-61;
occupation of the Atlantic seaboard (Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, Virginia), 61-65;
foreign intrusions in the Atlantic, 65-67;
the Philippines and California, 67-71;
New Mexico founded, 72-75;
Spanish achievement in the sixteenth century, 75-76;
expansion in the 17th century, 233-256;
frontier administration, 234-235;
the missions, 235-237;
Jesuits in Sinaloa and Sonora, 237-240;
efforts to occupy Lower California, 240-242;
Chihuahua settled, 242;
New Mexico in the 17th century, lost and regained, 243-247;
Coahuila founded, 247-249;
first attempts in eastern Texas, 249-251;
struggle with rivals in the West Indies, 251-253;
with the English on the Carolina border, 253-256;
New Spain in the Wars of English and Spanish successions, 261-262,
267-271;
French intrusions in Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, 275-286;
expansion and frontier conflict during early 18th century, 289-307;
development of Chihuahua and New Mexico frontier, 289-290;
explores in Colorado and Utah Basin, 291-292;
the province of Texas, 292-300;
French intrusion, 295-297; 300-301;
occupation of Pimería Alta, 301-306;
the Jesuits in Lower California, 306-307;
Spanish colonies during intercolonial wars, 359-383;
Florida lost, Louisiana acquired, 382;
readjustments after Seven Years' War, 384-388;
Charles III and José de Gálvez, 384-387;
expulsion of Jesuits, 386;
the Provinciali Internas, 386-387;
new dioceses, 387;
the intendancies, 387;
the Russian menace, 388;
Alta California founded, 380-394;
communication with New Mexico, 391-392;
explorations in Northern Pacific, 394-395;
Louisiana under Spain, 395-402;
ceded, 382, 395;
hostility to transfer, 396;
O'Reilly's _coup d'état_, 397;
development of the province, 397-402;
Spain in the American Revolution, 515-517;
Gálvez's conquests, 515-516;
English campaign against St. Louis, 516;
Florida restored to Spain, 535-538.
Spice Islands, 24, 46, 68.
Spillberg, Dutch freebooter on the Pacific, 240.
Spotswood, Governor Alexander, expedition to the Blue Ridge
Mountains, 313.
Springfield founded, 149.
Squanto, 138-319.
Stamford founded, 150.
Stamp Act, 433; opposition and resistance
to, 434-436; repealed, 437.
Stamp Act Congress, 436-437.
Standish, Captain Miles, at Leyden, 137;
commanding expedition to Cape Ann, 141.
Staple Act of 1663, 180-181.
Stark, Gen. John, 461, 495-496.
State governments, organization, 546;
types, 546;
variations from type, 547;
selection of judiciary, 548;
courts, 548;
state of Vermont, 548;
western state-making, 549.
Statute of Henry VIII regarding trials for treason, 442.
Stephen, negro, with Vaca, 44.
Stirling, Sir Thomas, 484, 490, 500.
Stone, William, governor of Maryland, 162.
Stoner, pioneer in Kentucky. 413, 417.
Stony Point, captured by Wayne, 511.
Strabo, his conception of the world, 1.
Strait of Anian, 24, 25, 67-68.
Straits of Magellan, 25.
Stuart, John, British Indian superintendent, 407, 412.
Stuyvesant, Peter, director of Curaçao 172;
director-general of New Netherlands, 172;
struggle over representation, 172-173;
conquest of New Sweden, 177;
difficulties with the English, 177-178.
Suaque Indians, Sinaloa, 239.
Suffolk Resolves, 452.
Sugar, 340-341.
Sugar Act, 430-431.
Sullivan, Gen. John, at Long Island. 484;
in Northern New York, 487;
at Trenton, 490, 491;
at Brandywine, 500;
at Germantown, 502;
at Newport, 510;
expedition against the Iroquois, 515.
Sully, French minister, 79.
Sulpicians, in the Illinois country, 91, 101.
Sumter, Thomas, South Carolina leader in the Revolution, 526, 527,
529.
Superstitions in New England, 220.
Surinam, 197.
Swannendael, Dutch settlement, 170.
Swanson and McGillivray, traders in Florida, 407.
Sweden, alliance with France, 80;
expansion movement, 174-175;
settlements on the Delaware, 175;
conquest of New Sweden by Dutch, 175-176.
Swiss migration to South Carolina, 321;
to North Carolina, 321;
to Georgia, 321.
Sylvius, Æneas, _General History and Geography_, 7.
Tabasco, Mexico, 33.
Tacuba, Mexico, 28.
Tadoussac, fur trading settlement, 85, 87.
Tagus River, 10, 13.
Talon, first intendant of New France, 92;
administrative activities, 92-93, 96.
Tamaulipas, Mexico. _See_ Hausteca, Pánuco, Nuevo Santander.
Tamaral, Father, Jesuit missionary in Lower California, 307.
Tampa Bay, DeSoto at, 41.
Tampico (San Estéban), Mexico, 37.
Tangaxoan, Tarascan chief, 36.
Tano Indians, 246.
Tápia, Cristóbal de, attempt to investigate Cortés, 34.
Tápia, Fernando de, Otomi chief in, conquest of Querétaro, 39.
Tápia, Gonzalo de, Jesuit missionary in Sinaloa, 237.
Tarahumare Indians, 242;
revolt of, 246.
Tarascans, Mexican tribe, 28, 36.
Taraval, Father, Jesuit missionary in Lower California, 307.
Tarleton, Sir Banastre, 525, 526, 528.
Tartary, travelers' report of, 3.
Tea controversy, 447-449.
Tegesta, Florida, 64.
Tehuantepec, Mexico, 36.
Tehueco Indians, Sinaloa, 239.
Tejas (Texas) Indians, 245.
Tennessee, settlement of eastern, 414-416;
stimulated by North Carolina troubles, 414-415;
the Watauga settlement, 415;
the Watauga Association, 415-416;
middle, 418-419;
Cumberland settlement, 419;
Davidson County, North Carolina, 419.
Terán, Domingo de, governor of Texas, 251.
Terreros, Don Pedro de, gift to Apache missions, 299.
Texas, Pineda coasts, 26;
Vaca crosses, 41;
Moscoso in, 41;
Coronado in Panhandle, 45;
Espejo crosses, 72;
Castaño de Sosa crosses, 72;
Oñate crosses Panhandle, 73;
La Salle's colony in, 98-100;
Tonty in, 99;
map, 99;
expeditions from New Mexico to Jumanos, 243-244, 246;
beginnings of El Paso, 245;
the La Junta missions, 245;
Azcué crosses Rio Grande, 248;
Cerro de la Plata, 248;
Bosque-Larios expedition, 248;
the Querétaro friars, 248-249;
search for LaSalle's colony, 249;
eastern Texas occupied (De León and Massanet), 249-251;
and then abandoned, 251;
map, 250;
Hurtado in western Texas, 291;
advance of the Coahuila frontier, 292;
plans to reoccupy Texas, 292;
new French intrusion, 278, 283;
St. Denis in Mexico, 278, 292;
eastern Texas reoccupied (Ramón, Espinosa, Margil), 293;
San Antonio founded (Olivares, Alarcón), 293-295;
map, 294;
French invasion (Blondel), 279, 295;
the Aguayo expedition, 296-297;
Texas won for Spain, 297;
expansion of Texas, 297;
Rivera's inspection, 297;
San Antonio strengthened, 298;
Apache wars, 298;
Tonkawa and Apache missions, 298-299;
the Gulf coast occupied (Nuevo Santander), 299;
western boundary, 300;
the Texas-Louisiana boundary, 300;
the Lower Trinity fortified, 301;
readjustment after 1763, 385;
explorations of Parrilla and Escandón, 385;
Rubí's tour, 385;
eastern outposts abandoned, 385, 400;
Gil Ybarbo, 400;
De Mézières among the northern tribes, 401;
Croix, Ugalde, and the Apache War, 401;
communication with Louisiana and New Mexico (Vial), 402.
Thirty Years' War, 80.
Thomson, Charles, secretary of Second Continental Congress, 541.
Three Rivers, Canada, 257, 419.
Ticonderoga, captured, 462;
an American base, 487;
abandoned, 493-494.
Tidewater, Atlantic, settled in 16th and 17th centuries, 52-231,
_passim_.
Tierra Firme, Las Casas' Utopian colony in, 23.
Tiguex, 45.
Tlascala, resistance to Cortés, 33.
Tlascaltecan Indians (Tlascalans), 28, 59;
used as colonists, 59-66.
Tobacco industry in English colonies, 121, 122-125, 130, 183-184,
188, 228, 313, 333-334;
Tobago Island, 252;
granted to the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, 132;
captured by De Grasse, 531;
given to France, 537.
Tobar, discovers Moqui pueblos, 45.
Tocobago, Florida, 64.
Toledo, victory over English at St. Kitts, 252.
Tololotlán, Rio de, Mexico, 37.
Tolosa, Juan de, founder of Zacatecas, 55.
Toltecs, Nahua tribe, settle in Valley of Mexico, 27.
Toluca, Merico, 53, 75.
Tonkawa, missions in Texas, 209.
Tonty, soldier with La Salle, 08, 09;
fur trader, 265, 275, 276.
Tópia, Mexico, 56.
Tordesulas, Treaty of, 11.
Tories. _See_ Loyalists.
Torres, Admiral Don Rodrigo de, 363.
Tortola Island, captured by the English, 207.
Tortuga Island, occupied by French, 94;
occupied by the English, 133.
Toscanelli, Florentine geographer, influence on Columbus, 7;
map, 7.
Touacara Indians, Oklahoma. 283.
Townshend Acts, 438-443.
Townshend, Charles, policy, 438.
Trans-Alleghany settlement, English, before the French and Indian
War, 413;
Boone, Croghan, Finley, and other pioneers, 413-414;
the Appalachian barrier, 414;
the Indian barrier, 414;
Indian cessions, 414.
Transylvania, Kentucky, 417, 418, 549.
Treasure ships, Spanish, routes of, 62.
Treasury, United States, 465.
Treasury Board, United States, 544.
Treaty of Tordesulas, 11;
of Breda, 86, 197;
of 1604 between England and Spain, 114;
of 1650 between New Netherlands and New England Confederation, 177;
of Pyrenees, 232;
of Ryswick, 266-267;
of Utrecht, 273;
of Aix-la-Chapelle, 366;
of Paris, 1763, 382-383;
of Lochaber, 412;
of alliance with France, 508;
at end of American Revolution, 532-548.
Trent, Council of, 52.
Trenton, battle of, 491.
Treviño, Baltasar, founder of Zacatecas, 55.
Tribunal de la Santa Hermandad, 53.
Trinidad, Guatemala, population, 75.
Trinidad Bay, California, discovery of, 395.
Trinidad Island, West Indies, 262;
granted to the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, 132.
Trinity River, Texas, 301, 400.
Trujillo, Honduras, 38, 252.
Tryon, Governor of North Carolina, 415.
Tunica Indians, 410.
Turkish Empire, rise of, supposed effect on trade routes, 5;
opposition of Charles V to westward advance of, 16.
Turk's Island, settled, 152;
attacked, 269.
Turnbull Dr., colonizes East Florida, 309.
Tuscarora War, 271, 320.
_Twenty Reasons_, by Father Las Casas, 50.
Ugalde, Juan de, campaigns against Apaches, 401.
Ugarte, Juan de, Jesuit missionary and explorer in Lower California,
306.
Ulloa, Antonio de, Spanish governor of Louisiana, 396-397.
Ulloa, Francisco de, explores Pacific coast, 44.
Unalaska, rebellion of natives, 388.
Underwood, Captain John, raids Newfoundland, 271.
United Empire Loyalists, 538.
_See_ Loyalists, Canada.
University of Mexico, 76;
founding of, 53.
_See_ Education in Mexico.
Unzaga y Amezaga, Luis de, Spanish governor of Louisiana, 398.
Urdaneta, Fray Andres de, discovers return route from Philippines, 68.
Uraba, Gulf of, 38.
Urdiñola, Francisco de, settlement of Saltillo, 59;
lieutenant-governor of Nueva Vizcaya, 60;
commission to conquer New Mexico, 60.
Ursulines, The, in New France, 88.
Usselincx, William, in the Dutch West-India Company, 166;
in Sweden, 174-175.
Utah Basin, explorers and traders in, 291-292, 392.
Utatlán, Guatemala, submission to Cortés, 38.
Utrecht, Peace of, 273, 361.
Uxmal, Maya settlement, 27.
Urribarri, Juan de, expedition to El Quartelejo, 291.
Vaca, Alonzo de, expedition to Quivira, 243.
Vaca, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de, treasurer of colony of Florida, 41;
journey across continent, 41, 42;
application for governorship of Florida, 41.
Valcárcel, Antonio de, _alcalde mayor_ of Coahuila, founds
Monclova, 248.
Valcour Island, battle of, 487-488.
Valley Forge,. 503.
Valverde, governor of New Mexico, expedition across Arkansas River,
295-296.
Vandalia colony, 412-413, 418.
Vane, Governor Harry, in the Hutchinsonian controversy, 148;
member of Committee of Trade, Plantations, and Foreign Affairs, 153.
Van Noort, Oliver, circumnavigation of the globe, 164.
Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, patroon, 170.
Van Twiller, Wouter, director-general of New Netherlands, 170.
Vargas, Diego de, reconquest of New Mexico, 246-247.
Varkens Kill, settled, 155.
Vaudreuil, governor-general of New France, 375, 381.
Vaughan, Sir William, land grant in Newfoundland, 125.
Velasco, Father, Jesuit missionary, in Sinaloa, writes grammar, 237.
Velasco, López de, author of geographical work on Spanish colonies, 75.
Velasco, Luis de, second viceroy of New Spain, 53;
promotes expansion, 59, 61-62, 67, 71.
Velasquez, Diego, governor of Cuba, 17;
exploring expeditions, 25, 32;
his contest with Cortés, 33, 34.
Venables, conquest of Jamaica, 253.
Venetian Company, 107.
Vera Cruz, founding of, 33, 36, 47;
port of departure for expeditions to Florida, 61, 62;
port for Spanish merchant fleet, 66;
population, 75;
capture of fleet by Heyn, 252.
Vera Paz, Central America, 39.
Veragua, Central America, 28;
dukedom of, 32;
Audiencia of, 49.
Vérendrye. _See_ La Vérendrye.
Vergennes, Comte de, French minister, policy toward the American
Revolution, 505-506, 507;
perfects an alliance, 508;
sends De Grasse to America, 530;
dealings with John Adams, 532-533;
treaty of peace, 534-538.
Vermont, German migration to, 322;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 325;
organization of, 548-549.
Vernon, Admiral Edward, 361, 363.
Verrazano, exploring expedition, 81.
Vespucius, Americus, explorations of, 24.
Vetch, Colonel Samuel, 272.
Vial, Pedro, explorations in Southwest, 402.
Viceroyalties in Spanish America, New Spain and Peru, 75-76.
Victoria Garayana. _See_ Pánuco.
Vila, Captain Vicente, explores Northern Pacific, 389.
Villafañe, attempt to colonize Florida, 61-62.
Villalobos, López de, expedition to Philippines, 47, 67.
Villazur, expedition to Platte River, 1720, 279, 284, 291, 296.
Villiers, lieutenant-governor of Arkansas Post, 398.
Vincennes, founded, 282;
captured by Clark, 514;
reoccupied by British, 514;
retaken, 514.
Vining, E.J., identification of Fusang, 2.
Vinland, discovery of, 2.
Virgin Isles, 341.
Virginia, Jesuit mission in, 1570, 65;
Council of, 113;
settlement of, 115-128;
charter of 1606, 116;
Jamestown founded, 116-117;
John Smith, 117;
charter of 1609, 117-118;
the starving time, 118;
governorship of Gates, 118;
under Lord Delaware, 118-119;
Spanish resistance to, 118-119;
under Sir Thomas Dale, 119-121;
charter of 1612, 120;
first governorship of Berkeley, 160;
Indian War of 1644, 160;
struggle with the Commonwealth, 160;
government under the Commonwealth, 160, 162;
growth, 162;
House of Burgesses, 120,
agricultural development, 120-121;
immigration, 121-122; massacre of 1622, 122;
crown regulation of tobacco industry, 122-123;
a royal colony, 123;
population, 123;
plantations, 123-125;
attitude of Charles I, 124;
under Governor Harvey, 124-125:
royal tobacco monopoly, 125;
trouble with Maryland, 127-128;
economic distress, 183;
population in 1680, 183;
Dutch attacks, 184;
abuses in the second administration of Governor Berkeley, 184;
proprietary grants, 185;
Indian War, 185-186;
Bacon's rebellion, 185-186;
Jeffreys in control, 187;
Culpeper, 187;
Howard, 187-188;
population, 227;
settled areas, 227;
plantation system, 228;
commerce, 228-229;
labor system, 229;
religion, 229;
education, 229;
German migration to, 320;
Scotch-Irish migration to, 326;
social and economic conditions in the eighteenth century, 333-334;
under William III, 345;
protests against Grenville's policy, 433;
resolutions, 435-436;
opposition to Townshend Acts, 442;
trouble with the governor, 444;
rebellion in 1775, 462-463;
struggle with Lord Dunmore, 471;
navy, 518;
Yorktown campaign, 530-532.
Vizigoths, kingdom of, in Spain, overthrown by Mohammedan Berbers, 13.
Vizcaíno, Sebastián, California expeditions, 71.
Wager, Charles, English Commodore, 268.
Walker, Sir Hovenden, expedition against Quebec, 272.
Wall Street, 172.
Wallen, pioneer in Kentucky, 413.
Walpole, Robert, 353, 360.
Walpole, Thomas, interest in Vandalia, 413.
Wampanoags, 138-139.
War department, of United States, organized, 554-555.
War between England and Spain, 1654-1655, 153.
Wars between the English and Dutch, 1652-1654, 153;
1667, 1672-1673, 184.
War of the Palatinate, 261.
War of the Austrian Succession, 364, 366;
French attack on Acadia, 364;
capture of Louisbourg, 364-365;
border warfare, Acadia to New York, 365;
naval activity, and battles off Cape Finisterre, 365-366;
Knowles's attack on the Spaniards in West Indies, 366;
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 366.
War of the English Succession (King William's War) in the colonies,
map, 260;
four years of war in the Caribbean Sea, 261-262;
the war on the Canadian frontiers, 262-266;
the Maine frontier, 262;
French attack on New England frontier and the English defense, 263; English expedition
against Montreal, 263-264;
capture of Port Royal, Acadia, 264;
English expedition against Quebec, 264;
Schuyler's expedition, 265;
attacks of Abenakis and of the French, 265;
the New English frontier, 266;
massacre at Durham, 266;
activities on Hudson Bay, 266-267;
operations of Iberville, 266;
peace of Ryswick, 260-267.
War of Jenkins' Ear, 361-364;
in the West Indies, 361, 363;
on the Georgia frontier, 361-263, 363-364;
attack on St. Augustine, 362, 364.
War of the Polish Succession, 360-361.
War of the Spanish Succession, French expansion during the peace of
Ryswick, 267;
the Spanish succession, 267;
Second Treaty of Partition, 267;
English decision for war, 267-268;
war areas (in America), 268;
West Indies, indecisive struggle, 268-269;
on the Florida border, 269-271;
on the Canadian border, 271-272;
in the Hudson Bay country. 273;
Peace of Utrecht, 273.
Ward, Artemus, 464.
Warren, Joseph, distributes arms, 460.
Warwick, Lord. _See_ Rich, Robert.
Warwick, Rhode Island, settled, 159.
Washington, George, bearer of Dinwiddie's message to the French in
Ohio, 369;
organizes plan of defense, 373-374;
member of Western Land Company, 411;
in northeastern Kentucky, 416;
member of the First Continental Congress, 452;
commander of the continental army, 464;
siege of Boston, 471;
New York operations, 482-487, 488-489;
New Jersey campaign, 489-493;
struggle for Philadelphia, 499-502;
Valley Forge, 503;
Conway Cabal, 503-504;
reception of Lafayette, 508;
Monmouth, 509-510;
draws cordon about New York, 511;
equips a fleet, 517;
on control of the sea, 530;
communicates with De Grasse, 531;
plan to trap Cornwallis, 531;
assembly of forces, 531-532;
Yorktown, 532.
Washington County, North Carolina, organized, 1416.
Watauga settlement, 412;
Association, 415-416;
attacked by Cherokees, 512, 513;
attempt at statehood, 549.
Watertown, settled, 142.
Watling's Island, 10.
Waxhaws, 525.
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 500, 511.
Webb, Colonel Daniel, 376.
Weiser, Conrad, interpreter to Indians, 365.
Welles, Maine, claimed by Massachusetts, 157.
Welsh, settlers in North Carolina, 415.
Wessagusset, 140.
West, Joseph, governor of the Carolinas, 208;
trouble with Yeamans, 210;
political difficulties, 210.
West Indies, discovery of, 9-10;
Spanish colonies founded, 16-19;
rule of Columbus in, 16-17;
gold discovered, 17;
Santo Domingo founded, 17;
spread of Spanish settlement, 17-19, 251;
map, 18;
Spanish administration, 19-23;
the towns, 20;
immigration, 21;
agriculture, 21;
Indian policy, 22;
depopulation, 19, 22, 67;
French, Dutch, and English intrusions, 65-66, 80;
Spanish decline, 67;
French colonies, 93-96;
Company of St. Christopher's, 93;
French West India Company, 94;
Elizabethan Sea-dogs in, 107-108;
English colonies in the Lesser Antilles, 132-133;
Providence Island Company, 133;
English expansion in, 152;
Jamaica conquered by England, 153, 253;
Dutch settlements in, 166-167;
Dutch West Indian Company, 166;
English expansion and reorganization, 206-207;
unrest in Barbados, 207;
Spanish conflict with rivals in 17th century, 251-253;
privateers, 252;
Spanish retaliation, 252;
Danes and Brandenburgers, 253;
during War of English Succession, 261-263;
during War of Spanish Succession, 268-269;
society in English colonies in the 18th century, 339-341;
the planters, 339;
Barbados and Leeward Islands, 340;
Jamaica, 340-341;
emigration from, 341;
smuggling, 341;
piracy, 349-350;
the Molasses Act, 356;
the West Indies during the War of Jenkins' Ear, 361-363, 365;
during War of Austrian Succession, 366;
during French and Indian War, 379, 382;
Spanish reorganization, 387-388;
trade with Louisiana, 398;
English province of Grenada organized, 404;
relation of trade to American Revolution, 430-431, 454;
war activities during American Revolution, 510-516, 517-520, 530, 532;
in the Treaty of 1783, 537.
Western Sea, efforts to find route to, 287-288.
Western (Lazarus) Islands, 67.
West New Jersey, population, 224;
settled area, 224-225;
social conditions, 224-225;
religion, 226;
education, 226-227.
_See_ New Jersey.
Westsylvania, 418.
Weston, Thomas, gives financial aid to the Pilgrims, 317;
his settlement at Wessagusset, 139;
aid from Plymouth, 139.
West Point, 511-512.
Westward movement, English, characteristics, 309-312;
into the Piedmont, frontier defense, 312-313;
reorganization of the Carolinas, 313-315;
founding of Georgia, 315-316;
German and Swiss migration, 316-322;
Scotch-Irish migration, 322-326;
significance of the settlement of the Piedmont, 326-328;
into the Trans-Alleghany West, 403-419.
Wethersfield founded, 149.
Weymouth, George, voyage to New-England, 116.
Weymouth settlement, 140.
Whigs, 458, 459, 463. _See_ Revolution.
White, Governor John, of Roanoke, 110.
White, Reverend John, forms association, 141.
Whitefield, George, 338.
White Plains, 485, 487.
Wichita, Kansas, Oñate at, 73.
Wichita Indians, 45. _See_ Quivira.
Wiehawken, New Jersey, 198.
Wilderness Road, opened by Boone, 417.
William and Mary College, 229, 338-339.
Williams, Roger, at Boston, 146;
at Salem, 146;
at Plymouth, 146;
preaching at Salem, 146-147;
his trial, 147;
founding of Providence, 147;
separation of church and state, 147;
government, 147;
keeps Narragansetts out of Pequot War, 150;
obtains revocation of Coddington patent, 159.
William III, first reorganization of the colonial system, 343-346;
second reorganization, 346-350.
_See_ War of the English Succession.
William of Orange (the Silent), 52.
Windward Islands, 252.
Williamson, Col. Andrew, 513.
Williamsburg, made capital of Virginia, 345.
Willing, James, raids in the Southwest during the Revolution, 513-514.
Willoughby, Sir Hugh, expedition to Russia, 106.
Wilmington, made base by Cornwallis, 529.
Wilson, James, attitude toward Declaration of Independence, 478.
Windsor, founded, 149.
Windward Islands, organized into a province, 206.
Winslow, John, 375.
Winter, English freebooter, 66.
Winthrop, Fitz-John, 263.
Winthrop, John, governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, 142;
arrives at Salem, 142;
moves to Charlestown, 142;
religious controversies, 147-148.
Winthrop, John Jr., erects Fort Saybrook, 149.
Witchcraft in New England, 220.
Wolfe, Major-General, capture of Quebec, 379-380.
Woolen Act of 1698, 349.
Wrenn, Ralph, English commodore, 262.
Wright, Commodore, English commander in the Caribbean Sea, 262.
Writs of assistance, 428-429.
Wyoming Valley massacre, 514.
Yale College, 339.
Yamassee Indians, revolt against Spaniards, 255;
War in South Carolina, 314.
Yaqui Indians, missions among, 239.
Yaqui River Valley, Sonora, 45, 56;
Jesuit missions in, 239.
Yazoo, judicial department of Louisiana, 279;
immigration to, 408.
Ybarbo, Antonio Gil, leader in eastern Texas, 400.
Yeamans, Sir John, expeditions to Carolina, 208;
claims the governorship, 210;
governor, 210.
Yeardley, Sir George, governor of Virginia, 120.
York (Maine), claimed by Massachusetts, 157.
Yorktown campaign, 530-532.
Yucatán, exploration of, 25;
inhabitants of, 27;
conquest of, 38-39.
Yuma, mission pueblos at, 393;
massacre of Spaniards at, 393-394;
punishment for, 394.
Zacatecas, mines of, 55, 56;
development of, 59;
population, 75.
Zacatula, Mexico, ship-building port, 37, 42.
Zaguaripa, Mexico, Ibarra at, 56.
Zaldívar, Vincente, pioneer in New Mexico, 73.
Zárate Salmerón, Gerónimo de, Franciscan missionary in New Mexico, 243.
Zavala, Martin de, _conquistador_ of Nuevo León, 247.
Zenger case, 356-357.
Zultepec, Mexico, 75.
Zumárraga, Bishop of Mexico, 48.
Zuñi, New Mexico, pueblos, 44, 45, 46. 72.
Zuñiga, Governor of Florida, 269.
Zuñiga, Spanish ambassador to England, 118, 119.
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