"My country, 'tis of thee!" Or, the United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition.

[Illustration. BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS, COLUMBIAN EXHIBITION, CHICAGO, 1892-93]

“My Country, ’Tis of Thee!” OR, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

A PHILOSOPHIC VIEW OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND OF OUR PRESENT STATUS, TO BE SEEN IN THE COLUMBIAN EXHIBITION.

By Willis Fletcher Johnson, A. M.,

AUTHOR OF “STANLEY’S ADVENTURES IN AFRICA,” “HISTORY OF THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD,” “A LIFE OF GENERAL SHERMAN,” ETC.

GREAT ISSUES OF THE FUTURE, AS VIEWED BY OUR MOST PROMINENT EDITORS AND EMINENT MEN OF OUR COUNTRY, INCLUDING PRESIDENT HARRISON, EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND, SENATOR SHERMAN, JUDGE THURMAN, CARDINAL GIBBONS, BISHOP FOSS, BISHOP POTTER, T. V. POWDERLY, GENERAL SCHOFIELD, ADMIRAL PORTER, AND MANY OTHERS.

By John Habberton,

AUTHOR OF “A LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON,” ETC., AND EDITOR OF “THE SELECT BRITISH ESSAYISTS.”

Illustrated.

INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., 44 N. 4th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 134 E. Van Buren St., Chicago, Ill. 1892.

Copyright, 1892, by B. W. URIAN.

Office Of The President. Board Of Lady Managers. World’S Columbian Exposition.

Gentlemen:

With reference to your request for an introductory note, allow me to assure you that it affords me great pleasure to speak to the masses through the medium of your excellent book.

Thanking you for the courtesy, I am,

Yours most truly,

[Illustration: Signature of Bertha M. H. Palmer

Pres. B. L. M.]

The Purposes

Of The

Board Of Lady Managers

Of The

World’S Columbian Commission.

The Board of Lady Managers of the World’s Columbian Commission, having been created and authorized by the concurrent action of Congress and the Columbian Commission, to take entire charge of the interests of women at the coming Exposition, desires to develop to the fullest extent the grand possibilities which have been placed within its reach.

The Board wishes to mark the first participation of women in an important national enterprise, by preparing an object lesson to show the progress made by women in every country of the world, during the century in which educational and other privileges have been granted her, and to show the increased usefulness that has resulted from the enlargement of her opportunities.

The Board of Lady Managers invites the women of all countries to participate in this great exhibit of woman’s work, to the end that it may be made not only national, but universal, and that all may profit by a free comparison of methods, agencies, and results.

It is of the first importance that such a representative collection be secured from every country as will give an adequate idea of the extent and value of what is being done by women in the arts, sciences, and industries.

We will aim to show to the breadwinners, who are fighting unaided the battle of life, the new avenues of employment that are constantly being opened to women, and in which of these their work will be of the most distinct value by reason of their natural adaptability, sensitive and artistic temperaments, and individual tastes; what education will best enable them to enjoy the wider opportunities awaiting them and make their work of the greatest worth, not only to themselves but to the world.

The Board has decided that at the coming Exposition it will not attempt to separate the exhibit of woman’s work from that of men, for the reason that as women are working side by side with men in all the factories of the world, it would be practically impossible, in most cases, to divide the finished result of their combined work; nor would women be satisfied with prizes unless they were awarded without distinction as to sex, and as the result of fair competition with the best work shown. They are striving for excellence, and desire recognition only for demonstrated merit. In order, however, that the enormous amount of work being done by women may be appreciated a tabulated statement will be procured and shown with every exhibit, stating the proportion of woman’s work that enters into it. The application blanks now being sent out to manufacturers contain this inquiry.

The Board of Lady Managers has been granted by Act of Congress the great and unusual privilege of appointing members of each jury to award prizes for articles into which woman’s work enters. The number of women on each jury will be proportionate to the amount of work done by women in the corresponding department of classification. The statement as to the amount of their work will therefore be of double significance, for in addition to the impressive showing of how large a proportion of the heavy labor of the world is being performed by the weaker sex, it will also determine the amount of jury representation to which the Board is entitled.

Beside the extensive exhibit in the general Exposition buildings, women will have another opportunity of displaying work of superior excellence in a very advantageous way in the Woman’s Building, over which the Board of Lady Managers will exercise complete control. In its central gallery it is intended to have grouped the most brilliant achievements of women from every country and in every line of work. Exhibits will be admitted only by invitation, which will be considered the equivalent of a prize. No sentimental sympathy for women will cause the admission of second-rate objects, for the highest standard of excellence is to be there strictly maintained. Commissions of women organized in all countries, as auxiliaries to the Board of Lady Managers, will be asked to recommend objects of supreme excellence produced by women, and producers of such successful work will be invited to place specimens in the gallery of the Woman’s Building.

Not only has woman become an immense, although generally unrecognized factor in the industrial world, but hers being essentially the arts of peace and progress, her best work is shown in the numberless charitable, reformatory, educational, and other beneficent institutions which she has had the courage and the ideality to establish for the alleviation of suffering, for the correction of many forms of social injustice and neglect, and for the reformation of long-established wrongs. These institutions exert a strong and steady influence for good, an influence which tends to decrease vice, to make useful citizens of the helpless or depraved, to elevate the standard of morality, and to increase the sum of human happiness; thus most effectively supplementing the best efforts and furthering the highest aims of all government.

All organizations of women must be impressed with the necessity of making an effective showing of the noble work which each is carrying on. We especially desire to have represented, in the rooms reserved for that purpose, the educational work originated or carried on by women, from the Kindergarten organizations up to the highest branches of education, including all schools of applied science and art, such as training-schools for nurses, manual training, industrial art and cooking schools, domestic economy, sanitation, etc. When not practically exhibited, the work of all such organizations should be shown by maps, charts, photographs, relief models, etc.; but it is earnestly hoped that one, at least, the most representative institution in each of these branches, will be shown from every country, in order that a comparison may be made of methods and results.

Bertha M. H. Palmer.

Contents.

Chapter I.

The Age Of Discovery.

Classic legends of Atlantis--Chinese and Japanese accounts of early voyages to America--Prince Madoc and the Welsh legends--The voyages of the Vikings--Eric and Leif and their adventures--Columbus and his schemes--The most memorable voyage in history--Post-Columbian voyagers and explorers--Many men from many lands flocking to the newly-discovered continent--A new world opened to the civilization and to the greed of Europe.....17

Chapter II.

“In The Good Old Colony Times.”

Parcelling out the country--Foundation of the earliest colonies--Jamestown and its settlers--Strange improvidence of the colonists--Troubles with the Indians--John Smith and Pocahontas--The Pilgrims and Puritans--Substantial growth of the New England Colonies--New York--Troubles with the Mother Country--Growth of the spirit of independence--The War of the Revolution and its results.....60

Chapter III.

The Story Of The Nation.

Establishing a constitutional government--Disputes with other powers--A second war with England--Territorial acquisitions--Settlement and admission of new States--The slavery question--War with Mexico--The rush for gold in California--The Kansas troubles--How the great war was precipitated--The campaigns from Bull Run to Appomattox--Political results of the war--Rapid growth of the country since--The present state of the nation.....105

Chapter IV.

World’S Fairs.

The origin and object of universal exhibitions--New York’s Crystal Palace--Spirit and hopes of its projectors--Its display of the nation’s greatness--The Centennial Exposition of 1876--Magnitude of the enterprise--Description of its hundred buildings--Calendar of events--An impressive exposition of national development.....146

Chapter V.

The Columbian Exposition.

Preparations for a celebration of the quartercentenary of Columbus--Chicago chosen as the site--Marvelous history of the Western Metropolis--How the Columbian Exhibition was organized--Sketches of its promoters--The principal buildings and grounds--Financial arrangements--An exhibition surpassing all its predecessors and fittingly commemorating the birth of a new world.....204

Chapter VI.

Society’S Foundation-Stone.

Marriage Customs in the United States--Shiploads of women disposed of as wives to the earlier Virginia Planters--The Marriage Relation should be closely guarded--Divorced people, have they _moral_ right to remarry?--A rich man and a stupid wife--Drifting apart--Duty of the Church--Views of a happy wife--Novels, love and marriage--“Beauty and the Beast”--An insulting imputation--_Is it_ the “best match?”--Marriage blunders.....247

Chapter VII.

The Demon Of Divorce.

Marriage _not_ a failure--Rev. David Swing’s caustic comment--Views of Rabbi Silverman--Heartlessness of Divorce Court proceedings--Divorced persons debarred by the Queen of England--Sufferings of the children--“Vice is a monster of such hideous mien”--Shall we have a Constitutional Amendment restricting divorce?--Views of Bishop Foss and Bishop Whittaker--Position of the Catholic Church and of the Hebrews--“Church union cannot be combated”--“Burn the bridges”.....260

Chapter VIII.

The Farmer’S Troubles.

Encumbered with mortgage--Energy of the farmer--Lack of capital--Labor--The farmer’s children and city life--“The borrower is servant to the lender”--The census valuation of farm lands--Hiram Sibley, the millionaire farmer--Twelve Vermont farms--The Western farmer and the railroads--Co-operative stores--“Land-poor”--Government aid for the farmers.....272

Chapter IX.

The Rum Power.

Harm done by the liquor traffic--Views of Bishop Warren, of the Methodist Church--Miss Frances Willard’s views--“Petroleum” Nasby--Rum in politics--Channing’s aphorism--Rev. Theodore Cuyler’s summary of statistics--Causes of drunkenness--Ways to reclaim the unfortunates--Control the demon by law--Public opinion--Bishop Foss’ reply--Restrictive measures.....288

Chapter X.

National Defence.

Our harbors useless--Caught napping by England--Troops and the Indians--General Sheridan’s last report--General Sherman’s protests--Congressional inactivity--Admiral Porter hammering at Congress--A blast from the late Samuel J. Tilden--Desertions from the army--Statistics from General Schofield’s report--Frontier life for the soldier--Major Sumner’s plan.....303

Chapter XI.

Labor.

Laboring men--Their mistakes and their grievances--Labor sure to be imposed upon--Driving a sharp bargain--Low wages resulting from competition--A laborer in chains recently brought for sale into the market-place of a New England town--But the people rise in their wrath--Does _practical_ slavery exist in the United States?--Coal miners and factory hands compared with the _consistados_ of South America--The store system of credits--Resulting evils to the laborers.....318

Chapter XII.

Self-Help For Labor.

The importance of being a “full-handed workman”--_Successful_ mechanics know more than one branch of business--This quality developed in new countries--Votes of laborers controlled by corporations--A curious experience in the West.....336

Chapter XIII.

Immigration.

America is a home--Not an asylum--Liberty is not license--No paupers need apply--Nor any contract laborers--Skilled labor welcome, if it comes to stay--Immigrant farmers will do us good--Too much hurry in granting citizenship--Foreign faction fights must not be kept up here--Transplanted stock improves rapidly.....351

Chapter XIV.

Annexation.

We don’t want the earth--We need more neighbors--Not more children--Non-assimilative races would weaken us--The Old World’s experience at land-grabbing--Let Canada alone till she wants us--Likewise Mexico--We have enough discordant interests now--We don’t want to pay other nations’ debts.....368

Chapter XV.

The Indian.

He has stopped fighting--Let us stop robbing him--The Indian will work--He has plenty of brains--Capacity for education abundantly proved--Records of the experiment at Hampton--He knows a good thing when he sees it--The beneficent effects of the Dawes bill--Even the Apaches have worked as good as white men.....385

Chapter XVI.

The Press.

The editor is the nation’s schoolmaster--Also the most trusty advocate of the people’s rights--He brings the people together in spirit and purpose--Always ahead of Congress and the government--Rapid improvement of the newspaper--Independence in journalism--Trial by newspaper.....399

Chapter XVII.

The School-Room.

Boys and girls who are to be men and women--The schools are behind the times--Too much fuss and too little gain--Discipline which costs too much--Heads stuffed, but hands and hearts neglected--Faults of teaching--About faculties benumbed by routine work--What has been done can be done--The country boy ahead.....410

Chapter XVIII.

Railroads.

Rights and wrongs of the great transportation corporations--What they have done for the country and what the country has done for them--Era of construction closed and an era of restriction and regulation begun--Why railroad officials become millionaires--Watering stock--A curious question which will be raised one of these days.....431

Chapter XIX.

Banks And Banking.

New York no longer the sole dictator in the money market--Why Western business men are now independent of metropolitan money-lenders--The increase of “reserve cities”--Banking methods to dodge the laws--How unscrupulous bank directors get rich--Why so many cashiers go to Canada and how to stop them--Noted living bankers.....455

Chapter XX.

Our Cities.

Cities are necessary evils--But greatly to be avoided--City life is dangerous to most persons--Unnatural influences are inevitable--Hard on the purse and hard on the heart--Poverty’s last refuge--The home of the thief--The touch of nature lost--Temptations innumerable--Restraints few--No place for country boys and girls--City forms of government must change--THE DARKER SIDE--The sorrows of the city poor--Friendless and alone--Miserable homes--Health and morals menaced--All depends on one life--Chances and misfortunes--Sickness and death--The story of the Ganges paralleled--The majority are industrious--An army of heroes--Religion and rum their only comforts--Child work and child ruin--Benevolence wearied and despairing.....481

Chapter XXI.

Religion.

Religion is in no danger--The letter suffers but the spirit grows--Essentials were never more prominent--The tree is judged by its fruit--Proselyting has gone out of date--Denominations have ceased to fight--A life as well as a faith.....509

Chapter XXII.

Woman And Her Work.

One “woman’s right” secured--She has a chance almost everywhere--The liberation of man--Woman’s wits sharpen quickly--Advantages over male workers--Woman need not marry for a home--The tables turned--Some effects upon society--Never enslaved unless stupid--The “Song of the Shirt”--The coming generation.....517

Chapter XXIII.

Our Literature.

A nation of readers--Books to be found everywhere--The Sunday-School library--Chautauqua’s great work--The American author is a busy man--Good books make their way, sooner or later--Abler men should go into authorship--Our literature making its way abroad--American writers’ characteristics--Our literature is clean, earnest and hopeful.....531

Chapter XXIV.

American Humor.

The salt that will save us--A nation of jokers--Our Puritan and cavalier ancestors were fond of fun--President Lincoln’s jokes--Humor in the pulpit--Fun in the newspapers--Prentice--Mark Twain--Nasby--Nye and Riley--Miles O’Reilly--“Uncle Remus”--John Hay--“Bob” Burdette--All healthy fun--No malignity in our jokes--The best-natured people alive.....547

Chapter XXV.

The Higher Education.

A land full of colleges--How these institutions began to exist--Tributes to American regard for intelligence and education--Something better needed--No lack of money--Views of Presidents Dwight of Yale, Eliot of Harvard, McCosh of Princeton, White of Cornell, Bartlett of Dartmouth, and Gilman of Johns Hopkins--Bishop Potter on the place of the scholar in America.....566

Chapter XXVI.

Our Great Concern.

Our country first and foremost--No sectional differences--No foreign interests or entanglements--The people first, the party afterward--Loyalty to party means disloyalty to the republic--Meddlers must be suppressed--All in the family--One for all and all for one--E Pluribus Unum.....597

List Of Illustrations.

Facing Page

Bird’s-eye View of Grounds and Buildings, Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1892-93, Frontispiece

Christopher Columbus, 17

Landing of Columbus, 32

Washington, 49

Residence of the President of the United States, 1798, 64

Abraham Lincoln, 81

World’s Fair, New York, 1853, 96

Main Building, International Centennial Exhibition, 1876, 113

Libby Prison, 128

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 145

Chicago in 1856, 160

Chicago Street Life--Washington Street and Wabash Avenue, 177

U. S. Grant, 192

The Capitol, 209

Bear Pit (Lincoln Park), 224

The Auditorium Hotel, 241

Bird’s-eye View of the Proposed Buildings of the University of Chicago, 256

Tacoma Building, 273

Residence of Hon Potter Palmer, 288

Mines Building, 305

U. S. Man-of-War, 320

Agricultural Building, 337

Perspective View Looking South, Showing End of World’s Columbian Exposition, 352

Administration Building, 369

Electrical Building, 384

Gallery of Fine Arts, 401

Transportation Building, 416

Horticultural Hall, 433

Fisheries and Agricultural, 448

Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, 465

Machinery Hall, 480

Woman’s Building, 497

[Illustration: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.]

“My Country, ’Tis Of Thee.”

Chapter I.

The Age Of Discovery.

Beginning with the year 1492, the date of the first voyage of Columbus, necessarily leaves a great part of American history untold. Every nation’s story begins in the middle; back of Leonidas are the Homeric heroes; Romulus and Remus antedate the Tarquins. So, centuries before the clear glory of Columbus, we have tradition of various shadowy explorers whose strange barques visited our shores. Unless we grant the earliest inhabitants of America an autochthonic origin, it seems most reasonable to suppose that they came from Asia. Such authorities as Humboldt, Bancroft, and Prescott declare it their opinion that the monuments, the systems of cosmogony, the methods of computing time, etc., all point to an ancient communication with eastern Asia. It is certain that from time immemorial constant intercourse has been kept up between the natives of either side of Bering’s Strait, and it is very probable that the original immigrants came that way. There are other possible routes--the Aleutian Islands and Polynesia are the two next favored by the authorities.

There is a distinct trace of Japanese blood in many of the native tribes of the northwest coast, and we have too many modern instances of Japanese junks drifting upon the American coast, after floating for months at the mercy of the Pacific currents, to doubt the possibility of prehistoric visits of these people. What is known as the “black stream,” or Japan current, runs northward past the eastern coast of the Japanese Islands, then curves to the east and south, passing the west coast of America and moving toward the Sandwich Islands. This current, it is said, would carry a drifting vessel toward the American coast at the rate of ten miles a day.

The theory which supposes the people, or at least the civilization, of America to be of Egyptian origin is based upon analogies existing between the architecture, hieroglyphics, and various customs of the two countries. But even where these analogies bear the test of close examination, they can scarcely be said to prove anything. In western Asia the Phœnicians--those bold voyagers--and their children, the Carthagenians, are given the honor of settling America. The records of their travels show that they knew of a country lying far to the west. In the writings of Diodorus Siculus is an elaborate account of a wonderful island in the Atlantic Ocean, far beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and many days’ journey from the coast of Africa. This happy land, fertile of soil, beautiful of scenery, and perfect of climate, was accidentally discovered by Phœnician sailors, whose barque was driven thither by contrary winds. On their return they gave such glowing accounts of the new country that large colonies of Tyrians left their native land to settle there. This may have been America, but is more likely to have been the Canary Islands.

Volumes have been written to prove that America was settled by the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

In old Welsh annals there is an account of a colony established in the twelfth century by Madoc, one of the sons of Owen Gwynedd, prince of North Wales. After the death of this monarch, his sons waged war against each other for the sovereignty. Madoc became disgusted with contention, and determined to leave his native country and establish a kingdom of his own, as far away as possible from the quarreling of his brothers. He set sail, with what followers he could muster, and for many months bore westward. At length they came to a large and favorable country, and, having sailed for some distance along the coast, they found a landing-place to their liking and disembarked. Some years later, Madoc returned to Wales and persuaded a large number of his countrymen to join the colony. Ten ships were fitted out with all manner of supplies, and many families set sail for the new land. Of their further adventures the records are silent.

An Irish discovery of America is also claimed. St. Patrick is said to have sent missionaries thither. There is every reason to believe that Irish sailors could have reached, by accident or otherwise, the shores of our continent, but there is no reason at all to believe that they did.

But these are all speculations, fairy stories, myths. Coming down to sober facts, there are but two historical documents of real value bearing upon the discovery of America before Columbus. One of these documents is Chinese, the other Scandinavian.

The Chinese document is an extract from the official records, and sets forth the adventures of a Buddhist priest named Hwui Shin, the same being related by him after his return from a country lying very far to the eastward. This country is claimed by some to have been Japan, but others claim that it was America. The weight of evidence certainly inclines toward the latter theory. The historian begins his account with the statement that, in order to reach the new continent, it is necessary to set out from the coast of the province Leao-tong, to the north of Peking, reaching Japan after a journey of twelve thousand _li_--that is, about four thousand miles. Sailing northward seven thousand _li_, one reaches the kingdom of Wen-shin. Five thousand _li_ eastward is the country of Ta-han. Twenty thousand _li_ beyond is the new world--which the record names as the country of Fu-sang.

Perhaps we cannot do better than to present the original record, as translated by Professor S. Wells Williams:

“In the first year of the reign, Yung-yuen, of the Emperor Tung Hwăn-han, of the Tsi dynasty (A.D. 499), a Shaman priest named Hwui Shin arrived at King-chau from the kingdom of Fu-sang. He related as follows:

“‘_Fu-sang_ lies east of the kingdom of _Ta-han_ more than twenty thousand _li_; it is also east of the Middle Kingdom (China). It produces many _fu-sang_ trees, from which it derives its name. The leaves of the _fu-sang_ resemble those of the _tung_ tree. It sprouts forth like the bamboo, and the people eat the shoots. Its fruits resemble the pear, but it is red; the bark is spun into cloth for dresses and woven into brocade. The houses are made of planks. There are no walled cities with gates. The (people) use characters and writing, making paper from the bark of the _fu-sang_. There are no mailed soldiers, for they do not carry on war. The law of the land prescribes a southern and a northern prison. Criminals convicted of light crimes are put into the former, and those guilty of grievous offenses into the latter. Criminals, when pardoned, are let out of the southern prison, but those in the northern prison are not pardoned. Prisoners in the latter marry. Their boys become bondmen when they are eight years old and the girls bondwomen when nine years old. Convicted prisoners are not allowed to leave their prison while alive. When a nobleman (or an official) has been convicted of crime, the great assembly of the nation meets and places the criminal in a hollow (or pit); they set a feast, with wine, before him, and then take leave of him. If the sentence is a capital one, at the time they separate they surround (the body) with ashes. For crimes of the first grade the sentence involves only the person of the culprit; for the second it reaches the children and grandchildren; while the third extends to the seventh generation.

“‘The king of this country is termed _yueh-ki_; the highest rank of nobles is called _tui-li_; the next, little _tui-li_; and the lowest, _no-cha-sha_. When the king goes abroad, he is preceded and followed by drummers and trumpeters. The color of his robes varies with the years in the cycle containing the ten stems. It is azure in the first two years; in the second two years it is red; it is yellow in the third, white in the fourth, and black in the last two years. There are oxen with long horns, so long that they will hold things--the biggest as much as five pecks. Vehicles are drawn by oxen, horses, and deer, for the people of that land rear deer just as the Chinese rear cattle, and make cream of their milk. They have red pears, which will keep a year without spoiling; water-rushes and peaches are common. Iron is not found in the ground, though copper is; they do not prize gold or silver, and trade is conducted without rent, duty, or fixed prices.

“‘In matters of marriage, it is the law that the (intending) son-in-law must erect a hut before the door of the girl’s house, and must sprinkle and sweep the place morning and evening for a whole year. If she then does not like him, she bids him depart; but if she is pleased with him they are married. The bridal ceremonies are, for the most part, like those of China. A fast of seven days is observed for parents at their death, five for grandparents, and three days for brothers, sisters, uncles, or aunts. Images to represent their spirits are set up, before which they worship and pour out libations morning and evening; but they wear no mourning or fillets. The successor of the king does not attend personally to government affairs for the first three years. In olden times they knew nothing of the Buddhist religion, but during the reign Ta-ming of the Emperor Hiao Wu-ti, of the Lung dynasty (A.D. 458), from Ki-pin five beggar priests went there. They traveled over the kingdom, everywhere making known the laws, canons, and images of that faith. Priests of regular ordination were set apart among the natives, and the customs of the country became reformed.’”

There are several other narratives which relate to Fu-sang, or to countries near it in situation. This, of them all, seems to describe most truthfully a real country. Fu-sang may have been Japan, or it may have been Mexico. Hwui Shin’s account differs very widely in some of its details, from our knowledge of either.

All the literature of the subject of Chinese discoveries of America has been examined and reviewed in Mr. E. P. Vining’s excellent book, _An Inglorious Columbus_. Mr. Vining believes Fu-sang to be Mexico, and the _fu-sang_ tree, in his view, is the maguey.

When we come to the Scandinavian records, we find much that is not only plausible but indisputable evidence of the validity of their claims. We know that the Scandinavian vikings, splendid old rascals, in their many-oared galleys, often sailed far out into the waters of the Atlantic. In the year 860, one of these glorious cut-throats, Naddoddr (pronounce it if you can!), was blown upon the coast of Iceland. In 876 a similar experience befell another viking, and he reported having seen in the distance the coast of an unknown shore.

In the year 981, Eric the Red, an outlaw of Iceland, sailed in search of this coast, and, finding it, set a bad example to future real estate dealers by naming its bleak length Greenland.

Subsequent to this discovery, according to the sagas of Iceland, frequent visits to the south were made, and one Bjarni, distancing all previous explorers, found a fertile country to which he gave the name of Vinland. This was in the year 985, and, although the stories of these exploits are vague and untrustworthy enough in detail, there seems little doubt that Bjarni really visited the eastern coast of America at that date.

No attempt was made at colonization; indeed, it is not recorded that the galleys of Bjarni stopped at the new land at all. The wind which had carried them thither changed suddenly, and they were borne back to Iceland, where it is safe to presume that they all got uproariously drunk, and did a great deal of bragging on the strength of their adventure.

The second voyage to the new country was made by Leif, son of Eric the Red, about the year 1000. He touched first a barren land covered with icy mountains which he named Helluland. Spreading sail again he turned the prow of his vessel southward until he reached a level country with trees and grassy slopes. This he called Markland. Two days sailing brought the vessel to an island at which the sailors disembarked, for the weather was warm and the sight of land alluring. They stayed here for a few hours and then steered for the mainland. A river flowed out from a lake, and in this lake they anchored, carried the luggage from the ship, and built themselves houses. It was the most beautiful, the most fertile land they had ever seen, and they resolved to spend the winter there. One of the boldest of them left his companions to the enjoyment of the salmon fishing in the river and lake, and devoted himself to exploring the surrounding country. He found quantities of wine-berries (probably grapes), and with these berries and with some wood they loaded their ship and set sail for Greenland.

Seven years later another expedition was fitted out with three ships, and under command of this same Leif. They sailed far to the southward and finally came to a promontory, to the right of which lay a long, sandy beach. On this beach, or rather on a tongue of land that ran out from it, they found the keel of a ship. They called this point, Kjlarnes (Keel Cape), and the beach, Furdustrandir (Long Strand).

When the expedition set out, King Olaf Tryggvason gave Lief two famous runners, a Scotch man and woman, named Haki and Hekja. These people were set on shore shortly after they had passed Furdustrandir, and ordered to run to the south, explore the country and return in three days. At the end of the designated period they returned, the man bringing a bunch of wine-berries and the woman an ear of wheat. This was promising, and the expedition voted to continue the southward course.

Coming to a bay in which was an island around which flowed rapid currents, they gave it the name of Straumey (Stream Island). The island was so covered with the nests of eider ducks that it was difficult to step without treading on the eggs. Here they resolved to tarry, and, unloading the vessels, built habitations. Whether they stayed a long or a short time, and what adventures befell them, of good or evil, we know not.

A fuller record is that of Karlsefne, who with another hero, Snorro, and our old friend Bjarni, sailed southward a long time until they came to the river which ran out through the lake into the sea. The river was too shallow to allow the ships to enter without high water. Karlsefne sailed with his men into its mouth, and named the place Hop. Here were found fields of wild wheat, and on the high ground wine-berries grew abundantly. The woods were full of game and the men found plenty of amusement for a fortnight. The only remarkable thing they saw was a number of skin boats filled with swart, ugly people who rowed near the shore and gazed in astonishment at the Northmen. They had coarse hair, large, wild eyes and broad faces. They remained gazing at Karlsefne’s men for a little and then rowed away to the southward.

With these people the explorers soon established communication, trading red cloth, which the natives seemed to prefer to anything else, for skins and furs. They wished to purchase swords and spears, but these the Northmen refused to part with. As long as the red cloth held out their relations with the Skraelings, as they had named the natives, continued friendly. But one day, as the saga has it, while they were trafficking, a bull which Karlsefne had with him ran out of the wood and bellowed so fiercely that the Skraelings were frightened out of their wits, and fled in their skin boats, back to the southland.

Three weeks later great numbers of them returned, and, with loud cries, sprang on shore, prepared to do battle. Their weapons were slings, and very uncomfortable weapons they proved to be, but the Northmen stood their ground valiantly, until all of a sudden they saw the Skraelings raise on a pole something that looked like an air-filled bag of a blue color. They threw this at the enemy, and when it struck the ground it exploded violently. At this Karlsefne and his men retreated, never stopping until they gained a rocky stronghold, where they made another stand, and at length succeeded in vanquishing the Skraelings.

Shortly afterward the expedition returned to Greenland. Many other Northmen visited Vinland, according to the sagas, but no effort was made at colonization. It is a matter of conjecture as to the exact location of the country explored by them. Some writers believe it to have been Labrador, and others place it as far south as Rhode Island. The Skraelings, as they are described in the sagas, certainly resemble Esquimaux more nearly than Indians. But then we have no positive proof that the Northmen ever actually visited America at all. The presumption is that they did, but all matters of detail must necessarily remain doubtful, even if we accept their narratives in the main as true.

But whatever credit is to be given to the Asiatic, Norse, or other early discoverers of America, or whatever knowledge of this hemisphere may have been possessed by Europeans in classic times, to Christopher Columbus must be ascribed the honor of opening the Western World to actual settlement by civilized man. This illustrious man was born in 1436, in all but the lowest rank of life. His father was a woolcomber of Genoa. But the education of the lad was made as complete as the scanty means of his parents and the limited knowledge of that day would permit. At an early age he learned to read and write, and obtained some knowledge of arithmetic, drawing, and painting. Then he was sent to the college at Pavia, one of the best institutions of learning of those times. Here he studied grammar and the Latin language; but his attention, fortunately for the world, was directed principally to studies bearing upon the maritime profession, which he intended to follow. He was instructed in geometry, astronomy, and navigation. Like many of the young men of Genoa, he had an irresistible inclination toward the sea. This was but natural, as that city was one of the chief ports of the world. Later in life, Columbus ascribed this inclination to a direct impulse from God, but this was only after his career had been crowned with such brilliant success.

Geography was at this time the fashionable fad of the day. The world was just beginning to recover the lost geographical knowledge, limited as it was, of the Greeks and Romans. Monks and churchmen were still splitting hairs over absurdly unimportant problems: How many angels could stand on the point of a needle? whether a lie, under certain circumstances, was not truth? whether black might not, in certain cases, be truly called white? and other questions of equal vitality. But Arabian philosophers, at the same time, were measuring degrees of latitude and calculating the circumference of the earth. Their studies and achievements inevitably found their way to the minds of many Christians in Europe, who, although detesting the religious creed of the Mohammedans, were able to see that their science was not to be despised. The works of Ptolemy and Strabo had also just come into popular circulation, and created as much of a sensation as any realistic novel of the present day. Prince Henry of Portugal had made voyages of important discovery along the African coast, and thus had inspired all the nations of Western Europe with the hope of lighting upon some yet unknown region of fabulous wealth.

All these circumstances made the time particularly fitting for the most important event of the ages since the Christian era. The hour had come and the man also. At fourteen years of age Columbus left the school at Pavia, and began the life of a sailor. This simply meant to cruise from one port of the Mediterranean Sea to another, half as a merchantman, half as a man-of-war. Every vessel was hourly exposed to the attacks of pirates, especially those of the Barbary States, or of the war vessels of hostile countries. In the midst of such dangers and difficulties Columbus spent his early years. But the coarseness, ignorance, and violence with which he was surrounded did not degrade his noble mind. He had within him the seeds of greatness, a fine tone of thought, an ardent imagination, and a loftiness of aspiration. Every leisure hour was spent in study and profitable observation, thus improving the too meagre educational advantages of his brief school life.

The year 1470 found Columbus at Lisbon, drawn thither with hundreds of other navigators and scientific men by the fame of Prince Henry’s discoveries. Strange tales were told of unexplored regions in the fiery South, where the rocks were red hot and the water of the ocean forever boiling. Even to these extravagant tales Columbus gave some heed, but his thoughts were principally fixed on the possibility of finding a new world far to the west. Our hero was now in the prime of life, a tall, muscular man of commanding aspect. His light brown hair was already prematurely gray, and his expression of countenance was grave and scholarly. He was simple and abstemious in his diet, affable and engaging in his manners and a devout Roman Catholic. But under this exterior was concealed a nature of the most ardent enthusiasm, not less energetic than that of Peter the Hermit or Ignatius Loyola. His religious temperament led him often to the services of the Church, and it was there that he first met a lady of high rank who soon afterward became his wife. She was the daughter of Don Bartolomeo Monis de Palestrello, an Italian cavalier, one of Prince Henry’s most distinguished officers. The use of his father-in-law’s

[Illustration: THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS.]

fine collection of maps and charts was of great service to Columbus, who now gave his attention to geographical studies more thoroughly than ever. He talked or corresponded with all the learned men of the day. He began to trace charts of his own, correcting the popular errors and traditions by the aid of his own greater knowledge and experience. Rumor, inspired by the stories of early adventures, had studded the far western ocean with wondrous islands, on one of which seven Christian bishops, fleeing from Pagan persecution, had founded seven splendid cities. There were tales of a lofty mountainous country to be seen on clear days far to the westward from the Canary Islands. Plato had told of the ancient continent of Atlantis, which had been sunk beneath the waves of the ocean. Marco Polo, the Venetian adventurer, had told of the great wealth of the East Indies, which he said could be reached by sailing westward from Europe.

However much he discounted the more extravagant of these tales, Columbus was deeply impressed by them all. He became well convinced that far to the west there lay an unexplored region, probably a part of the East Indies, and he believed, with an intense religious zeal, that God had specially commissioned him to discover and explore it. Thereupon he consecrated the whole of his remaining life to the execution of this task. No hazard, nor obstacle, nor disappointment for a moment daunted him. He first applied to the Portuguese Court, stating the grounds of his belief in the existence of an undiscovered country in the western ocean, and asking for the means of ascertaining the truth of it. His proposition was received with indifference, and finally rejected under the influences of jealousy and intrigue. Then he returned to his native Genoa, and there sought the same aid and encouragement; but Genoa was already declining under the stress of domestic discord and foreign war, and was unable to do anything for him.

The fortunes of Columbus were now at a low ebb. He had exhausted his private means, and was in actual destitution. Downcast and disappointed, often begging his food from door to door, he made his way on foot from Genoa to the Court of Spain. Leading his little son by the hand, he one day approached the Spanish capital, and asked for bread and water at a convent door. The prior saw him, talked with him, became interested in him and his schemes, and offered to introduce him at Court. Thus Columbus obtained an interview with Cardinal Mendoza, the chief minister and confidential adviser of the King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. The Cardinal was a man of extensive information and liberal mind, who perceived at once the value of Columbus’s theories and commended them to the sovereigns. The King, also, was apparently a good judge of men, and appreciated the character and ability of Columbus. But he was not willing to embark hastily in so great an enterprise as that proposed. He first called together a council of all the most learned astronomers and geographers in his kingdom, and to them referred Columbus, with his maps and charts and theories.

This council met at Salamanca. It was entirely composed of friars, priests, and monks, who monopolized all the learning, both secular and religious, of that age. Some were men of large and philosophic minds; others, narrow bigots; but all were imbued with the notion that geographical discovery had reached its limits long before. In the presence of this learned body, Columbus, a simple seaman, strong in nothing save the energy of his convictions and the fire of his enthusiasm, had to appear to defend a scheme which to them must have appeared the dream of a madman. The difficulties of his position may be guessed from the nature of some of the objections made to his undertaking. His mathematical propositions and demonstrations were met with quotations from the Book of Genesis, the Psalms, the Prophets, the Epistles, the Gospels, and half a dozen of the Fathers of the Church. When he argued that the earth was spherical, his opponents quoted one of the Psalms, where the heavens are said to be extended like a hide. Some members of the council, for the sake of argument, would admit the rotundity of the earth, but denied the possibility of circumnavigating it, first, because of the intolerable heat of the torrid zone, and second, because it would take at least three years to accomplish the voyage, in which time the explorers would die of hunger, it being impossible to carry provisions sufficient for so long a time. Still others said that if a ship did reach India, she could never return, for the roundness of the globe would place a hill in her way, up which the strongest wind could not blow her.

Such were the absurd notions held by the foremost scholars of those days. It is needless here to recount such arguments further, or the arguments, now familiar to every school-boy, used by Columbus in support of his theory. It is enough to say that he was treated with incredulity, suspicion, and contempt, and narrowly escaped being condemned for heresy. After a long consultation the assembly broke up without arriving at any decision. Then the war with the Moors of Granada absorbed the attention of the Court for several years and exhausted its financial resources. But after years of weary waiting the wish of Columbus was granted. Queen Isabella pledged some of her jewels and in other ways raised a sufficient sum to equip his expedition. In the month of April, 1492, an agreement was drawn up making him Viceroy and Governor-General of all the lands he might discover and placing a number of ships and men at his disposal. On the morning of August 3d, 1492, he and his 120 comrades embarked in three small ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and set sail from the little port of Palos, in Andalusia, on the most important voyage in history.

In a few days the expedition reached the Canary Islands, the then western boundary of the known world. Beyond this all was speculation. And of all the members of the expedition Columbus alone had unquestioning faith in the object of the enterprise. Many of the sailors believed, when they had lost sight of the European shore, that they were doomed to inevitable destruction. Thus doubting and murmuring they sailed onward week after week. At one time their discontent and fears culminated in actual mutiny, and they proposed to put Columbus in irons or throw him overboard and return, if possible, to Europe. But he alternately calmed their discontent by promises of rich rewards and awakened their fears by threats of immediate punishment. Thus for two months he kept them in hand. Then as they again grew desperate and bade fair to defy his authority altogether, indications of land not far ahead began to appear. Birds hitherto unknown were seen flying above the waves and wheeling about the ships, and plants and bits of wood were seen in the water. Then the branch of a tree bearing red berries, and a curiously carved instrument, were picked up. These things inspired even the common sailors with hope that they were indeed approaching a shore.

At last, on October 8th, 1492, after sixty-five days of navigation on unknown seas, they discovered land. It was not the American continent, but one of the Bahama Islands, to which Columbus reverently gave the name of St. Salvador. It was inhabited by Indians who received the strangers kindly. Columbus formally took possession of the country in the name of the Christian religion and the King and Queen of Spain. And thus the dream of his youth was fulfilled and the ambition of his manhood was accomplished. The Western World was discovered. Subsequently he visited Cuba, Jamaica, Hayti, Porto Rico, and other islands, but did not reach the main land until his third voyage, when he visited Venezuela. He named the islands the West Indies, supposing them to be a part of the great East Indian Archipelago.

In the month of April, 1493, he returned to the Spanish Court. The City of Barcelona was ablaze with flags and the air was vocal with the roar of artillery, while all the bells of the churches rang peals of triumph in his honor. Years before Columbus had come thither on foot and in rags, begging his bread. Now he rode the streets in more than royal pomp, crowned with the admiration and acclaim of all the populace. Seven natives of the Western World marched in his train, and there was an almost endless display of gold and gems, of carven idols and sculptured masks, of birds and beasts and reptiles, of trees and plants and fruits. Above all waved two banners, one that of Spain which he had unfurled above the new continent, and the other the admiral’s flag bearing in golden letters the inscription,

Por Castilla y por Leon Nuevo Mundo hallo Colon,[A]

or, For Castile and Leon Columbus has discovered a new world.

Thus he came to the Court where the King and Queen awaited him, and was greeted by them as their equal. There, seated among the nobles of Spain, he gave a brief account of the most striking events of his voyage. The sovereigns listened to him with profound emotion and then fell on their knees to give thanks to God for so great an achievement. For the time being no honor was too great to bestow upon Columbus. He was commissioned to make other voyages to the New World and to take possession of all lands there in the name of Spain. Yet it was only a few years after that that the memory of his splendid services was outweighed by the malice of his foes. He was actually arrested, imprisoned and loaded with irons, and at the end died in disgrace and neglect, at Valladolid, May 20th, 1506.

The discovery made by Columbus was followed up by the Spaniards with the greatest enthusiasm. Within twenty years the four largest of the West Indian Islands were the seats of flourishing colonies, while as yet other nations were contenting themselves with occasional voyages of discovery along the coasts of the continent. The great fertility of the soil, the mildness of the climate, but above all the finding of gold and precious stones, kept the Spaniards alive to the importance of their new possessions and encouraged immigration. Columbus himself made four voyages to the New World, discovering, in his third voyage, the South American continent near the mouth of the Orinoco River, and reaching in his fourth, Honduras and the coast to the south of this region. He never knew what a great discovery he had made and to his death rested under the delusion that he had found the eastern shore of Asia.

In 1499 Alonzo de Ojeda, who had previously accompanied Columbus to the new country, made a voyage on his own account and explored four hundred leagues of the coast of South America. With him sailed Amerigo Vespucci, who afterward made three independent voyages to America and wrote the first account of it; this was published in 1507, and popular prejudice has supposed that his name came thus to be given to the New World.

At the recent Congress of Americanists in Paris, this point was discussed with much warmth. M. Jules Marcon asserted that Vespucci’s name was Alberico instead of Amerigo, and that he changed it after the new continent was named. The true derivation of the name America is Amerique, that being the Indian name of a range of mountains in Central America. Still, some historians declare that very range of mountains to have been called Amerisque, and it is true that in the Florentine language Alberico and Amerigo are identical. Then there is extant a map of the world prepared by one Vallescu of Majorca in 1490, on the back of which is a note to the effect that the map was purchased for one hundred and twenty ducats in gold by _Amerigo_ Vespucci, the merchant. This proves that even if his name was not Amerigo, he sometimes wrote it so.

Other voyagers were Pedro Alonzo Nigno and Vincent Pinzon, the latter being the first Spaniard to cross the equinoctial line. He discovered the mouth of the Amazon River and from there sailed north to the Carribean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In the same year (1499), Diego Lope explored the coast of South America far to the southwest.

The discovery and conquest of Mexico and Peru followed. The New World became the Mecca of every reckless and adventurous spirit in Europe. Ojeda sailed under a grant from the King of Spain to found a colony at San Sebastian, and with him went Francisco Pizarro, who thus made the first step in his adventurous career. The colony at San Sebastian was abandoned, and on the return voyage one vessel foundered. The other, commanded by Pizarro, reached Carthagena, where it was met by a fleet conveying men and provisions to the colony. On one of these ships was the adventurer Balboa, who had smuggled himself on board to escape his creditors. Learning that the colony toward which they were sailing had been deserted, Balboa proposed going to Darien, which coast he had already visited. The proposal met with favor and a new town was founded under the name of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. Trouble began immediately, as usual. The man who had brought the fleet thither, Encisco, a lawyer of San Domingo, was imprisoned and Balboa was made alcade of the colony.

The natives of Darien viewed their visitors with anything but favor, and endeavored by strategy to induce them to move on. They represented the neighboring district of Coyba to be much richer in gold and provisions than their own, and Pizarro, with only six men, went on an exploring expedition. The natives were found to be hostile, and on one occasion the Spaniards were surrounded by four hundred warriors, with whom they had a very bloody battle. One hundred and fifty natives were killed, many more wounded, while the Spaniards all escaped with their lives, one man only being too badly hurt to fly. Retreating to Santa Maria, they reported their misfortune, and it is to the credit of Balboa that he obliged them to return and bring back their wounded companion. Coyba was conquered, and an alliance formed with its ruler. Adjacent to it was a range of mountains, at the foot of which was a very rich and highly civilized country called Comagre. The chief invited the Spaniards to his domain, treated them with hospitality, and astonished them with the splendor of his possessions. His palace was a wonderful structure of wood, divided into many apartments. In one of these chambers, the dried and embalmed bodies of the chieftain’s ancestors, clothed in cotton robes, richly embroidered with gold and precious stones, were suspended from the walls. A large amount of gold and seventy slaves were presented to the Spaniards. One-fifth of the gold was set apart for the King, and over the remainder the Christians held such a dispute that the savages were aghast. Finally the young chieftain scornfully remarked that if they were so greedy for gold, he could direct them to a country where it was more common than iron was in their land. “When you have passed this range of mountains,” he continued, “you will behold another ocean, on which are vessels only inferior to those which brought you hither, equipped with sails and oars, but navigated by people naked like ourselves.” Undoubtedly the chief alluded to Peru. This certain proof of the existence of another ocean filled Balboa with delight. He imagined that the country described formed a part of the vast region of the East Indies. Preparations for the enterprise were immediately begun, but in the midst of it all Balboa was summoned to court to answer the charges brought against him by Encisco. Instead of obeying the command, however, he determined to effect the passage to the South Sea before his successor could arrive from Spain. The Isthmus of Darien is only sixty miles in breadth, but a chain of mountains, a continuation of the Andes, runs through its whole extent. Its valleys are marshy and unhealthy, being inundated by rains which prevail nearly two-thirds of the year. These marshes are even more impenetrable than the forests which cover the mountains, and to this day the crossing is not much easier than it was then.

No man but Balboa could have accomplished it. He was not any more courageous than his followers, but he possessed great powers of magnetism as well as prudence, sagacity, and amiability; in a word, he had genius, the genius of leadership. His soldiers were his children. He wished to bear the heaviest burdens himself; his post in battle was the most dangerous of all; his endurance surpassed that of the strongest men. His army consisted of one hundred and ninety Spaniards, one thousand Indians, useful to carry baggage, and some fierce blood-hounds.

Balboa set forth on the 1st of September, 1513. The journey was estimated to be of six days’ duration, but it was only after twenty-five days of desperate fighting, and of struggles with disease and fatigue, that they reached the summit of the mountain from which Balboa had been informed the great ocean could be seen.

Commanding his army to halt, Balboa advanced alone to the apex and there beheld the South Sea stretching before him in boundless extent. Amid great exultation he took formal possession of land and sea, cutting the king’s name on trees and erecting crosses and mounds of stones as records thereof.

Leaving the greater part of his men where they were, Balboa proceeded with eighty Spaniards, and under the guidance of a friendly chief, toward the coast. Arriving at the borders of one of the vast bays, he rushed into the ocean with drawn sword and called upon the witnesses to observe that he possessed it in the name of Spain.

He now wished to make conquest of the countries to the south, which the natives declared to be a great and wealthy empire, but having too few men to attempt the enterprise, he returned to Darien, carrying with him a treasure valued at nearly half a million of dollars--the largest treasure yet collected in America. He sent messengers to Spain, but before these arrived Don Pedrarias Davila had been sent out to supersede him in command. The King, however, in consideration of his services, sent letters appointing Balboa _Adelantado_ or Admiral. The enormous project of conveying ship-building material across the Isthmus was accomplished, and two brigantines were constructed. Adverse weather and other misfortunes prevented the Spaniards from reaching Peru, and Pedrarias recalled Balboa to Darien. Balboa obeyed, never dreaming of the treachery awaiting him. He was seized and imprisoned, and finally condemned to death by the jealous Pedrarias, and the sentence was carried out in spite of the protests of the colonists.

The conquest of Peru was afterward accomplished by Pizarro, who, while he was as able a man as Balboa, was much more cruel and unscrupulous. Three years later Magellan entered the South Sea, after sailing around the southern extremity of the continent. It was Magellan who gave this ocean the name Pacific, in recognition of the fine weather he encountered in crossing it. His fleet reached the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and returned to Europe by way of the Cape of Good Hope, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.

In the same year which witnessed the unjust execution of Balboa (1517), the northern coast of Yucatan was explored, and also the southern coast of Mexico. Instead of encountering naked savages, the explorers were surprised to find well-clad and highly civilized people, so bold and warlike as to drive off the intruders with great slaughter. Velasquez, governor of Cuba, determined to conquer the wealthy country thus discovered, and prepared a fleet of ten vessels, which he sent out under command of Hernando Cortes, a man who had already achieved some military distinction. He landed in Mexico on March 4th, 1519, where his ships and artillery, and especially his horses, created the wildest fear and astonishment among the natives, who regarded the strangers as divine beings. They were soon to be undeceived, however, for a reign of war and oppression was begun, which resulted in the death of the Emperor Montezuma, the levelling of their ancient temples, and the ultimate extinction of the Aztec nation.

Meanwhile, the mainland of the American continent had been visited and partly explored.

The first voyage to the northern coast was made by John Cabot in 1497, under the auspices of Henry VIII of England. His object was less the discovery of a new continent than the finding of a northwest passage to the coast of Asia. Cabot sighted land on the 26th of June, probably the Island of Newfoundland. On the 3d of July he reached the coast of Labrador. He was then the first of modern navigators to discover the North American continent, Columbus being a whole year behind him. Cabot explored the coast for nine hundred miles, in a southerly direction, and returned to England. The next year his son, Sebastian, visited the same region, still looking for that northwest passage.

The Portuguese also, made early voyages with the same illusory object in view. In 1500, Gaspar Cortereal reached the American continent. In his second voyage his ship was lost, and his brother, who went in search of him, also perished.

In 1524, Francis I of France resolved to have a share in these new discoveries. A company of Breton sailors had already partly explored the coast. As early as 1506 the Gulf of St. Lawrence

[Illustration: WASHINGTON.

Direct Reproduction of the Original Painting, by Gilbert Stuart, in the Museum of the Fine Arts, Boston. The Property of the Boston Athenæum.]

was discovered. A squadron of four ships, under Giovanni Verrazano, an Italian navigator in the service of Francis, explored the coast from the Carolinas northward, probably visiting New York and Narragansett Bays. He also searched for the northwest passage, and on his return succeeded in convincing the King that no such passage existed.

In 1534 a second expedition was fitted out under command of Jacques Cartier, a fearless mariner, who had previously made fishing voyages to the Banks of Newfoundland. This expedition consisted of two vessels, and left St. Malo on the 20th of April. After a short stay at Newfoundland, Cartier sailed northward, passed through the Straits of Belleisle and entered the St. Lawrence.

Here, on the 24th of July they landed and erected a cross, surmounted by the lilies of France. The natives proved friendly, and two men were prevailed upon to accompany the returning voyagers. The following year a second expedition was sent out under Cartier, with instructions to explore carefully the St. Lawrence, to establish a settlement, and to traffic with the Indians for gold. Of this latter commodity they found none, but the river was explored as far as the spot where now stands Montreal. The natives seem to have had a very correct knowledge of their country, for they told Cartier that it would take three months to sail in their canoes up the course of the river and that it ran through several great lakes, the largest like a vast sea. Beyond the farthest lake was another river which ran in a southerly direction. This was the Mississippi. The Canadian winter had now set in and the explorers suffered terribly from the cold and disease. As soon as spring appeared they returned home. Like other adventurers of the age, they repaid the hospitality of the natives with the blackest ingratitude and treachery. They kidnapped the chief Donacona--whose village occupied the site of Quebec, and who had fed and lodged the explorers--and forced him, with eight warriors, to accompany them to France, where the unhappy savages died soon after their arrival.

The third expedition under Cartier in a fleet fitted out by De Roberval, a rich nobleman of France, was not so successful. The Indians had not forgiven the outrage perpetrated upon their chief, and the white men were received at Stradacona (Quebec) with every sign of hatred and enmity. Cartier, finding his position here so unpleasant, not to say dangerous, moved up the river to Cape Rouge, where he moored three of his vessels and sent the other two back to France for supplies. An attempt was made to found a colony, and the summer was spent in an unsuccessful search for gold. Both the colony and the search for gold were abandoned after another severe winter and Cartier and his men returned to France.

It was this same greed for gold which led the Spaniards to attempt the exploration of the southern part of the American continent. As early as 1512 Juan Ponce de Leon discovered a land which he called Florida, partly because he first saw it on Easter Sunday (_Pascua florida_), and partly because it seemed to his delighted gaze a veritable “land of flowers.” Ponce de Leon had another object beside gold hunting; he was an old man and he loathed his years. He had come hither lured by a wonderful tale of a fountain which gave eternal youth to whosoever bathed in its waters. To find this grand restorer of vigor and bloom, Ponce de Leon and his followers wandered through terrible forests and marshes, enduring every hardship and deprivation, running hourly risks of death. That such a dream could ever have been cherished by enlightened and educated people need not appear so strange if we consider what a succession of new and astonishing scenes had passed before the eyes of the old world in the short space of ten years. No wonder their imaginations were inflamed and their credulity limitless. In this new land, of which the preceding ages had been utterly ignorant, everything was different from that with which the old world was familiar. Anything seemed possible, after the impossible had happened. De Leon made two visits after his fountain; in the second one he was killed by the Indians.

In 1528 Pamphilo de Narvaez made an effort to take possession of Florida in the name of Charles V of Germany. He met with such hostility from the natives, however, that after months of wandering he reached the Gulf with a mere handful of men out of the six hundred with whom he had landed. Building five miserable boats, these crazy adventurers attempted to follow the line of the coast to the Mexican settlements. Four boats were lost in a storm; the survivors landed and sought to cross the continent to the Spanish colonies at Sonora. It seems incredible, but in this enterprise four of the men actually succeeded. Among them was Cabeca de Vaca, treasurer of the expedition. Their appearance in Europe nine years after their departure caused the greatest sensation, and the excitement created by their narrative was intense. The passion for adventure became stronger than ever among the Spaniards, and when the already celebrated Hernando de Soto, who had been with Pizarro in Peru, asked for and was granted permission to take possession of Florida in the name of Ferdinand of Spain, he had a multitude of volunteers to his standard.

De Soto was first appointed governor of Cuba that he might turn to account the resources of that wealthy island. His fleet of nine vessels and force of six hundred men, sailed from Havana on the 18th of May, 1539, and ten days later anchored in Tampa Bay. The first remarkable adventure that befel them was an encounter with one of the companions of Cabeca de Vaca, who had been held all this time captive among the Indians. He had acquired a thorough knowledge of their language, and his services as mediator and interpretor soon became invaluable.

Led by Ortiz--the captive--the explorers wandered through the unknown land until spring. Then a native offered to guide them to a distant country, governed by a woman, and rich in “yellow metal,” which the Spaniards understood to be gold, but which turned out to be only copper. The dominion of the Indian queen was reached at last, after much fighting and bloodshed. The old chronicles give a picturesque and rather pathetic account of the meeting between the poor cacica and the invaders. She came forth to welcome them, alighting from her litter and making gestures of pleasure and amity, taking from her neck a heavy string of pearls and presenting it to De Soto. He accepted the gift, and for a time kept up a pretense of friendship; but, having obtained all the information the queen had to give, he made her prisoner and robbed her and her people of all their valuables, even pillaging the graves of dead nobles for pearls. It is gratifying to know that the queen effected her escape from the guards, and that she regained a box of pearls on which De Soto set especial store.

The Spaniards now altered their course, and, taking a northwesterly direction, they found themselves, after a few months, at the foot of the Appalachian range of mountains, which, rather than cross, they turned their backs upon, and wandered into the lowlands of what is now Alabama, ignorant of the fact that these very mountains were rich in the gold they so ardently coveted.

The autumn of 1540 brought what remained of the party to a large village called Mavilla, the site of the modern city of Mobile, where a terrible battle took place. Mavilla was burned to ashes, and when the fight ended the victorious Spaniards found themselves in a desperate situation--at a distance from their ships, their provisions gone, and enemies on every side. The common soldiers, by this time, had had quite enough of exploration, and wished to return to the coast. But De Soto, who had received secret information that his fleet was even now anchored in the Bay of Pensacola, six days’ journey from Mavilla, determined to make one more effort to redeem his honor by a notable discovery of some sort. He forced his men to journey northward, and in December they reached a Chickasaw village, in what is now the State of Mississippi. By spring they had fought their way completely across the State, and in May they reached the banks of the mighty river from which the State takes its name. Not knowing that he had made his great discovery, De Soto went to work to build boats and barges with which to cross the river. Constantly harassed by the natives, the explorers continued their northward wanderings until they reached the region of the present State of Missouri. Proceeding westward, they encamped for the winter at the present location of Little Rock, Arkansas. But the spot turned out to be an unhealthy one; the white men began to succumb to disease; Juan Ortiz, the chief helper, died; scouts sent out to explore the neighborhood brought back darkest reports of impenetrable wildernesses, and of bands of hostiles creeping up from every side to attack them. Saddest of all, De Soto, broken with disease and long endurance, lay down to rise no more. Calling his little army around him, he asked their pardon for the sufferings he had brought upon them, and named Luis de Alvaredo as his successor. The following day the unhappy De Soto breathed his last, and was buried secretly outside the camp; but, fearing an immediate attack from the natives should the death of the hero be made known, and the newly-made grave exciting suspicion among the Indians in the neighborhood, Alvaredo had the corpse disinterred in the night, and, wrapped in clothes made heavy with sand, dropped into the Mississippi.

Alvaredo then led his people westward, hoping to reach the Pacific coast. But after long months of wandering, and dreading to be overtaken by winter on the prairies, they retraced their steps to the Mississippi, where they pitched camp and spent six months building boats in which to go down the river. A terrible voyage of seventeen days, between banks lined with Indians, who plied them pitilessly with poisoned arrows, brought them to the Gulf, and a further weary cruise along the coast of Louisiana and Texas landed them at the Spanish settlement of Panuco, in Mexico. This was in October, 1543; they had been wandering for nearly four years.

The English were rather tardy in following the lead of the Spanish, French, and Portuguese explorers, but, once started, they pursued their researches with great vigor. In 1562 one of their adventurers, Sir John Hawkins, engaged in the slave trade, and carried cargoes of negroes to the West Indies. In 1577, Sir Francis Drake accomplished the circumnavigation of the globe. Attempts were made at the same period to discover the northwestern passage, by Willoughby, Frobisher, Henry Hudson, and others. The only attempt to found a colony in the New World during this century was made by Sir Walter Raleigh; his step-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had obtained the first charter ever granted an Englishman for a colony, but his project failed, and he himself perished at sea.

A patent was granted Raleigh, constituting him lord proprietary, with almost unlimited powers, according to the Christian Protestant faith, of all land which he might discover between the thirty-third and fortieth degrees of north latitude. Under this patent Raleigh dispatched two vessels under the command of Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow. They landed on the island of Wococken and took possession in the name of Queen Elizabeth. The country they called Virginia, and such glowing accounts did they send back to England that seven vessels under Sir Richard Grenville were sent out, bearing one hundred and fifty colonists. As soon as these landed, Sir Richard Grenville took the ships back to England, capturing a rich Spanish prize on the way. The colony fared very badly after a time, Lane, the governor, being utterly unfit for his office. The Indians wishing to get rid of their visitors, induced them to ascend the Roanoke River, on the upper banks of which, they declared, dwelt a nation skillful in refining gold, whose city was inclosed with a wall of pearls. After the gold rushed the colonists, but they found only famine and distress. The Indians, on their return, refused to give them any more provisions, and even ceased to cultivate corn, hoping to drive out the Englishmen altogether. In revenge, the white men, having invited the chief to a conference, fell upon him and slew him, with many of his people. This was the end of their peaceful relations with the Indians. The colony was on the verge of starvation when Sir Francis Drake, the slave-trading nobleman, appeared outside the harbor with a fleet of twenty-three ships. At the urgent prayer of the starving settlers, Sir Francis carried them back to England. Hardly had they gone before a ship laden with supplies, dispatched by Raleigh, arrived. Finding the colony vanished, the ship returned. Before it reached England, Sir Richard Grenville arrived at Roanoke with three ships. After searching in vain for the missing colony, he also returned, leaving fifteen men on the island to hold possession for the English. Still undiscouraged, Raleigh sent out a second colony, this time choosing agriculturists, and sending with them their wives and children. On reaching Roanoke they found the bones of the fifteen men Grenville had left, and the fort in ruins. Meanwhile the Spanish invasion was threatening England. Raleigh was one of the most active in devising schemes for resistance. It was almost a year before he was able to send supplies to his colony at Roanoke; this he did at last, but the captain, instead of proceeding straight on his mission, went in chase of two Spanish prizes, came to grief, and was obliged to return to England. By this time Raleigh’s means were almost exhausted, but he managed to send out the relief ships, but they arrived too late. The island was a desert and the only clue to the fate of the colony was the word “Croatian” on the bark of a tree. It has been conjectured that they escaped, through the kindness of the Indians to Croatian; perhaps they were received into some tribe and became a part of the wild men; the Indians themselves have such a tradition. Raleigh sent five different search parties after his little colony, but none of them ever had the least success.

In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold reached the shores of Massachusetts, and, sailing southward, landed on a promontory which he called Cape Cod. He also discovered the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. On the former they built a store-house and a fort, and prepared to settle, but when the ships got ready to sail, they lost their resolution and insisted upon returning to England.

Chapter II.

“Good Old Colony Times.”

The history of the United States may be said to have begun with the formation in England of a company for the purpose of forming colonies in America. This was called the Virginia Company, and to it was given the right to hold all the land from Cape Fear to the St. Croix River. The Company had two divisions--the London Company, with control over the southern territory, and the Plymouth Company, controlling the northern. It was the London Company who founded the first colony. Three vessels, under Captain Christopher Newport, sailed from England in the year 1607, with instructions to land on Roanoke Island. A storm drove them into Chesapeake Bay, and so delighted were they with the beauty of its shores that they determined to settle there. Sailing up the James River, they found a convenient spot for landing, and on the 13th of May the colony of Jamestown was established. There were about a hundred men in the party, many of them gentlemen of more or less precarious fortune, whose object in leaving their native land was almost entirely selfish. They expected to find gold, and so great was their greed that they went directly to washing dust, instead of cultivating the ground. The summer that followed was a terrible one. The location proved unhealthy, and more than half the colony died of a pestilence. Only the friendly generosity of the Indians saved the rest from starvation. The situation was rendered more unendurable by quarrels and dissensions in the Governing Council, which consisted of seven men appointed before leaving England. In this Council had been Gosnold, the explorer, Captain Newport, and Captain John Smith. This latter personage was a man of marked individuality, one of those characters not uncommon in history, who are as cordially detested by half the world as they are warmly admired by the other half. At first prevented by his enemies from taking his place in the Council at all, arrested and kept under a cloud for months, the following autumn finds him in supreme and solitary control of the entire colony.

Things began to brighten a little at Jamestown. Supplies were plenty, and, under the careful management of Smith, promised to last all winter. Having nothing else to complain about, the dissenters now began to mutter against Smith for not having discovered the source of the Chickahominy, the theory being that the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean, was not far distant, and that some river running from the northwest would be sure to lead to it. Whether or not Smith had much hope of reaching the Pacific via the Chickahominy River is uncertain, but he did make an attempt to trace the stream to its head.

His adventures on that memorable voyage have been told in every history of the colonies and in every school geography since. How much is truth and how much imagination it is impossible to decide; it should be stated that the original story came from a person not so much celebrated for veracity as for other excellent qualities--that is to say, from Captain John Smith himself.

Nine white men accompanied him on the trip up the river. When at length the barge could advance no further, Captain Smith returned some miles to a bay, where he moored his bark out of danger, and, taking two men and two Indian guides, he proceeded in a canoe twenty miles higher up the river. The men in the barge had strict orders not to leave until their commander returned. As soon as he was fairly out of sight, the order was disobeyed; the men went on shore, and one of them was killed by Indians.

Smith, meantime, had neared the head of the river. The country was very wet and marshy, but there was no indication of the proximity of the Pacific Ocean. The canoe was tied up, and Smith took his gun and one Indian and went on shore after food for his party. But, as it turned out, the landing-place was ill-chosen. The two men in the canoe were set upon by Indians and killed, and Smith, after a desperate resistance, was captured. He asked for their chief, and was led before Opechancanough. Smith presented to him a mariner’s compass, which so entertained the savages that they forbore their first murderous intentions and contented themselves with leading him captive to the town of Orapakes, which was about twelve miles from what is now the city of Richmond. Here he was confined in one of the houses, and an enormous quantity of food set before him. It is not probable that his appetite was very good, under the circumstances. His captivity was not devoid of pleasant features, however; an Indian, who had received some kindness at the hands of the Jamestown colonists, showed his gratitude by presenting to Smith a warm fur garment. While the orgies and incantations were going on--supposedly with a view to divine the prisoner’s intentions concerning the Indians--Opitchapan, brother of Chief Opechancanough, who dwelt a little above, came down to see the great white man, and entertained him hospitably.

At last it was decided to take the prisoner to the chief place of council, and to let the exalted Powhatan pronounce his fate. Accordingly they journeyed to Werowocomoco, on the York River--then known as the Pamaunkee. Here they found Powhatan, reclining in rude state on a sort of a throne covered with mats, and further adorned by the presence of two dusky maidens, splendid with feathers and beads and red paint. The captive was received with solemn ceremony, a feast was spread, and then a long consultation took place. The result was a sentence of death.

Two large stones are brought and laid one upon the other before Powhatan; behold savage hands seize upon the unhappy Smith and lay his head upon the stones; the war-clubs are poised in air, the chief’s hand starts to give the fatal sign; at the foot of the throne, one gentle heart is throbbing wildly with mingled love and fear; poor little Pocahontas, while the stones were being brought, put in her plea for mercy, but it was not even noticed; she is the dearest thing in the world to that stern old chief, but even she has never yet dared dispute his authority. But when she sees that hand raised, her fear is swept away, everything is swept away but love; she utters one mad cry, and, flying from her place, throws herself down beside _him_, clasps his form in her arms and lays her head upon his. The fairest woman in the world saves the bravest man. Oh! most charming picture in history! Men pretend to believe that it is all a fabrication. What if it is? To leave it out of the history books takes all the color from the

[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1798.]

story of those days. If it didn’t happen, it might have happened. Certainly something happened, for two days later Smith was permitted to return to Jamestown on the absurd little condition of sending back two great guns and a grindstone. This condition Smith faithfully fulfilled, to his credit, and in addition to the cannon and the grindstone he sent presents to Powhatan’s wives and children. Records are so stupid at times; they are careful in this case to mention the grindstone, but they give not the slightest hint of what Captain Smith sent Pocahontas. Smith’s conduct all through that affair is puzzling. By every canon of romance, he should have married the princess. That it was otherwise is the best proof of the truth of the story, for true stories always end inartistically.

When Smith returned to Jamestown, he found things going very badly, and the number of the colonists reduced to forty. He set to work to encourage them, and to make his task easier, a ship laden with stores and with additional settlers now arrived. The Indians were friendly, and great numbers of them appeared at Jamestown to trade. Pocahontas came, too, and brought all sorts of things to Captain Newport and to Smith, which she had undoubtedly wheedled out of her father, the great Powhatan.

When Captain Newport returned to England, he took with him twenty turkeys which Powhatan had given him in exchange for twenty swords. This bargain pleased the old chief so much that he tried to effect a similar one with Smith. Failing, and becoming infuriated, he ordered his people to go to Jamestown and take the weapons by force. The President of the colony, under pretense of orders from England not to offend the natives, would have allowed the robbery to take place, but Smith rose in wrath and drove the intruders from the settlement.

Another ship, the “Phœnix,” now arrived. The colony was increased to nearly two hundred souls. There were plenty of provisions and the sword difficulty, thanks to the mediation of Pocahontas, had been amicably settled, so that all hostilities were at an end for the time being. The year was 1608.

Smith continued his explorations, sailing around Chesapeake Bay and up to the head of the Potomac River. He traveled not less than three thousand miles that summer, and that his worth was beginning to be appreciated at Jamestown is evidenced by the fact that on his return he had the pleasure of accepting the presidency of the colony. This had been offered him before, but he had declined it.

Now he set about his duties in earnest. The men were put to work, some making glass, preparing tar and pitch, while Smith with thirty others went five miles below the fort to cut down trees and to saw planks. The Jamestown colony was always unfortunate in having too many adventurer-gentlemen in it. Smith had a hard time with them, but by his tact and good management he got more work out of them than any one else could have done.

Their life, diversified with some struggles with the Indians, a good deal of internal bickering and considerable ill-luck with crops, etc., continued for another year. In 1609 an addition to the colony of five hundred men and women, with stores and provisions, set sail from England. But these new settlers had no sooner landed than new troubles began. The leaders, although they brought no commission with them, insisted on assuming authority over the original colony, defying Smith, whom they feared and hated.

Anarchy reigned for a time. The ring-leaders, Ratcliffe, Archer, and others, were imprisoned. West, with one hundred and twenty men, formed an independent settlement at the falls of the James River, and another one hundred and twenty, under Martin, established themselves at Nansemond. But these leaders were unable to deal fairly with the Indians, and the new settlements were abandoned after much bloodshed. Smith did what he could to effect peace, but failing, gave up in disgust and returned to England.

After his departure, things went from bad to worse. Within six months vice and starvation had reduced the colony from five hundred to sixty persons, and these must also have perished had not relief come from England.

Shortly afterward Lord Delaware was sent out to be Governor of the colony. He brought with him supplies and a large number of emigrants. Following these came seven hundred more. The land, which had hitherto been held in common, was divided among the colonists, and an era of wise government and contented prosperity began. In 1613 Pocahontas married John Rolfe, and this event improved greatly the relations between the white people and the Indians. But three years after it occurred, Pocahontas and her husband went to Europe, where the gentle little woman died. She was deeply mourned by her husband and by her people, for she was not only good but she was beautiful and very clever. Powhatan did not long survive his daughter, and thus were the two best friends of the white men removed. The rapid increase of the colonists, and the spread of their settlements, began to alarm the Indians, and in 1622 a conspiracy was formed to destroy and wipe out the invasion of Europeans.

It is necessary to mention one or two events in the colony before this year. In 1615 the cultivation of tobacco was begun on a large scale. Other pursuits were neglected and corn was scarcely raised at all. The new article of commerce proved so profitable that it became a perfect mania. In 1619 the first legislative body ever organized in America met at Jamestown, where a colonial constitution was adopted. The next year (1620) a Dutch man-of-war sailed up the James and landed twenty negroes who were sold as slaves. The same year a cargo of young white women were sent over and sold as wives--a position supposed to be a little better than that of slaves. The price paid was one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco per wife.

The colonists were unprepared for the hostilities which followed the death of Powhatan. His dominion passed to his brother Opitchapan, a feeble old man feared by no one. But there was one man who soon began to incite the natives to war. This man was the captor of Smith, Opechancanough. He has been called by some the brother of Powhatan, but this opinion is erroneous. He came of one of the tribes of the southwest, probably Mexico, and rose to his position of leader only through his natural ability to govern. Inspired with a hatred of the white men, he visited in person all the tribes of the confederacy of Powhatan and roused them to murderous fury. A few people in the colony scented danger, but the majority were so secure in the belief of safety that it was impossible to induce them to take measures for their own protection. The settlements were now eighty in number and spread in separate plantations over a space of three or four hundred miles.

On Friday, the 22d day of March, 1622, the Indians came into the settlements as usual with game and fish and fruits, which they offered for sale in the market place. Suddenly a shrill signal cry rang out, and then began a hideous scene of blood and death. In one morning three hundred and forty-nine settlers were massacred. It is remarkable that one single white man should have escaped, but surprised and defenseless as they were, the settlers rallied and actually succeeded in putting their assailants to flight. The village of Jamestown was warned of its danger by a young Indian woman, preparations for defense were hurriedly made, but no assault occurred.

The wildest panic now seized the colonists. Distant plantations were abandoned, and in a short time, instead of eighty settlements, there were only six, and these were huddled closely around Jamestown. The war with the Indians kept up incessantly. Opechancanough pursued the white men with deadly hatred, and the white men never lost an opportunity of murdering an Indian.

In 1624 the London Company was dissolved, and Virginia was declared a royal government. The colony retained the right to a representative assembly and of trial by jury. All the succeeding colonies claimed these rights, so that it was in Virginia that the foundation of American independence was laid.

Indian hostilities continued--grew worse, in fact, as the whites increased in number and in power. There was but one end to such an unequal struggle. It came about the year 1643. Opechancanough was a very old man--he had lived a hundred years; he could no longer walk alone--his very eyelids had to be lifted by the fingers of an attendant; but within his withered frame the spirit of hatred and bitterness was as full of energy as ever. His power over the confederacy of Powhatan was as great as of old, and once again he roused the savages to an attempt at a general massacre.

Five hundred white men were butchered, but Sir William Berkeley, placing himself at the head of a large body of troops, marched against the Indians and not only utterly routed them, but captured their aged chief and took him back to Jamestown. The confederacy instantly dissolved, and the white men’s power over the land was established more firmly than ever.

The second permanent settlement in the United States--or what is now the United States--was made by the Dutch in 1614. A fort was built on the extremity of the island on which New York now stands; another was erected at the site of the city of Albany, and the country between was called New Netherlands. The next year a settlement of some importance was made at Albany, but for many years the fort on Manhattan Island was a mere trading-post.

[Illustration: THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK.]

The first thing the Dutch did was to make treaties with the Indians. The Five Nations had long been at war with the Algonquins in Canada. The latter had allied with the French, who had settled there some years before, and with their aid defeated the Iroquois. It was with the hope of similar reinforcement that the Iroquois now hastened to make friends with this new colony of white men. The great treaty was made in 1618, on the banks of Norman’s Kill, and was witnessed by ambassadors from every tribe of the Five Nations. The pipe of peace was smoked and the hatchet buried, and on the spot where the emblem of war was hidden the Dutch vowed to erect a church.

Thus was the quiet possession of the country and of the Indian trade guaranteed the inhabitants of New Netherlands.

The actual colonization of the place began at once, but it was not until 1625 that a governor was appointed. In 1631 the Dutch possessions extended from Cape Henlopen to Cape Cod. This claim was disputed by the English settlers in New England, who also formed colonies on Long Island and in Connecticut. They endeavored to trade with the Hudson River Indians, and finally, in 1633, an English ship appeared at New Amsterdam. The governor, old Wouter van Twiller, ordered it to depart, but the captain, one Jacob Eelkins, went on shore, and, in a friendly sort of a way, requested permission to ascend the river. He added, casually, that while he would be very grateful for the permission, he intended to proceed whether it was granted or not. The governor’s answer was to order the Prince of Orange’s flag to be run up on the fort, and a salute of three guns to be fired for Holland. Whereupon Eelkins ran up the English flag, and saluted with three guns the King of England. Then he sailed up the river to Fort Orange, where he set up a lively trade with the natives. This was the beginning of a gradual usurpation of power.

[Illustration: NEW YORK IN 1644.]

Trouble with the Indians now began, which lasted until 1645. In 1638 the Swedes settled on the Delaware near the site of Wilmington, and extended their possessions until, in 1655, the Dutch attacked and conquered them. In 1664 the King of England granted his brother James all the country between the Connecticut and the Delaware. He had not the smallest right to do so, for the land belonged to the Dutch both by right of discovery and of settlement. England and Holland were at peace, and the overthrow of the Dutch dominion in America was an act of glaring injustice, and it is only surprising that Holland made such feeble resistance.

There is little that is important but much that is interesting in the history of these Dutch settlements. Slavery had been in existence since 1628, but it was slavery in a comparatively mild form. It was allowed a man to purchase his own freedom, and a great number of slaves did so. A very democratic spirit reigned throughout the colony. The republican sentiment which they had brought with them from Holland, never left these settlers. There was no religious persecution, no intolerance, no such cruel wrongs committed in the name of right as in New England. They were good, honest burghers. They built mills and breweries, and raised fat cattle and grew fat themselves and were very happy.

The first attempt to colonize New England was made by Gosnold in 1602, and was unsuccessful. In 1606 the Plymouth company established a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec River, but the forty-five daring spirits of which it was composed abandoned it after a winter of suffering, and returned to England. Captain John Smith explored the coast in 1614, making a map of its length and giving it its present name. His earnest attempts at colonization failed, and it was not until the arrival of the Puritans in 1620 that a permanent settlement was formed.

These Puritans, it is scarcely necessary to explain, were the most austere of the English “Non-Conformists,” or dissenters of the Established Church. Most of them were Nottinghamshire farmers, and so mercilessly were they persecuted at home on account of their religion that they determined to emigrate to Holland, where a London congregation had fled some years before, and where they in turn were followed by a Lincolnshire congregation. Holland becoming the seat of violent political agitation, they resolved to emigrate to America. In July, 1620, they embarked for England in the ship “Speedwell.” At Southampton they met the “Mayflower,” which was also engaged for the voyage. They put to sea twice, but were obliged to return, as the “Speedwell” proved unseaworthy. Finally the “Mayflower” sailed alone on the 6th of September. Their destination was a point near the Hudson River, just within the boundaries of the territory of the London Company. This must have been the sea-coast of the State of New Jersey.

At early dawn of the 9th of November, 1620, the white sand-banks of Massachusetts came into sight; their course lay to the south, but so dangerous became the shoals and breakers that they resolved to retrace their vessel’s way, and two days later, at noon, they dropped anchor in the bay formed by the curved peninsula which terminates in Cape Cod.

Here, while the vessel lay at anchor, a brief governmental compact was drawn up, and John Carver, who had been very prominent in obtaining the King’s permission for their enterprise, was chosen governor of the colony. In the afternoon “fifteen or sixteen men well armed” were sent on shore to reconnoitre and to collect fuel. They returned at evening bringing good report of the country, and the welcome news that there was neither person nor dwelling in sight. The next day was Sunday, which the emigrants kept as strictly as usual. Monday morning, while the women washed and the men began their labors by hauling a boat on shore for repairs, Miles Standish and sixteen men set off on foot to explore the country. They returned Friday evening bringing some Indian corn which they had found in a deserted hut. The explorations were kept up for several weeks. At last a suitable location was decided upon; there was a convenient harbor, the country was well wooded; it had clay, sand, and shells for bricks and mortar, and stone for chimneys; there was plenty of good water, and the sea and beach contained a plentiful supply of fish and fowl. It was on Christmas Day that they landed. The record says: “Monday, the 25th day, we went on shore, some to fell timber, some to saw, some to rive, and some to carry; so no man rested all that day.” They first erected a building for common occupation. Nineteen plots for dwelling-houses were laid out, and in spite of the bitter cold the little settlement gradually built itself into a town. Sickness set in, and within four months’ time one-half of their number was swept away. It was a terrible winter, but there was no inclination to weaken or to despond on the part of the heroic Pilgrims. They were in constant fear of the Indians, and the necessity for defenses becoming daily more apparent, a military organization was formed, with the valiant Miles Standish as Captain, and the fortification on the hill overlooking the dwellings was mounted with five guns.

“Warm and fair weather” came at last; and never could spring have seemed fairer to these people than when it greeted them first in New England. The colony at Plymouth grew and prospered. The Indians made several threats of hostility but were each time repressed by Miles Standish and his men.

In 1628 another settlement was made at Salem, under John Endicott. The next year this colony was large enough to admit of a lively quarrel, the consequence of which was a division of interests and the establishment of Charlestown. In 1630 the “Colony of Massachusetts Bay” was augmented by the arrival of a large number of settlers, many of them being people of education and refinement. The towns of Boston, Watertown, Roxbury, and Dorchester were founded. In August the first Court of Assistants met since the arrival of the colonists, and voted to build houses and to raise salaries for ministers. This year was made a bold step toward the establishment of civil liberty in the removing of the governing council from England to Massachusetts. In 1633 the settlement of Connecticut was begun. In another year there were “between three and four thousand Englishmen distributed among twenty hamlets along and near the seashore.”

It seems a good deal of a pity that these grand old Pilgrim Fathers had so little sense of humor, else the absurdity of allowing no one liberty of conscience, after they themselves had fled from just such a state of affairs, must have dawned upon them. The early history of New England is one long catalogue of religious persecutions. To the first of these is due the settlement of Rhode Island. Later dissensions helped to people Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Roger Williams was a talented young Puritan preacher who had been driven out of England by the intolerance of Archbishop Laud. Arriving in Boston, he found himself quite as much out of harmony with the Church in that place as he had been with the Church of England. He was subsequently called to a Salem pastorate, where his doctrines were very popular; everywhere else in the colonies they were regarded as abominable. No wonder, for the obnoxious parson declared boldly that it was wrong to enforce an oath of allegiance to any monarch or magistrate, that all religious sects had a right to claim equal protection from the laws, and that civil magistrates had no right to restrain the consciences of men, or to interfere with their modes of worship or religious beliefs. This heretical doctrine, if carried to its logical conclusion, would permit even Roman Catholics and Quakers to dwell in peace! It was decided to send Williams to England, where he would undoubtedly have fared ill, for he had preached a crusade against the cross of St. George in the English standard, pronouncing it a relic of superstition and idolatry, and so inflaming the

[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.]

hearts of his people, that Endicott, one of the members of the Court of Assistants, publicly cut out the cross from the flag displayed before the governor’s house. So Williams refused to obey the order to return to England, and, leaving the colony with a few of his friends, traveled southward, and planted a settlement which he named Providence. This was in 1636. The following year his new colony was reinforced by another company of religious refugees, who merit more than passing notice.

New England had become the Mecca of all who were estranged from the Established Church at home. Crowds of new settlers flocked thither, lured by the hope of what they called religious liberty. Among these were two especially conspicuous figures--Hugh Peters, the enthusiastic chaplain of Oliver Cromwell, and Henry Vane, son of Sir Henry Vane, a Privy Counsellor in high favor with the King. Vane was received in the colony with great admiration; and indeed, the religious zeal which induced him to relinquish all his prospects in England and embrace poverty and exile for conscience’ sake is to be highly commended. His humility of manner and rigidity in religious observances, as well as his business ability, caused him to be elected governor of the colony about as soon as he arrived. But practical duties occupied little of his attention; he was almost entirely taken up with theological subtleties and doctrinal hair-splittings. These were excited still further by a woman whose influence at that time began to create great disturbance throughout the entire colony. It was the custom in New England for the chief men in the congregations to hold weekly meetings, in order to repeat and discuss the sermon of the previous Sunday. From these meetings women were sternly excluded, and one Mrs. Hutchinson, whose husband was a prominent man in the colony, began to assemble in her house a number of women, who held pious exercises similar to those of the men. At first Mrs. Hutchinson satisfied herself with repeating the sermons and teachings of the clergyman, but soon she began to pick flaws in the discourses and to add opinions of her own. She taught that sanctity of works was no sign of spiritual safety, but that God dwelt personally within all good men, and it was alone by inward revelations and impressions that they received the discoveries of the divine will. It was all very abstract and unhealthy, but so eloquently was it set forth and proclaimed by the prophetess that she gained a vast number of proselytes, not alone among the women, but the men as well. Vane defended and upheld her wildest theories, and, following his example, the interest increased. The dissension grew more bitter with every conference, every day of fasting and humiliation held by the new sect. Finally, in 1637, Mrs. Hutchinson was banished, and many of her disciples withdrew voluntarily and joined the Providence population. Vane returned to England in disgust, and no one lamented his departure.

Roger Williams’s colony, so largely increased, purchased from the Indians a fertile island in Narragansett Bay, to which they gave the name Rhode Island. In this community no religious persecutions were allowed. The humane principles of its founder were firmly instilled into the hearts of the people, and Rhode Island soon became a refuge for the oppressed of all the other settlements.

Connecticut owes its origin to similar causes. The rivalship of two pastors in the Massachusetts Bay settlement resulted in the victory of Mr. Cotton over Mr. Hooker; the latter, however, was not deserted, by any means, and when he proposed establishing a colony of his own at a distance from his rival, a goodly number of his friends and some of Mrs. Hutchinson’s admirers offered to accompany him. The west bank of the Connecticut River was decided upon as an inviting spot, and in 1636 about a hundred men, with their wives and children and chattels, after a terrible march through wildernesses of swamp and forest, arrived there and laid the foundation of a town.

Pennsylvania was granted, in 1681, to William Penn, who had previously been interested in the settlement of Quakers in New Jersey. He soon after obtained a grant of the present State of Delaware, then called “The Territories.” In September, 1682, he set sail for his new province, with a large number of his co-religionists. The story of their peaceful settlement is familiar to all. The code of laws governing them had for its foundation the principle of civil and religious liberty. Penn returned to England in 1684, leaving the city of Philadelphia, which he had founded and named, a prosperous town of three hundred houses and a population of two thousand five hundred. These Quakers, it must be said, had very little in common with the sect which was so persecuted in the New England States. These latter were really a body of separatists, called _Ranters_, and their excesses were such as to justify the horror and disgust of any community.

The settlement of the southern colonies of the United States maybe dealt with briefly. Georgia was not settled until 1732. The provinces of North and South Carolina were originally one. The earliest permanent settlements were made by emigrants from Virginia in 1650. In 1665 another settlement was made by a party of planters from Barbadoes. A Huguenot colony from France was sent out by the King of England. The city of Charlestown was founded, and was at once made the capital of the colony. The most interesting feature attending the settlement of the Carolinas was the “Grand Model Government” devised by John Locke, the celebrated English philosopher. The object was to make the colony as nearly as possible like the monarchy of which it was a part, and to “avoid erecting a numerous democracy.” The scheme never took root in Carolina. The Grand Nobles, Palatines, Caciques, and other exalted officers were in absurd contrast to the rude cabins and pioneer habits of living. For twenty years efforts were made to establish it, and the discord of which the contest was the cause materially interfered with the rapid growth of the colony.

The State of Virginia was also inclined to an aristocratic form of government; its people boasted themselves “staunch advocates of the Church of England and partisans of the King.” When Charles I was executed, they accepted the Commonwealth without a pretense of enthusiasm, and when Charles II came to the throne they welcomed the change with great rejoicings. Shortly afterward, however, a royal governor, Sir William Berkley, was sent out to them, and such a tyrant he proved to be that the people became exasperated. Commercial laws were instituted that bade fair to beggar the planters; tobacco, for instance, could be sent to none but English ports, and it had not only to pay a large duty on reaching England, but it was taxed heavily before leaving. The government took no steps to repress the Indian outrages which were constantly occurring; the Assembly, instead of being elected every two years, was kept permanently in session, and the country was overrun with office-seekers. The culmination of these troubles was the outbreak known as the Bacon Rebellion, which commenced in 1675, and grew principally out of the indifference of the authorities on the Indian question. Nothing decisive was gained by this rebellion, but it is mentioned to show the disposition of the people against tyranny.

The other English colonies were instituted under conditions of liberality, and, in spite of their bigotry and intolerance, they enjoyed far more religious and political liberty than any European country of that day. The home government took no part in their original formation, except in the very easy requirements of the charters granted the proprietors. Lord Baltimore was left at full liberty to establish his own form of government in Maryland, and his preference was extremely liberal. William Penn was not interfered with in Pennsylvania. The government of Plymouth was formed without any restriction or even suggestion from abroad, by a party of self-reliant men, who were well fitted by temperament and experience for self-government. All the New England colonies gradually assumed the prerogatives of government, even to the power of capital punishment. In 1643 a further step in the evolution of a republic was made; the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth united under the title of The United Colonies of New England. Rhode Island was not admitted, because she would not consent to be incorporated with Plymouth. Rhode Island differed from all the colonies, in that there was no religious restriction to the rights of citizenship. New Hampshire was then a part of the Massachusetts colony. The governing body of the confederacy consisted of an annual Assembly of two deputies from each colony--whose local government continued as before. This independence was scarcely interfered with by the mother country until after the death of Cromwell. With the re-establishment of the monarchy came the desire to restrict the liberties of the colonies, grown flourishing and important. Charles II granted his brother James, the Duke of York, the whole territory from the Connecticut River to the shores of the Delaware, and this grant was followed by the illegal seizure of New Amsterdam, thereafter New York. The Duke of York made Edmund Andros governor of the province, and began a series of tyrannies, which only increased with the accession of the Duke to the throne. Andros was now made governor of all the New England provinces, his rule extending over New York. On arriving in Boston, in 1686, he immediately demanded a surrender of all the charters of the colonies, while edicts were issued annuling the existing liberties of the people. Connecticut refused to give up its charter, and Andros marched to Hartford with a body of soldiers to enforce the order. This was in 1687. An entirely new order of things now began. The liberty of the press was restrained, and the laws for the support of the clergy were suspended. Magistrates only were allowed to perform marriage ceremonies. The people were taxed at the governor’s pleasure, and, above all, titles of the colonists to their lands were declared of no value. Indian deeds Sir Edmund esteemed no better than a “scratch of a bear’s claw.” Even grants by charter and declarations of preceding kings were insufficient. The owners were obliged to take out patents for their estates, and in some cases a fee of fifty pounds was demanded. People were fined and imprisoned in the most arbitrary way; all town meetings were prohibited, except the one in May; no person was permitted to leave the country without leave from the governor. Despite his pains, however, petitions were sent to England, but if they were read they were not heeded. Early in 1689 came the news of the accession of William of Orange. The people immediately rose up against Andros, and forced him to leave the country. In New York State a similar uprising against their tyrant, the lieutenant of Andros, took place at the same time, known as the Leisler Revolt.

The people renewed their former mode of government, without being interfered with, at first, by the new monarch. In 1692 a new charter was granted Massachusetts, which differed from the original one in little, except that the King reserved the right to appoint a royal governor.

About this time the influence of the several wars which had raged in Europe between England and France began to manifest itself in the colonies of those countries in America. Invasions of each other’s territory became frequent, in which the Indians took part, glad of a chance to give vent to their savage instincts in murdering the white men. King William’s war raged from 1689 to 1697. In 1702 another war broke out between France and England, and was marked by much bloodshed in America. The Iroquois were neutral in this contest, thus preserving New York from danger, the weight of suffering falling upon New England. The English invasion of Canada was begun in 1710, when Port Royal was captured and its name changed to Annapolis. Nova Scotia--or Acadia--was permanently added to the English possessions. In 1713 the war ended, with the peace of Utrecht, and in the succeeding thirty years of tranquillity the colonies gained rapidly in population and importance. Hostilities broke out again in 1744, and scarcely ceased until the close of the French and Indian war.

This war, unlike the others, had its origin in America and ended in a decided change in the relative positions of the French and English colonies. The original basis of the contest was a dispute as to the ownership of the territory bordering on the Ohio. The real merits of the case may be summed up in the pertinent inquiry sent by two of the Indian chieftains to inquire “where the Indians’ land lay, for the French claimed all the land on one side of the river and the English on the other.” Neither of the colonial contestants had the slightest right to the territory.

The first offensive act was committed by the French, who seized three British traders who had advanced into the disputed country. The Indians, aroused by these evident hostilities, began their border ravages, instigated by the French. Orders now arrived from England to the Governor of Virginia, directing him to build two forts near the Ohio to prevent French encroachments and to check Indian depredations. But the order came too late; the French had already built forts and had taken possession of the territory. It was decided to send a messenger to the commander of the French forces on the Ohio and demand his authority for invading the territory of Virginia. For this mission was selected a young man of only twenty-one years, but who was already a Major in the Virginia militia and a man of note in the colony--the man was George Washington. His journey occupied forty-one days and was full of exciting adventure. His consultation with the French authorities left no doubt as to their martial attitude, and Major Washington returned at once to Virginia, where efforts were immediately begun to raise a colonial army. The other colonies took little interest in the affair and Virginia had to depend mainly on herself. As soon, however, as it became apparent that war with France was inevitable, the necessity for co-operation in the colonies was demonstrated, and the English government recommended that a convention be held at Albany for the purpose of forming a league with the Iroquois, and also of devising a plan of general defense against the enemy. The convention met in June, 1754, made a treaty with the Six Nations, and considered the subject of colonial union. A plan was proposed by Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia, Postmaster-General of America, and even then regarded as one of the ablest thinkers in the colonies. This plan was adopted--by odd coincidence--on the 4th of July. It provided a general government for the American colonies, presided over by a governor-general appointed by the King, and conducted by a council chosen by the colonial legislatures. The council was to have the power to raise troops, declare war, make peace, collect money, and pass all measures necessary for public safety. The veto power was relegated to the governor-general, and all laws were to be submitted for approval to the King.

But the plan was rejected, both by the colonial Assemblies and by the King; by the former because it gave too much power to the King, and by the latter because it gave too much power to the colonies. Then the British ministry took the control of the war into its own hands and determined to send out an army strong enough to force the French within their rightful lines. It was early in 1755 that Braddock was dispatched from Ireland with two regiments of infantry to co-operate with the Virginia forces. Fighting began at once, although no actual declaration of war between the two countries was made until a full year and a half later.

The interesting and important events of this war must be merely alluded to; the result was victory for the English, the treaty of peace being signed in Paris, February 10th, 1763. By its terms, Canada, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton were to belong to England; France relinquished all claim to the territory east of the Mississippi, and was confirmed in her title to the country west; Spain ceded to Great Britain Florida and all its title to country east of the Mississippi River. The most important result of the war was felt in the colonies, rather than in England. It educated a nation of soldiers; it taught the Americans how strong they really were, and how little they need depend on Great Britain for defense. The hard feeling engendered by the superiority assumed by the English officers and the enforced subordination of the Americans was the beginning of a breach which was destined never to be healed. A vast amount of debt is always a result of war. The colonies had lost above thirty thousand men, and their debt amounted to nearly four million pounds. Massachusetts alone had been reimbursed by Parliament. England herself was smothered in debts--she had been through four wars in seventy years--and her indebtedness reached the appalling sum of one hundred and forty million pounds. The scheme of colonial taxation to provide a certain and a regular revenue began to be agitated. But the colonies already had a heavy burden of taxation. They were in no mood to receive patiently any further encroachments on their civil rights. Many of the old laws of restriction on commerce--the duties on sugar and molasses, for example--had long been openly evaded. Until the accession of George III the authorities made no resistance to this opposition, but in 1761, when the third George came to the throne--that “very obstinate young man,” as Charles Townshend described him--determined to enforce the law, and “writs of assistance”--that is, search warrants--were issued, by which custom-house officers were empowered to search for goods which had avoided the payment of duty. The people of Boston resented these measures vigorously, and in spite of official vigilance smuggling increased, while the colonial trade with the West Indies was well-nigh destroyed.

In 1764 the sugar duties were reduced, but new duties were imposed on articles hitherto imported free. At the same time Lord Grenville proposed the stamp tax. All pamphlets, newspapers, almanacs, all bonds, leases, notes, insurance policies--in a word, all papers used for legal purposes--in order to be valid, were to be drawn up on stamped paper, purchasable only from King’s officers appointed for the purpose. The plan met with the entire approval of the British Parliament, but its enactment was deferred until the next year, in order that the colonies might have an opportunity to express their feelings on the subject.

This deference to the wishes of the Americans was a mere blind, however. The preamble of the bill openly avowed the intention of raising revenue from “His Majesty’s dominion in America;” the act also gave increased power to the admiralty courts, and provided more stringent means for enforcing the payment of duties. The colonies received the news of these proposed enactments with indignation. The right of Parliament to impose duties and taxes on an unrepresented people was denied. In Boston, always the seat of democratic sentiment, the protest was made in no uncertain tone. New York also expressed her feelings strongly. Even Virginia was loud in her disapproval. Nevertheless, the bill passed the House of Commons five to one; in the Lords, it met with no opposition whatever.

The next day Benjamin Franklin, then in London, wrote to his friend, Charles Thompson: “The sun of liberty is set; you must light the candles of industry and economy.” “The torches we shall light,” was the reply, “shall be of quite another kind.”

Petitions and memorials were addressed to Parliament, the mild and conciliatory tones of which but faintly reflected the ferment and excitement in the colonies. An association sprang suddenly into existence under the name of “Sons of Liberty,” whose special object seemed to be the intimidation of the stamp officers. In all the colonies the officers were compelled or persuaded to resign, and the stamps that arrived were either left unpacked or were seized and burned. Resolutions were passed to import no more goods from England until the Stamp Act was repealed.

[Illustration]

A change in the British ministry now took place, and, in spite of opposition, the bill was repealed. This was done on the ground of expediency only, and it was soon made evident that little had been gained to the colonies. The Stamp Act was gone, but the Declaratory Act, the Sugar Act, the Mutiny Act--requiring the colonists to provide quarters for English troops--remained. The project of taxing the American colonies was by no means relinquished. Duties were imposed on paper, glass, painters’ colors, and tea. A large number of British officers were stationed in Boston to enforce the payment of these duties. Riots followed, and throughout the colonies the greatest indignation and excitement prevailed. The British

[Illustration: WORLD’S FAIR, NEW YORK, 1853.]

government tried vainly to induce the colonists to buy their merchandise, but, failing, made one last effort by effecting an arrangement with the East India Company, by which a quantity of tea was shipped to America, to be sold at a price less than had been charged before the duties were imposed. Cargoes were sent to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston, S. C. The inhabitants of New York and Philadelphia sent them back to England; in Charleston the tea was stored in cellars, where it finally perished; in Boston men disguised as Indians boarded the ships and threw the tea overboard.

The consequence of this last rash action was the passing of the Port Bill, whereby the port of Boston was declared closed, and the charter of Massachusetts altered materially to abridge the liberties of the people. General Gage was sent with troops to occupy Boston, which was already fully garrisoned with English soldiers.

In 1774 delegates from eleven colonies met at Philadelphia and formed themselves into a Congress. A declaration of rights was agreed upon, and a repeal of the obnoxious measures resolved to be necessary to the restoration of harmony between Great Britain and America. An address was prepared and forwarded to the King and the people of Great Britain. Notwithstanding these open threats of war, the coercive measures continued. The colonies were making preparation

[Illustration: CARPENTERS’ HALL.]

for defense, and an outbreak was imminent at any time. The occasion soon arrived. A quantity of military stores were housed at Concord, eighteen miles from Boston, and General Gage sent eight hundred British troops to destroy them. At Lexington they met with the first protest, in the form of seventy armed men, who were ordered to disperse. The order not being obeyed, the British fired, killing eight of the colonists and dispersing the rest. At Concord another stand was made, but the troops succeeded in performing their commission. All the country now sprang to arms. A small army appeared in the environs of Boston, further increased by troops from Connecticut. The forts, arsenals, and magazines throughout the colonies were seized by the Americans; Crown Point and Ticonderoga were taken by Ethan Allen, with about two hundred and fifty raw New Hampshire men, reinforced by Benedict Arnold and a small body of Connecticut militia. The battle of Bunker’s Hill followed.

The second Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia May 10th, 1775, voted to raise and equip an army of twenty thousand men, and named George Washington as Commander-in-Chief. On the 2d of July General Washington arrived at Cambridge, and took command of the American forces. Two expeditions against the British in Canada were organized. One under General Montgomery captured Montreal, took a large number of prisoners, and secured considerable property. The other under Benedict Arnold marched through Maine and joined Montgomery before Quebec. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut each armed two vessels to operate against the enemy. Congress also resolved to equip an armament of thirteen vessels. Three ships from London, Glasgow, and Liverpool were captured, and their cargoes of military stores for the British were confiscated.

In the autumn General Gage sailed for England, and the command of the British army devolved upon General Howe. Parliament now declared the colonies out of royal protection, and an army of seventeen thousand mercenaries were employed to aid in their subjection. On the 7th of June, 1776, a motion was made in Congress for declaring the colonies free and independent States. The motion was discussed, and on the fourth of July approved, by a nearly unanimous vote.

The struggle had now begun in earnest. Since his arrival at Cambridge General Washington had been engaged in organizing an army out of his raw recruits, and in efforts to provide them with ammunition and suitable clothing. The regular force of Americans in February was about fourteen thousand men; in addition to these about six thousand of the Massachusetts militia were at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief. With these troops he succeeded in forcing the British to evacuate Boston. This victory was followed by defeat in Canada, the complete British possession of New York, and of the States of New Jersey and Rhode Island. In the spring of 1777 a ship arrived from France with upwards of eleven thousand stand of arms and one thousand barrels of gunpowder. The army was fully provided with arms and ammunition, and more confidence was felt in the chances for success. As the Continental army gradually regained possession of New Jersey after Washington’s victory of Trenton, the depleted ranks began to fill up, and the fortunes of the United States never again sank to such a low ebb as they had after the British invasion of New York.

About this time several French officers of distinction entered the service of the United States, among them the Marquis de Lafayette, the Baron St. Ovary, and Count Pulaski, the latter a noble Pole. They were all of the greatest service to the Americans. The most important addition to our ranks was that of the Baron Steuben, who had been aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great, and had served through the Seven Years’ War. After leaving the Prussian army he had been Grand Marshal of the Court of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. “The object of my greatest ambition,” he wrote Washington, “is to deserve the title of a citizen of the United States by fighting for the cause of your liberty.” He added that after serving under the King of Prussia, the only man he cared to fight under now was General Washington. The Baron was made Inspector-General of the army, and it was due to him largely that the raw forces were brought into the discipline necessary to insure final victory. Under him the army soon began to operate like a great machine.

The American cause advanced steadily. The successive campaigns of 1777-’78-’79-’80, and ’81 must be epitomized. After the British were driven out of New Jersey they approached Philadelphia by Chesapeake Bay. In August Sir William Howe marched from the head of Elk River in Maryland toward the capital. The armies met on the 11nth of September on the Brandywine River, and the Americans were defeated. This gave Philadelphia to the British. Another indecisive engagement occurred at Germantown shortly afterward. The campaign in Pennsylvania now ended and Washington retired for winter quarters in Valley Forge. Meanwhile events of importance were taking place in the North. General Burgoyne with seven thousand British and German troops were defeated at Fort Schuyler, at Bennington, and on the plains of Saratoga. Burgoyne’s army surrendered with nearly six thousand men and much military property, and again Ticonderoga and the North were in the hands of the Americans. This was really the turning point of the war.

France, which had for over a year kept up a wavering policy, now entered into a treaty of alliance with the United States, in which it was agreed that if war should break out between France and England during the existence of the war in America, it should be made a common cause, and that neither of the contracting parties should conclude peace with England without obtaining formal consent of the other. They further agreed not to lay down their arms until the independence of the United States should be assured by treaty.

On the alliance of America with France it was resolved in England to evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate the royal forces in the harbor of New York. The only other important advance made by the enemy was on the city of Savannah, which was captured, with the shipping in the river and much ammunition and stores. The campaign of 1779 was attended with no important results. The town of Charleston, S. C., was taken by the British, but not held for any length of time. A battle was fought at Savannah in an effort to dislodge the British troops at that place, which was so disastrous to the Americans that the militia, discouraged, retired to their homes, and the French fleet left the country. No sooner did Sir Henry Clinton receive certain information of the departure of the French allies than he sent a large expedition against South Carolina. In April, 1780, Charleston was surrounded, and a month later Fort Moultrie surrendered, thus completing the capture of the city. This year also occurred Benedict Arnold’s treachery and the execution of the gallant André.

The military movements of the year 1781 were principally confined to the South. The British were defeated twice in South Carolina, which closed the war in that State. In Virgina, at Yorktown, the British army under General Cornwallis surrendered, which practically decided the result of the Revolutionary War. Commissioners for negotiating peace were now appointed by both nations, and on the 30th of November, 1782, they agreed on provisional articles, which were to be inserted in a future treaty of peace, to be concluded finally when peace was established between France and England. On the 11th of April, 1783, Congress issued a proclamation, declaring a cessation of arms on land and sea. The definite treaty of peace was signed in Paris on the 3d of September. On the 25th of November the British troops left the city of New York, and on the same day the Americans took possession.

Chapter III.

The Story Of The Nation.

Following the exultation of victory came a period of uncertainty and apprehension. Financially the country was in a state of utter collapse. The result of the war was a foreign debt of eight millions, and a domestic debt of thirty millions of dollars. The army was unpaid and mutinous; only the tact and energy of Washington prevented an outbreak. The Articles of Confederation, ratified March 1st, 1781, were insufficient to the emergencies which arose on every hand. Congress could obtain no revenue except by requisition from the States; it had no power to lay a tax or to enforce payment from the States. It had no common executive, and was really less a governmental power than a consulting body. A condition bordering on anarchy reigned throughout the States. The legislatures of States having seaports taxed the people of other States for trading with foreign ports through them. Some even taxed imports from sister States. All the States neglected the requisitions of Congress, and New Jersey actually refused payment altogether. It was becoming alarmingly evident that the central government must be strengthened, and new methods of administration adopted, or the confederacy would go to pieces.

All the States except Rhode Island appointed delegates to a general Convention to be held in Philadelphia in May, 1787, for the purpose of “devising such further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” The members were the wisest and most honorable men in America. The venerable Franklin, now eighty-one years of age, George Washington, a long list of Revolutionary heroes, and eight signers of the Declaration of Independence were among the distinguished delegates. The Convention was occupied for nearly four months. The proceedings were secret; the journal being intrusted to the care of Washington, who deposited it in the State Department. This journal was afterward printed. Notes of several members were published in 1840, and from these we have nearly a complete view of the process by which the Constitution was formed.

The antagonisms of the States were many and bitter. Chief among them was the slavery question. So hot discussions on this point became that for a fortnight the Convention was on the verge of dissolution, and even Washington despaired of a favorable issue to the proceedings, and almost repented of having had anything to do with the Convention. At this time Franklin made his characteristic speech on the wide diversity of opinion, in which he said that when a broad table is to be made, and the edges of the planks do not fit, the artisan takes a little from both and makes a good joint. In like manner here, both sides must part with some of their demands in order to join in an accommodating position. With the agreement to compromise, the work went more rapidly, and on the 12th of September the completed Constitution was ordered printed. The signing, and the ratification by States of the Constitution followed.

The first Congress assembled in New York on the 4th of March, 1789. Delegates arrived from all the States excepting Rhode Island and North Carolina. On opening the votes of the electors, it was ascertained that George Washington was elected President of the United States, and John Adams, having the next highest number of votes, was declared Vice-President. On the 23d of April the President-elect arrived in New York, and on the 30th was inaugurated. After a laborious session Congress adjourned to meet on the first Monday in January.

The national government was received with powerful opposition by a considerable proportion of voters, and two political parties were thus formed at the very outset. The friends of the Constitution were called Federalists, and the opposing party were styled anti-Federalists. In November of this year North Carolina adopted the Constitution, and was admitted as a State, and Rhode Island followed next year. In 1790 the location of the Capital was decided upon, and its removal to the Potomac designated to take place in the year 1800; in the meantime, the seat of government was to be established at Philadelphia. A census was taken, which showed the population of the United States to be 3,929,326, of which 695,655 were slaves. In 1791 the opposition to the Federal party grew stronger, when the State debts were assumed by Congress, and Hamilton broached the scheme of a National bank. Jefferson, who had been first Secretary of the State, headed the opposing party, who adopted the name of Republicans, and denounced the Hamilton party as Monarchists, and declared against the tendency to centralization of power. The Federal party continued in the majority, however, and Washington and Adams were re-elected in 1792. In the elections of 1800 the Republicans were victorious; Jefferson became President and Aaron Burr Vice-President. The two men received an equal number of votes, and Congress had to decide between them. For many years the “State Rights” Republican-Democratic party continued in power.

The most important event of the early part of the nineteenth century was the purchase of Louisiana from the French. This enormous territory had been lost to England after the French and Indian war; it embraced the whole Mississippi Valley, and extended indefinitely westward. In 1762 it was transferred to Spain, although open possession was not given until 1769. In 1763 Great Britain had obtained, by treaty, that portion lying east of the Mississippi. In 1783, of course, this came into possession of the United States. All the territory west, and on the east from the 31st parallel to the Gulf, remained in the hands of Spain. The importance of having the free use of the river as a channel of transportation to the sea was early felt. This necessity was intensified as settlements increased and the Spanish authorities began to manifest a hostile policy. In 1800 Spain gave back to France the province of Louisiana. It was some time before the transaction became known, but the moment it was made public Jefferson saw that our troubles with France were not an end. The day she took possession the old friendship, long strained, would come to an end, and war seemed near, for in 1802 came the news that an expedition was preparing to cross to Louisiana. Meanwhile the navigation of the river was closed to American citizens; all trade was forbidden them, and the right of deposit at New Orleans was taken away. Protected by this right, traders of Kentucky and Ohio had been accustomed to float tobacco, flour, etc., down the river and store them in warehouses to await the arrival of sloops or scows to carry them to their ports. By the treaty of 1795 some convenient place must always be open for these goods, and when New Orleans was closed there was no other place. Jefferson’s plan was to buy so much territory on the east hank of the river as would settle forever the question of the use of its mouth. Although vigorously opposed by the Federalists in Congress, who wished to declare war against Spain, Jefferson’s proposal was acted upon, and James Monroe was sent over to act with the ministers to France and Spain in the matter of the purchase. Talleyrand hindered the matter as much as possible, and Livingston finally was obliged to break over the bonds of diplomatic etiquette and address himself directly to the First Consul. Napoleon agreed to sell, not part but all; the first price asked was one hundred and twenty-five million francs, and the final price agreed upon was eighty millions. Jefferson, although only authorized to spend two million dollars, accepted the treaty, summoned Congress, and urged it to perfect the purchase. Fifteen million dollars seemed an enormous sum for the people to assume to pay, and the old Federalists fought the measure hotly, but in the end the treaty was ratified by Congress. On November 10th the act creating the eleven million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars’ worth of stock called for by the first Convention was passed, and in December, 1803, the United States took possession of Louisiana.

The immense territory thus acquired was an unexplored and unknown region to the Americans of that day. Only such scraps of information as came from hunters and trappers, and the wild tales of the Indians had reached the officials. And such tales! There were Indians of gigantic stature; a mountain of salt one hundred and eighty miles in length, all brilliant white in the sun, not a tree on it, and saline streams flowing from its base. There were prairies too rich for anything but grass, soil so fertile that things grew for the planting. In 1804 a party of explorers under Lewis and Clark was sent out by the government; they followed the Missouri to its source, crossed the mountains to the Pacific, and traversed all that region now known as Oregon.

The commerce of America now began to increase with remarkable rapidity, and complications arising with other countries obliged the United States to protect her commerce by engaging in two wars, one with Tripoli and one with England. France and England were engaged in that mighty struggle which followed the events of the French Revolution. Seriously in need of men and unable to buy them from the German Duchies as she had done in her war with the colonies, England began that system of impressment of seamen which finally became so intolerable that war was necessary. The evil was one of long standing. As far back as 1796 application was made in London for the release of two hundred and seventy seamen thus seized within a year. The people of the United States were roused to a state of indignation. Measures for fitting out a suitable naval armament were taken, and a policy of aggression decided upon.

The war with Britain, however, was preceded by a three years’ war with the piratical power of Tripoli, which with the other Barbary States of North Africa, had for many years made the Mediterranean unsafe for commerce. The weaker mercantile nations of Europe, after vainly endeavoring to suppress these outrages, had consented to pay an annual tribute for the security of their vessels. The United States did the same for a time, but having grown weary of this course declared war against Tripoli. The contest ended in 1804, and resulted in the partial suppression of the piracies. It needed a second struggle in 1815 to induce Algiers and Tunis to give up all claims to tribute from the United

[Illustration: MAIN BUILDING, INTERNATIONAL CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1876.]

States, and this was accomplished under the same talented commander who brought the first war to a successful close--the gallant Commodore Decatur.

The history of the second war with Great Britain begins, as we have seen, as far back as 1796. The aggressive acts of that power were of a nature that would not be tolerated for a single month did they occur in the present day. An official report made in 1812 by the Secretary of State declared that five hundred and twenty-eight American merchantmen had been taken by England prior to 1807, and three hundred and eighty-nine after that period. The value of those vessels and cargoes, estimated at the lowest figures, would amount to nearly thirty million dollars. An abundant warrant for war, surely; yet the declaration was carried in Congress by an astonishingly small majority. The Federal party, opposed to all the Jeffersonian measures, fought with especial bitterness--and with especial justification--the embargo which the executive had declared and which had really caused severe distress to the industrial classes. The depression continued throughout the war, and the suffering experienced gave strong support to the measures of the so-called “Peace Party,” who threw every obstruction in the way of its successful termination. Altogether it was a war for which no adequate provision was made. The navy of the United States was in no condition to cope with that of England; the regular army numbered less than seven thousand men, and the other requisites of war were as poorly provided for. The time, however, was most opportune. England was exhausted with her struggle with France, which even then was continuing, and required most of her attention. Yet so miserably was the war managed that the first year was a record of disaster to the United States. Our naval operations were successful from the start, and the striking series of victories at sea filled England with astonishment and dismay. These successes were followed by similar ones on the lakes, where two of the most notable battles of the war were won. In 1814 the British took possession of Washington, burned the Capitol, the President’s house, the public offices, the navy yard and arsenal, and the bridge over the Potomac. They were repulsed by the Americans a few days later and forced to leave the Chesapeake. The British fleet then sailed south, and in December appeared before New Orleans. The gallant defense made by Jackson lasted nearly a month and resulted in victory for the United States. Before the first gun was fired the treaty of peace had been signed, but word did not reach the combatants in the South until February.

The treaty settled certain questions of boundary, of fisheries, and provided the abolishment of naval forces on the lakes. On the subject of impressment it was silent, as it could very well have been, since America had amply proved her ability to defend her commerce and her citizens in any future difficulty.

The best result of the war was the rapid increase of American manufa