COPYRIGHTED I884-. 
 
 n|ew YorkM^LqiJgHliH B^otHef^s 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924012052910 
 
E 178.3.P7°7 18'87""'"'''"'^'^^ 
 
 JmimXifmrn''^ United States .told 
 
 3 1924 012 052 910 
 
-3 ^ : ^t: 
 COLUMBUS DISCOVERING AMERI 
 
 C A. 
 
A FEW WORDS 
 
 THIS is a tale in short words for small folks, on 
 the way our land grew. There is much that all boys 
 and girls ought to know, of the brave deeds of our 
 great men. 
 
 To read this will make you want to read more and 
 to learn m^ore, of what the men of old times and of 
 new tifnes did to make our land the great land it now is. 
 
 The men of old times fought to make the land free. 
 We who live in this day should be proud to have it 
 free, and do our best to keep it so. 
 
 All young folks should be glad to learn of the land 
 in which they live ; to know who were its chief men: 
 and to tell of the wars which were fought, in which 
 the foes of the land were put to flight. They should 
 know, too, what a bright and glad thing it is that we 
 now have peace in the land, after all the wars we 
 have been through. 
 
 God has led us on through ways that have been 
 strange, to reach the place where we now stand. The 
 men of all the earth look on our land, and we are 
 glad to have them call it 
 
 THE LAND OF THE FREE 
 
 and 
 
 THE HOME OF THE BRAVE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 Chapter II. 
 Chapter III. 
 Chapter IV. 
 Chapter V. 
 Chapter VI. 
 Chapter VII. 
 Chapter VIII. 
 Chapter IX. 
 Chapter X. 
 Chapter XI. 
 Chapter XII. 
 Chapter XIII. 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 THE NORTH MEN. 
 
 A GREAT MAN. 
 
 A NEW WORLD. 
 
 NEW HOMES 
 
 WARS WITH THE RED MEN. 
 
 TWO MEN OF PEACE. . 
 
 FRENCH AND IN-DI-AN WARS. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF A GREAT WAR 
 
 THE FIRST FIGHT. 
 
 GEORGE WASH-ING-TON. . 
 
 DARK DAYS 
 
 THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 ON SHIP AND SHORE. 
 
 WHAT TOOK PLACE IN MEX-I-CO AND 
 CAL-I-FOR-NIA. . . . . 
 
 NORTH AND SOUTH AT WAR. 
 
 SINCE THE WAR. . . ' . . 
 
 FAGX. 
 
 5 
 14 
 26 
 
 39 
 46 
 
 58 
 62 
 66 
 69 
 
 77 
 81 
 86 
 90 
 
 97 
 103 
 
 "5 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ONITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE NORTH MEN. 
 
 IN the North of Europe 
 Hved the North, or 
 Norse men, who were fond 
 of the sea. They were a 
 large, strong race. They 
 wore the skins of wild 
 beasts for clothes, and when 
 they went out to fight wore 
 great coats of mail. These 
 men were great thieves, 
 and stole all that came in 
 'heir way. 
 
 Some of these men 
 sailed from Den-mark in 
 the year 900, and, in a 
 storm, were cast on the 
 shores of Ice-land. Thus 
 Ice- land was found by 
 
 chance, and in a few years 
 some Danes went there to 
 live, and kept up a trade 
 with the main-land. When 
 some years had gone by, 
 Green-land was found by 
 an Ice-land-er who set sail 
 in a way that no one else 
 had gone, and in a short 
 time some of the Ice-land 
 folks went to live in the 
 new land where there was 
 less ice and snow. 
 
 You would think from 
 the name that it was a 
 place where green grass 
 grew, and there were green 
 fields, and green trees, and 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 high green hills such as 
 you can see in your own 
 land. But if you look 
 on the map you will 
 see that this could not 
 be ; for Green-land is near 
 the North Pole, where 
 there is ice and snow all 
 the year round, and the 
 folks there have to live 
 in huts, that have a hole 
 in the side for them to 
 crawl through, and a hole 
 in the top to let the smoke 
 out. 
 
 Eric, the Red, was one 
 ol the first who went from 
 Ice-land to Green-land to 
 make a home. Men in 
 those days were as fond of 
 change as they are now, 
 and as they had but few 
 clothes and did not need 
 much to keep house with, 
 they could go from place 
 to place with great ease. 
 
 Their ships were strange 
 in shape, .with a tall prow 
 in front, and must have 
 been made stout and strong 
 or they could not have 
 stood the rough waves in 
 the great north sea. How 
 would you like to live 
 where there were ice and 
 snow all the time, and the 
 sun did not shine bright 
 or warm for six months at 
 a time. 
 
 I have said that the 
 Danes kept up a trade 
 with the main-land ; but it 
 was not the land that you 
 will see near Green-land 
 or Ice-land on the map. 
 They did not know that 
 such a great land was so 
 near ; for when they set 
 sail they took but one 
 course and that was to the 
 land they had come from, 
 which was Den -mark. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 You can judge by the 
 map how far off that was, 
 and will not think it strange 
 that it took so long a time 
 to find out the great land 
 that lay so near, but in a 
 way they were not wont 
 to go. 
 
 One of the men who 
 went with Eric, the Red, 
 had a son, who at that 
 time was in Nor-way, with 
 which a trade was kept up. 
 When the son came back 
 to Ice-land and found that 
 those with whom he made 
 his home were not there, 
 he made up his mind to go 
 to Green-land too, though 
 he did not know how to 
 get there, and there was no 
 one to show him the way. 
 
 But for all that he set 
 out with a ship's crew, and 
 might have found his way 
 to Green-land, if a storm 
 
 had not set in that drove 
 him out of his course. 
 Part of the time they were 
 shut in by thick fogs, so 
 that they could not tell 
 where they were. Then 
 the bleak winds blew from 
 the north and drove their 
 ship far to the south-west, 
 when their aim had been to 
 keep to the north-east. 
 
 At length they saw a land 
 which they knew could not 
 be Green-land, for they had 
 been told that its shores 
 were rough and full of ice- 
 hills, and these shores were 
 quite flat and great trees 
 grew there ; so they stood 
 out to sea, and in two days 
 with a south-west wind 
 they came in sight of a 
 coast, which was also flat 
 and full of trees. This did 
 not please them, so they set 
 sail once more and in three 
 
THE HISTORV OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 days came to a third land, 
 which they found out had 
 the sea on all sides and was 
 not as large as Ice-land. 
 Its great ice-hills they did 
 not like, so they did not 
 land, but bore off with the 
 same wind, and in four 
 days came to the coast of 
 Green-land. This was in 
 the year 986. If they 
 had known that the land 
 they had been so near was 
 part of a great and a new 
 world, how changed would 
 have been their course ! 
 But the men were sick of 
 the sea and glad to get 
 back to their own homes 
 and their friends, and to 
 tell them all they had 
 seen. 
 
 In eight years this same 
 man, whose name was 
 Bard-son, and who had a 
 ship of his own, went off to 
 
 spend some time with the 
 Earl of Nor- way to whom 
 he spoke of the strange 
 land he had seen but a few 
 days' sail from Green-land; 
 and the Earl, and all those 
 who heard him, thought it 
 was a great shame that he 
 did not go on shore when 
 he was so near, and had 
 such a good chance to find 
 out what sort of a place it 
 was. 
 
 The young men of Green- 
 land were quite sure they 
 would not have done as 
 Bard-son did ; and as they 
 had no books to read, and 
 not much else to think of, 
 their whole talk for years 
 and years was of what 
 some of their own folks 
 had seen with their own 
 eyes. It was so strange a 
 tale that some of them did 
 not think it could be true. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 Green trees and a flat coast 
 so near? It could not be! 
 The men had dreamt it ! 
 No one cared to send a 
 ship down that way to see 
 if it were so. They did 
 not care a great deal for 
 land. The great sea was 
 the field they plow'd ; it 
 gave them their food, and 
 they could ride at ease on 
 its waves and feel free to 
 go here or there. 
 
 But in the year i,ooo, 
 Leif, one of the sons of 
 Eric, the Red, made up 
 his mind to go out in search 
 of those strange lands of 
 which he had heard since 
 he was a boy, and to find 
 out if these tales were all 
 true. So he bought the 
 same ship that Bard-son 
 used to call his own, the 
 name of which has not 
 come down to us, and with 
 
 quite a large crew set sail 
 from Green-land. 
 
 The first land they made 
 was that which Bard-son 
 had seen last. Here they 
 went on shore. Not a 
 blade of grass was to be 
 seen ; on all sides were 
 great hills of ice, and twixt 
 these and the shore a great 
 bare field of slate, on which 
 no weed could find a place 
 to grow. As they did not 
 like the looks of the land 
 they gave it a bad name, 
 Hell-u-land, and put to sea 
 at once. 
 
 It is thought that this 
 land was what is now 
 known as New-found-land, 
 which sets out from the 
 main-land so that the 
 waves can dash all round 
 its coast, and the north 
 winds pile their drifts of ice 
 and snow up on the shore. 
 
lO 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The next land these 
 brave men came to, and 
 where they went on shore, 
 was quite flat, but thick 
 woods could be seen back 
 from the low coast. To 
 this place they gave the 
 name of Wood-land. It 
 is now known as No-va 
 Sco-tia. 
 
 But Leif did not choose 
 to stay here ; so he set sail, 
 and in a few days came to 
 a point of land that set out 
 at the east of the main-land 
 like a great bare arm of 
 stone, or a hook to reap 
 with. This you will see, 
 if you look on the map, 
 was Cape Cod, and through 
 Cape Cod Bay, Leif went 
 with his ship and soon 
 found a nice place to land 
 on the coast of Mas-sa-chu- 
 setts. Here they at first 
 built huts to live in ; but 
 
 as they liked the place and 
 made up their minds to 
 stay for some time, they 
 put up log houses in which 
 they could keep warm 
 when the days grew cold, 
 and ice and snow were on 
 the ground. 
 
 From time to time men 
 were sent out to view the 
 land, and one day when 
 one of them, a German, 
 did not come back with 
 the rest, Leif and a few of 
 his crew went out to look 
 for him. They soon met 
 him, and he told them he 
 had not been far, but had 
 found vines and grapes 
 which were well known to 
 him, as he had been born 
 in a land where they grew. 
 At first they did not think 
 he told the truth ; but 
 the next day some of the 
 men went with him, and 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 found it just as he had 
 said it was. 
 
 When Leif and his men 
 made up their minds to go 
 home, they piled the deck 
 of their ship with the trees 
 they had cut down, and 
 filled the long boat with 
 grapes. The place was so 
 full of vines and grapes 
 that Leif gave it the name 
 of Vin-land ; and in the 
 spring he and his men set 
 out for Green-land. 
 
 These brave Norse men 
 and their sons could not 
 tell the rest of the world 
 what they had seen ; so 
 y^ajs went by and few 
 found their way to this 
 new world. Now and then 
 a ship went out from Ice- 
 land or Green -land, and 
 there is proof that these 
 North men found their 
 way down the coast of 
 
 North A-mer-i-ca as far 
 as Mas -sa-chu- setts and 
 Rhode Is-land. 
 
 Bronze breast - plates, 
 bronze belts, and sword- 
 hilts, have been found from 
 time to time, which could 
 not have been worn by 
 the red men of the woods, 
 who had no use for such 
 things. Strange signs were 
 found cut in the rocks, and 
 at New-port there is now 
 a round house of gray 
 stone which was built, no 
 one knows when, but long 
 ere Co-lum-bus came to 
 A-mer-i-ca. 
 
 At this time, and for a 
 long term of years, the 
 whole of the U-ni-ted States, 
 from the At-lan-tic to the 
 Mis-sis-sip-pi, was a wild 
 land where great woods 
 grew, and where bears, 
 wolves, wild-cats, and deer 
 
12 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were free to roam. Here 
 and there at the foot of 
 high hills were wide fields 
 of long grass that spread 
 for miles and miles like a 
 great green sea. Snakes 
 of all kinds made their 
 home in this long grass 
 through which they slid 
 with ease, and basked in 
 the warm rays of the sun. 
 Here, too, the wild ox 
 made a path, and went 
 back and forth where the 
 foot of man had not trod, 
 and no one had as yet 
 found out the worth of his 
 horns and his skin. 
 
 It is said that long ere a 
 white man saw this land, 
 strange men with dark skins 
 lived here and built large 
 towns, fought great fights, 
 and served false gods. But 
 of this we can not be sure. 
 No one can tell what took 
 
 place, or what they did 
 who lived here in those far 
 off days when no white 
 man had set foot on the 
 land. 
 
 The first white men who 
 came to this new world 
 found here a wild race 
 who wore the skins of wild 
 beasts tied round their 
 waists, and lived in a rude 
 sort of way. They were 
 tall and straight, with dark 
 red skins, high cheek bones» 
 and coarse black hair. The 
 whites gave these red men 
 the name of In-di-ans, as 
 it was then thought that 
 A-mer-i-ca was a part of 
 In-di-a. 
 
 These In-di-ans could 
 do three things : hunt, fish, 
 and fight. They made 
 their squaws do all the 
 hard work. These poor 
 squaws had to dig the 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 13 
 
 ground, sow the corn, and 
 weave the mats of which 
 their huts were made; and 
 not a smile or a kind word 
 did they get to pay them 
 for their hard tasks. 
 
 The men spent the most 
 of their time in the woods, 
 where they could hunt 
 for game, by the streams 
 where fish were to be 
 caught, or else in fights 
 with those who dwelt near 
 them. 
 
 They made use of bows 
 and clubs with great skill. 
 Their darts had sharp 
 stones at the end, or bits 
 of shells. They were such 
 good shots that they could 
 
 bring down a bird, or a 
 deer, or a man a long way 
 off Their clubs were made 
 of hard wood. When they 
 killed a man, they would 
 cut off his scalp, which 
 was the skin of his head 
 with the hair on, and these 
 scalps were tied to their 
 belts and worn with much 
 pride. 
 
 These were not nice men 
 to meet with in a strange 
 land, and as you read on 
 you will learn how the 
 white men had to fight 
 these foes, and in what 
 ways they tried to make 
 friends with the red men. 
 
14 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A 
 
 GREAT MAN 
 
 At the time of which I 
 write, the earth was thought 
 to be flat, and men who 
 went to sea made use of 
 the stars to steer by. 
 
 But a great change came, 
 and a great man. His 
 name was Chris -to-pher 
 Co-lum-bus, and he was 
 born at Gen-o-a, It-a-ly. 
 As a boy he was fond of 
 the sea, and he learned, 
 while quite a lad, how to 
 sail a ship and to take 
 charge of a crew. When 
 he grew to be a man he 
 had a ship of his own, and 
 kept up a trade with lands 
 that were far ofl". In those 
 days men went to Af-ri-ca 
 for gold and for slaves, and 
 
 to A-sia for rich fruits and 
 fine goods that could be 
 found no where else. The 
 sea was a great high-way, 
 and bad men would lie in 
 wait to seize the ships on 
 their way back from the 
 East, and to take from 
 each one of them the rich 
 prize that it bore. 
 
 Of course the men did 
 not want to lose what they 
 had gone so far to get, and 
 there would be great fights 
 on the sea. 
 
 In a sea-fight off the 
 coast of Spain Co-lum-bus' 
 ship was set on fire, and 
 all on board had to swim 
 for their lives. Co-lum-bus 
 found his way to Lis-bon, 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 15 
 
 where there were some 
 folks who spoke his tongue, 
 and they gave him the best 
 of care. Here he made his 
 home, and took a wife, and 
 in time had charts and 
 books of his own, that told 
 him all that was known of 
 the great wide sea, of which 
 he was so fond. 
 
 Each day he grew more 
 wise, and his mind was full 
 of ereat schemes. 
 
 From what he read, and 
 from what he had seen in 
 his trips to far off coasts, 
 from the shape of the land 
 and the bend of the sky, 
 Co-lum-bus rnade up his 
 mind that the world was 
 round and not so large as 
 it was thought to be, and 
 that men must sail west to 
 find a short way to In-di-a. 
 
 If you look at a map of 
 the world you will see that 
 
 the short cut from Eu-rope 
 to In-di-a would be straight 
 through North A-mer-i-ca. 
 No ship could make this, 
 of course. But at the time 
 I speak of, the folks in 
 Eu-rope did not know that 
 there was such a place as 
 North A-mer-i-ca, and Co- 
 lum-bus thought it would 
 be a fine thing to take this 
 short cut from Spain to In- 
 di-a. The more he thought 
 of it, the more he felt that 
 it could be done. He was 
 both brave and bold. He 
 did not ask that men and 
 ships should be sent to see 
 if this were so. He wished 
 to take the lead and to 
 prove that he was not such 
 a fool as they thought. 
 
 What faith he had ! 
 
 For long, long years he 
 tried hard to prove that 
 this thinf^ could be done ; 
 
i6 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 but no one had faith in 
 him. They had been taught 
 that the earth was flat, and 
 that it was not safe for 
 ships to go west for fear 
 they would fall offl 
 
 He could get no help in 
 his plans, and wise men 
 told him to give them up. 
 He asked in vain for ships 
 and gold, for he was too 
 poor to buy what he would 
 need on such a long trip. 
 Some made fun of him to 
 his face and said, if the 
 world were round, some 
 folks would have to walk 
 on their heads. 
 
 One day when Co-lum- 
 bus felt worn and sad, for 
 it was a great grief to him 
 that he could get no one 
 to think as he did, he sat 
 down to rest in the shade 
 of a house where some 
 monks made their home. 
 
 It was high noon, and he 
 asked the monk to give 
 him a cool drink. The 
 monk brought him the 
 draught, and sat down by 
 Co-lum-bus to have a talk 
 with him. Co-lum-bus told 
 him his views and his plans, 
 and the monk thought so 
 well of them that he said 
 he would speak to his 
 friends at the court of 
 Spain and see what they 
 would do to aid him in 
 his bold scheme. 
 
 Co-lum-bus first went to 
 It-a-ly, in 1484, but the 
 king of that place would 
 give him no help. Then 
 he went to Por-tu-gal, and 
 bad men laid a scheme to 
 fit him out with ships and 
 then rob him of the wealth 
 or fame he might win. 
 But Co-lum-bus found this 
 out, and when the king 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 17 
 
 of Por-tu-gal sought to 
 make terms with him, Co- 
 lum-bus would give him 
 no heed. 
 
 This will show you how 
 he came to go to Spain and 
 to sail from there, when he 
 was born in Gen-o-a, and 
 had made his home in Lis- 
 bon for so many years. 
 
 In the mean time he 
 had sent a friend to Eng- 
 land, to see what King 
 Hen-ry the Sev-enth would 
 do for him. This friend 
 fell in with those sea 
 thieves I have told you 
 of, and they took all that 
 he had, so that when he 
 got to Eng-land he was 
 in a sad plight. He was 
 sick for some time, but as 
 soon as he got well he 
 went to work and made 
 and sold maps, and in a 
 year or two he had the 
 
 means to buy clothes that 
 were fit to wear at court. 
 And not till then did he 
 go to see the king. This 
 was in the year 1488. 
 
 Co-lum-bus had gone to 
 Spain to try his luck there, 
 and found a friend in good 
 Queen Is-a-bel-la. He 
 had made up his mind 
 to go to France if Spain 
 would not fit him out with 
 ships ; and if it had not 
 been for the queen, Co-lum- 
 bus might have died and 
 the New World might 
 not have been found at all. 
 But these things do not 
 take place by chance. 
 
 When the right time 
 comes, God puts it in the 
 hearts of men to do what 
 is wise and good in His 
 sight. And God put it in 
 the heart of Queen Is-a- 
 bel-la to help Co-lum-bus 
 
i8 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 just at this time. " All 
 things work for good to 
 them that love God." 
 
 The rnonk who had been 
 so kind to Co-lum-bus and 
 such a friend to the cause 
 from the first, set out to see 
 what the king and queen 
 of Spain would do. They 
 were in camp at San-ta Fe, 
 where the court was held, 
 with the troops who at that 
 time laid siege to Gra-na- 
 da. The Fra, as the monk 
 was called, told them that 
 he had great faith in Co- 
 lum-bus, who was a wise 
 and good man, and there 
 was no doubt that he had 
 the skill to do all that he 
 laid out. To such a man 
 there was no such word 
 as fail. 
 
 The Fra said it would be 
 a great loss if they let slip 
 so fair a chance to add to 
 
 the wealth of Spain, and it 
 would not do to let Co-lum- 
 bus go off in a rage, and 
 have the rich prize fall in 
 the hands of kings who 
 would be glad to seize it 
 from the grasp of Spain. 
 
 So well did he plead 
 that the queen bade that 
 Co-lum-bus should be sent 
 for, with gold from the 
 king's purse to pay his 
 way. Co-lum-bus came 
 and spoke in strong terms; 
 some thought what he said 
 was wise, and were pleased 
 with the way he spoke; 
 some thought him a vain 
 man, and his terms much 
 too high. The war had 
 cost Spain a great deal of 
 gold, and they had none 
 to waste on such a wild 
 scheme as this in which 
 Co-lum-bus would like them 
 to take part. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 19 
 
 Co-lum-bus gave up all 
 hopes. Hymns were sung, 
 and feasts were spread, and 
 all Spain was glad, for 
 Gra-na-da had been won 
 from the hands of the foe. 
 No one had time to think 
 of poor Co-lum-bus, who 
 felt that the years he had 
 spent in Spain were in 
 truth lost years. He took 
 leave of his friends and 
 set out for Cor-do-va, from 
 which port he could sail 
 for France where, as I have 
 told you, he thought he 
 might find friends to aid 
 him in his plans. This 
 was in the first month of 
 the year 1492. 
 
 At this time, one of the 
 men who served the crown 
 and had great love and 
 zeal for the land that gave 
 him birth, went to the 
 queen and spoke to her as 
 
 none but a man of his rank 
 would dare to speak. He 
 said that it was a shame 
 that so grand a scheme 
 should fall through for 
 want of some one like the 
 queen to give it aid. She 
 was fond of good deeds, 
 and glad to do all she 
 could to build up the 
 church of Christ, and raise 
 the Cross in lands where 
 His name was not known. 
 It was a sin to lose such a 
 chance to let the light in a 
 dark place. Why should 
 they let a small sum of 
 gold stand in the way of 
 such a grand work and 
 such a great prize ? 
 
 If Co-lum-bus would risk 
 his life, could Spain not 
 risk her gold ? Friends and 
 foes of his dear land would 
 blame those who had been 
 so blind and so weak as 
 
iO 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 
 
 not to seize on this chance, 
 and in the years to come 
 each child of Spain would 
 feel the loss and shame 
 of it 
 
 The queen could not be 
 deaf to these words. She 
 said she would pledge her 
 own gems to get the means, 
 if Spain could not spare 
 the gold. But there was 
 no need of this. 
 
 A man was sent in great 
 haste to Co-lum-bus whom 
 he found on the bridge 
 of Pi-nas, two miles from 
 Gra-na-da, and when he 
 came back to the town of 
 San-ta-Fe, he found the 
 folks there so kind and 
 good that he gave no 
 thought to the things that 
 had vexed him. 
 
 Those whom God means 
 shall do great things have 
 to fight their way through 
 
 much that is hard and sad. 
 This makes them brave 
 and strong, if they are 
 made of the right kind of 
 stuff. 
 
 What joy must have been 
 in the heart of Co-lum-bus 
 when he was told that the 
 king and queen of Spain 
 would fit out a fleet of 
 ships, and place him at 
 the head ! 
 
 At a sea port of Spain, 
 named Pa-los, three small 
 craft were put in charge 
 of Co-lum-bus. They were 
 such poor ships that he had 
 hard work to find men to 
 go in them as crews. Few 
 men in our day would care 
 to risk their lives in such 
 poor ships as the king and 
 queen of Spain gave to Co- 
 lum-bus. But it was the 
 best they could do. The 
 king said the crews must 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UXITED STA TES. 
 
 21 
 
 go on board and do as 
 Co-lum-bus said, and they 
 went, but in great fear, for 
 they shrank from such a 
 wild cruise and were sure 
 they would not find their 
 way back to their homes. 
 
 The three ships were 
 named the San-ta Ma-ri-a 
 [Ma-ree-ah] the Pin-ta, and 
 the Ni-na [Ne-nah.] Co- 
 lum-bus went on board the 
 San-ta Ma-ri-a which had a 
 deck. The Pin-ta and the 
 Ni-na had no decks, and 
 there was deep gloom in 
 Pa-los when the fleet put 
 out to sea in 1492. At the 
 end of a week they were 
 out of sight of land. Great 
 fear fell on the crews, who 
 had no wish but to get 
 back home as fast as they 
 could. The wind blew 
 them on in a straight 
 course, and this made them 
 
 fear that they should not 
 have a fair wind to take 
 them back. 
 
 The sea gulls, and the 
 weeds, and the small birds 
 they met at break of day 
 made them think the land 
 was near, and when the 
 sun rose and they saw but 
 the broad, deep sea, they 
 were wroth with the man 
 who had brought them so 
 far from home. Their hopes 
 gave way to fears as day by 
 day they watched and saw 
 no signs of land. They 
 had been made to go on 
 this wild cruise. Their 
 hearts were not in it. They 
 had left all that was dear 
 to them, and for what ? 
 
 Some of the rough men 
 shed tears, and some gave 
 vent to loud cries. All of 
 them found fault with Co- 
 lum-bus, and thought he 
 
22 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 was to blame for all their 
 woes. He had led them 
 off in search of a land that 
 was no-where to be found, 
 and they had a mind to kill 
 him if he did not turn back. 
 Then they would soon 
 change the ship's course, 
 and when they got back to 
 Spain would tell the king 
 that Co-lum-bus fell in the 
 sea while his gaze was 
 fixed on the stars. Co-lum- 
 bus stood firm. He tried 
 to soothe the men, and to 
 lift up their hearts. He 
 told them of the wealth in 
 store for them in the new 
 land he was quite sure he 
 should find, and which 
 could not be far off, and 
 in this way and by the 
 tnreats that he made kept 
 the men from crime. He 
 said that he was bound by 
 the help of God to go to 
 
 In-di-a, and if they did not 
 do as they ought it would 
 be worse for them when 
 the word was sent to the 
 king of Spain. 
 
 In a few days the wind 
 blew from the right course, 
 the sea was calm, and the 
 three ships stood so near 
 that Co-lum-bus could talk 
 to those in charge of the 
 Pin-ta and Ni-na. The 
 air had a sweet smell, and 
 fields of sea-weed came 
 near the ship. While Co- 
 lumbus bent his head on 
 the chart to see if he could 
 have gone out of his track, 
 a shout went up from the 
 Pin-ta, and the cry of 
 "Land! Land!" 
 
 The men were wild with 
 joy. Co-lum-bus knelt 
 down and gave thanks to 
 God, The crews on all of 
 the ships joined in a song 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 of praise. Some of the men 
 climb to the mast head, 
 and strain their eyes to see 
 the land that lay but a few 
 leagues off. All that night, 
 to please the men who were 
 so sure it was the land, Co- 
 lum-bus set the ship out 
 of its course, and stood to 
 the north west. The light 
 of day put an end to all 
 their hopes, as to a dream. 
 What they had thought 
 was land was but a dark 
 cloud ! With hearts full 
 of grief they once more 
 turn their course to the 
 west, and for some days 
 sail on with the same fair 
 wind, smooth sea, and 
 bright skies. 
 
 The one who first saw 
 the land was to have a 
 great prize, and this kept 
 the men on the watch. 
 But if one should cry out 
 
 Land! and it did not prove 
 to be so, he was to have no 
 share in the prize, though 
 his eyes might be the first 
 to catch a glimpse of the 
 real land, and his voice the 
 first to- tell the good news. 
 Once those on board the 
 Ni-na, which took the lead 
 the most of the time, fired 
 a gun, and sent up a flag 
 and were sure they had 
 seen land ; but as they 
 went on they found out 
 that they were wrong. 
 
 All this time the crew 
 of the San-ta Ma-ri-a had 
 it in their hearts to kill 
 Co-lum-bus, and he knew it, 
 but showed no fear, though 
 he kept a close watch on 
 all the signs that told him 
 the land could not be far 
 off. 
 
 They had been at least 
 two months at sea, a long 
 
24 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 time for men of ill-will to 
 keep their rage in check, 
 when birds and land fowl 
 that Co-lum-bus knew could 
 not fly far, came quite near 
 the ship. The songs of 
 birds were in the air, and 
 one day the men on board 
 the Pin-ta took up a staff 
 on which strange signs 
 were wrought, and saw a 
 cane float by, and a large 
 lot of weeds torn fresh 
 from the shore. 
 
 Co-lum-bus spoke to his 
 men ; told them how good 
 God had been to them 
 to lead them so far and 
 keep them safe from all 
 harm, and said that as he 
 had sure proofs they were 
 near land he would have 
 them watch all night. 
 
 New joy rose in the 
 hearts of the home-sick 
 men. Not an eye was 
 
 closed that night. The 
 breeze had been fresh all 
 day with more sea than 
 they had had for some 
 time, and the ships went 
 with more speed. As it 
 grew dark Co-lum-bus took 
 his stand on the top of the 
 high deck of his ship, and 
 kept his eyes fixed on the 
 west. 
 
 At ten o'clock at night 
 he thought he saw a light 
 on shore. It came and 
 went, as if it were a torch 
 in a boat that rose and 
 sunk with the waves, or in 
 the hand of some one on 
 shore borne up and down 
 as he went from house to 
 house. In two hours more 
 the shout of Land ! Land ! 
 was heard from the Pin-ta, 
 and the ships laid to, to 
 wait for the dawn. 
 
 What pride and joy 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 25 
 
 must have been in the 
 heart of Co-lum-bus ! 
 Those who had thought 
 him a fool would now 
 learn that he was a wise 
 man. 
 
 At break of day they 
 saw a long strip of low 
 land five miles to the north. 
 Trees rise in view and 
 the shores are green. All 
 shed tears of joy, and sing 
 a hymn of praise to God. 
 
 The crews man the 
 boats and in great pomp 
 row to the shore. Co-lum- 
 bus lands in a rich dress, 
 
 and with a drawn sword 
 in his hand. The flag of 
 Spain is set up which has 
 on it a green cross with 
 crowns and the names of 
 Fer-di-nand and Is-a-bel-la. 
 All kneel on the sand, and 
 kiss the earth, and thank 
 God with tears of joy. In 
 this way Co-lum-bus lays 
 claim to the land in the 
 name of the king and 
 queen of Spain, and all the 
 men vow to serve Co-lum- 
 bus, and through him the 
 king and queen of the 
 land they love. 
 
26 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A NEW 
 
 Co-lum-bus gave the name 
 of San Sal-va-dor to this 
 land which he thought was 
 on the coast of In-di-a. 
 He did not see the gold 
 and gems he knew were to 
 be found in that rich land, 
 but he saw a new race of 
 men with dark skins, who 
 wore no clothes at all, and 
 stared at him and his men 
 as if they thought they had 
 come down from the sky, 
 or out of the deep sea. 
 When these red men on 
 the land saw the boats 
 draw near the shore, and a 
 lot of strange men clad in 
 bright steel and gay clothes 
 land on the beach, they 
 fled to the woods in great 
 fear. 
 
 WORLD. 
 
 But when they found 
 that no one sought to harm 
 them they came back and 
 drew near the men of 
 Spam with great awe, fell 
 on their knees, and made 
 signs as if they thought 
 they were gods. 
 
 These men were not so 
 dark as Af-ri-cans, nor was 
 their hair so crisp. It was 
 straight and coarse, cut 
 short at the tops of the 
 ears, and some locks left 
 long hung down their 
 backs. Each man held a 
 long lance in his hand the 
 point of which was made 
 hard by fire, while some 
 of them were made more 
 sharp by a piece of flint, 
 or the teeth or bone of a 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 n 
 
 fish. They knew not the 
 use of a sword, and when 
 one was held out to them 
 they took it by the edge. 
 
 Co-lum-bus gave them 
 gay caps, glass beads, hawks' 
 bells, and such things as 
 were used in trade on the 
 gold coast of Af-ri-ca, and 
 made friends of them at 
 once. They hung the beads 
 round their necks, and 
 were pleased with their 
 fine toys, and with the 
 sound of the bells. 
 
 When Co-lum-bus asked 
 these men, to whom he 
 gave the name of In-di- 
 ans, where he could find 
 gold, they would point to 
 ^ the south, and make signs 
 that led him to think that 
 a king dwelt there of such 
 wealth that his food was 
 served on plates of wrought 
 gold. He heard, too, some 
 
 talk of Cu-ba, and of large 
 ships that went there to 
 trade, and he made up his 
 mind that all these bits of 
 land he saw were on the 
 coast of A-si-a, and that 
 the ships were those of the 
 Great Khan, of whom he 
 had read. 
 
 So he set sail for Cu-ba, 
 where he thought to find 
 mines of gold, groves of 
 spice, and shores full of 
 pearls, but when he got 
 there he found no signs of 
 wealth. One man of the 
 tribe who came out to meet 
 him wore a ring — and that 
 was in his nose ! But 
 though the land was not 
 rich in gold it was rich in 
 much else that would bring 
 wealth to those who set 
 up a trade with these new 
 lands, which are now 
 known as the West In-dies. 
 
28 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 As Co-lum-bus steered 
 his boat by the east coast 
 of Cu-ba he saw land to the 
 south-east, with great high 
 hills that rose up to the sky. 
 The In-di-ans cried out in 
 a way that made Co-lum- 
 bus think that that was the 
 place to look for gold, but 
 when they saw him steer 
 his boat that way they 
 were in great fear and 
 made signs to him to come 
 back. They told him as 
 well as they could that a 
 fierce race dwelt there, that 
 they had but one eye, and 
 would eat a man up raw. 
 
 But Co-lum-bus went on 
 and in two days came to a 
 fine piece of land to which 
 he gave the name of Hay- 
 ti [Ha-tee]. High rocks 
 rose from out a rich orowth 
 
 o 
 
 of trees, the soil was rich, 
 broad plains of green grass 
 
 lay at the foot of the hills ; 
 and the fires at night and 
 the smoke that was seen by 
 day, were signs that more 
 men would be found here 
 than they had seen else 
 where in the New World. 
 But though the soil was 
 rich, the streams full offish, 
 and the In-di-ans kind, the 
 men of Spain were sad, for 
 they saw no signs of gold. 
 Co-lum-bus found at 
 Hay-ti, now known as San 
 Do-min-go, a race of men 
 not at all like those he had 
 met with. Some of them 
 wore rings and chains of 
 gold, which they were glad 
 to change for the beads 
 and bells the crews gave 
 them. A young chief came 
 to see Co-lum-bus and gave 
 him a rich belt and two 
 bits of gold ; and he and 
 all his men thought that 
 
THE PILGRIMS FIGHTING THE INDIANS, 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 29 
 
 Co-lum-bus and those with 
 him must have come down 
 from the skies. 
 
 Though not much gold 
 was found in this place, 
 Co-lum-bus was told by 
 one of the wise men that 
 he would soon reach the 
 lands that were rich in this 
 ore. It was near the end 
 of the year 1492, when 
 Co-lum-bus and his crews 
 came to the Bay of Saint 
 Thom-as. Some of the men 
 on shore came off in boats 
 made of light bark ; some 
 swam to them and all 
 brought gifts of rare fruits, 
 and with free hands gave 
 all the gold they wore. 
 
 The chief who ruled the 
 land sent to Co-lum-bus a 
 broad belt wrought with 
 gay beads and bones, and 
 a mask of wood, the eyes, 
 nose, and tongue of which 
 
 were of gold. The chief 
 sent word that it was his 
 wish that the ships should 
 come to that part of the 
 coast near which he dwelt. 
 As the wind was not 
 right, Co-lum-bus could not 
 get his boats off at once, 
 so he sent one of his head 
 men who- was well read in 
 the law, with some of the 
 crew to call on the chief, 
 whom they found in a 
 large and well-built town 
 which was called Pun-ta 
 San-ta. The chief met the 
 men in a kind of square, 
 which had been swept clean 
 and made fine, and did all 
 he could to show how glad 
 he was to see them. When 
 they left he gave them 
 birds and bits of gold, and 
 crowds of men went with 
 them to their boats. 
 When Co-lum-bus set sail 
 
3° 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 
 
 out of this bay, the wind 
 was from the land, and so 
 Hght that it did not fill the 
 sails. It was Christ-mas 
 eve. Co-lum-bus had kept 
 watch each night since 
 they left Spain. This night 
 as the sea was calm and 
 smooth, and the ship scarce 
 moved at all, he thought 
 he would lie down and rest. 
 He felt quite safe as the 
 boats that were out that 
 day found no rocks nor 
 shoals in their course. 
 
 As soon as Co-lum-bus 
 left the deck the man 
 whose place it was to steer 
 the San-ta Ma-ri-a gave the 
 helm in charge of one of the 
 ship-boys, and went to sleep. 
 The rest of the men who 
 had the watch, now that 
 Co-lum-bus was out of the 
 way, thought that they 
 mieht as well take their 
 
 ease, and in a short time 
 the whole crew had gone 
 to sleep. In the mean time 
 the strong tides that ran by 
 this coast swept the ship 
 with no noise but with 
 great force up on a sand 
 bank. The boy could not 
 have been a smart lad, for 
 it is said that he took no 
 heed of the big waves 
 whose loud roar could be 
 heard for at least three 
 miles. But as soon as he 
 felt the boat strike and 
 heard the wild rush of the 
 sea, he gave a loud cry for 
 help. Co-lum-bus was the 
 first on deck. He and his 
 men did their best to save 
 the ship, but it was too late. 
 The keel was fixed deep in 
 the sand, and as the sea 
 would soon break her up, 
 Co-lum-bus and his crew 
 went on board the Ni-na. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 31 
 
 It is not well to set a 
 boy to do a man's work. 
 Co-lum-bus knew this, and 
 was not to blame for the 
 loss of the ship. The 
 wreck took place on the 
 shore near where the chief 
 dwelt, and he went on 
 board the Ni-na to see Co- 
 lum-bus, and wept to find 
 him so much cast down. 
 
 While the two stood on 
 deck they saw a light bark 
 draw near in which were 
 some In-di-ans who had 
 brought a lot of bright bits 
 of gold, which they wished 
 to change for hawks' bells. 
 These toys gave the In-di- 
 ans great joy. I will tell 
 you why. The In-di-ans 
 were fond of the dance, and 
 would mark the time with 
 the strange songs they sung, 
 and take their steps to the 
 sound of a kind of drum, 
 
 made from the trunk of a 
 tree, and the noise that 
 could be made with small 
 bits of wood. When they 
 hung the hawks' bells on 
 their necks, waists, and 
 arms, and heard the clear 
 sweet sound they gave, in 
 time with each move that 
 was made in the dance, the 
 In-di-ans were wild with 
 joy. It is said that one 
 In-di-an gave half a hand- 
 full of gold-dust for one of 
 these bells, and fled to the 
 woods for fear the men of 
 Spain would rob him when 
 they found out how cheap 
 they had sold it. 
 
 When the chief saw how 
 the face of Co-lum-bus lit 
 up at the sight of the gold, 
 and found out that it was 
 his wish to reach a land 
 where this ore could be 
 dug out of the ground, he 
 
32 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 told him by signs that there 
 was a place not far off where 
 there was so much gold 
 that the folks there did not 
 care much for it. 
 
 This news brought good 
 cheer to the heart of Co- 
 lum-bus and he felt that his 
 ship-wreck was not such a 
 sad thing as he had thought. 
 But for fear the Pin-ta or 
 the Ni-na should meet with 
 the same fate as the San-ta 
 Ma-ri-a, he thought it best 
 to go back to Spain and 
 make it known what a 
 great and a rich land he 
 had found. 
 
 On his way back there 
 rose a great storm. Co- 
 lum-bus thought his ships 
 would go down and the 
 good news be lost to Spain. 
 So he wrote it all out, 
 sealed it up in a cake of 
 wax, put the wax in a cask, 
 
 and threw the cask in the 
 sea. 
 
 But God took care of 
 the brave men, and his 
 crews, and the ships found 
 their way to port. When 
 Co-lum-bus told of all the 
 strange sights he had seen, 
 there was great joy in 
 Spain. Some of his men 
 had brought back with 
 them great lumps of gold ; 
 and when they showed 
 these to their friends, all 
 had a strong wish to go to 
 the New World and get 
 rich at once. 
 
 Large fleets of ships set 
 sail from Spain, Port-u-gal, 
 and It-a-ly. Some of them 
 found the same lands that 
 Co-lum-bus had seen, and 
 some of them found their 
 way to the main-land. 
 
 There were some folks 
 who thought it was no 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Zl 
 
 great thing that Co-lum-bus 
 had done. It is told that 
 at a feast a fine young man 
 in a court dress said that 
 he did not think it was 
 hard to find such a land. 
 
 Co-lum-bus bade him 
 make an t.^^ stand on end. 
 He tried and could not 
 do it. Then Co-lum-bus 
 broke the end of the ^^^ 
 so that it stood with ease, 
 and in this way taught the 
 vain man that he knew less 
 than he thought he did. 
 
 Co-lum-bus went three 
 or four times to the West 
 In-di-es, and on each trip 
 he took hosts of men to 
 join him in the search for 
 gold. But they had hard 
 work to live in the strange 
 lands, and they did not 
 pick up the gold they 
 thought they should find 
 in all the fields. This did 
 
 not please them at all, 
 and they grew cross, and 
 thought Co-lum-bus was 
 to blame for all they had 
 to put up with. 
 
 The fourth time Co-lum- 
 bus crossed the sea he 
 found land at a point 
 south of the West In-di-es, 
 and this was the first that 
 was known of the large 
 tract of land which we call 
 South A-mer-i-ca. This 
 was in 1498. 
 
 The fame of Co-lum-bus 
 won for him the hate of 
 great men at the cout"t of 
 Spain, and they did all 
 they could to harm him. 
 False tales were told ; and 
 men he had thought were 
 his friends, and for whom 
 he had done so much, did 
 not treat him well, and he 
 was sent back to Spain in 
 chains. Was it not hard 
 
34 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 to drive him out of the 
 New World that might 
 not have been found at all 
 but for him? What poor 
 pay he got for all he had 
 gone through ! 
 
 It was still worse for Co- 
 lum-bus when Queen Is-a- 
 bel-la died, for then he had 
 no kind friend at court to 
 save him from the wrath 
 of his foes. No one took 
 pains to see that he had 
 food to eat or clothes to 
 wear, and so he had to 
 do the best that he could. 
 He died at last, a poor 
 lone old man, who did not 
 know how much good he 
 had done in the world, nor 
 dream of the great fame 
 that would be his for all 
 time to come. 
 
 In the year 15 12, an 
 old man, whose name was 
 Ponce de Le-on, set sail 
 
 from Spain to seek for a 
 fount of which he had 
 heard. If he could bathe 
 in it he would be young 
 and gay once more. His 
 search was vain. But he 
 found a part of the New 
 World which had not yet 
 been seen by men from the 
 old, and he gave it the 
 name of Flo-ri-da. 
 
 In one of the ships that 
 set sail from It-a-ly was a 
 man named A-mer-i-cus 
 Ves-pu-ci-us, and he went 
 all round the coast of South 
 A-mer-i-ca where no one 
 else had been. When he 
 went back home he wrote 
 of all he had seen, and said 
 that he had been the first 
 to find the main land, and 
 so they gave the name of 
 A-mer-i-ca to the New 
 World to which Co-lum- 
 bus had first led the way. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 35 
 
 The king of Eng-land 
 heard what had been done 
 by Spain, and he sent men 
 and ships to the New 
 World. Some of them had 
 the bad luck to land in the 
 cold north, in the midst of 
 ice and snow. Some found 
 their way south, where the 
 air was soft and mild, and 
 birds sang, and the fields 
 were green the whole year 
 round. 
 
 Men came fron\ all parts 
 to seek homes in the New 
 World, and to grow rich 
 on the gold that was there. 
 They had to work hard to 
 till the soil, to cut down 
 trees, and to fight their way 
 through the dense swamps 
 and thick woods. Some 
 died for want of food. 
 For some the life was too 
 hard. But those that were 
 left were brave and stronor, 
 
 and kept right on in their 
 work, and from time to 
 time fresh crews came from 
 the Old World to give 
 them cheer. 
 
 A man, named John 
 Cab-ot, as soon as he heard 
 of what Co-lum-bus had 
 done, set sail from Eng- 
 land, by the King's leave, 
 and made his way to the 
 New World. He went too 
 far to the north where he. 
 found the land so bleak 
 and so cold that he did not 
 care to stay, and soon made 
 his way back to the place 
 he came from. 
 
 In a short time his son 
 Se-bas-tian set sail with as 
 large a crew as he could 
 hire, and kept his ship well 
 to the west. At length 
 he came in sight of land. 
 But there were no green 
 fields, no ripe fruits, nor 
 
36 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 birds, such as Co-lum-bus 
 and his men had seen. 
 As far as the eye could see 
 there were bleak rocks, 
 dark pine trees, and heaps 
 of snow. White bears 
 made their homes in deep 
 caves, and the woods were 
 full of a strange kind of 
 deer. This was not the 
 place to look for gold, and 
 Se-bas-tian went back to 
 Eng-land with a sad heart. 
 All this time men from 
 Spain and the lands near 
 by, went to the south part 
 of the New World where 
 they found gold and things 
 of great worth. They were 
 for the most part bad men 
 who thought they had a 
 right to kill the In-di-ans 
 and steal their land. Some 
 times the men of Spain 
 had a great fight with the 
 red men, and drove them 
 
 out of the land. This was 
 what Cor-tes did in Mex- 
 i-co. Some times the red 
 men had the best of the 
 fight, and shot at the white 
 men and drove them back 
 to their ships. 
 
 Then the French thought 
 they must have a share in 
 the New World, so they 
 sent men and ships to the 
 west. Some of them went 
 as far north as the Gulf of 
 Saint Law-rence, and up 
 to the place where Mon- 
 tre-al now stands. The 
 In-di-ans here were much 
 scared at first at the sight" 
 of white men. But in a 
 short time they grew used 
 to them, and brought the 
 French men food, and 
 herbs to cure those who 
 were sick, and were as kind 
 as they knew how to be. 
 How did the French men 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 37 
 
 pay them for the use they 
 made of them as guides 
 through these strange, wild 
 lands? I will tell you. They 
 caught the In-di-an chief 
 and took him by force to 
 France. The King of 
 France thought there was 
 no harm in this, and so 
 he sent this base man. 
 Car-tier, back to the New 
 World, and with him one 
 who was to act as a sort 
 of kinor in the land which 
 Car-tier had seen, and to 
 which he had no more 
 right than you or I. But 
 this time the In-di-ans 
 would have nought to do 
 with the white men. They 
 did not hurt the French 
 men, but they would give 
 them no food and would 
 not act as guides. This 
 served them just right. 
 Some grew sick ; some 
 
 died ; and the rest went 
 back to France, and made 
 up their minds that the 
 New World was not a fit 
 place for a white man to 
 live in. 
 
 But the King of France 
 had no mind to let the 
 King of Spain have more 
 than his share of the New 
 World. So he sent more 
 men and more ships, and 
 one of these men went by 
 the coast of Flo-ri-da, and 
 all the way up to New- 
 found-land, and set up the 
 flag of the French king, 
 and gave the place the 
 name of New France. This 
 was in the year 1524. 
 
 Do you know how much 
 a score is? It is twice ten. 
 If one score is twice ten, 
 then four score must be 
 eight times ten. Well, 
 I have told you that when 
 
38 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Se-bas-tian Cab-ot went 
 back to Eng-land he said 
 that A-mer-i-ca was a poor 
 cold place, where bears and 
 deer lived, and no gold 
 could be found. So for 
 four score years Eng-land 
 sent no ships to the New 
 World. 
 
 At length a bold young 
 man, named Wal-ter Ra- 
 leigh (raw -lee), made up 
 his mind to go and see if 
 what Cab-ot said was true. 
 Queen E-liz-a-beth, who 
 ruled Eng-land at that 
 time, was fond of Ra-leigh, 
 and she gave him leave to 
 seize the new lands he 
 might find and lay claim 
 to them in her name. All 
 he had to do was to set up 
 the flag of Great Brit-ain, 
 and draw his sword from 
 its sheath. His ships 
 steered to the south west, 
 
 and came to a land where 
 there was no ice or snow, 
 and green trees and ripe 
 grapes grew close to the 
 shore. The In-di-ans came 
 down to meet the white 
 men, and gave them corn, 
 or maize, as they called it, 
 and fish. Ra-leigh gave to 
 the new land he found the 
 name of Vir-gin-ia, and he 
 left men at Ro-an-oake, 
 where he first went on 
 shore, and spent much gold 
 in the hope that a large 
 town would be built there 
 and be called by his name. 
 But ere this could be done 
 Spain found out that the 
 Eng-lish flag had been set 
 up on the coast, and went 
 to work to drive off^ the 
 ships that were sent down. 
 Ra-leigh did not lose heart. 
 But at this time news came 
 that the King of Spain 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 39 
 
 with a large fleet of ships 
 of war was on its way to 
 lay siege to Eng-land, and 
 so Eng-land had need of 
 all her ships, and Ra-leigh's 
 with the rest. So the poor 
 folks on the coast of Vir- 
 gin-ia were left to starve 
 and die. 
 
 Though Eng-land and 
 
 France laid claim to a 
 large part of North A-mer- 
 i-ca, it was a long, long 
 time ere they sent men to 
 make homes in the New 
 World, to clear off the 
 wild lands, and to till the 
 soil and plant such things 
 as would grow there. 
 
 » «i » i» » 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NEW HOMES 
 
 In the year 1606, the 
 King of Eng-land, whose 
 name was James the First, 
 gave a large tract of land 
 in Vir-g-in-ia to some men 
 who had found out it was 
 a fine place for poor men, 
 as the streams were full of 
 fish, and the woods were 
 full of game. Ship loads 
 
 of folks with small means, 
 set sail from Eng-land, and 
 made their homes at a 
 place they called James- 
 town. 
 
 The red men came to see 
 them and to smoke their 
 pipe of peace with the 
 white men, and for a while 
 all went well. But as soon 
 
40 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 as they found that the 
 white men had come to 
 rob them of their lands, 
 and to drive them from 
 the soil to which they felt 
 they had the first and best 
 right they grew cold and 
 stern, and were friends no 
 more. 
 
 They were a strange race 
 and their mode of life was 
 not at all like ours. The 
 red men had no books. 
 They could hunt and fish, 
 and raise corn and beans 
 and such things ; and with 
 rude skill made their bows 
 and darts, and the bowls 
 in which to pound their 
 corn. Their boats were 
 made of birch-bark, and 
 their huts, of bark or 
 mats, were in the shape 
 of a cone. They were fond 
 of war, and proud of the 
 scalps they won from their 
 
 foes. They had no fear of 
 death, and would scorn to 
 plead for their lives. 
 
 The white men gave them 
 guns and rum ; and these 
 two things were the cause 
 of much strife, and made 
 the red men hard to deal 
 with. 
 
 With the band who came 
 from Eng-land was one 
 John Smith, who was wise 
 and brave, and knew how 
 to deal with the red men, 
 and but for him the white 
 men would soon have been 
 swept out of Vir-gin-ia. 
 He was taught how to fight 
 when a boy, and had been 
 in great wars. He had led 
 a wild life, and once, it is 
 said, he fought with three 
 Turks, cut off their heads 
 and bore them to his tent. 
 He was young and strong, 
 and so wise and good that 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 41 
 
 the white men made him 
 their chief. He did not 
 hke to hear an oath, and 
 he made a law that each 
 man who swore was to 
 have a cold bath and sleep 
 in his wet clothes. This 
 soon put a stop to that sin 
 of the tongue. 
 
 Some of the white men 
 were not fond of good John 
 Smith. They thought he 
 knew too much and held 
 his head too high, and they 
 laid a plot to drive him out 
 of Vir-gin-ia. They had 
 come to seek gold and did 
 not want to work, and did 
 not plant crops as they 
 should have done. So, of 
 course, there was lack of 
 food. This made them ill, 
 and the loss by death was 
 so great, that the rest of 
 the band made up their 
 minds to leave the place. 
 
 But John Smith did not 
 lose heart. He spoke to 
 the men in words of cheer, 
 and would not let them 
 launch their boats. While 
 some of the men spent 
 their time in a vain search 
 for gold, he was on the look 
 out for food for them to 
 eat. While they wept and 
 sighed for home, he built 
 huts, took care of the sick, 
 and kept on good terms 
 with the red men. 
 
 One day John Smith set 
 out on foot with a few men 
 to see more of the new 
 land. They fell in the 
 hands of a fierce band of 
 red men who put all but 
 John Smith to death. He 
 was quite calm, and when 
 they saw him write and do 
 strange things, they were 
 in great fear of him. For 
 a while they kept him as 
 
42 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 a show ; then they said he 
 must die. 
 
 Smith was bound hand 
 and foot and laid on the 
 ground. His head was on 
 a great stone. The big 
 club was raised to dash 
 out his brains when a child 
 ten or twelve years of age 
 sprang from the crowd, put 
 her arms round the poor 
 man's neck and plead for 
 his life. Her name was 
 Po-ca-hon-tas, and she was 
 the dear child of the great 
 chief Pow-hat-an. She was 
 fond of John Smith, and 
 could not bear to see him 
 killed ; so for her sake he 
 was set free. 
 
 This young girl twice 
 saved the life of John 
 Smith at the risk of her 
 own, and she is said to 
 have been as fond of him 
 as if she were his own child. 
 
 In the same year that 
 this took place, that is in 
 1608, a small band of men 
 tried to fly from Eng-land 
 with their wives and young 
 folks. As they drew near 
 the sea shore a great crowd 
 gave chase, and they were 
 seized and shut up in jail. 
 
 What had they done? 
 They were poor, but that 
 was no crime. They loved 
 God, and tried to do what 
 was right. They were 
 fond of the word of God, 
 and read in it a great deal, 
 and each night and morn 
 they prayed that God would 
 bless them and teach them 
 His will. This did not 
 please the king, who said 
 there must be but one 
 church, and those who 
 loved God must serve him 
 in one way. 
 
 The more these poor men 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 43 
 
 read the word of God the 
 more they felt that the king's 
 way was not the right way. 
 So they made up their 
 minds not to go to the 
 king's church ; and those 
 who were too poor to build 
 a church to suit their own 
 taste met in their own 
 homes, or in barns, or in 
 fields, and prayed and sang 
 psalms their own way. 
 
 This put the king in a 
 great rage, and he set men 
 to work to do all they could 
 to vex these Pu-ri tans. 
 They left them no peace, 
 and those who could not 
 stand the fight went back to 
 the king's church. Those 
 who would not yield to 
 threats or force sought to 
 leave their homes and find 
 a safe place in the New 
 World. But the king would 
 not let them go or stay 
 
 at home in peace, and so 
 when they tried to leave 
 Eng-land they were caught 
 like thieves and shut up 
 in jail. 
 
 The next spring the Pu- 
 ri-tans were more wise. 
 They laid their plans in 
 such a way that not a word 
 got to the king's ears, and 
 they made out to set sail 
 from Eng-land. They went 
 to Hoi -land, where they 
 dwelt for some years. But 
 in course of time they grew 
 sad when they thought of 
 home. They were in a 
 strange land. The folks 
 there spoke a strange 
 tongue. They did not 
 dare to go back to Eng- 
 land, for fear King James 
 would treat them worse 
 than he had done, so they 
 thought it best to go to A- 
 mer-i-ca where they could 
 
44 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pray as they chose, and still 
 be with the old flag and 
 serve Eng-land. 
 
 It was in the fall of the 
 year 1620 when five score 
 Pu-ri-tans set sail from the 
 port of Ply-mouth in the 
 ship May Flow-er, for 
 New Eng-land, which was 
 the name John Smith gave 
 to all that part of A-mer- 
 i-ca that lay north of Vir- 
 gin-ia. For more than two 
 months they were at sea. 
 The winds and waves were 
 rough, and one of their* 
 band died on the way. 
 They came at last to Cape 
 Cod, where they found a 
 rough and rock bound 
 coast. The spray froze on 
 their clothes. There was 
 not much to cheer them. 
 It took them some time to 
 find a place where they 
 could build their homes. 
 
 At length a spot was found, 
 where the soil seemed to 
 be good, and there were 
 fine clear springs where 
 they could quench their 
 thirst. They called the 
 place New Ply-mouth, and 
 the stone on which they 
 first set foot in the New 
 World can be seen at this 
 day. Weak and ill as the 
 most of them were, they 
 went to work to build a 
 few huts in which they 
 could live till the warm 
 days came. 
 
 Day by day an old man, 
 or a young wife, or a small 
 child was borne out of the 
 huts and a hole dug in the 
 ground for a grave. But 
 spring came; the birds sang 
 in the woods ; the sick 
 folks found health in the 
 air, and all was peace and 
 joy. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 45 
 
 When the Pil-grims who 
 had made their homes in 
 Ply-mouth wrote to their 
 friends in Eng-land and 
 told them how free they 
 were, and that they could 
 serve God as they chose, 
 with no fear of the King 
 or the head men of his 
 church, those who were of 
 the same mind in the Old 
 World felt their hearts 
 yearn for the shores of New 
 Eng-land. The king was 
 their foe. They were forced 
 to meet and pray by stealth. 
 Yet they knew that if they 
 left Eng-land they would 
 have to give up their nice 
 homes, and to live in the 
 woods, and put up with 
 much that would be hard 
 for them to bear. But they 
 did not care so long as they 
 were free, and could serve 
 God in their own way. 
 
 At this time ships went 
 each year from Eng-land 
 to A-mer-i-ca, and men who 
 went to trade, or to fish, had 
 built huts on the coast. A 
 man named Ma-son, who 
 came from H amp -shire, 
 Eng-land, gave to a tract 
 of land the name of New 
 Hamp-shire. It is nice to 
 know how the old towns 
 and states got their names. 
 Two small towns in New 
 Hamp-shire, were known 
 as Ports-mouth and Do-ver. 
 'Twixt these towns and 
 New Ply-mouth the Pu-ri- 
 tans made up their minds 
 to make their new home. 
 They first sent John En- 
 di-cott with a few men to 
 make the paths straight 
 for their feet. He was a 
 brave man with a kind 
 heart, and was full of good 
 cheer. 
 
46 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 In the fall a ship came 
 from Eng-land with more 
 Pil-grims,butasshe brought 
 no stores of food, there was 
 great fear that the whole 
 band would starve to death. 
 At one time they had but 
 one pint of corn left, which 
 was dealt out with great 
 care, and each one of the 
 band had five grains. 
 
 Yet, hard as was their 
 lot, these brave men were 
 full of faith, and hope, and 
 trust in God. At the end 
 of four years the Pu-ri-tans 
 
 were in strong force in 
 Mas- sa- chu - setts, where 
 they built towns, and ships, 
 and sowed large fields of 
 corn and built mills to 
 grind it. 
 
 One band made their 
 way to a place which they 
 called Bos-ton, as that was 
 the name of the town in 
 Eng-land from which the 
 most of them had come. 
 One band made their home 
 on the coast, and gave to 
 the place the name of 
 Sa-lem. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WARS WITH THE RED MEN. 
 
 At first the red men, 
 or In-di-ans, were good 
 friends with the whites, or 
 Pu-ri-tans as they were 
 now called ; and brought 
 
 them furs, and game, and 
 fish, in change for hoes 
 and cloth and such things. 
 The whites were kind to 
 them and they were kind 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 47 
 
 to the whites. But this 
 state of things did not last 
 long. It made the red 
 man's eye flash to see the 
 white smoke curl up from 
 the homes that were built 
 on the ground where he 
 and his brave men had 
 been wont to meet and call 
 their own. In the long 
 cold nights as the red men 
 sat round their camp fires 
 they had hard thoughts 
 of those who had laid out 
 farms, and raised fine crops, 
 and were so well off; and 
 they laid plans to pounce 
 on these homes of the white 
 men some dark night, kill 
 them in their beds, and 
 seize their corn, their tools, 
 and their warm clothes. 
 
 These bad thoughts took 
 deep root In the hearts of 
 the fierce tribe of Pe-quods 
 who dwelt on the banks of 
 
 a stream, now known as 
 the Thames, on which, if 
 you look on the map of 
 Con-nec-ti-cut, you will see 
 there is the town of New 
 Lon-don. 
 
 A slight thing brought 
 on the war, which broke 
 out in 1637. The Pe-quods 
 had a thirst for blood. The 
 new homes were laid waste, 
 no one felt safe. Fire and 
 death met the white men 
 in the fields, in their beds, 
 in church or at home. 
 
 Some of the chiefs tried 
 to get the Nar-ra-gan-sets 
 to form a league, and kill 
 all the white men in the 
 land. The scheme came 
 to the ears of Rog-er Wil- 
 li-ams, and he set out with 
 no one with him to see the 
 head chief of the Nar-ra- 
 gan-sets. 
 
 There he met the Pe- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 quod chiefs with the white 
 man's blood still thick on 
 their knives. They glared 
 at Wil-li-ams, as if to tell 
 him to look out for his 
 scalp. But he had no fear 
 of them. He sat down by 
 his old friends Ca-non-i-cus 
 and Mi-an-to-ni-mah, who 
 had once saved his life in 
 the woods, and was as calm 
 as if he had been in his 
 own house. 
 
 Three days and three 
 nights he staid in the camp 
 of the Nar-ra-gan-sets, and 
 plead the cause of those 
 who had sent him out of 
 Bos-ton. Each night when 
 he lay down to sleep he 
 knew that he might be put 
 to death by the Pe-quods. 
 But his trust was in God, 
 and he thought not of self 
 
 On the fourth day the 
 Nar-ra-gan-sets made up 
 
 their minds that they would 
 not join the Pe-quods. 
 Rog-er Wil-li-ams went 
 home with a glad heart, 
 while the Pe-quod chiefs 
 with fierce scowls slunk 
 back to their tribe. 
 
 At the mouth of the 
 Thames were the two chief 
 forts of the Pe-quods, and 
 these the men of Con-nect- 
 ti-cut made up their minds 
 lay low. They were but 
 four score men and the Pe- 
 quods were a large and 
 fierce tribe. But the rage 
 of the white men was great; 
 their hearts were on fire. 
 They had seen their friends 
 killed and scalped, or borne 
 to a fate worse than death, 
 and day and night were in 
 dread of a raid from these 
 Pe-quods, whom they meant 
 to show how white men 
 could fight. Their plan 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 49 
 
 was to sail down the coast 
 past the mouth of the 
 Thames, to land far up to 
 the east and then march 
 to the forts. 
 
 The Pe-quods saw them 
 sail past, and at first did 
 not know what to make 
 of it. They made up their 
 minds that the white men 
 were scared, and set up 
 loud shouts and songs that 
 were heard at Ma-son's 
 camp. 
 
 Long ere it was day on 
 this May morn the dogs 
 at the Pe-quod fort were 
 heard to bark and howl. 
 A cry went through the 
 fort that the Eng-lish were 
 at hand. As soon as it was 
 light the white men sent 
 their fire of shot at the red 
 men's tort. The red men 
 made good use of their 
 bows and clubs ; and as 
 
 they were six to one at 
 least, the fight was fierce 
 and much blood was shed. 
 
 At last Ma-son cried out 
 "We must burn them!" 
 seized a fire-brand and 
 thrust it in the dry mats of 
 which the walls were made, 
 and soon the whole fort 
 was in a blaze, Choked 
 and dazed by the smoke, 
 the Pe-quods tried to fly, 
 but Ma-son had ranged his 
 troops on all sides, and 
 when a red man showed 
 his head he was shot down. 
 
 When the rest of the 
 Pe-quods came down from 
 their fort, and saw what 
 the white men had done, 
 they were in a great rage 
 and made a rush at Ma-son 
 to kill him. But a charge 
 of shot from the white 
 men's guns drove them 
 back, and they fled to the 
 
5° 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATKS. 
 
 woods. Troops came up 
 from Mas-sa-chu-setts, and 
 the Nar-ra-gan-set tribe lent 
 their aid to the white men. 
 The Pe-quods found no 
 place of rest, for the white 
 men kept close on their 
 track, and in a short time 
 there was not a Pe-quod to 
 be found in all the land. 
 
 But you must not think 
 that this brought to an end 
 the wars with the led men. 
 It takes a deep wound a 
 long while to heal ; and in 
 the year 1675 a great war 
 broke out, which is known 
 as King Phil-ip's war. 
 
 It made King Phil-ip's 
 heart swell with rage to see 
 the white men drive back 
 the In-di-ans and take their 
 land as if the red men had 
 no right to it. He laid a 
 plot to get all the tribes to 
 join, and fall on the white 
 
 men and kill them. A red 
 man ran in to one of the 
 towns and told of this plot 
 to the white men, and put 
 them on their guard, and 
 one night three of his tribe 
 caught and killed him. 
 These three In-di-ans were 
 caught by some of the 
 white men of Ply-mouth, 
 tried by law, and hung for 
 their crime. Phil-ip and 
 his tribe could not bear 
 this, and it brought on the 
 war for which some think 
 the whites were as much to 
 blame as the reds. 
 
 Troops on horse and on 
 foot went out of Bos-ton 
 and Ply-mouth to aid the 
 men in the small towns 
 where King Phil-ip and 
 his tribe had done much 
 harm, and they kept close 
 on the track of the red 
 men. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 51 
 
 King Phil-ip fled to a 
 swamp to get out of the 
 way of the troops. When 
 the white men came to the 
 swamp they saw no one, 
 but they sent a shot each 
 time they heard a noise or 
 saw a bush shake, and in 
 this way hurt some of their 
 own friends. When night 
 came on they formed a 
 ring on the out side of the 
 swamp, and made sure they 
 would catch Phil-ip as soon 
 as it was Hght. When the 
 morn came he had gone 
 with all his friends ; no one 
 knew where. 
 
 The next thing the white 
 men heard was that the 
 red -skins were at North- 
 field and Deer-field. There 
 was not a place in New 
 Eng-land that was safe 
 from the raids of the red 
 men who had set out to 
 
 kill the whites and to burn 
 down their homes. 
 
 In the dead of night 
 when all was still the fierce 
 war-whoop of the red-skins 
 would ring out from the 
 woods. Soon a gleam of 
 flame would burst from 
 some house they had set 
 on fire ; then with yells and 
 shouts the wild crew would 
 leap in on those whom they 
 had brought, with a start, 
 out of their sleep, and 
 scalp them in their beds. 
 
 Some times when a white 
 man went to the door of 
 his house, and saw no foe 
 in sight, a shot from an In- 
 di-an hid by a tree would 
 lay him low. Or he would 
 leave his house to go to 
 the field, hear a scream at 
 his back, and find his wife 
 and babes dead on the 
 floor. 
 
52 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 No one could feel safe. 
 
 To add to the fears of 
 the white men, strange 
 sights were seen in the 
 skies. Some saw large 
 stars with long bright tails, 
 which they thought were 
 like In-di-anson horse back. 
 Some said they had seen 
 a long bright sword in the 
 sky ; and an In-di-an bow 
 in the clouds ; and a long 
 scalp that fell from the 
 north star. Then it seemed, 
 too, as though the howl of 
 the wolves came up close 
 to their homes in the dead 
 hour of the night, so that 
 their flesh crept with fear. 
 
 In great crowds the 
 whites left their farms and 
 trades, and came to the large 
 towns where they felt more 
 safe. They thought their 
 sins had brought on the 
 war and all its ills. One 
 
 of their great sins was that 
 they wore long hair! They 
 thought this did not please 
 God, so they cut off their 
 hair, and then set to work 
 to do all they could to 
 harm the poor Qua-kers, 
 to whom for some time 
 they had been quite kind. 
 
 All this would have 
 been of no use if they had 
 not sent out a large force 
 of troops to fight the red 
 men in their swamps. They 
 were led by Jo-si-ah Wins- 
 low. He went straight to 
 where the Nar-ra-gan-sets 
 were. It was in the heart 
 of a swamp. A thick 
 hedge shut them in. There 
 was but one way to get 
 through it and in the fort, 
 and for three hours the 
 Eng-lish tried to force their 
 way through this small 
 space. At last a few of 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 
 
 53 
 
 the whites broke through 
 a part of the hedge and 
 fought the red men from 
 the rear, and so won the 
 day. Some of the red men 
 fled in great haste to the 
 woods. Some staid in the 
 fort and were burnt to 
 death when the white men 
 set it on fire. Some lost 
 their way in the deep snow 
 drifts and soon froze to 
 death. 
 
 The " Swamp Fight" did 
 not bring the red men to 
 terms. In a few weeks 
 they were at their old work, 
 with hearts of hate and 
 hands swift to do deeds of 
 blood. Some white men 
 from Con-nec-ti-cut heard 
 one day that the chief Ca- 
 non-chet, the son of Mi-an- 
 to-ni-mah, of whom you 
 have heard, was near at 
 hand, and they set out to 
 
 catch him. He was a tall 
 strong man, and they had 
 hard work to keep on his 
 track. But at last his foot 
 slipped and he was caught. 
 The whites tried to make 
 friends with him, and to 
 coax him to make terms of 
 peace, and to give up some 
 of his tribe who had done 
 the most harm. But he 
 said he would not be at 
 peace with the white men, 
 and would not give up to 
 them one of the red men. 
 
 "We will fight to the last 
 man," he said. "We will 
 not be slaves of the white 
 men." 
 
 The great chief was then 
 led forth to be shot. He 
 was told he might live if 
 he would be at peace with 
 the whites. This he would 
 not do. He chose to die. 
 "I like it well," he said in 
 
54 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his quaint speecii. " Now 
 my heart is not soft, and I 
 have said no words that 
 would hurt the pride of 
 an In-di-an chief. It is 
 the time for me to die." 
 Two red men took him to 
 the woods and shot him, 
 and his head was sent to 
 Hart- ford. 
 
 Still there were no signs 
 of peace. 
 
 All this while King Phil- 
 ip was in the north, by the 
 great lalkes, where he had 
 gone to try to get the tribes 
 there to help his cause. 
 But they had a great fear 
 of the white men, and 
 would not join Phil-ip, so 
 he came back to his own 
 land. One of his braves 
 told him that the whites 
 were sure to win, and urged 
 Phil-ip to make terms of 
 peace. The proud chief 
 
 struck him dead with a 
 blow from the small axe he 
 bore. There could be no 
 peace, he said, twixt the 
 white men and the red. 
 
 But King Phil-ip lost 
 heart when he saw the 
 great tribes forced to make 
 terms of peace. Most of 
 his own brave men were 
 dead, and he had to fly for 
 his life. He laid in swamps, 
 and hid in caves and dense 
 woods as he tried to creep 
 back to his old home. On 
 the way he heard that his 
 wife had been killed, and 
 his young son sold as a 
 slave, and in his great grief 
 he cried out " My heart 
 breaks! Now let me die!" 
 
 King Phil-ip was shot as 
 he lay hid in a swamp, by 
 one of his own men, and 
 with his own gun. 
 
 This brought the war to 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 55 
 
 a close, which had been 
 kept up for more than a 
 year, and drove the red 
 men quite out of New 
 Eng-land. 
 
 I must now go back a 
 ways and tell you how the 
 Dutch came to find their 
 way to A-mer-i-ca. Cap- 
 tain John Smith, of whom 
 you have heard so much, 
 had a friend, named Hen- 
 ry Hud -son, who went 
 with him on his first trip 
 to Vir-gin-ia. He thought, 
 as Co-lum-bus did, that 
 there must be a short cut 
 to Chi-na and the East In- 
 'dies right through A-mer- 
 i-ca. There were no maps 
 in those days to show the 
 length and breadth of the 
 land, and so it is not strange 
 that men thought queer 
 things. 
 
 But the Dutch were 
 rich, and their ships were 
 on all the seas, and as they 
 thought it would be a fine 
 thing to be the first to find 
 out a short cut to Chi-na, 
 they gave Hud-son a yacht 
 called the Half Moon, in 
 which he set sail for A-mer- 
 i-ca. He took a new route, 
 and when he came to 
 Sandy- Hook, he was sure 
 he had found the short cut 
 he was in search of He 
 came up the Bay of New 
 York and saw both shores 
 green with grass and trees, 
 and sweet scents were borne 
 to him on each breeze. Red 
 men came out to meet him, 
 and sold him beans, and 
 corn, and shell fish, and 
 seemed Sflad to see the 
 white men. Hud-son sailed 
 up the stream which bears 
 his name, but soon found 
 
i6 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 it was not the right way 
 to get to Chi-na, and the 
 Half Moon had to turn 
 back. 
 
 Then the Eng-Hsh gave 
 him a ship, and this time 
 he took a course that 
 brought him to what is 
 now known as Hud-son's 
 Bay. He felt that he was 
 right at last. But he sailed 
 round and round the shores 
 of the bay, and found there 
 was but one way to get 
 in or out. His ship froze 
 fast in the ice, and had to 
 stay there till spring. The 
 crew blamed Hud-son for 
 the hard life they had had 
 in that cold place; so on 
 the way back these bad 
 men, who were worse than 
 brutes, put him and his 
 boy and eight more men 
 in a small boat, and left 
 them to drift on the wide. 
 
 wide sea. That is the last 
 that is known of this brave 
 man. 
 
 But he had told the 
 Dutch what a fine land he 
 had seen when he went in 
 the Half-Moon, and they 
 at once sent ships to the 
 spot and set up a trade in 
 furs. It is said that they 
 bought their furs by the 
 pound, and as they had no 
 weights such as are in use 
 in these days, they told the 
 In-di-ans that a Dutch 
 man's hand weighed just 
 one pound, and his foot two. 
 And the red men thought 
 it must be so. This may 
 not be true, but it is a fact 
 that the Dutch gave a few 
 beads and things of no 
 worth, for a large lot of rich 
 furs which they could sell 
 at a high price. When they 
 saw a piece of land they 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 57 
 
 liked they bought it, and 
 gave the In-di-ans a string 
 of beads, or a bit of gay 
 silk, or a pipe for it. They 
 went all round the coast 
 to see if there were furs to 
 sell, and if they found a 
 good place to trade they 
 put up a small fort, and 
 left some one there to buy 
 from the In-di-ans. 
 
 In a few years men left 
 their farms in Hol-land and 
 came to New York, which 
 was then known as New 
 Am-ster-dam. They had 
 their farms in the woods 
 and swamps where Broad- 
 way now is, and let their 
 cows and pigs run wild 
 where the Cit-y Hall now 
 stands. 
 
 The Dutch did not love 
 to fight, but they were too 
 fond of beer for their own 
 good. They got drunk. 
 
 and they made the In-di- 
 ans drunk, and that was 
 the chief cause of the wars 
 that took place. The rum 
 made brutes of the red 
 men. The Dutch had to 
 fly from the north. Their 
 homes were burned down. 
 Great tracts of land were 
 laid waste. 
 
 For long years this state 
 of things was kept up, and 
 the Dutch had such a hard 
 time that there is no doubt 
 they wished they were back 
 in Hol-land. 
 
 At the south end of 
 Man-hat-tan a small band 
 of Dutch men, with old 
 Pe-ter Stuy-ve-sant at their 
 head, kept the red men at 
 bay. For a while they 
 had things their own way ; 
 but in 1673 the Duke of 
 York came from Eng-land 
 and laid claim to New 
 
58 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 Am-ster-dam, which since 
 that time has been known 
 as New York. 
 
 The old In-di-an name 
 
 of Man-hat-tan, was Man- 
 a-hack-tan-i-enks, which 
 means " the place where 
 they all get drunk." 
 
 — «. «■ .» ». 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TWO MEN OF PEACE 
 
 The wars in the new 
 and the old world were 
 much talked of by old and 
 young, and it was strange 
 to hear of a boy who did 
 not love to fight. Bad 
 kings made bad laws, and 
 good men found it hard to 
 live in these days. Some 
 of those who loved peace, 
 and not war, formed a sect 
 known as Qua-kers or 
 "Friends." 
 
 These "Friends" had 
 their own views of what 
 was right and wrong, and 
 
 were not much thought of 
 in Eng-land at that time. 
 They were bold in their 
 speech, and though they 
 thought it wrong to fight, 
 thought it much worse to 
 tell a lie. 
 
 Wil-liam Penn, the son 
 of a rich man, was one of 
 them. The king was in 
 his debt, and to pay him 
 gave Penn a tract of land 
 in A-mer-i-ca, part of which 
 was the home of Swedes 
 who had bought it from the 
 red men. Here Penn came 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 59 
 
 to found a State where men 
 could be free and live in 
 peace. They were to make 
 their own laws, and live up 
 to them. Penn was just 
 and kind with the red men, 
 and soon made them his 
 friends. He met the chief 
 men of the tribes by a 
 great elm-tree, where Phil- 
 a-del-phia now is, and there 
 made terms of " good faith 
 and good will." Strong 
 in truth and love he bent 
 the fierce tribes of the Del- 
 a-ware to his will. They 
 vowed to live in love with 
 Penn and his "Friends" as 
 long as the moon and sun 
 should last. And both 
 sides kept their vows. 
 
 The fame of Penn and 
 his men went to all lands. 
 Grave and good men from 
 all parts sought the home 
 made for them in the New 
 
 World. In three years 
 Phil-a-del-phia was a large 
 town, and the "Friends" 
 there grew rich and wise 
 and strong. 
 
 Some of the New Eng- 
 land States did not treat 
 the "Friends" well. Those 
 who went to preach the 
 word of the Lord there 
 were sent back. Some were 
 hung, some were whipped, 
 some had their ears cut off. 
 But the Qua-kers had 
 friends at home, friends 
 who stood near the king. 
 The king took their part, 
 and sent word to New Eng- 
 land that this kind of war 
 must stop at once. Since 
 that time A-mer-i-cans have 
 claimed the right to think 
 as they choose, and to 
 praise God as they please, 
 and the Qua-kers are known 
 all through the world as 
 
6o 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the true friends of love 
 and peace. 
 
 I will tell you here of a 
 wise man who was born in 
 Bos-ton, and went on foot 
 to Phil-a-del-phia when 
 quite a lad. He was a poor 
 boy, and had to work hard. 
 He kept a shop where he 
 sold ink and quill -pens, 
 rags, soap, and such things. 
 He bound books. He had 
 a small hand - press, and 
 knew how to set type so 
 that he could print all the 
 news of the day. This was 
 his trade, of which he was 
 so fond that he kept at it 
 till he grew to be quite 
 rich. He had not the least 
 bit of mean pride or false 
 shame. 
 
 As a boy he was fond of 
 books and thought a great 
 deal on what he read. This 
 made him a wise man, 
 
 whom it was safe to trust. 
 He had thought for some 
 time that the light that 
 went with a flash through 
 the sky could be made of 
 use. So one day when 
 there was a fierce storm he 
 sent up a kite with a key 
 tied to its string. He saw 
 a spark come from the key, 
 and knew that what he had 
 thought out in his own 
 mind was quite true. You 
 will learn as you read on 
 how that which he found 
 out was put to great use, 
 and how much A-mer-i-ca 
 owes to Ben-ja-min Frank- 
 lin. His great good sense 
 made him a man of mark 
 in his own time, and is the 
 chief cause of the fame he 
 has in these days. 
 
 The Swedes, who made 
 their home in Phil-a-del- 
 phia, were in great fear of 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 6i 
 
 the In-dl-ans whose ways, 
 speech, and dress were all 
 so strange that they could 
 not hope to make friends 
 with them. The white men 
 felt that they must be on 
 guard all the time, or the 
 foe would come and drive 
 them out of the place. But 
 one day it chanced that all 
 the men Swedes went off 
 to the woods and left their 
 wives at home. It was 
 soft-soap day; and I guess, 
 if the truth were known, 
 that was just why the men 
 went off at that time. 
 
 The great pots were on 
 the fire, and the soap was 
 just at a boil, when word 
 came that the In-di-ans 
 were close at hand. What 
 was to be done ? They had 
 no guns with which to fire 
 on the foe, and no help was 
 near. They ran with all 
 
 speed to the church, that 
 was built like a block-house, 
 and took with them the 
 soap that was as hot as 
 fire and lye could make it. 
 They made the door fast, 
 and the red men, who knew 
 how few and how weak 
 they were, thought it would 
 be no task to seize the 
 "white squaws." So they 
 stole up to the church, and 
 as soon as they came near 
 the "white squaws" slung 
 out the soft-soap so that 
 it went in their eyes and 
 made them howl and dance 
 in a queer kind of a way. 
 The red men were scared 
 by this kind of hot shot, 
 and ran off as fast as they 
 could go ; and I guess the 
 white men had a good 
 laugh when they came 
 home and heard how brave 
 their wives had been. 
 
62 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FRENCH AND IN-DI-AN WARS. 
 
 The wars in the old 
 world brought on wars in 
 the new, and in 1754 the 
 Enp:-lish tried to drive the 
 French from the lands they 
 held in the New World. 
 The French said they would 
 keep that which they had 
 found and had a right to, 
 if they had to fight for it. 
 So they built new forts, 
 made their old ones more 
 strong, and called the red 
 men to their aid. The red 
 men did not stand and 
 fight as white men are 
 taught to do, but hid near 
 trees and rocks, or shot at 
 the troops from shrubs or 
 thick woods. 
 
 Gen-er-al Brad-dock, 
 
 who was a brave man, 
 would not let his troops 
 fight in that way, so that 
 they had the worst of 
 it. 
 
 The first great fight with 
 the French took place at 
 Fort Du Quesne [kane) 
 where Pitts -burg now 
 stands. The fort was built 
 of the trunks of trees, and 
 near it were rude huts in 
 which the French troops 
 lived. Here and there was 
 a patch of wheat or corn, 
 which grew well in the 
 rich soil. 
 
 Brad-dock had no doubt 
 the fort would yield to him 
 as soon as he came near it. 
 So he led his men on 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 63 
 
 through a road twelve feet 
 ivide with high ground in 
 front and on both sides. 
 Soon a war-whoop burst 
 from the woods. The troops 
 were shot down by a foe 
 they could not see. For 
 three hours the fight was 
 kept up. Then the men 
 broke ranks and fled. Brad- 
 dock had a bad wound. 
 "Who would have thought 
 it?" he said in a low voice, 
 as his men bore him from 
 the field he was so sure 
 he would win. These were 
 the last words he spoke, 
 .and he died in two or three 
 days. 
 
 He had been warned by 
 such wise men as George 
 Wash -ing- ton and Ben- 
 ja-min Frank-lin, but he 
 gave no heed to their 
 words, and so met His fate. 
 Up to this time Eng-land 
 
 and France had been at 
 peace. Now they were at 
 strife, and the flames of 
 war spread far and wide. 
 Blood was shed on land 
 and on sea, and hearts were 
 full of woe. Brit-ish troops 
 were sent to A-mer-i-ca to 
 fight the French there. 
 Que-bec was one of the 
 strong points held by the 
 French. To this place came 
 a fleet in charge of Gen-e- 
 ral Wolfe. 
 
 There were two towns, 
 one on the beach, and one 
 on the cliff. Wolf fired 
 bomb-shells at the town on 
 the beach, which was soon 
 laid low. The town on the 
 clifl' was too far off for him 
 to reach in this way. At 
 last he hit on a plan so bold 
 that the French did not 
 dream of it. The shore for 
 miles and miles was searched 
 
64 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 with care. A spot was 
 found whence a path wound 
 up to the chff. At this point 
 Wolfe could land his men 
 and lead them to the Heights 
 of A-bra-ham. Once there 
 they would turn out the 
 French, take Que-bec, or 
 die where they stood. 
 
 At night the troops went 
 down the stream in boats 
 to the place known as 
 Wolfe's Cave. All through 
 the night they scaled the 
 tall cliffs, and with the aid 
 of the ship's crew drew up 
 a few guns. When it was 
 light, the whole force was 
 drawn up on the plain. As 
 soon as he could, Mont- 
 calm went out with his 
 French troops to meet the 
 Brit-ish. The fight was 
 fierce on both sides but did 
 not last long. The French 
 were put to flight. 
 
 Both Mont -calm and 
 Wolfe fell in the strife. 
 While Wolfe lay on the 
 ground he heard some one 
 say: — 
 
 ''They fly! they fly!" 
 
 "Who fly?" said he. 
 
 "The French," they told 
 him. 
 
 "Then" said the brave 
 man, "I die in peace;" and 
 he died. 
 
 The French lost heart 
 when they lost Que-bec, 
 and the long war was clos'^'d 
 in 1763. The King 01 
 France gave up all right 
 to the lands he had laid 
 claim to in that part of the 
 New World, and no one 
 but King George could 
 make laws that should rule 
 A-mer-i-ca. 
 
 In all parts of A-mer-i- 
 ca the French were ill-used 
 by the Brit-ish king. They 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 6s 
 
 were torn from their homes 
 and friends, and some of 
 them were left to die on 
 a cold, bleak coast, where 
 they were told to wait for 
 the ships to take them back 
 to their own dear France. 
 
 It is said that an I-rish- 
 man, named John-son, 
 wrote to Eng-land of the 
 brave way in which he 
 had fought the French at 
 Crown Point. He was not 
 a brave man at all and 
 there were those in New 
 Eng-land who knew that 
 he had not told the whole 
 truth. But in Old Eng- 
 land they thought it must 
 be true, and he was made 
 Sir Wil-liam John-son, and 
 had more praise than was 
 his due. He was a vain 
 man and fond of fine 
 clothes, and was quite proud 
 of the rich suits that were 
 
 sent him from Eng-land, all 
 trimmed with lace as was 
 the style m those days. 
 
 A Mo-hawk chief saw 
 these gay clothes, and 
 thought how much he 
 should like to own them. 
 He went up to Sir Wil-li- 
 am, and said he had had 
 a dream. 
 
 "Ah?" said Sir Wil-li- 
 am, " and what did you 
 dream ? " 
 
 " I dreamt that you gave 
 me one of those rich suits 
 of clothes." 
 
 John-son was as shrewd 
 as the In-di-an. He took 
 one of the fine suits and 
 gave it to the chief, who 
 went off much pleased. 
 
 In a few days John-son 
 met the chief, and said to 
 him. 
 
 " By-the-by, I have had 
 a dream." 
 
66 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "Ah!" said the In-dl-an, 
 "what was it?" 
 
 "Why, that you gave me 
 that tract of land," a fine 
 large tract on the Mo-hawk 
 Riv-er. 
 
 The In-di-an saw how he 
 was caught. But he gave 
 the land, and said, with a 
 sigh, "I dream no more 
 with you, Sir Wil-li-am, 
 you dream too hard." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF A GREAT WAR. 
 
 Those who sat on thrones 
 thought that they had the 
 best right to make laws 
 and to rule men. But the 
 men who came to the New 
 World had come to be free 
 from the hard laws that 
 kings made. It did not 
 suit them to be at the beck 
 and call of those who were 
 not wise or good, and they 
 found in their new homes 
 that it was best for them to 
 make their own laws. They 
 
 must have free speech as 
 well as free air. They said 
 the king's laws were not 
 just. The war with France 
 had cost a great deal, and 
 King George said it ^ was 
 but right that the men in 
 A-mer-i-ca should pay it 
 back. So he made a law 
 that no note, bond, or deed 
 was good that had not the 
 king's seal on it. 
 
 The "Stamp Act" was 
 passed in 1765. The A- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 67 
 
 mer-i-cans thought it a 
 mean trick to make them 
 pay a tax in this way, and 
 they said they would not 
 use the stamps at all. They 
 got up a "strike," just as 
 men do now- a- days when 
 laws do not please them, 
 and made such a stir that 
 the king said they need not 
 be bound by the "Stamp 
 Act" 
 
 This gave them great joy, 
 but it did not last long. 
 They made up their minds 
 they would not eat, drink, 
 or wear the least thing 
 that came from Eng-knd. 
 When the king found they 
 would not buy goods that 
 had a tax on them, he was 
 wise and took it off But 
 one tax he left; and that 
 was the tax on tea. The 
 king made up his mind 
 that this tax should be 
 
 paid, and so sent ship 
 loads of troops to see that 
 his will was done. Three 
 pence on a pound did not 
 seem much of a tax, and 
 had it been a just tax it 
 would have been paid. 
 
 The troops came to all 
 the large towns, which 
 were soon filled with red- 
 coatS; who had to be fed 
 and cared for by the men 
 who could not but hate the 
 sight of them. Mobs met 
 in the streets, and there 
 was now and then a fight 
 with the king's troops. This 
 was in the year 1770. In 
 March of that year the 
 mob grew too bold, and 
 bore so hard on the king's 
 troops that the troops had 
 to fire on the crowd. Ten 
 or more were killed, and 
 blood stained the snow and 
 ice that lay in the streets. 
 
68 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 This was the " Bos-ton Mas- 
 sa-cre" which made our 
 men hate the king and all 
 his laws still more than 
 they had done. 
 
 One day ships that were 
 known to have tea on board 
 showed their tall masts in 
 the bay. It was Sun-day 
 and the men of Bos-ton 
 were strict in their views, 
 and did no work on the 
 Lord's-day. But old rules 
 had to give way to this 
 new case, which must be 
 met at once. 
 
 Sam-u-el Ad-ams was 
 the true king of Bos-ton 
 at that time. He was the 
 firsc to see what must be 
 done. "We are free," 
 he said, "and want no 
 king !" 
 
 Men were wild with 
 rage. If the ships came 
 to land, the tea would be 
 
 sold! What must be done? 
 All talk was vain. Ad-ams 
 stood up in the church and 
 told them if they would 
 be free, now was the time 
 to strike the blow. With 
 a wild shout the men ran 
 out of the church. Some 
 of them, drest to look like 
 In-di-ans, went in great 
 haste to the wharf, each 
 one with an axe in his 
 hand. They went on board 
 the ships, brought the chests 
 of tea on deck, broke them 
 up and threw them in the 
 bay. 
 
 So still was the crowd 
 that not a sound was heard 
 but the stroke of the axe, 
 and the splash of the chests 
 as they fell in the sea. 
 This is what A-mer-i-ca 
 did. It was for Eng-land 
 to make the next move. 
 
 The king said that no 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 69 
 
 kind of goods should be 
 sent to Bos-ton. This did 
 more harm than good, as 
 it showed the men there 
 
 how mean the Brit-ishwere. 
 They would have to fight 
 to get free from such men, 
 and such laws. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FIRST FIGHT. 
 
 When our men saw that 
 the king meant to force 
 them to do as he said and 
 to keep his laws, they went 
 to work to learn the art 
 of war. They were led by 
 wise and good men. 
 
 The first fight took place 
 at Lex-ing-ton in Mas-sa- 
 chu-setts in the spring of 
 
 1775- 
 
 Gen-er-al Gage who had 
 
 charge of the king's troops, 
 
 had heard that a lot of 
 
 guns and things that were 
 
 used in war, were stored in 
 
 Con-cord, a few miles from 
 Bos-ton. He would seize 
 them in the king's name, 
 and he thought that not a 
 hint had got out of what he 
 meant to do. 
 
 But sharp men were on 
 the watch. Gen-er-al War- 
 ren, who fell at Bun-ker 
 Hill, at once sent Paul Reu- 
 vere to spread the news. 
 He rode like the wind 
 through Bos-ton, and then 
 took a boat to Charles-town. 
 He was none too soon. 
 Gen-er-al Gage heard that 
 
70 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 his plans had been found 
 out, and at once sent word 
 that no one should leave 
 Bos-ton. It was too late. 
 A small band of men in 
 their farm clothes met the 
 red-coats on the field of 
 Lex-ing-ton, but were told 
 by John Par-ker who led 
 them that they should not 
 be the first to fire. 
 
 Ma-jor Pit-cairn rode up, 
 and with an oath bade the 
 king's troops to fire at once, 
 and his gun sent the first 
 shot at those brave men, 
 who did not fear to die in 
 so just a cause. 
 
 No Eng-lish blood was 
 shed. Cheer on cheer went 
 up from the ranks of the 
 red-coats who took up tleir 
 march to Con-cord, which is 
 six miles from Lex-ing-ton. 
 
 Our men had left their 
 farms and were drawn up 
 
 on a hill, from whence they 
 could see all that was done 
 by the foe. The red-coats 
 held the bridge, while some 
 of their men went this way 
 and that to search for the 
 guns and such things that 
 were kept at Con-cord. But 
 these had all been hid 
 where the red-coats could 
 not find them. The men 
 on the hill kept a close 
 watch, and soon they saw 
 a cloud of smoke rise from 
 the spot where their homes 
 were. The lives of those 
 they held most dear were 
 at stake. What could they 
 do ? The wolf was in the 
 fold where their lambs were ! 
 With hearts on fire the 
 brave men fell in line, went 
 down the hill, and took the 
 road that led to the bridge. 
 They were charged not to 
 fire the first shot. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 71 
 
 As soon as the red-coats 
 saw them they went to 
 work to tear up the planks 
 of the bridge. Our men 
 made more haste. Then 
 the king's- troops fired, at 
 first one or two shots, 
 which did no harm. Then 
 a few more by which two 
 men were hurt ; then a 
 fierce charge, and two of 
 our men fell dead. 
 
 " Fire ! For God's sake, 
 fire!" cried Ma-jor John 
 But-trick, of Con-cord, as 
 he gave a wild leap in the 
 air. His men did not wait. 
 The fight was a short and 
 sharp one. The red-coats 
 had to give up the bridge, 
 and make their way back 
 to Bos-ton. They met with 
 great loss in the fight; some 
 of their best men were 
 killed, and they were shot 
 at all the way on the road 
 
 as they ran, so that they 
 had no chance to rest. 
 
 The day was hot, the 
 march long, and they had 
 had to work hard, and with 
 no food. Fresh troops, led 
 by Lord Per-cy, were sent 
 from Bos-ton to their aid, 
 and met them near the 
 place where they had shot 
 down our men that morn 
 and it is said, that when 
 they lay down to rest "their 
 tongues hung out of their 
 mouths like those of a dog 
 who has had a hard chase." 
 
 The news rang through 
 the land that blood had 
 been spilt. Men on horse- 
 back rode hard through 
 high-ways and by-ways to 
 spread the tale. All men 
 felt that the hour had come, 
 and in all the States there 
 was a rush to arms. 
 
 Down in Con-nec-ti-cut 
 
72 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 there was an old man at 
 work in the field with his 
 plough. His name was Is- 
 ra-el Put-nam. He had 
 fought with the red men in 
 his young days, and had 
 been near death at their 
 hands. Once he had been 
 bound to a tree, and the 
 In-di-ans had their arms 
 up to strike the blow that 
 would kill him, when he 
 was found by some of his 
 friends who had gone out 
 in search of him, and his 
 life was saved. 
 
 As the old man drove 
 his plough through the field 
 some one told him of the 
 fight at Lex-ing-ton. He 
 took his horse from the 
 plough, sent word home 
 that he had gone to Bos- 
 ton, and rode with all speed 
 to the A-mer-i-can camp. 
 
 On a neck of land, close 
 
 by Bos -ton, there are two 
 low hills, one known as 
 Bun-ker Hill, and one as 
 Breed's Hill. Our men 
 made up their minds to 
 fiorfit the Brit-ish from this 
 point. There was no time 
 to lose. It was said that 
 Gen-er-al Gage meant to 
 put a large force of his men 
 on the heights on the i8th 
 of June. He was too late. 
 On the 1 6th, just ere the 
 sun went down in the west, 
 our men met on Cam-bridge 
 Com-mon to ask God to 
 bless them in what they 
 had planned to do. 
 
 ' Col-o-nel (kurnel) Pres- 
 cott, who had fought in the 
 wars with the French, was 
 in charge of our troops ; 
 and Put-nam was with him, 
 to be of use where he 
 could. 
 
 With hearts that were 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 73 
 
 brave to do and die, the 
 men set forth on their 
 march. Not a word was 
 said. Their feet scarce 
 made a sound. Their way 
 led them near the guns of 
 the Eng-Hsh ships, but they 
 were not seen or heard. 
 The night was warm and 
 still. They reach the hill- 
 top. How swift they work 
 to build their fort of earth 
 and loes ! With what care 
 they must use their spades, 
 lest one stroke on a stone 
 should tell the tale, and 
 spoil all ! 
 
 When Gen-er-al Gage 
 looked out on the heights 
 the next day at dawn, he 
 saw strong earth-works, and 
 swarms of men in arms, 
 where he had been wont 
 to see a broad sweep of 
 green grass on which no 
 foot had trod. A tall form 
 
 went back and forth on the 
 top of the earth-works. It 
 was Pres-cott. 
 
 "Will he fight?" asked 
 Gage of one who stood 
 near by. "Yes, sir," said 
 the man to whom he spoke, 
 "to the last drop of his 
 blood ! " 
 
 A plan was made at 
 once. The Brit-ish were to 
 march straight up the hill 
 and drive off the A-mer- 
 i-cans. It was not thought 
 that our men could stand 
 the shock, as it was well 
 known they were more 
 used to peace than to war, 
 and had but few guns and 
 balls to fight with. At 
 noon the red-coats left Bos- 
 ton in their small boats, 
 and were soon at Charles- 
 town. The A-mer-i-cans 
 kept a close watch on them 
 from the hill-top, and felt 
 
74 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 no fear. From all the 
 heights in the range of 
 Bos-ton, on hills, house-tops, 
 and church spires, crowds 
 of A-mer-i-cans stood to 
 watch the fight. 
 
 It was no light task for 
 the Brit-ish to climb that 
 hill. The day was hot, the 
 grass was long and thick, 
 and the load each man bore 
 made his step slow. While 
 yet a long way off the red- 
 coats fired their guns as if 
 to wake up the foe. Not 
 a shot came back from the 
 A-mer-i-can lines. "Aim 
 low," said Put-nam, "and 
 wait till you see the whites 
 of their eyes." 
 
 The Eng-lish were quite 
 near the works when Pres- 
 cott told his men to fire. 
 The A-mer-i-cans could 
 shoot to a hair's breadth. 
 Their aim was true, and 
 
 when they fired not a shot 
 missed its mark. Men fell 
 from the Brit-ish ranks by 
 scores. The troops fled 
 down the hill. Then with 
 fresh strength they climb 
 the heights, to be sent back 
 with great loss. Now at 
 the foot of the hill they 
 strip off their great coats, 
 that they may have a hand- 
 to-hand fight. Up they go 
 and climb the walls that 
 they may take the fort. 
 The A-mer-i-cans met them 
 with stones and the butt- 
 ends of their guns but the 
 Brit-ish were too strong for 
 them. They soon drove 
 the brave band down the 
 hill, and made them cross 
 the neck to Cam-bridge, 
 while the Eng-lish ships 
 raked them with grape- 
 shot as they ran. They had 
 done their work. It was 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 75 
 
 true the red-coats had won 
 the day ; but our men had 
 found out that with the 
 help of some shght field- 
 works, green hands, fresh 
 from the farm or field, who 
 had had no chance to drill, 
 were a match for the best 
 troops that Eng-land could 
 send. 
 
 I will tell you here of 
 two brave deeds done by 
 Is-ra-el Put-nam. For a 
 long time he, and those 
 who dwelt near him, had 
 been ill used by a fierce 
 wolf, which at night would 
 kill their sheep and goats, 
 and lambs and kids. Put- 
 nam made a plan for five 
 men to take turns and hunt 
 the wolf till they could take 
 her life. It was known 
 that she had lost two of her 
 toes in a steel trap, and so 
 made one short track and 
 
 one long one. By this they 
 could trace her course in 
 the light snow. At last 
 they drove her to a den 
 three miles from Put-nam's 
 house. The folks from all 
 round, came with dogs, 
 guns, straw, and fire to 
 fight this fierce foe, and to 
 force her from the den. 
 From ten at morn till ten 
 at night they kept at work. 
 The hounds came back 
 with bad wounds, and ran 
 as far as they could from 
 the old wolf's teeth. 
 
 Put-nam tried to make 
 his dog go in the cave, but 
 in vain. He asked his 
 black man to go down and 
 shoot the wolf; but the 
 black man would not. Then 
 the brave man said, with a 
 flash of his eye, that if no 
 one else would go he would, 
 for he feared the wolf would 
 
76 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 run off through some hole 
 in the rocks. 
 
 He took some strips of 
 birch bark that he might 
 have Hght in the deep dark 
 cave, and scare the wolf as 
 well, for wild beasts shrink 
 from the sight of fire. Then 
 he threw off his coat and 
 vest, tied a long rope to his 
 legs, by which he might be 
 pulled back when he gave 
 the sign, and with a torch 
 in his hand went head first 
 in the den. The place was 
 as still as the grave. He 
 crept on his hands till he 
 came face to face with the 
 great red eye-balls of the 
 wolf, who sat at the end of 
 the cave. At the sight of 
 fire she gnashed her teeth, 
 and gave a low growl. 
 
 As soon as Put nam 
 found out where the beast 
 was he gave a kick and 
 
 was at once drawn out of 
 the cave. Those at the 
 mouth of the den had 
 heard the growl and thought, 
 of course, that the wolf had 
 sprung at their friend and 
 would eat him up. They 
 drew him out so fast that 
 his clothes were torn from 
 his back, and his flesh was 
 much bruised. Put-nam 
 set his clothes right, put a 
 charge of nine buck-shot 
 in his gun, and with that 
 in his right hand and a 
 torch in his left, he went 
 once more in the den. As 
 he drew near the wolf she 
 snapped her teeth, put her 
 head down, and crouched 
 to spring when Put-nam 
 raised his gun took a sure 
 aim, and fired. Stunned 
 with the shock, and choked 
 by the smoke, he was at 
 once drawn out to the fresh 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 77 
 
 air. When he had had 
 some rest, and the smoke 
 was out of the cave, he 
 went down for the third 
 time. Once more he came 
 in sight of the wolf He 
 put the torch to her nose. 
 She did not move. Then 
 he knew she was dead ; so 
 
 he took hold of her ears, 
 gave the rope a kick, for 
 it was still tied round his 
 legs, and with great shouts 
 of joy both the man and 
 the wolf were drawn out 
 through the mouth of the 
 cave. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GEORGE WASH-ING-TON 
 
 George Wash - ing - ton 
 was born in Vir-gin-ia, in 
 the year 1732. As a boy 
 he had a keen love of the 
 truth, and would scorn to 
 tell a lie. He was so calm 
 and just when at school 
 that the boys would call on 
 him to make peace when 
 they were at strife. He 
 knew how to rule his own 
 
 heart, and grew up to be a 
 wise and good man. When 
 he saw it was right to do 
 a thing, he did that thing 
 at once. He had a strong 
 mind, a strong will, and a 
 stronor heart; and he had 
 a great work to do in the 
 world. He was born to 
 rule. Two weeks from the 
 time the fight took place 
 
78 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 at Bun-ker Hill, Wash-ing- 
 ton was sent for to be 
 the Com-man-der-in-cheif of 
 our men. Though brave 
 at heart they were green in 
 war, and had but few of 
 the things most used at 
 such times. 
 
 The first thing Wash-ing- 
 ton did was to teach them 
 the art of war. Some 
 thought he ought to rush 
 right on the British in 
 Bos-ton. But he did not 
 think so. He kept them 
 so close in the town all 
 those long cold days that 
 they were most starved to 
 death. 
 
 At last, they were in 
 Kjuch a strait that Gen-er-al 
 Howe, the Brit-ish chief 
 was forced to ask Wash- 
 ing-ton to let him and his 
 troops leave Bos-ton. This 
 Wash-ing-ton was glad to 
 
 do. Then the Eng-lish set 
 sail for Hal-i-fax in March, 
 1776, and the A-mer-i-cans 
 marched in to Bos-ton to 
 the great joy of all the folks 
 there. The reign of King 
 George in that place was 
 at an end. While the Brit- 
 ish were still in Bos-ton, 
 Howe sent a force of ships 
 to lay siege to Charles-ton, 
 in South Car-o-li-na. But 
 Wash-ing-ton found out his 
 plan, and sent Gen-er-al 
 Lee to meet him. 
 
 When the Brit-ish fleet 
 came in sight of Charles- 
 ton it was found that a 
 strong fort had been built 
 of earth and logs, so that 
 the ships could not land. 
 The men on board sent 
 bomb -shells at the fort, 
 which sank in the soft 
 wood so that not much 
 harm was done. But the 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 n 
 
 shot from the fort swept 
 the decks of the Brit-ish 
 ships. 
 
 When the fight was at 
 its height, a brave deed 
 was done by a young man 
 named Jas-per. One of 
 the balls had cut down the 
 staff which held the flag 
 the men in the fort were so 
 proud of As soon as Jas- 
 'per saw it he sprang from 
 the breast-works, seized the 
 flag and put it back in its 
 place, while round him the 
 balls fell like hail-stones. 
 
 For a whole day the 
 Brit-ish kept up the fight. 
 But they could not take 
 the fort. So they gave it 
 up, and set sail. The fort 
 was called Fort Moul-trie, 
 as that was the name of 
 the brave man who kept it 
 from the foe. 
 
 When the Brit-ish left 
 
 Bos-ton, Wash-ing-ton had 
 a fear that they meant to 
 go to New York, so he 
 made up his mind to move 
 his own troops to that 
 place. He left some of his 
 men in Bos-ton so that the 
 Brit-ish should not come 
 back and take it, and then 
 set sail for New York. 
 Then he set his men to 
 work to build forts near 
 the town, and on Long 
 Is-land, and up the Hud- 
 son, for the war was to be 
 kept up till the whole of 
 A-mer-i-ca was free from 
 Eng-lish rule. What took 
 place on the 4th of Ju-ly, 
 1776 ? I will tell you. , 
 
 On that day our men 
 drew up an act, called 
 " The Dec-la-ra-tion of In- 
 de -pen - dencel' Thom - as 
 Jef-fer-son wrote it, and 
 it was full of errand words 
 
8o 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that rang out like a chime 
 of bells. 
 
 The Con-ti-nent-al Con- 
 gress was made up of wise 
 men who made the laws by 
 which A-mer-i-cans chose 
 to be ruled. They met in 
 Phil-a-del-phia, in a room 
 in In-de-pen-dence Hall. 
 When the word went forth 
 that the Dec-la-ra-tion had 
 been signed and sealed, the 
 old bell -man seized the 
 tono-ue of the srreat bell 
 and swung it back and 
 forth with all his might. 
 
 At each loud stroke 
 The old bell spoke, 
 
 "We will not wear 
 King George's Yoke ! 
 
 " From South to North 
 
 Our cry shall be, 
 From this time forth 
 
 We shall be free ! " 
 
 So loud the peal. 
 So great the stroke, 
 
 That in its joy 
 
 The big bell broke. 
 
 This is true. And when 
 you go to Phil-a-del-phia 
 you must ask to sec the 
 great bell that rang out 
 such a wild peal of joy on 
 that day ; and if you look 
 on one side of it you will 
 see the large crack that 
 was made, so that it could 
 ring no more. 
 
 I must tell you what the 
 folks in New York did. 
 In that town stood a cast 
 of King George III. It 
 was made of lead. In one 
 hand he held a kind of 
 sword ; and on his head he 
 wore a crown. When the 
 news of the Dec-la-ra-tion 
 o{ In-de-pen-dence reached 
 New York a great crowd 
 ran to one spot, and the 
 cry was heard " Down with 
 it! — down with it!" and 
 soon a rope was put round 
 its neck, and the lead King 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 George came down to the 
 ground. Then it was cut 
 all to bits, and made up 
 in balls with which to kill 
 
 the troops that had been 
 sent from Eng-land to fight 
 the A-mer-i-cans. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 DARK DAYS 
 
 In the fall of 1 7 76 a deep 
 gloom spread through the 
 land. 
 
 Gen-er-al Howe had his 
 troops in camp on Stat-en- 
 Is-land a few miles from 
 New York, and in full 
 view of Brook-lyn. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton sent a 
 strong force to hold the 
 heights of Brook-lyn and 
 to throw up earth-works in 
 front of the town. 
 
 But the Eng-lish had 
 more men, and the field 
 was lost to the A-mer-i- 
 
 cans, who fled to Har-lem, 
 nine miles from New York. 
 But the Eng-lish ships 
 swept up the Hud-son and 
 got in the front and rear 
 of Wash-ing-ton and his 
 troops. The Brit-ish took 
 Fort Wash-ing-ton, which 
 was so great a loss that it 
 made Wash-ing-ton shed 
 tears. 
 
 He led his men to New 
 Jer-sey. The ground as 
 they went was stained with 
 their blood. The most of 
 them felt that their cause 
 
82 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 was lost. They were in 
 sore need. The red-coats, 
 though close in the rear of 
 Wash-ing-ton, could not 
 catch up to him. In this 
 way he got down to the 
 Del-a-ware, which he had 
 to cross to get to Penn-syl- 
 va-nia. As he took care 
 to take all the boats with 
 him, the Brit-ish could not 
 cross when they got there. 
 The stream was full of ice, 
 and it was hard work for 
 men who were not half 
 clad or half fed. But they 
 did it, and kept on their 
 way by land as soon as 
 they reached the shore. 
 
 At the close of the year 
 Wash-ing-ton had a chance 
 to clip the wings of the 
 Brit-ish at Trent-on and 
 Prince-ton so that they fell 
 back and gave up a large 
 part of New Jer-sey. 
 
 The next year, that is in 
 1777, our men lost ground; 
 and dark were the days 
 they spent at Val-ley 
 Forge. 
 
 They had not much to 
 eat, and their clothes hung 
 in rags. Some of them 
 had no shoes, and their 
 steps could be traced by 
 the blood-marks they left 
 in the snow. They had to 
 keep as warm as they could 
 in their small huts, or round 
 the camp-fires, and if the 
 fire of love for their own 
 land had not burned strong 
 in their hearts they could 
 not have stood it at all. 
 
 At this time a new force 
 came to the aid of these 
 brave men. France was 
 at heart the friend of 
 A-mer-i-ca, but did not 
 dare to take a bold part in 
 the war. But she let one 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 83 
 
 of her bright young chiefs 
 cross the sea to help the 
 cause for which they fought. 
 His name was La-Fay-ette. 
 He was a young man of 
 great wealth, and in a high 
 place at the French court. 
 He left his young wife, his 
 home, and all he held dear, 
 to cast his lot with those 
 who were in great need of 
 this kind of cheer. Wash- 
 ing-ton met him with tears 
 of joy in his eyes, and gave 
 him a place on his staff 
 He put new strength in 
 the troops, and made their 
 cause his own. For this 
 he holds a high place in 
 the love of all true A-mer- 
 i-cans. When the war was 
 at an end, and A-mer-i-ca 
 free, he went back to 
 France. In the year 1826, 
 when La-fay-ette was an 
 old man he came to see 
 
 once more the land he had 
 helped to save. The fame 
 of his good and brave 
 deeds will last till the end 
 of time. 
 
 In the spring of 1777, 
 Gen-er-al Bur-goyne set 
 out from Can-a-da with a 
 fine lot of troops. He was 
 to go south and be met 
 at Al-ba-ny by a Brit-ish 
 force which was to march 
 up from New York. This 
 was a grand plan to cut 
 our lines in two. He 
 marched far in the New 
 Eng-land States. As he 
 drew near men took down 
 their euns from the walls 
 and went to the front. 
 They had not much skill 
 in the art of war, but they 
 had firm hearts and a sure 
 aim. It was not long ere 
 the Brit-ish found out they 
 were caught as in a net. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Our men were at the front 
 and rear and on all sides. 
 In grief and shame the 
 red-Goats laid down their 
 arms to a crowd of rough 
 ill-dressed men, most of 
 whom wore their guns slung 
 on their backs ! It was a 
 great blow to Eng-land. 
 
 Near the same time Gen- 
 er-al Howe tried to cross 
 Wash -ing- ton's path and 
 take Phil-a-del-phia, then 
 the chief town of all the 
 States. As he could not 
 get there by land he went 
 back to New York and set 
 sail from that place. Our 
 men were drawn up on the 
 banks of the Bran-dy-wine, 
 but though they fought 
 well the red-coats were too 
 strongf for them, and drove 
 them from the field. In a 
 few da3^s a Brit-ish force 
 with Lord Corn-wal-lis at 
 
 its head made its way to 
 Phil-a-del-phia. The band 
 played "God save the 
 King." The day was bright. 
 The streets were gay ; and 
 there were some folks in 
 the town who were full of 
 joy, and glad to see King 
 George's men. They were 
 met as friends and not as 
 foes. 
 
 Said wise Ben Frank- 
 lin, "Gen-er-al Howe did 
 not take Phil-a-del-phia ; 
 Phil-a-del-phia took Gen- 
 er-al Howe." 
 
 I must tell you of a great 
 feat done by Gen-er-al Put- 
 nam, or "old Put" as he 
 was called, while the red- 
 coats made war through 
 New Eng-land. They 
 robbed and set on fire the 
 towns they went through, 
 and at last came to Horse- 
 neck, which is on the 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 85 
 
 Sound a few miles from 
 New York. Gen-er-al Put- 
 nam was at Horse -neck 
 with a small force of men 
 and two large guns. The 
 Brit-ish had more men, but 
 less pluck. 
 
 "Old Put" was a bold 
 man. He set his guns on 
 a hill near the church ; and 
 as the red-coats came up 
 the guns were fired. At 
 length the foe came so 
 close that he told his men 
 to run and hide in a swamp 
 near by. He was on horse- 
 back, and the hill was so 
 steep that no horse could 
 go down it but by the road 
 on which the red -coats 
 were. But the man who 
 
 had the wit to snare a 
 wolf, was not the one to be 
 caught in a trap. He saw 
 some stone steps that had 
 been laid so that those in 
 the vale could get up to 
 the church which was on 
 the hill. It is life or death, 
 thought Put-nam, and down 
 he rode at break-neck speed. 
 On came the Brit-ish. They 
 were sure of him. But 
 when they reached the spot 
 they saw "old Put" a long 
 way off. They did not 
 dare to go down the steps, 
 so they shot at him, and 
 would have killed him if 
 they could. But one ball 
 came near him, and that 
 went through his hat. 
 
86 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 The French had shown 
 such good will to our men, 
 that Frank-lin was sent to 
 ask their aid. The King 
 of France said he would 
 help with ships, men, and 
 gold, and he was as good 
 as his word. This brought 
 much cheer to the hearts 
 of the A-mer-i-cans. When 
 Eng-iand heard what 
 France meant to do, she 
 tried her best to make 
 peace. But it was too late. 
 
 From the year 1779 ^^e 
 war went on in the South, 
 where much blood was 
 spilt. There were loss and 
 gain on both sides, but at 
 last the Brit-ish troops were 
 forced back to Charles-ton, 
 
 where they stayed till the 
 close of the war. 
 
 We now come to a dark 
 page and a dark plot by 
 which, if it had not been 
 found out, A-mer-i-ca would 
 have lost all she had fought 
 so hard to win. This was 
 a plan to place West-Point 
 in the hands of the Brit-ish. 
 West-Point was a strong 
 fort on the Hud-son which 
 was in charge of Gen-er-al 
 Ar-nold. The Brit-ish 
 knew it was worth their 
 while to get this post, so 
 they sent word to Ar-nold 
 that he might have a large 
 sum in gold if he would 
 give it up. This he meant 
 to do if he had not been 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 87 
 
 found out. No true man 
 will take a bribe of this sort. 
 Wash- ing- ton bade him 
 leave the post, and he went 
 off in a great rage. 
 
 Then he came back full 
 of grief for the wrong he 
 had done, and said he 
 meant from that hour to 
 do right, and begged to be 
 sent back to his post at 
 West-Point. But his heart 
 was black ; his thoughts 
 were base ; and Wash-ing- 
 ton, who had a kind heart, 
 did wrong to trust him. 
 As soon as he was once 
 more in charge of West- 
 Point he wrote to Sir Hen- 
 ry Clin-ton, who was with 
 the Brit-ish in New York, 
 to send some one to whom 
 he could give up the fort. 
 
 Ma-jor An-dre was sent 
 up the Hud-son in a sloop 
 of war, named the Vul-ture. 
 
 The night was pitch dark 
 when he left the boat and 
 went to the place where he 
 was to meet Ar-nold. Day 
 broke ere their talk came 
 to an end. It was not safe 
 for An-dre to be seen. The 
 ship from which he had 
 come lay in full view. 
 Would that he could reach 
 her ! He must make his 
 way back to New York 
 by land as best he could. 
 A pass from Ar-nold took 
 him through the A~mer-i- 
 can lines, and then he drew 
 a free breath, and felt no 
 more fear. 
 
 He came to a small 
 stream ; thick woods on 
 the right and on the left 
 made the night seem more 
 dark. All at once three 
 armed men came out from 
 the trees and bade him 
 halt. From the dress of 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 one of them An-dre thought 
 he was with friends. Poor 
 An-dre ! He soon found 
 out they were not friends 
 at all. They searched him, 
 and at first nought was 
 found. Then one of the 
 men said, " Boys, I am still 
 in doubt. His boots must 
 come off" 
 
 Andre's face fell. His 
 boots were searched, and 
 Ar-nold's sketch of West- 
 Point was found. The men 
 knew then that he was a 
 spy. Word was at once 
 sent to Wash-ing-ton who 
 was then at West- Point. 
 As soon as Ar-nold heard 
 that his plot was found out 
 he fled in great haste to a 
 Brit-ish man-of-war. An- 
 dre was tried, and by the 
 rules of war he had to be 
 hung. It was a sad fate 
 for so young and so good a 
 
 man, and gave great pain 
 to all those who took part 
 in the act. Had it been 
 Ar-nold, no tears would 
 have been shed. This bad 
 man, who was to blame for 
 An-dres death, made his 
 way to New York, and 
 took sides with the Brit-ish. 
 When the war came to an 
 end he went to Eng-land, 
 where in 1801 he died; and 
 in the whole wide world 
 there was no one who had 
 the least love for the man, 
 or would shed a tear at his 
 grave. He won the hate 
 of Eng-lish-men as well as 
 A-mer-i-cans, and I would 
 warn all boys not to do as 
 Ben-e-dict Ar-nold did. 
 
 We come now to the 
 fight which brought the 
 war to a close. It took 
 place at York-town in Vir- 
 gin-ia, in the year 1781. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES.. 
 
 8^ 
 
 Wash-ing-ton was near 
 New York and thought to 
 march on that place. But 
 he changed his plan, and 
 went in great haste to fight 
 Lord Corn-wal-lis and to 
 lay siege to York-town. 
 He had the French to help 
 him ; and their men-of-war 
 ^hut up the bay so that the 
 Brit-ish could not get out 
 to sea in their own boats. 
 A sharp fire of shot and 
 shell was kept up in front 
 and rear. The red -coats 
 were shut in on all sides, 
 and met with great loss. 
 They had but few guns ; 
 and their shot gave out. 
 For more than ten days 
 the fight was kept up, and 
 the Brit-ish did all that 
 brave men could do to 
 hold the fort. But the red- 
 hot shot of the French set 
 fire to their ships. Their 
 
 earth-works were torn up 
 by the fire of our troops 
 who came up with such 
 speed that the foe lost all 
 hope. 
 
 Corn-wal-lis sent out a 
 flag of truce. The Brit- 
 ish laid down their arms. 
 Peace had come at last, 
 and the joy of A-mer-i-ca 
 knew no bounds. 
 
 It was eight years since 
 the first blood was shed at 
 Lex-ing-ton. Thus long 
 had our men fought, and 
 bled, and borne all sorts 
 of ills to win what was well 
 worth all it cost them, 
 Now they were free; and 
 Eng-land was the same to 
 them as all the rest of the 
 world — " in peace, a friend ; 
 in war, a foe." 
 
 By the end of the year 
 1783 the last red-coat had 
 left our shores ; and our 
 
00 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 troops went back to their 
 homes. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton had won 
 the love of all hearts. The 
 men who had fought with 
 him were loath to leave 
 him. It was a sad time. 
 Strong men shed tears 
 when Wash-ing-ton bade 
 them good-by. Tears were 
 
 in his own eyes. He would 
 take no pay for what he 
 had done. His troops 
 would have made him king, 
 but he had no wish to be 
 on a throne. He was sick 
 of war and of a life of care, 
 and glad to go back to his 
 farm and spend the rest: 
 of his days in peace. 
 
 CHAPTER XHI. 
 
 ON SHIP AND SHORE. 
 
 The war left A-mer-i-ca 
 in a sad state. Towns and 
 fields had been laid waste 
 by fire. All the arts of 
 peace had been made to 
 stop. There was a big 
 debt to be paid. Laws 
 must be made for those 
 who were now free from 
 the rule of Eng-land. It 
 
 took wise and good men 
 three or four years to work 
 out a plan that would meet 
 the case. 
 
 They had need of some 
 wise and good man at the 
 head. It was the vote of 
 the States that George 
 Wash-ing-ton was the man 
 to fill the place. At the 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 9' 
 
 same time they cast their 
 votes for two rnen, so that 
 in case the chief died there 
 would be some one to take 
 his place. George Wash- 
 ing-ton and John Ad-ams 
 were the two they chose, 
 and on the fourth of 
 March, 1789, Wash-ing- 
 ton took his place as the 
 chief of the band who 
 were to make the laws of 
 A-mer-i-ca. He served 
 for eight years, and did so 
 well for the U-ni-ted States 
 — as they were now called — 
 that it was said of him " He 
 was first in war — first in 
 peace." It was the wish 
 of all that he should serve 
 a third term, but he would 
 not, and in the year 1799 
 he died, and his death was 
 felt to be a great loss. 
 John Ad-ams was chief 
 for one term — of four 
 
 years — from 1797 to 
 1801. 
 Thomas Jef-fer-son two 
 terms, from 1801 to 
 1809. 
 James Mad-i-son two 
 terms, from 1809 to 
 1817. 
 While Mad-i-son was 
 chief, and our land had 
 been at peace not quite a 
 score of years, it had to 
 go to war once more with 
 Eng-land. It is called "the 
 war of 18 1 2," as it took 
 place in that year. This 
 was the cause of it : Eng- 
 land said that she had a 
 right to search our ships, 
 to see if they had on board 
 of them men who ought 
 to serve Great Brit-ain. 
 The search was not just, 
 and men were seized and 
 made to serve a flag they 
 did not love. Some of 
 
92 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 our men would not let a 
 search be made on their 
 ships and much blood was 
 shed. These deeds brought 
 on the war which was kept 
 up on the sea and on the 
 land. Our men could not 
 do much on the land, but 
 with their ships they kept 
 up a brave fight and had 
 good luck on the sea, and 
 took five Brit-ish ships- 
 of-war. 
 
 The first fight was with 
 the Con-sti-tu-tion and 
 Guer-ri-ere. The last 
 named was a Brit-ish ship. 
 So fierce was the fire of 
 shot from our side that in 
 half an hour there was not 
 a spar left on the deck of 
 the Guer-ri-ere ; and the 
 next day she was blown 
 up, as there was no way m 
 which she could be towed 
 to port. 
 
 The next one was that 
 of the Mac-e-do-ni-an and 
 U-ni-ted States. The brave 
 Com-mo-dore De-ca-tur 
 had charge of our ship, 
 which took the Eng-lish 
 ship as a prize. 
 
 The Ja-va was next 
 caught by the Con-sti-tu- 
 tion, and the Pea-cock by 
 the Hor-net. The Pea- 
 cock had such great holes 
 made in her hull by the 
 balls sent from the Hor- 
 net by our men, that she 
 sank with some of her men 
 on board. 
 
 Two Eng-lish ships lay 
 off Bos-ton in the warm 
 months of the year 1813. 
 In the bay the A-mer-i-can 
 ship Ches-a-peake had lain 
 for some months. Broke 
 sent off one of his ships, 
 and sent word to Law-rence 
 that he would match his 
 
ii^i|t|flf!llfjaSI}|}i8fflH(^Rl!ffl^''-'Kfl!y«!l?J^ 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 93 
 
 ship, the Shan-non, with 
 the Ches-a-peake. Then 
 he stood close in to the 
 shore to wait for his foe to 
 come forth. Crowds went 
 on house-top and hill to see 
 the fipfht. Not a shot was 
 fired till the ships were so 
 near that the men could 
 see the eyes of those they 
 meant to kill. The fire of 
 the Brit-ish soon told on 
 our ship. Her sails are 
 torn ; her masts fall ; her 
 deck is swept by the balls 
 sent from the huge guns. 
 The ships are now side by 
 side. The Shan-non still 
 fires grape-shot from two 
 of her guns. Broke leaps 
 on board the Ches-a-peake 
 whose deck is wet with 
 blood, tears down the flag, 
 and the fight is at an end 
 in less than half an hour. 
 If it is sad for us to read 
 
 of such things, what must 
 it have been for those who 
 took part in them ? 
 
 Law-rence had his death- 
 wound in this fight, and 
 with his last breath he said 
 to his men. " Don't give 
 up the ship !" This has 
 been since that day the 
 watch word of A-mer-i-can 
 tars. 
 
 I will now tell you of a 
 fight that took place on 
 Lake E-rie, in the fall of 
 1813, in which our men 
 won the day. The A-mer- 
 i-can fleet of nine ships 
 was in charge of Com-mo- 
 dore Per-ry. The Brit- 
 ish had but six ships, but 
 these had more guns than 
 ours. 
 
 Per-ry's flag- ship was 
 the Law-rence, and the 
 words " Don't give up the 
 ship" — the last that brave 
 
94 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UXITED STA TES. 
 
 man spoke — were on the 
 flag that was sent up as a 
 sign that the fight was to 
 set in. The Brit-ish ships 
 point most of their guns at 
 the Law-rence. For two 
 hours they pour the shot 
 at her till her guns have 
 no place to rest, and she 
 lies a wreck on the wave. 
 There are but few of her 
 crew who are not hurt. It 
 is clear to Com-mo-dore 
 Per-ry that he must leave 
 his ship and make his way, 
 if he can, to one of those 
 that lie near. 
 
 He took his flag with 
 him, and in a small boat 
 made his way to the Ni- 
 aof-a-ra, while the whole of 
 the Brit-ish fleet kept up 
 the fire of their guns in 
 hopes to stop his course. 
 
 In less than half an hour 
 Per~ry took the whole of 
 
 the Brit-ish fleet, and then 
 sat down and wrote of it 
 in these words; "We have 
 met the foe, and they arc 
 ours." 
 
 For three years the war 
 was kept up. The A-mer- 
 i-cans were sick of it. The 
 Brit-ish lost more than they 
 gained. Men from both 
 sides met at Ghent, and 
 made terms of peace. 
 
 A Brit-ish sloop-of-war 
 brought the news to New 
 York ; and none too soon. 
 The fight at New Or-leans 
 took place while the ship 
 was on the sea. It was 
 won by the A-mer-i-cans, 
 led by Gen-er-al Jack-son. 
 He was rough in his ways, 
 but his men were fond of 
 him, and they gave him 
 the pet name of **01d 
 Hick-o-ry." 
 
 The cry of " Peace ! 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 95 
 
 peace!" rang through the 
 streets. Fires were Ht. 
 Bos-ton was wild with joy. 
 Ships that had long lain 
 at her wharves were soon 
 sent out to sea, to trade, 
 and not to make war. 
 
 It was a glad time. New 
 States were formed. Men 
 came in swarms from the 
 Old World, and went to 
 the west to make new 
 homes. 
 
 On the fourth of March, 
 1817, James Mon-roe, was 
 sworn in as chief of our 
 land, and he made a tour 
 through most of the States, 
 to learn their needs and 
 their growth, that his rule 
 might be a wise one. 
 
 In 1825 John Quin-cy 
 A-d-ams was made chief, 
 by a large vote, for a term 
 of four years. His rule 
 was one of peace. As 
 
 there were more men to 
 choose from, those who had 
 a right to vote took sides. 
 Each had its own friend. 
 
 In 1829 the votes were 
 cast for John Quin-cy Ad- 
 ams and An-drew Jack-son. 
 When they came to count 
 them, Jack -son had the 
 most, so he was made chief 
 on the 4th of March. His 
 home was in Ten-nes-see. 
 
 Jack-son was a man of 
 strong will, and did some 
 things that did not please 
 some of the folks. But 
 he was much liked, and 
 held the place of chief for 
 two terms. 
 
 In 1837 Mar-tin Van 
 Bu-ren was made chief for 
 a term of four years. By 
 this time some of the 
 States felt that Jack-son 
 had not been the right kind 
 of man for them, and the 
 
96 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 most that Van Bu-ren could 
 do was to try to keep the 
 peace. 
 
 In 1 84 1 Gen-er-al Wil- 
 H-am Hen-ry Har-ri-son 
 was made chief with great 
 pomp. His friends had 
 hopes that his rule would 
 prove a great joy to the 
 land. He was a brave 
 man, and a good man ; one 
 that had been tried and 
 found as true as steel. All 
 was bright and fair. But 
 just one month from the 
 day he was made chief the 
 old man died. He was 
 sick but a few days. John 
 
 Ty-ler took his place, but 
 he did not please those 
 who had cast their votes 
 for Har-ri-son. 
 
 In the band that were 
 kept near the chief, to 
 aid him in time of need, 
 were such men as Hen-ry 
 Clay, and Dan-i-el Web- 
 ster, of whom you may 
 have heard. These men 
 had large brains, and large 
 hearts, and when they got 
 up to speak it was worth 
 while to hear what they 
 had to say. A-mer-i-ca 
 was proud of these men, 
 and is to this day. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WHAT TOOK PLACE IN MEX-I-CO AND CAL-I-FOR-NIA. 
 
 In 1845 James K. Polk 
 was sworn in. He had to 
 take an oath, as did all the 
 rest of the chiefs, that he 
 would be true, and would 
 serve his land the best he 
 knew how. In his term a 
 war with Mex-i-co broke 
 out. The cause of this 
 war was three- fold. In 
 the first place Mex-i-co did 
 not want Tex-as to join the 
 States, which she did in 
 1845, and was full of ill-will. 
 In the next place those 
 States in the South that 
 held slaves did not like 
 Mex-i-co at all. I will tell 
 you why. The Pope of 
 Rome would have no 
 slaves in Mex-i-co, and so 
 
 if a slave could make his 
 way there he would be a 
 free man. I will tell you 
 more of the Slave States 
 by-and-by. 
 
 In the third place Mex- 
 i-co was not sure how big 
 Tex-as ought to be, and 
 was at strife all the time 
 with the U-ni-ted States, 
 who wished to have men 
 sent from both sides to fix 
 the line. This did not suit 
 Mex-i-co, and so there was 
 a war. 
 
 In the spring of 1846, 
 Gen-er-al Zach-a-ry Tay-lor 
 was sent with a force to 
 the Ri-o Gran-de, which 
 our men claimed as the 
 line that bound Tex-as on 
 
98 
 
 THE HISTORY dF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the south and south-west. 
 Two fights took place at 
 this point, both of which 
 were won by Gen-er-al Tay- 
 lor. This gave great joy 
 to all the States ; and a 
 large force was at once 
 raised, and Gen-er-al Win- 
 field Scott put at its head. 
 
 In the mean-time Gen- 
 er-al Tay-lor beat San-ta 
 An-na in two more fights 
 — at Mon-te-rey and Bu- 
 e-na Vis-ta. At the last 
 named place San-ta An-na 
 had four or five times more 
 troops than Gen-er-al Tay- 
 lor. In the last fight San- 
 ta An-na fled in such haste 
 that he left his cork leg ! 
 
 Gen-er-al Tay-lor was 
 fond of a joke, and did not 
 mind a bit of fun now and 
 then. He was rough in 
 his speech and had a quick 
 wit, and that is how he 
 
 won the name of "Old 
 Rough and Read-y." He 
 knew just what to say and 
 what to do when the time 
 came for him to speak and 
 act, and though a man of 
 war had a great big heart, 
 and more friends than foes. 
 At one time, in the midst 
 of a great fight • with the 
 Mex-i-cans, the balls came 
 thick and fast quite near 
 the place where Tay-lor 
 stood with some of his 
 staff The men did not 
 like this kind of fun, and 
 would duck their heads 
 when a ball went by. The 
 old Gen-er-al saw this, and 
 said " Don't dodge ! Brave 
 men should not dodge!" 
 It was not long ere a big 
 ball came so near the old 
 man's nose that it made 
 him start back. At this his 
 men set up a loud laugh. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 99 
 
 A flush of shame Ht the 
 old man's face, and he felt 
 that he was in a fix. Then 
 a smile broke through the 
 cloud, and with a light 
 laugh he said, 
 
 "Well, well, my men ; I 
 guess you will have to 
 dodge, the balls. Dodge — 
 but don't run." 
 
 In March, 1847, Win- 
 field Scott set out with his 
 force to seize Ve-ra Cruz, 
 which was a large and 
 strong town with a fort on 
 the sea- coast. They had 
 to fight each step of their 
 way through Mex i-co. 
 They took Cer-ro Gor-do 
 by storm, and at last came 
 to Cha-pul-te-pec, which 
 was built on a rock, and 
 was the great strong- hold 
 of the Mex-i-cans. When 
 this fell all hope was lost, 
 and in the Fall of 1847, 
 
 our troops marched in the 
 chief town of Mex i-co, 
 and there put up the Stars 
 and Stripes. In the next 
 year terms of peace were 
 made, which gave us the 
 whole of Cal-i-for-nia and 
 New Mex-i-co. 
 
 Who has not heard of 
 Cal-i-for-nia ? I will tell 
 you how gold came to be 
 found there. 
 
 Some men had been set 
 to work to build a mill-race. 
 As they dug out the trench 
 they saw that the sand was 
 full of bits of stuff that 
 shone like gold. They 
 did not think much of it 
 at first. But as they dug 
 down they found more of 
 it. It was gold! Here in 
 the rock ! there in the 
 sand ! now in a big lump ! 
 now in a small one! It was 
 like a dream! The men 
 
lOO 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were wild ! They had but 
 to stoop down and take 
 up this great wealth. The 
 news spread. Young men 
 and old men from the East, 
 and from all parts of the 
 world flocked to the land 
 of gold. Some went by 
 land and some by sea. 
 Some were sick on the 
 way. A host of them died 
 and left their bones where 
 there was no friend to dig 
 a grave. Still the crowds 
 kept on, and some of them 
 were made rich by the gold 
 they found in the strange 
 land. But they had to work 
 hard for it, and lead strange 
 lives; and not all of those 
 who went to Cal-i-for-nia 
 in the year 1849 grew to 
 be rich men. No; some 
 spent all they had, and 
 were poor to the end of 
 their days. 
 
 Cal-i-for-nia has grown 
 to be a great State. San 
 Fran-cis-co is its chief town. 
 Gold is still found in the 
 State. Her soil is rich, and 
 her fruits grow to a great 
 size. She has a large trade 
 in wheat, wool, and wine, 
 which are all first-class. 
 
 In 1849 the U-ni-ted 
 States made Gen-er-al Tay- 
 lor their chief In this way 
 they thought to prove their 
 love for, and their faith 
 in him. In less than four 
 months he died, and Fill- 
 more took his place. There 
 was strife here and there 
 through the land, which 
 was brought to an end by 
 wise means, so that no real 
 war took place. 
 
 At this time three great 
 men died: — John C. Cal- 
 houn, Hen-ry Clay, and 
 Dan-i-el Web-ster. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Frank-lin Pierce was 
 sworn in as chief in 1853. 
 By this time there was 
 much strife in the North 
 and in the South as the 
 New States came in. There 
 were those who said Kan- 
 sas should be a free State, 
 and there were those who 
 said she should have slaves. 
 This of course, made a 
 great war of words. It 
 was left for the folks in 
 Kan-sas to say if they 
 would have slaves or not, 
 and then there was a great 
 rush to that State from 
 both sides. 
 
 I must tell you now of a 
 man named John Brown 
 who felt that the curse of 
 God was on the land that 
 bought and sold men as 
 slaves. He thought the 
 black man had just as good 
 a rio-ht to be free as the 
 
 white man, and he took the 
 law in his own hands in a 
 rash way. ' He saw a great 
 wrong and meant to do his 
 best to set it right, with 
 God's help. He could not 
 hope to change the laws of 
 the land, but he was full 
 of fight for a cause so dear 
 to his heart. He took his 
 two sons and went to Kan- 
 sas to help make it and 
 keep it a free State. A 
 few men who thought as 
 he did went with him. He 
 laid up a store of arms, and 
 he and his friends made a 
 way for slaves to get to 
 Can-a-da where they would 
 be free. Brown was a 
 shrewd man, and for some 
 time these things were done 
 on the sly. But some one 
 found out his plans and 
 made them known to those 
 who were his foes. 
 
I02 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 This roused the wrath of 
 old John Brown, and led 
 him to do in haste what 
 he might have known 
 would hurt his cause. This 
 is what he did. At the 
 town of Har-per's Fer-ry 
 there was a place where a 
 large stock of arms and 
 tools of war were kept. 
 This he made up his mind 
 to seize. His hopes were 
 high. He was sure he 
 should not fail. He went 
 to work with a small force 
 of black and white men ; 
 made the trains stop that 
 here cross the Po-to-mac ; 
 brought work of all kinds 
 
 to a stand-still, and held 
 the place for more than a 
 day. Most all his men 
 were hurt or slain. His 
 two sons were shot dead. 
 Brown stood by his dead 
 boys, and in a calm voice 
 told his men to stand firm, 
 and sell their lives dear. 
 But the foe was too strong 
 for the brave old man. He 
 was at last caught, tried, 
 and hung; and the name 
 and fame of John Brown 
 are sung in one of the 
 songs of the land. 
 
 This act is known as 
 "John Brown's raid." 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 NORTH AND SOUTH AT WAR. 
 
 From the year 1857 to 
 1861 James Bu-chan-an 
 was the chief of these 
 U-ni-ted States. At this 
 time the Mor-mons were at 
 strife with our laws. The 
 Mor-mons think it is right 
 for a man to have more 
 than one wife. They claim 
 to serve God in this way. 
 They make their home in 
 Utah. Their chief town is 
 Salt Lake Cit-y. Troops 
 were sent to quell the strife, 
 but terms were made so 
 that no blood was shed, 
 and so long as the Mor- 
 mons keep the peace we 
 have no law that can touch 
 them. Their mode of life 
 is a great blot on our land. 
 
 While Bu-chan-an was 
 chief there was a stir at 
 the South that the men at 
 the North knew not how 
 to deal with. The South 
 said it had a right to keep 
 slaves. Bu-chan-an thought 
 it was wrong, but did not 
 know how to go to work 
 to bring it to an end. Men 
 of wealth who first came 
 from Eng-land to A-mer-i- 
 ca had brought their slaves 
 with them, and their sons 
 were brought up to think 
 that they could own slaves, 
 the same as they owned 
 cows or pigs, and could 
 treat them just as they 
 chose. 
 
 Six States cut loose from 
 
I04 
 
 THE HISTURV OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 the rest. They were U-ni- 
 ted States no more. South 
 Car-o-h-na led them, and 
 they set up as free States; 
 that is, free from the laws 
 that bound them to the 
 North. The bells of Charles- 
 ton rang for joy. Wild 
 shouts of joy were heard 
 in her streets. They chose 
 Jeff-er-son Da-vis to be 
 their chief for the next six 
 years. Those States thought 
 they had the right to do 
 just as they did. All in 
 the South were not of the 
 same mind. The North 
 felt that the States must be 
 kept as one. Those who 
 had gone off must be made 
 to come back by force of 
 arms. Such was the state 
 ot our land in the year 
 i860, when the time came 
 to choose a chief to take the 
 place of James Bu-chan-an. 
 
 The choice fell on A- 
 bra-ham Lin-coln. He had 
 been born in the South, but 
 had gone to the west to 
 live when quite a young 
 man. He was tall and 
 gaunt, and had a sad and 
 care-worn face. He took 
 his place on the 4th of 
 March, 1 86 1. At this time 
 Fort Sum-ter, which was 
 off Charles-ton, was the 
 sole fort left in the South 
 where the North had the 
 least foot-hold. It was in 
 charge of a few men with 
 Ma-jor An-der-son at their 
 head. 
 
 A large force of troops 
 from the South, led by 
 Gen-er-al Beau-re-gard, 
 had built earth-works from 
 which to hre on the fort. 
 He tried at first to starve 
 out the men m the fort, but 
 word was sent to them that 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 105 
 
 siilps were on their way 
 with food. 
 
 At dawn of a spring day 
 a bomb-shell went with a 
 whizz through the air and 
 burst on Fort Sum-ter. Its 
 sound went through the 
 land. It was plain there 
 was now to be war. With 
 more men the fort might 
 have been held, for it was 
 strong and well built, but 
 at the end of a day and 
 a half An-der-son was 
 forced to give up the fort. 
 Not a man was hurt. 
 
 It had been thought by 
 some that the North would 
 not fight. But she went 
 to work with zeal. Men 
 left their farms, their shops, 
 their trades, their homes, 
 and their dear ones, and 
 were soon in arms and on 
 the way to meet the foe. 
 It was a strange, sad sight. 
 
 Both sides thought the war 
 would be a short one. 
 
 The first great fight of 
 the war took place at Bull 
 Run. Gen-er-al Scott was 
 too old to take the field, so 
 the troops from the North 
 were led out by Gen-er-al 
 Mc Dow-ell. At first it 
 was thought the North 
 would win, but fresh troops 
 came to the aid of Beau-re- 
 gard, and they broke the 
 ranks of their foes, who set 
 off on a wild run and did 
 not stop till they got back 
 to Wash -ing- ton. This 
 taught the North that it 
 was not a play war. 
 
 Lin-coln sent out a call 
 for more men. The whole 
 South was in arms. 
 
 Gen-er-al George B. Mc 
 Clel-lan, who had done 
 some good work in Vir- 
 gin-ia, was now made Gen- 
 
io6 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 er-al in chief. He knew 
 how to train troops, but 
 was not the man to lead 
 them in fight. 
 
 To tell of all the fights 
 that took place in the long 
 war of four years would 
 make too large a book. 
 
 In 1862 the war took a 
 start in the West. A force, 
 led by Brig-a-dier Gen-er- 
 al U. S. Grant, set out in 
 a fleet of gun-boats to take 
 Fort Don-el-son. They laid 
 siege to the fort by land, 
 and by sea, and took it from 
 the hands of the South. 
 
 The next great fight in 
 the West was at Shi-loh, 
 on the Ten-nes-see. Grant 
 and Bu-ell led the troops 
 from the North, and Al- 
 bert Syd-ney John-ston and 
 Beau-re-gard the troops 
 from the South. The first 
 shot came from the South, 
 
 who drove the North down 
 to the brink of the stream. 
 But John-ston was killed ; 
 night came on, fresh troops 
 came up to aid the North, 
 and the next day there 
 was a brisk fight, and Beau- 
 re-gard and his men were 
 put to flight. 
 
 The next great fight in 
 the west was at Stone Riv- 
 er in Ten-nes-see. It was 
 kept up for three days. 
 There was great loss on 
 both sides, but the North 
 held the field. 
 
 At An-tie-tam in Ma- 
 ry-land, a great fight took 
 place, twixt Gen-er-al Lee 
 and Gen-er-al Mc Clel-lan. 
 This was in the fall of 
 1862. It was hard fought 
 on both sides, and there 
 was great loss of life. 
 
 The next fight was in 
 Vir-gin-ia, at Fred-er-icks- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 107 
 
 burg. Burn-side had been 
 put in Mc Clel-lan's place, 
 but he was no match for 
 Gen-er-al Lee, who won 
 the day. 
 
 In the spring of 1862 a 
 large fleet of gun-boats, in 
 charge of Ad-mi-ral Far- 
 ra-gut went out to fight 
 the force at New-Or-leans. 
 For six days Far- ra- gut 
 sent shot and shell at the 
 two forts that were in his 
 way, but he could not do 
 them much harm. The 
 foe had put a stout chain 
 from shore to shore so that 
 ships could not get by, 
 and fire-rafts and gun-boats 
 were let loose to do all the 
 harm they could to those 
 that came too near. But 
 Far-ra-gut made his way 
 past forts and gun -boats 
 and took New-Or-leans, 
 which was a great prize. 
 
 The South had thought 
 of a new kind of a orun- 
 boat. It was clad in a 
 coat of mail, and did much 
 harm. It was called the 
 Mer-ri-mac. One night 
 there came from New York 
 a strange kind of a craft, 
 which had just been built 
 and was called the Mon-i- 
 tor. There were no masts 
 to be seen. It looked like 
 a cheese box on a raft. 
 There was a fierce fight 
 twixt these two boats, and 
 the steam -ram, the Mer-ri- 
 mac, had to put in to Nor- 
 folk. These sea-fights were 
 kept up for some time, and 
 more gun-boats of the same 
 sort were built in Eu-rope 
 as well as in A-mer-i-ca. 
 
 On the first day of the 
 year 1863, Lin-coln did a 
 deed that gave great joy to 
 the black race. He said 
 
io8 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that from that day all the 
 slaves should be free. Just 
 think of it ! The whole 
 North gave thanks to God. 
 The South was not so well 
 pleased, of course, but had 
 to yield to the law. 
 
 In May 1863, Gen-er-al 
 Joe Hooker, who took 
 Burn- side's place, led his 
 troops out to fight Lee's 
 men. They met at Chan- 
 cel-lors-ville in Vir-gin-ia. 
 Lee had but a small force, 
 and Jack-son came up from 
 the South to help him. 
 As Jack-son rode up with 
 his staff he was shot by 
 some of his own men, and 
 had to be borne from the 
 field. He was calm in the 
 midst of great pain. " If I 
 live it will be for the best," 
 he said ; "and if I die it will 
 be for the best." He. died 
 at the end of eight days, 
 
 and the death of "Stone- 
 wall" Jack-son was a great 
 grief to the South, and to 
 his friends at the North. 
 
 Lee, by his great skill, 
 won the fight at Chan-cel- 
 lors-ville, and Hook-er had 
 to turn back the troops he , 
 had sworn to lead "On 
 to Rich-mond." This was 
 a great blow to the North. 
 
 The chief fight of the 
 whole war took place at 
 Get -tys- burg, a town in 
 Penn-syl-va-nia. Lee had 
 had such good luck that it 
 made him bold ; and his 
 plan now was to march to 
 the North and take Phil- 
 a-del-phia and New York. 
 The North shook with fear 
 at Lee's move, for he had 
 shown great skill. 
 
 Gen-er-al Meade was 
 put in Gen-er-al Hook-er's 
 place, and he and a large 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 109 
 
 force of troops set out to 
 meet Gen-er-al Rob-ert E. 
 Lee. Meade, though a 
 brave man, felt that he had 
 a hard task. In the first 
 place, the troops were all 
 strange to him ; and what 
 was worse than all, they 
 had had such bad luck, 
 that they had no hope 
 in their hearts. But the 
 work had to be done, and 
 he and his men must move 
 at once. "Theirs' but to do 
 and die." 
 
 The first fight in Get- 
 tys-burg took place on the 
 first day of Ju-ly, 1863 with 
 the loss of a few men on 
 both sides. At night fresh 
 troops came in for the 
 North and the South, and 
 the fight was kept up all 
 the next day. On the third 
 day Meade held a hill 
 which was full of graves. 
 
 Some of the tomb -stones 
 were so old and moss-grown 
 that the names and dates 
 could not be seen. Some 
 of them were fresh and 
 new. The men in gray 
 swore they would take the 
 hill on which Meade and 
 his men were. 
 
 The morn of the day 
 on which hung the life, we 
 may say, of the U-ni-ted 
 States, was bright and warm 
 and still. Lee laid his 
 plans to crush his foe at 
 one point. Meade brought 
 his troops to this place 
 where they were to win or 
 lose the fight. At noon 
 all was in trim, and at the 
 sign from Lee's guns a fierce 
 rain of shot and shell fell 
 on both sides. For three 
 hours this was kept up, 
 and in the midst of it Lee 
 sent forth a large force of 
 
no 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his men to break through 
 Meade's ranks. Down the 
 hill they went and through 
 the vale, and up to the low 
 stone wall, back of which 
 stood the foe. But Lee's 
 brave men did not stop 
 here. On they went, up 
 close to the guns whose 
 fire cut deep in their ranks, 
 while Lee kept watch from 
 the height they had left. 
 The smoke lifts, and Lee 
 sees the flag of the South 
 wave in the midst of the 
 strife. The sight cheers 
 his heart. His men are on 
 the hill from which they 
 think they will soon drive 
 the foe. A dense cloud 
 of smoke veils the scene. 
 When it next lifts the boys 
 In gray are in flight down 
 the slope where the grass 
 is strewn thick with the 
 slain. Lee's plan did not 
 
 work well. He lost the 
 fight, and went back to 
 Vir-gin-ia, and as far 
 South as the Rap-id-an. 
 
 There was great loss on 
 both sides. For days and 
 days men did nought but 
 dig graves for the dead. 
 For miles round there was 
 not a barn or a house that 
 did not hold men with 
 such bad wounds it was 
 not safe to move them. 
 Some were so hurt and 
 torn that they could not 
 bear the touch of kind 
 hands, but had to lie on 
 the field till death put an 
 end to their pain. 
 
 Oh, that there were no 
 such thing as war ! 
 
 In the spring of 1864 
 Gen-er-al Grant, who had 
 been put at the head of all 
 the U-ni-ted States troops, 
 left his men at the west in 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 charge of Gen-er-al Sher- 
 man, and took the field 
 to rout Gen-er-al Lee, and 
 to force his way to Rich- 
 mond. There were fierce 
 fights on both sides, and 
 great loss of life. The 
 North had more men and 
 means than the South, and 
 Grant felt that each move 
 he made brought the end 
 more near. His aim was 
 to get Pe-ters-burg and 
 Rich-mond, but not much 
 was done till the spring 
 of 1865. Grant was a man 
 of few words. It is said 
 that "a still tongue shows 
 a wise head." He wrote 
 'T will fight it out on this 
 line," and the North had 
 great faith in him. From 
 the first there had not been 
 a doubt in his own mind 
 but that the North would 
 win. And this gave him 
 
 strength all through the 
 war. He now felt that he 
 had the foe by the throat, 
 and did not mean to let go 
 his grasp. But for Lee's 
 great skill the war would 
 not have gone on for so 
 long a time. 
 
 Let us now turn to the 
 west. At the time that 
 Grant met and fought with 
 Lee in a place known as 
 the Wil-der-ness — May, 
 1864 — Sher-man had a 
 fight with Gen-er-al J. E. 
 Johns-ton, in Geor-gia, and 
 won his way to At-lan-ta, 
 which was a great gain. 
 
 Gen-er-al Hood was now 
 put in place of Johns-ton, 
 and he made up his mind 
 to march to Ten-nes-see 
 and make Sher-man fall 
 back. But in place of this 
 Sher-man gave Gen-er-al 
 Thom-as one half of his 
 
112 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 force to keep guard in 
 Ten-nes-see, while with the 
 rest of his troops he went 
 through Geor-gia — and oh ! 
 what harm was done with 
 fire and sword! — till he 
 came to the sea-coast and 
 took Sa-van-nah. Not a 
 word had been heard from 
 him in a whole month. 
 This is known as "Sher- 
 man's march to the sea," 
 and the fame of it went 
 through the land and made 
 his name great in Eu-rope 
 as well as in A-mer-i-ca. 
 
 In the mean time Thom- 
 as had met Hood at Nash- 
 ville and put an end to his 
 whole force. 
 
 In Ju-ly, 1864, Ad-mi-ral 
 Far-ra-gut, with a large 
 fleet, went to Mo-bile, which 
 had two strong forts to 
 keep foes at bay. What 
 do you think Far-ra-gut 
 
 did? He tied his boats 
 in pairs, and then stood in 
 the main-top of his flag- 
 ship, and thus ran the fire 
 of the forts with the loss 
 of but one boat. He had 
 a fight with and took the 
 gun-boat Ten-nes-see, and 
 in a short time, with the 
 aid of a land force, took 
 the two forts and made his 
 way to Mo-bile. 
 
 In this year the North 
 met with great loss from 
 gun-boats that were built 
 in Eng-land to cruise the 
 seas and catch or burn all 
 ships that bore the Stars 
 and Stripes. The trade of 
 the North was much hurt, 
 and it was not safe for her 
 to send out ships with rich 
 freight. The Al-a-ba-ma 
 had done the most harm, 
 and in June, 1864, she 
 fought her last fight. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 113 
 
 The U-ni-ted States war- 
 ship Kear-sarge came up 
 with the Al-a-ba-ma off the 
 coast of France, and at the 
 end of an hour's hard fight 
 she sank to rise no more. 
 The North knew that Eng- 
 land had built the Al-a-ba- 
 ma for the South and had 
 tried to get the Brit-ish 
 not to let her go to sea. 
 But in spite of this she set 
 sail and did a great deal 
 of harm, for which the 
 North said Eng-land must 
 pay, as she had been to 
 blame. Now when you 
 hear men talk of the "Al- 
 a-ba-ma Claims" you will 
 know what they mean. 
 
 In the spring of 1865 it 
 was clear that the South 
 would have to give up the 
 cause for which it had 
 fought for four long years. 
 Gen-er-al Lee still held 
 
 Rich-mond and Pe-ters- 
 burg. On the first of 
 A-pril Grant sent a force 
 of men to lay siege to the 
 works at Five Forks, where 
 they drove off Lee's men. 
 The next day the whole 
 line of works in front of 
 Pe-ters-burg fell. When 
 Lee found he could not 
 hold Pe-ters-burg or Rich- 
 mond, he took flight with 
 his troops for the west. 
 Grant gave chase and kept 
 close in Lee's rear. At 
 last Lee had to give in. 
 His men were foot -sore 
 and in dire need of food. 
 They could not keep up 
 the fight. Terms of peace 
 were drawn up by Grant, 
 which Lee read and made 
 haste to sign with his name. 
 Then he told how his men 
 had had no food for two 
 days and Grant at once 
 
114 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 sent them what he could 
 spare. Lee rode back to 
 his troops and in a few- 
 words told them what he 
 had done. 
 
 " Men," he said, "we have 
 fought, side by side, through 
 the war, and I have done 
 the best I could for you." 
 
 By the end of May the 
 South had laid down its 
 arms. The Great War 
 was at an end. The joy 
 was great. All hearts were 
 glad. Flags were at high- 
 mast; bells rang; guns 
 were fired ; and at night 
 the streets were bright and 
 gay. In the midst of this 
 joy came the shock of a 
 great grief 
 
 Lin-coln was shot by a 
 bad man named Booth. 
 The deed was done at a 
 play-house in Wash-ing- 
 
 ton. Booth fled, but was 
 found in a barn, and the 
 shot sent at him was his 
 death wound. Lin-coln 
 died ; and grief was deep 
 in the land. Flags are 
 hung at half-mast; the 
 bells that so late rang out 
 a peal of joy, now toll a 
 dirge. Strong men stand 
 in their fields and weep. 
 It is a sad, sad time, 
 
 Lin-coln still lives in the 
 hearts of men whom he 
 taught to be firm in the 
 right. He had a warm, 
 true heart, a sound mind, 
 and a strong trust in God 
 who was his help at all 
 times. On the bright roll 
 of fame the name of A-bra- 
 ham Lin-coln stands next 
 to George Wash -ing- ton. 
 One of the few that were 
 not born to die. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "5 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SINCE THE WAR 
 
 It took the North and 
 South some time to bind 
 up the wounds that war 
 had made. The freed slaves 
 had to be set at work. The 
 men who had fought in 
 the war were paid the 
 sums due them, and then 
 they laid down their arms 
 and went back to their 
 homes. 
 
 When a chief dies the 
 one next in rank rules, in 
 his stead. The votes of the 
 men of the U-ni-ted States 
 had made An-drew John- 
 son next in rank to A-bra- 
 ham Lin-coln. John-son 
 took his place in A-pril, 
 1865, the same day that 
 Lin-coln died. 
 
 John-son did not go to 
 work right. He made foes 
 both in the North and in 
 the South. He did things 
 that he had no right to 
 do, and broke laws that 
 he should have kept. For 
 this he was tried in 1868, 
 but as his guilt was not 
 proved, he was not put out. 
 
 The South came back in 
 1868 and 1869, and once 
 more all the States from 
 Maine to Cal-i-for-nia were 
 as one. 
 
 I have not yet told you 
 of Sam-u-el F. B. Morse, 
 who first taught us how to 
 talk to folks a long way 
 off by means of a wire. 
 The first wire was put up 
 
ii6 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA TES. 
 
 from Bal-ti-more to Wash- 
 ing-ton in the year 1844. 
 Now it seems as if that 
 wire went round and round 
 and round the world, there 
 is so much of it. In 1858 
 the wire was first put down 
 in the bed of the sea, and 
 in 1866 what was said in 
 New York could be read 
 and known in Eng-land. 
 It was a grand scheme, 
 and there was a great time 
 in all the large towns when 
 the first words were sent 
 throupfh this long" wire. 
 What do you think were 
 the first words that were 
 sent through the first wire 
 that was put up ? I will 
 put them in big type so 
 that they will stand out on 
 the page. Here they are : 
 
 "WHAT HATH GOD 
 WROUGHT!" 
 
 Should you go to New 
 York you will find there a 
 brown stone house, in the 
 front of which is set a 
 white stone, on which you 
 may read these words : 
 
 'Tn this house S. F. B. 
 Morse lived for some years ; 
 and here he died." 
 ' In 1867 the U-ni-ted 
 States bought from Rus-sia 
 a larg^e tract of land known 
 as A-las-ka, for which they 
 paid a large sum in gold. 
 We get fur from there as 
 well as fish. 
 
 When John-son's time 
 was out, Gen-er-al Grant 
 was put in his place by a 
 large vote. He soon set 
 things straight, and North 
 and South were on gooa 
 terms once more. He who 
 had shown his skill in war, 
 had now a chance to bring 
 peace and good will to 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 117 
 
 men. When the time came 
 to choose a chief for the 
 next term, the choice fell j 
 once more on Gen-er-al ' 
 Grant, who took the oath, 
 March 4th, 1873. 
 
 There was quite a strife 
 when Grant's friends tried 
 to put him in for a third 
 term, for it was not thought 
 to be a wise plan. So 
 Grant went back to the 
 home-life of which he was 
 so fond, and not much was 
 heard of him for some 
 years. 
 
 Then came the sad news 
 that he had lost all his 
 wealth, and was in such ill- 
 health that he must soon 
 die. The best of care could 
 not save him ; but he lived 
 on for days and months, 
 and bore his pains as none 
 but a brave man could. 
 
 Death was his worst foe, 
 
 but he was calm through- 
 out the hard fight, and felt 
 no fear. 
 
 Grant died Ju-ly 23, 
 1885 ; and on Au-gust 8, 
 North and South met as 
 one, and bore the great 
 man to his tomb. The line 
 of march stretched out 
 for miles and miles ; and 
 crowds came in by boat 
 and rail to take part in the 
 sad scene. 
 
 The show of grief was 
 real, for all hearts felt as if 
 they owed a debt to him, 
 who by God's help, had 
 brought the war to an 
 end. 
 
 "Let us have peace!" 
 he cried ; and then set to 
 work to bring back peace 
 to the land which had been 
 at strife for more than four 
 years. Grant was great in 
 war, and great in peace, 
 
lit 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and his name and fame 
 stand with those of Wash- 
 ing-ton and Lin-coln. 
 
 But we must now go 
 back to the year 1876 when 
 the U-ni-ted States kept its 
 birth -day. Ten times ten 
 years had gone by since 
 A-mer-i-ca was made free, 
 and the U. S. was born. 
 By this time it was a great 
 strongr child. A World's 
 Fair was held at Phil-a- 
 del-phia for six months, to 
 which came crowds from 
 all parts of the world. It 
 was a grand sight ; such 
 as one could not hope to 
 see but once in a life-time. 
 
 Ruth-er-ford B. Hayes 
 took Grant's place in March, 
 1877. He was a mild man, 
 and ruled in peace. 
 
 In 1 88 1 the choice fell 
 on James A. Gar- field. 
 He was once a poor boy, 
 
 and had won his way by 
 hard work. He had been 
 through the war, and was 
 much thought of in the 
 West, where he was best 
 known. All the acts of his 
 life show that he was a 
 brave man ; and he was so 
 wise and just that he soon 
 had a host of friends. 
 
 The warm days came on, 
 and Gar-field left the White 
 House to take the train 
 for New Eng-land. It was 
 good to be free from the 
 cares that had kept him at 
 Wash-ing-ton. He felt like^ 
 a boy let out of school. 
 He was at peace with all 
 men. He did not think he 
 had a foe in the world. 
 How soon all this was 
 changed ! A bad man 
 stood near where Gar-field 
 had to pass, and shot at 
 him as he went bv. For 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 119 
 
 long, long weeks Gar-field 
 lay on a bed of pain at 
 the White House. Then 
 it was thought the sea air 
 might help him, so he was 
 borne to Long Branch, 
 where he had* the best of 
 care and skill. But all was 
 in vain. He died in the 
 fall of the year 1881, and 
 all men felt that it was a 
 great grief to lose so good 
 and brave a man. Tears 
 fell from the eyes of old and 
 young when the word was 
 sent from Long Branch — 
 "Gar-field is dead !" 
 
 Ghes-ter A. Ar-thur took 
 Gar-field's place. His rule 
 was a wise and just one, 
 and North and South were 
 at peace. But it was soon 
 time to choose a new man 
 for the White House, and 
 the names of Gro-ver Cleve- 
 land and James G. Blaine 
 
 were brought to the front, 
 and the claims of each set 
 forth in fine style. 
 
 Blaine was a Re-pub-h- 
 can ; Cleve-land a Dem-o- 
 crat. Both had hosts of 
 friends, and strife ran 
 higfh throuofh all the land. 
 Blaine was a fine states- 
 man ; for a score of years 
 he had helped make the 
 laws of the U-ni-ted States, 
 and twice be-fore had his 
 friends tried their best to get 
 him in-to the White House 
 for at least one term. But 
 he did not get the votes. 
 
 Cleve-land, at this time, 
 was Gov-er-nor of New 
 York State, and had had a 
 chance to show what kind 
 of stuff he was made of 
 Each good act of his life 
 was made the most of by 
 his friends ; each wrong 
 deed was brought to light 
 
120 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 by his foes ; and it was the 
 same way with Blaine. Not 
 a chance was lost by the 
 Dem-o-crats to show up his 
 faults, and to make him out 
 much worse than he was. 
 
 TheRe-pub-li-cans would 
 march through the streets 
 of the large towns, and 
 make such a big show that 
 you would think that Blaine, 
 from Maine, was sure to 
 get the most votes. 
 
 Then the Dem-o-crats 
 would set a day for their 
 march, and turn out in such 
 crowds that you would be 
 just as sure that Blaine 
 stood no chance at all. And 
 so the play went on, till it 
 was time for the votes to be 
 cast. And Cleve-land won. 
 This was the cause of great 
 
 joy to the Dem-o-crats who 
 had tried for a score of 
 years to get some man from 
 their side in-to the White 
 House. Brooms were set 
 up here and there as a sign 
 that they had made "a clean 
 sweep" this time. But it 
 was a great grief to the Re- 
 pub-li-cans, who had made 
 up their minds that Blaine 
 was the right man for the 
 place, and had hoped to 
 the last that their side 
 would win. 
 
 Ar-thur was quite ill 
 when he left the White 
 House, and died at his 
 home in New York, No- 
 vem-ber i8, 1886. 
 
 Cleve-land was sworn in 
 as Pres-i-dent of the U-ni- 
 ted States, March 4, 1885. 
 
 T H E E N D .