178 453 12 py 1 HISTORY AND «, GOVERNMENT Sj OF THE ^ UNITED STATES %> FOR EVENING SCHOOLS | WILLIAM ^ E'CliANCELLOR i»wBii»w«MBaimmiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiw ,t Book C4S-3 I'^i CoEyrigMW. COPYRIGHT DEPOSm HISTORY AND aOVEMMENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR EVENING SCHOOLS BY WILLIAM ESTABROOK CHANCELLOR SUPERINTKNDEXT OF SCHOOLS, NOUWALK, CONN. NEW YORK .:. CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1905, 1012. by WILLIAM E. CHANCELLOR. Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. HISTORY and government FOR EVENING SCHOOLS. w. p. 5 ©Cf. A. 3280 70 H =o 5 PREFACE The purpose of this text-book is not only to present inter- esting and instructive accounts of our American history and of our political institutions, but also to introduce tlie stu- dents of evening schools to some of the fundamental prin- ciples of our social and business conditions. The maturity of such students in years and in experience necessitates a presentation of American affairs decidedly different from that in ordinary day-school text-books. An experience of many years in several cities in teaching this important subject in evening classes has led me to prepare a text that is somewhat unlike any other both in its nature and in the range of its topics. I have intended to deal with matters that the evening- school student desires and needs to know. The especial value of American history and civil govern- ment in evening schools is due to two facts : that many of the students are foreign-born or children of the foreign-born, anx- ious to know the story of our country ; and that some of them are already voters, while all of the boys will soon be voters, who ought to know at least as much as these pages contain. Of these students, very few have attended day school long enough to reach courses in American history. I have known many cases where foreigners entered city evening schools within a day or two of their arrival. The manuscript has been read critically by several friends who by experience and education were peculiarly fitted to judge it in both plan and details. W. E. C. CONTENTS PAGES Important Dates . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6 Part 1. Geography of Our Country ..... 7-17 Part II. History of Our Country ..... 18-60 Part III. Civil Government of Our Country . » . 61-82 Part IV. Our Business Affairs 83-92 Summary ........... 93, 94 Appendix ........... 95-112 List of the Presidents 95 Dates of Settlement and Admission nf States . . . .96 City Departments and Expenditures 96-98 Suggestions for Furtlier Study of United States History and Government 98-99 Additional Readings 100 Declaration of Independence 101-104 " The Declaration " — Abraham Lincoln 104 Epitome of the Constitution of the United States . . 105-108 Index . . 109-112 IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 1492. Christopher Columbus, an Italian in the employ of the Spanish, discovered the New World. 1497. John Cabot, an Englishman, discovered the continent of North America. 1535. Jacques Cartier, a Frenchman, discovered the St. Lawrence River and located Montreal, the beginning of French settlement. 1565. The Spanish settled in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest town now within the United States. 1607. The settlement of Virginia, the first successful colony in the thirteen " Original States," was begun by the English. 1609. Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch, discovered the Hudson River. 1620. The English Pilgrims began the settlement of Massachusetts. 1647. Massachusetts passed laws providing for the establishment of public schools. 1664. The English took New Netherland from the Dutch and called it - New York. 1682. The English Quakers settled in Pennsylvania. 1733. Georgia, the last of the thirteen colonies, was settled by the English. 1759. The English won their final victory over the French at Quebec, and became the greatest power in the New World. 1775. The Revolutionary AVar was begun as a protest against taxation without colonial representation in the English Parliament. 1775. The battle of Bunker Hill was fought between the Americans and the English. 1776. The Continental Congress published the American Declaration of Independence from England. 1776. The Americans won the battle of Trenton. 1777. The Americans won the battle of Saratoga. 1781. The Americans and their French allies won their final victory over the English at Yorktown. 1789. In accordance with the new Constitution, George Washington became the first President of the United States. 1793. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin that made Negro slavery profitable. 1803. The Louisiana province was sold to the United States by France. 1807. Robert Fulton built the first successful steamboat. 6 IMPORTANT DATES 1812-5. The second war with Great Britain was fought. 1819. Florida was purchased from Spain. 1819. Tlie first steamship, the Savannah, crossed the Atlantic Ocean. 1820. The Missouri Compromise fixed the northern limits of the States in which Negro slavery prevailed. 1823. The Monroe Doctrine was declared, warning European nations not to establish further colonies in the New World. 1825. The Erie Canal was opened, which made the city of New York the great commercial center of the United States. 1830. The first successful steam locomotive was used in the U. S. 1837. Samuel F. B. Morse patented the first successful telegraph. 1845. Texas was annexed. 1846. The Oregon boundary was fixed by treaty between the United States and Great Britain. 1846-8. The United States fought a war with Mexico, and as the result acquired the southwestern States and Territories. 1848. Gold was discovered in California, and its settlement by Ameri- cans was begun. 1850. The Compromise of 1850 repealed the Missouri Compromise and led to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law. 1861-5. The War of Secession was fought by which the Union was preserved and Negro slavery was abolished. 1862. The Monitor defeated the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, begin- ning a new order of affairs in naval warfare. 1863. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclama- tion which set free the slaves. 1863. Vicksburg was besieged and taken and the battle of Gettysburg was won by the Union armies. 1865-70. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were adopted, giving the Negroes freedom and the ballot. 1869. The Pacific Railroad was finished, uniting New York with San Francisco by steam railroads. 1882, 1892, 1902. The immigration to the United States of Chinese laborers was suspended for periods of ten years. 1884. The electric trolley street car was perfected for practical use. 1898. The Hawaiian Islands were annexed. 1898. The United States fought with Spain, set Cuba free, and acquired the Philippine Islands and Porto Rico. 1904. Arrangements were made for the completion of the Panama Canal by the United States. THE GEOGEAPHY, HISTORY, AND GOVERN- MENT OF THE UNITED STATES PART I OUR COUNTRY AND OUR PEOPLE 1. The Land. — The main body of the United States is a con- tinuous region that stretches across the continent of North America from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west, and from the Gulf of Mexico on the south f 1 -^ ti gE^^'i^te sj ^^^^^ KM^MMMSgrT^gPaBr^^i'^P^ i^SRB PpJ Netv»York City Harbuk to the Great Lakes on the north. This region is twenty-five hundred miles from east to west and thirteen hundred miles from north to south, and includes two great mountain systems 7 8 GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY with an immense river valley between them. The Atlantic Coast has many large and safe harbors for our coasting trade as well as for that with foreign countries. There are also several fine harbors on the Gulf of Mexico and on the Pacific Coast. The fresh-water lakes to the north are great inland seas upon which sail many fleets of merchant ships. 2. The Resources. — The resources of the United States are of vast extent and wide distribution. The chief coal mines are in the Appalachian region ; iron is extensively mined near the shores of Lake Superior ; but both these minerals are found in abundance in various other parts of the country. The Rocky Mountain Highland is noted for rich mines of gold, silver, lead, and copper. The latter is mined extensively also in the Lake Superior region. The greatest wealth of the United States is in the millions of acres of fertile land upon the Atlantic Coast, in the Mississippi Valley, and upon the Pacific Coast. Both in resources and in climate, nearly the whole of our country is suitable for the hai)itation of man. 3. The Climate. — The variations in climate are great. Florida is tropical, with moist heat, while Texas and South Carolina are almost tropical, with dry heat ; most of the Mis- sissippi Valley has hot summers and cold winters ; the climate GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY 9 of northern California, Oregon, and Washington is compara- tively mild throughont the year ; and New England has short, warm summers and long, severe winters. 4. The Agricultural Products. — The fruits, vegetables, and cereals raised in the United States vary from the tropical fruits of the South to the hardy grains of the North. All kinds of timber are found here, including pine, cedar, spruce, hickory, oak, walnut, and cypress. We are rich in forest lands, despite the often wasteful depredations of the lumbermen. On the farms, plantations, and ranches, there are all kinds of domestic animals, such as horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and poul- try. The vast industrial and commercial development of the factories and shops of our country is dependent in large measure Harvesting AVheat upon the fertility and extent of its farm, mineral, and timber lands. 5. The Various Parts of the United States. — Besides the con- tinental region of the United States that stretches from Boston to San Francisco, with its forty-eight States, our nation pos- sesses lands not within that region. These separated lands include Alaska, the Philippine Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, and several small islands in the Pacific Ocean. The District of Columbia is a small region between Maryland and Yirgmia, governed directly by Congress ; in it is our capital city, Washington. All together there are some fifty-five dif- ferent governments subordinate to the general government of the United States. These subordinate sections include States, Territories, and Dependencies. Besides these, we have influ- 10 GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY ence over the island of Cuba, which lies south of Florida, and over the republic of Panama, where our nation controls a ten- mile strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama, and is now building a great canal to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. (See maps, pp. 11 and 19.) 6. The States. — The forty-eight states vary largely in size, from Rhode Island and Delaware, which are very small, to the immense States of Texas and California. Many of our States are larger than England, and the greatest, Texas, exceeds Austria-Hungary in size. The Tliirteen ''Original iS^a^es." — Thirteen of these States are known as the "Original States" because by their union they constituted the United States at its beginning. These thirteen States were colonies from the Old World, and secured their independence from Great Britain by the Revolutionary war. (See pp. 28 to 35.) They are New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, ISTew York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The other States have been admitted from time to time into the Union in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, which was framed in 1787 and was formally ratified soon thereafter by the different States. 7. The Various Group't of States. — Por the sake of conven- ience, the States are commonly divided into certain groups. This enables us to refer conveniently to a region including a number of States. New England States. — The New England States are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Taken all together, they are not quite equal in size to the State of Washington. Middle Atlantic States. — Another group is often called the Middle Atlantic States, and consists of New York, Pennsyl- vania, New Jersey, ^Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia. This division includes also the District of Co- lumbia. 12 GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY Southern States. — The next group is generally known as the Southern States; and includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. North Central States. — The North Central States are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Plateau States. — The Plateau States, occupying most of the great Rocky Mountain Highland, consist of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. Pacific States. — The Pacific States are Washington, Oregon, and California. 8. The Territories. — The thirteen " Original States " (which included the regions now known as the States of Maine, Ver- mont, Kentucky, and West Virginia) and California and Texas were never Territories ; but all the other States were Terri- tories before their admission into the Union. Outside of the United States, there is one Territory upon the Continent of North America, — Alaska,^ an immense region partly within the Arctic Circle, whose natural resources are gold, fish, timber, and fur-bearing animals ; and another in the Pacific Ocean, — the Territory of Hawaii, which produces much sugar. (See map, p. 19.) 9. The Colonies. — We own also the Philippine Islands, off the coast of Asia, and rule them as a colony. These are trop- ical islands containing a total area of land about equal to that of Nevada. They are extremely fertile, producing hemp, sugar, copra, and tobacco, and j^ossess some mineral resources. Porto Rico, one of the important islands of the West Indies, is gov- erned as a colony of this country. The United States possesses also a number of small islands in the Pacific Ocean, chief of 1 The Territory of Alaska includes a small strip of land upon the Pacific coast, which reaches almost to the northwest corner of the United States. GEOGRAPnr OF OUR COUNTRY 13 ^'^...Js^l"..^- which are Tutuila and smaller islands of the Samoan group, and Guam, the largest of the Ladrones. (See map, p. 19.) 10. Population. — Of the present population of the United States, which numbers nearly a hundred millions, ten mil- lions within the continuous continental region are Negroes and thirty millions are foreign born, or the children of foreign- born people. Nearly all of the foreigners have come to us in great ships across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, but some have come from Canada, Mexico, South Amer- ica, Asia, and Africa. There are also among us a quarter of a mil- lion aboriginal In- dians ; the rest of the people in the United States are children of native-born whites. Nearly all of the people speak the English language, which is the official language of the government. 11. Immigration. — All the white people in the United States who were not themselves immigrants are the offspring of immi- grants from Europe. Most of the earliest settlers came from England. More recently many thousands have come from Ire- land, Germany, and Sweden. Most of those who are coming now were born in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. The greatest numbers of immigrants have come here annually dur- ing the past twenty years. In 1903 over 850,000 immigrants came to us from the Old World. 12. Causes of Emigration from Europe. — Europeans have come to the United States for many different reasons, but chiefly because of the troubles in the Old World and of the hope of freedom here. Recently some have come because of the wealth- making attractions of the New World. Ocean Greyhound 14 GEOGRAPHY OF OUIi COUNTtlT Early Immigrants. — The early immigrants who established their first settlements here had to endure terrible hardships. Many of them died of starvation and of the severity of the climate. In these days it is hard to realize what it meant for a man to come with a family from the settled conditions of the Old World to the loneliness and struggles of the New World. All the Negroes are descended from slaves stolen in Africa. They were brought here to do menial work, or work that the whites were unable to do because of the climate. 13. Effect of Emigration upon Europe. — The discovery of the New World not only made a great nation here in the United States and led to the establishment of other nations in Central and South America, but it also greatly benefited the Old World. Emigration has been the means of relieving European nations of their discontented people ; and the Old World itself is more prosperous now than it was four hundred years ago, when Columbus discovered the New World. The increased supply of materials for manufacture taken from the natural resources of America is one of the canses that have made food, cotton, timber, and metals much cheaper than they ever were in Europe before the settlement of this land. Such are the bene- fits of international trade. 14. The Indian Tribes. — At the time when Columbus dis- covered the New AYorld, it was inhabited by a race of men who have always been called Indians because the great discoverer thought that in finding this land he had found India. The In- dians who were then within the present territory of the United States formed many small bands and wandered about through large regions of territory, constantly fighting with one another. The coming of the whites compelled the various Indian tribes to be much more friendly because of the alliances among them that were necessary to enable them to fight the whites. Some of the colonies were always friendly with the Indians. Of these, Pennsylvania was especially peaceful until the time of the Erench and Indian War. There were a few Indian tribes with settled habitations, the most famous being the Iroquois. GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY 15 Resemblances and Differences. — These native Indian tribes differed very greatly from one another. They spoke many different languages or different dialects. Some of their gov- ernments had a general resemblance, and their customs and religions were somewhat alike, but they lived in those violent conditions of personal feuds and tribal warfare which are the outcome of intelligent savagery. White Settlers Trading with Indians 15. Origin of the Indians. — Although the origin of the In- dians is uncertain, there is reason to believe that the Indian race has been in the world for thirty thousand years and more, a period ten times as long as that of civilized history in Europe. The geographical origin^ of the Indians is probably the same as that of the races from which the white men have sprung in Asia and Europe ; that is, they are probably descended from 1 This interesting question is discussed by Professor W. Z. Ripley in his Races of Europe, and by Professor F. S. Dellenbaugh in his North Americans of Yesterday. 16 GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY the people who many thousand years ago lived along the mar- gins of the lands stretching northwest and southeast from the Malay Peninsula to the British Isles, Iceland, and Greenland. 16. Present Condition of the Aborigines. — The effect of the settling of the New World by Europeans was slowly and stead- ily to crowd the Indians westward. After the white men came, there was considerably less fighting than before among the Indians themselves, since the Indians formed alliances with one another to resist the newcomers. In addition to the Spearing Fish quarter of a million Indians who have retained many of their native characteristics, there are now many people in the United States who are partly of Indian blood. In the course of the centuries, many Indians have become civilized and have learned to live as the white people live. There are now five thousand Indian farmers in New York State, American citi- zens as truly as are the descendants of the English and of the Germans who have come hither three thousand miles across the sea. Indians on Reservations. — Separated by themselves in the GEOGRAPHY OF OUR COUNTRY 17 Indian communities, there are now about one hundred and thirty thousand Indians on reservations or other lands set apart for them by the American government. The white men have made our country a land of peace for the Indians. This was the first essential in making progress in culture and civili- zation possible for them. MAP STUDY 1. Turn to the map, p. 19, and note the location of the North American continent. 2. Tell in what direction from North America is each of the other great continents. 3. Compare the area of the United States with that of other great nations. 4. Upon the map of the United States, p. 11, locate the various States. 5. Compare their relative areas. 6. Discuss their locations with respect to — (a) Climate. (c) Waterways. {b) Oceans. (d) Mountains. 7. Study the map with reference to other facts mentioned in the text. PART II OUR HISTORY 17. Christopher Columbus. — Until about four hundred years ago, all civilized people lived in that part of the earth which we now call the " Old World." In 1492 Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor whose name means " the Christ-bearing dove," secured permission from the Spanish king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella, to try to reach India by sailing westward. With their royal protection and financial assistance, he sailed westward across the Atlantic Ocean until he reached an island off the coast of this " New World." ^ 18. Discovery of the New World. — This discovery of America was the result of many years of persistent endeavor on the part of Columbus to organize an expedi- tion, for he believed the stories of the existence of strange lands far to the west of Spain and east of India, and dreamed that he might find those lands, bring their inhabitants to a knowledge of the Christian religion, and secure vast wealth for himself as their ruler. Tlie Start. — Columbus believed the earth to be round, — not flat, as most people then thought it to be, — and he hoped that those far-away lands, of which tradi- tion had told him, might prove to be the borders of Cathay, then the region of romance and wealth in the imaginations of all men. He hoped to set forth on his great voyage of iThis was probably that island in the Bahamas which is now called Watling Island. (See Bahamas, on map, p. 19.) 18 Columbus's toHiP ^20 HISTOBY OF OUn COUNTRY discovery with a magnificent expedition; but the ships in which he actually sailed were three small vessels, carrying all together only ninety men. Other Voyages of Columbus. — In the ten years that followed the discovery, Columbus made three other voyages to America. Many other adventurous sailors followed in his path, so that all Europe knew before long that a vast New World had been found. 19. Discovery of the Mississippi River by De Soto. — After the discovery of America, in 1492, expedition after expedition was De Soto's ]VIak( h sent out by Spain, France, and Great Britain to seize territory for their sovereigns. One of these expeditions was that of De Soto, who came with six hundred warriors in brilliant array to take possession of the southern part of what is now the United States. Nearly every man in that expedition perished from hunger, hardships, and fights with the Indians.' De Soto him- HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 21 self died of a fever, and was buried in the waters of the Missis- sippi River, which he had discovered in 1541. 20. The Colony of Sir Walter Raleigh. — A century after the time of Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, a statesman of the great Queen Elizabeth of England, formed a desire to establish an English colony on the shores of North America, and spent vast sums of money in sending out ships with settlers. His most important effort was to establish, in 1581, a colony upon the island of Roanoke, on the coast of the Carolinas. This seemed likely to succeed, until two years had intervened, when additional settlers were sent out, who found that the original settlement had been entirely deserted. Whether the colonists were killed by the Indians or were carried away captive by them, no one knows to this day. 21. A Century of Adventure. — From 1492 to 1607 many dar- ing men endeavored to take possession of that part of North America which is now the United States. These adventurers came mainly from England, Spain, and France. The result of all their activity was that, in 1607, the Spanish held not only nearly all of South America, but Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, and the southern and western parts of what is now our territory, while France claimed Canada and the Mis- sissippi Valley, and England controlled most of the seacoast upon the Atlantic. This period of heroic adventures upon sea and land prepared the Eui'opean nations for the more serious but less attractive enterprises of permanent settlement and systematic pursuit of agriculture and the fisheries. 22. Jamestown, the First Successful English Settlement. — With the year 1607 began the period of successful settlement by the English. From that year to this, the immigration of Europeans has never ceased. The little band that came to Jamestown from England numbered only a hundred and five.* Their leader, Captain John Smith, by his courage, firmness, and in- dustry, enabled the colony to succeed where all earlier colonies 1 Some authorities say one hundred and forty. See Doyle, English Colo- nies, Virginia. HIST. EV. SCH. — 2 22 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY had failed. He compelled the colonists to work, made treaties with the Indians, explored the Atlantic coast, and secured more colonists and additional supplies from England. 23. The Founding of New Amsterdam (New York). — In 1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch, dis- covered the Hudson River. The Dutch began to make a settle- ment at New Amsterdam, soon afterwards. In 16G4, when Peter Stuyvesant was governor of New Amsterdam, the English took ^^ i Early View of New Amsterdam possession of it, greatly to the regret of the governor, who was, nevertheless, unable to offer any resistance, since the Dutch seemed pleased with the idea of English rule. The name was then changed to New York. Even at this time New York was a cosmopolitan city, in which no less than twenty-five different languages were spoken. People from all the different countries of the world were already coming to the beautiful trading city. 24. The Pilgrims at Plymouth. — The little group of settlers who, in 1020, landed from the Maiiflower at IMymouth, Massa- HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 23 chusetts, numbered but one hundred and two. These first New- England people were known as "Pilgrims" because, in 1608, they had fled from England to Holland to avoid religious per- secution. In Holland they learned from the Dutch many impor- tant lessons in matters of re- ligion and government. From Holland they came to America. Hardships. — Most of the settlers were very poor. The winters were long and se- vere, and such as tT the immigrants had \^' never known at home. Few of the The Mayflower settlers understood how to farm land. Sometimes the Indians were friendly to them, and sometimes they were unfriendly. Their variable moods fearfully increased the difficulties of the settlers. These early days were days of heroism. At Plymouth, Captain Myles Standish was the soldier whose brave deeds helped to maintain the small colony, 25. The Emigration of the Puritans from England.— From 1628 to 1640, after the settlement of Plymouth was well established, there was a very large emigration of people from England. Twenty thousand came to Massachusetts, founding Salem, Boston, Cambridge, and many other towns. Strife betiveen Puritans and Cavaliers. — The cause of this emigration from the home country was religious and political strife between the Puritans and the Cavaliers. The Puri- tans believed in giving the Church of England, which was supported by the national government, a simpler ritual and in making it more useful for the betterment of society. They believed also in requiring the king, as the head of the government, to obey the will of the nation as expressed by 24 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Parliament. On the other hand, the Cavaliers believed in the " divine right " of the king to rule as he pleased. After 1640 this strife took the form of actual war. Then the Puritans, who hitherto had felt too much oppressed in England to be willing to remain there, began to take great interest in home matters, fighting in the army against the king, and finally securing complete control of the government in the period of the English Commonwealth (1649-1660). 26. The Emigration of the Cavaliers. — The same reason that caused the Puritans to cease emigrating to America led thou- sands of the Cavaliers to leave England. They found refuge in Virginia, especially in the period from 1650 to 1670. Thus, in the early days of our history, Massachusetts and Virginia developed decided differences of opinion. These differences had important results in our later history. (See p. 48.) 27. William Penn and Pennsylvania. — After the settlement of Virginia and JNIassachusetts, many colonists came over to various parts of the country. One of the most interesting of the colonies was that begun in Pennsylvania by William Penn in 1682. In 1683 he founded Philadelphia. The father of William Penn was a wealthy English admiral, while his mother was a Dutch lady. In his youth, William Penn became a Quaker. In his travels through Germany, he saw the terrible suffering of the people as a result of the Thirty Years' War over religious matters. Emigration of Quakers. — He raised money in England to pay the passage of thousands of his Quaker brethren across the ocean. The Quakers, or " Eriends," as they style themselves, were being persecuted in England just as the Puritans had been persecuted fifty years before. They sought peace in the New World, and found it. This colony grew in numbers very rapidly. Before the War of Independence, the Quaker city of Philadelphia was the largest in the New World. 28. Oglethorpe and Georgia. — The last of the thirteen English colonies to be settled was Georgia, where General Oglethorpe was the leader. He was a wealthy man who pitied the condi- HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 25 tions of the poor in England, whom it was then the custom to imjDrison for debt. He made a successful settlement at Savannah, Georgia, in 1733; and lived long enough to see Georgia, as one of the united colonies, secure independence from Great Britain. 29. Conditions of Life in the Colonial Period. — After the settle- ment of Pennsylvania in 1G82, the people of all the colonies were generally comfortable in their homes, for they were able to earn fair liveli- hoods from their occupa- tions. The descendants of the original colonists had grown accustomed to the climate and to the condi- tions of the various regions that they inhabited. They had learned how to raise crops, how to build ships, how to make cloth, and how to secure freedom from In- dian warfare, by conquering the natives, or by driving them away, or by making treaties with them. In 1700 there were nearly three hundred thousand people of European descent in this Colonial Kitchen country. All of them lived within a few miles of the seacoast. Preparations for Self-government. — The period from the year 1682 to the year 1776 is known as the " colonial period," because during this time the settlements were governed as separate colonies of the English crown. During this time the colonists were learning how to govern themselves in local affairs, and were preparing for self-government as an inde- pendent nation. 26 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 30. "Wars of the Colonial Period. — During tlie colonial period, England was constantly at war with France, both in the Old AVorld and in the New. Because the Atlantic Coast was subject to England, while Canada and the Great Lakes were subject to France, there were many wars. The English and their colonists fought against the French and against most of the Indian tribes, though in these wars the Iroquois Indians sup- ported the English. As the result of these wars, England drove the French out of Canada. The greatest and final victory was won at Quebec in 1759, where both the French General INIonteahn and the English General Wolfe were killed. Effect of the Wars. — The effect of these wars on the Ameri- can colonists was very important. The colonists learned how to fight well ; the people of the different colonies, and of many nationalities were brought together, so that they became friendly; there was an extension of colonial territory both west and north; and the Indians were driven farther west and were considerably reduced in numbers. Population. — Some of the Indians became civilized farmers and traders. At the close of the colonial period, there were two and three quarters millions of people in the English colo- nies, of whom over half a million were Negro slaves. Some of the colonists had immigrated to the New World, but most of them were the descendants of earlier immigrants. They were a hardy people, active and ambitious, and had become largely self-governing. They were comparatively free from England in matters of religion, but they were restless because of the rule of the home government. 31. Colonial Governments. — In 1775, the time of the cut- break of the War of Independence, the thirteen colonies had various kinds of governments, though all were subordinate to the king of England. Charter Colonies. — Two of the colonies had royal charters that made them very democratic and independent. They elected their own governors, councils, and assemblies, and had greater freedom than any of the other colonies. These two colonies 28 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY were Connecticut and Ehode Island. One colony, Massachu- setts, had a charter and many special rights, but was ruled by a governor appointed by the king. Royal Colonies. — Seven of the colonies had no political charters, but were under governors appointed by the king. They elected their own assembly, while the governor appointed the council. These colonies were New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Proprietary Colonies. — The remaining colonies were proprie- tary, which means that they were ruled by proprietors who originally owned the land. These colonies, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary laud, had charters which allowed them to elect their own assemblies, but the proprietors appointed the governors. The first two of these colonies had the same gov- ernor, but different assemblies. Of all the colonists, the people of Maryland had the least freedom. 32. Causes of the Revolutionary War. — The great wars be- tween England and France in the eighteenth century, which were carried on both in Europe and in America, cost the Eng- lish government immense sums of money, and the English merchants wished to monopolize the most profitable trade with the American colonies. These two facts led the British govern- ment to levy taxes upon the English colonies, and finally to forbid the colonists to trade directly with any country but Great Britain. Restrictions were even placed upon the trade of the colonies among themselves. No Taxation ivithout Representation. — As the colonists them- selves were given no voice in these measures, they were much offended at these laws and requirements of the British govern- ment. They felt that they, too, were Englishmen, and they believed in the English principle that the citizens should have a voice in the government. In every part of the colonies a cry went up, " No taxation without representation." This meant that, because the colonies were not represented in the British Parliament, they should not be taxed at all. In other words, HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY '2\) the colonists claimed to be subjects not of Parliament, but of the king as head of the British empire ; and the king had no taxing powers. 33. The Stamp Act and Other Tax Laws. — In 1760 George III came to the throne of England.^ He meant to be master of England and of all her colonies and dependencies. By bribery, royal prerogative,^ and various other means, he secured control of Parliament, and set about making plans to reduce the colo- nies to subjection. Resistance to the Stamp Act. — In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed. This was a measure requiring all kinds of legal docu- ments (such as deeds, mortgages, promissory notes, ship clear- ance papers, and bills of sale) and newspapers published in America to be stamped by rev- enue officers at a cost varying from a few pence to several pounds. It was such a tax upon colonial business as threatened the prosperity of the people. Moreover, it was a tax neither provided for in the colonial charters nor fixed by the custom of years. The colonists abso- lutely refused to use the stamped paper, and business, for want of legality, was almost at an end. Moreover, the people ceased to import goods from England, and the wares sent to America Benjamin Franklin 1 The rulers of England during the colonial days from the time of Raleigh were Elizabeth, James I, Charles I (who was beheaded), Oliver Cromwell (who was Lord Protector during the time of the Commwealth), Charles II, James II, William III and Mary (who were placed on the throne by the English Revolu- tion of 1688), Anne, George I, George II, and George III. Elizabeth and Cromwell were perhaps the greatest rulers England ever had. 2 This means that the English crown claims all powers not expressly dele- gated to Parliament. At this time the colonies were chiefly governed by "royal prerogative." 30 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY were returned. The protests of the English manufacturers and the influence of Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who was at the time in London, led Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766. Boston ^^Tea Party. ''^ — But George III and his ministers persuaded Parliament to punish the colonists by passing other r7%A^^ acts.^ In resistance to the >1^*A^J?F\ / principle of taxation with- /\ i ^'^^ representation, several '\ w cargoes of tea, which were subject to a very light tax, were thrown into Boston harbor by the citizens dis- guised as Indians who made up the " Tea Party." The other colonies also resisted the new laws promptly and vigorously. Boston Port Bill. — At last the king determined to ruin Boston and thereby to frighten all the other sections of the country into submission. By the Boston Port Bill the harbor was closed to all shipping. Besides this, many British soldiers were quartered in the city, to awe the inhabitants. But the people of Massachusetts could not be frightened, and many of the colonists elsewhere offered to assist them, by donations of money and merchandise, to endure the oppression. 34. The Leaders in Resistance. — Before the breaking out of armed resistance, there arose several leaders who by voice and pen urged their friends and neighbors to assert " the rights of 1 The more important of these laws and related events were: Stamp Act, 1765; Toionshend Acts, 1767; Boston "Massacre," 1770; North Carolina, "Insurrection against Governor Tryon," 1771; Boston "Tea Party," 1773; Sosto7i Port Bill, 1774; Quebec Act, 1774; Newfoundland Fisheries Act, 1775 UI STORY OF OUR COUNTRY 81 Englishmen." The most important of these rights had fre- quently been exercised in English history. This was the right to make armed resistance to the officers of the king when the subjects believed the king was doing wrong. Among these leaders were Patrick Henry of Virginia and James Otis of Massachusetts, both great orators ; Samuel Adams of Massa- chusetts, a politician and organizer; Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, printer, journalist, author, scientist, and states- man; and John Dickinson, a lawyer and writer. Organization for Resistance. — In one way and another, these men, with numerous associates, organized the spirit of opposi- tion and established "committees of correspondence," "Sons of Liberty," "committees of safety," and "non-importation soci- eties," so that when the people w^ere sufficiently aroused to make armed resistance, they were also ready to overthrow their old governments and to set up new ones. 35. The Patriots and Loyalists. — By no means all of the American colonists were ready in 1774 to make armed resist- ance against the enforcement of the tax laws by the king's officers. There were many different nationalities and races represented in the population, — English, Irish, Scotch, Dutch, Swedes, Finns, Germans, French Huguenots, Negroes, and others in small numbers. They w^ere often widely separated from one another in isolated communities, and news traveled very slowly among them. Loyalists or Tories. — Many of them were recent immigrants, full of Old World ideas, including superstitious reverence for kings. A few were closely dependent upon or related to the royal officers in the various colonies. Some were merchants with important business connections with the people of Eng- land. Of the white population, fully one third were either opposed or indifferent to the idea of resisting the power of king and Parliament. They were known as Loyalists or Tories, and many of them were ready to help the British army put down the armed resistance of their fellow-countrymen, who were generally known as Patriots. 32 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 36. Steps to Independence. — In 1774 a Congress of delegates from most of the colonies was summoned to meet at Philadel- phia, to pro- test against the measures of Great Britain. Next year Congress met again and decided to fight against Great Britain and to appoint a com- mander in chief for the armies to be raised. During the French and Indian AVar, a young rirginian of character, abil- and wealth, named George Washington^ had learned the pro- fession of arms ; and now he was chosen to lead the American forces. The colonists in the year 1775 were not seek- ing independence from England, bnt had deter- mined to secure the right of self-government, w^hich means the right of each citizen to vote for his choice of rulers and lawmakers. Dedaratioyi of hidependence. — After a year of fighting, a majority of the people came to see that, as a military necessity, a new nation must be formed here. In 1776 Congress published HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY '6'6 the Declaration of Independence (pp. 101-104), which stated the reasons why the colonies could no longer endure the rule of George III, his ministers, and Parliament. 37. Early Progress of the War. — In 1775 was fought the great battle of Bunker Hill, near Boston, in which the colonists, though defeated, showed the English that they were stubborn fighters. Soon after this great battle. General George Washington took command of the army and was its leader until the close of the war. In 1776 a great victorj?- was won on Christmas night ] at Trenton, New Jersey, over Liberty Bell the English soldiers and the Ger- whom the English king had hired to in America. The colonists, however, and soon great armies were sent so that it was only by the most won- ence that the resistance was sustained trying years that followed. New York State, occurred the two of Saratoga, in which the English Canada under General Burgoyne was feated. In 1777-1778 the American army passed a terrible winter of hunger and cold at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, where George Washington himself, though a very rich man, endured all the privations of the common soldiers, and generously spent his own wealth for their relief. 38. The French Alliance. — Jw 1778 the French also were ready to fight against their old enemies, the English, and, man Hessians fight for him were very poor, against them, derful persist- through all the In 1777, in great battles invasion from completely de- H^^^. Bunker Hill Monument u HISTORY OF OUR COUNTUT through the influence of Benjamin Franklin, made a treaty with tlie Continental Congress by which they agreed to help the American cause with men, money, and ships. 1779-1781. — V^ith the coming of the French, the military operations were extended into the South, and at Cowpens, in South Carolina, the Southern soldiers under General Nathanael Greene won a brilliant victory over the English, in the winter of 1781. Not until the fall of 1781, however, was the decisive victory gained. At that time, with the assistance of the French soldiers and ships. General Washington was able to compel the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, the English commander at York- town, Virginia. This siege of Yorktown was the last impor- tant military operation of the Eevolutionary War. It was followed soon after by the withdrawal of the British armies from Philadelphia and from New York and of their ships from the Atlantic Coast. 39. General View of the War. — The Revolutionary War lasted over seven years, during which time many battles w^ere fought. England sent over thousands of soldiers and many war vessels. Among the great- est heroes of this war was Com- modore John Paul Jones, who won great victories at sea. Character of the War. — From a military point of view, the Revolutionary War was one of the most interesting in the his- tory of mankind. During almost its entire course, the British had possession of the two largest American cities, New York and Philadelphia; and they won many battles. The most suc- cessful fighting of the Americans was in the open country. The campaigns of George Washington were managed with John Paul, Jones UISTOIiY OF OUR COUNTRY 35 the utmost caution and skill. He worked against almost insurmountable difficulties, as his men were constantly en- listing and deserting, and Congress was always short of the money that was so necessary to pay for their food and wages. Emigration of Tories. — During the war and at its close, many of the people who believed that the colonies should not be separated from Great Britain emigrated to Canada or to England. 40. The New Nation. — In 1783 a treaty of peace was made between the United States and Great Britain, by which the independence of the United States was recognized by the mother country. The new nation made a beginning with the thirteen " Original States,'' and with all the lands extend- ing west of those States as far as the Mississippi Eiver. In this region there were, however, British forts not yet sur- rendered, and many hostile Indians. In the course of the next fifteen years, the British withdrew their garrisons from these forts, and the United States undertook the conquest of the soil from the Indians. Our people traveled over the Appalachian Mountains down into the fertile valleys of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers, and soon had settled therein, to the number of several hundred thousand. 41. The Constitution. — The new nation of the United States found it very difficult to establish a good form of government. It was heavily in debt, and each of the States regarded itself as an independent nation, not responsible for the general debts contracted by Congress for the prosecution of the war. At last, after much discussion, a convention of delegates from all the States agreed upon the Constitution that is at present enforced in the United States. This was framed in 1787, and was ratified by a sufficient number of States to put it fully in operation by 1789, when George Washington was inaugurated President. This Constitution is a system of political rights, privileges, and opportunities for all the States, for all the 36 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY individual citizens, and for the nation as a whole ; it has been wonderfully successful in its practical operation. (See pages 105 to 108.) Effect of Adoption of Constitution. — Its adoption was followed by a rapid revival of business, which had suffered almost as much from political troubles after the war was over as it had suffered from such troubles and from the military losses during the progress of the war. Origin of our Government. — Our American government is a product of long and slow growth. Very little of it is origi- HISTORr OF OUR COUNTRY 37 nal with us. The most important original feature of American democracy is the complete separation of church and state ; that is, of government and religion. This for years had been the dream and desire of many philosophers and statesmen of the Old World. Most of our principles and forms of government came with our first settlers from England. Among these were the principle of representation, the town meeting, and the county government. Most of the truths embodied in the Con- stitution came from England, though the idea itself of a Con- stitution as the fundamental law of the nation came from France. The secret ballot came from Holland. 42. The Administrations of Washington (1789-1797). — Early in the administration of our first President, the only one ever elected unanimously, there appeared tv.^o leaders, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, who held oppos- ing views regarding the Constitution of the United States. Hamilton was a Federalist who believed in a strong central gov- ernment. Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican who believed in keeping the States and individuals strong and the nation rela- tively weak. National Bank. — Ham- ilton, who was Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of Washington, persuaded Congress to assume the payment of all the debts of the old Confedera- tion and of the States, that had been incurred in carry- ing on the Revolutionary War. To provide funds, taxes were levied on imported goods. A great national bank was George AVashingtox 38 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY established to assist in carrying out the financial plans of the Federalists. Foreign Affairs. — Washington successfully urged his prin- ciple of neutrality in all Old World disputes, so that aid was denied to France which (under a very different government) had helped us in the days of our war with England. Treaties were made with England and Spain. Indian Wars and Whisky Insurrection. — General Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary hero, subdued several Indian tribes beyond the Ohio. The national government, needing a regular and sufficient income, enforced an excise (whisky) tax, despite popular opposition. 43. The Administration of John Adams (1797-1801). — The next President was a strong Federalist. During his time there was much discussion regarding the rights and privileges of foreign-born citizens and the relative powers of the national and the State governments. 44. The Administrations of Thomas Jefferson (i 801 -1809). — Jefferson emphasized the importance of "States' rights" as the means of protecting and promoting the interests of the individual citizens. He be- lieved in democracy rather than aristocracy, the rule of all by the majority rather than by the best. Louisiana Purchase. — It was in 1803, in the administration of the first Democratic-Repub- lican President, that we bought from Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, the province of Louisiana, an area very much larger than that of the thirteen original colonies Thomas Jefferson and equal to all that we had HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 89 United States in 1803 owned up to the time of its purchase. The Louisiana province comprised nearly one million square miles, and cost $15,000,000. This region included in its limits the area now oc- cupied by the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mis- souri, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and large parts of Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Embargo Act. — Because of the great " Napoleonic wars " then raging between England and France, the President and Congress placed upon all American shipping an "embargo" that forbade our ships from clearing port for foreign lands, to prevent their seizure by war vessels of the great nations. This embargo nearly ruined our commerce. The War with the Pirate States. — The first of the foreign wars of this country w^as with pirates who were protected by the half-civilized governments of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, the so-called Barbary States of northern Africa border- ing on the jMediterranean Sea. They favored piracy as a means of national revenue and because many of their chief citizens were pirates. The European seamen were unable to conquer these African pirates; but in battle after battle on the high seas, we defeated the pirates and put an end to piracy which had existed for centuries. The final treaty abolished piracy in 1805. Among the heroes of this naval war were Bainbridge, Decatur, and Preble. 45. The Administrations of James Madison (1809-1817). — Two new leaders appeared early in the Presidency of Madison : one, Henry Clay of Kentucky, representing the " new West," by which was meant the great region beyond the Appalachian Mountains; and the other, Daniel Webster, who soon became known as the great "expounder of the Constitution." 40 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Impressment of Seamen. — Because of the impressment of seamen, that is, taking by force from American vessels sailors of British birth, and because of other disputes with Great Britain, Clay urged the nation to enter upon a contest with the " mother country .'' War of 1812. — The real causes of the War of 1812 were European rather than American. England was fighting with France, then ruled by the great soldier Napoleon Bonaparte. On the sea Great Britain was supreme, but Napoleon had possession of the continent of Europe. France said that no other country should trade with Great Britain, and Great Britain said that no other country should trade with France. The Americans, as good men of business, wished to trade with both countries. The conditions of life on British naval vessels were so hard that sometimes whole crews of British citizens would desert to American vessels. These British subjects would then take out naturalization papers ^ as American citi- zens. Great Britain declared that a man was a citizen of the country in which he was born, and asserted the right to re- move all deserters. Heroes of the Wa7\ — Among the heroes of the War of 1812 were General (later President) William Henry Harrison, Com- modore Lawrence, General (later President) Andrew Jackson, and Commodore Perry, who won a famous victory on Lake Erie. Course of the Wa7\ — In the campaigns on land the Americans and the British were about equally successful, though the Brit- ish seized the capital city, Washington, and partly burned it. The last great land battle was fought at New Orleans in 1815, after the treaty of peace had been signed.- On the sea the 1 The United States has always been very friendly to foreign-born persons. The American principle that a man is a citizen of the country to which he attaches himself is not yet recognized as an international principle. The foreign idea is, once a Frenchman or an Englishman or a German, always a Frenchman or an Englishman or a German. 2 Even as recently as 1815 it took a month or more for news to reach Amer- ica from Europe. It took two weeks more for news to travel from Washing- ton to New Orleans. The British and Americans would not have fought at New Orleans if the telegraph had been in existence at that time. HI STORY OF OUR COUNTRY 41 Americans were very much more successful than the British, and some of the greatest naval exploits in the world's history took place during the war. Tariff of 1816. — In 1815 Napoleon, then Emperor of the French, was overthrown at the battle of Waterloo. This event w^as followed by great activity in English manufacturing. In 1816, to prevent our markets from being flooded by English products, an important tariff act was passed by Congress, imposing a duty on imported cotton and woolen goods. Perry's Victory on Lake Erik 46. The Administrations of James Monroe (1817-1825). — The last President who had taken part in the War of Indepen- dence was James Monroe, who, like Madison, was a political disciple of Jefferson. Purchase of Florida. — In the year 1819, at the cost of $5,000,000, we bought Florida from the Spanish government. Tlie Missouri Compromise. — During the period before the United States became an independent nation, the people both in the North and in the South owned slaves. In fact, they owned not only Negro slaves, but also white bondservants. The custom of holding whites in bondage was gradually dying HIST. Ev. sen. — ? 42 HISTOEY OF OUR COUNTRY out, but that of holding Negroes continued. Negroes were especially valuable as agricultural workers in the Southern States, and in these States the entire industrial system finally came to be established upon the basis of Negro slavery. One result was that the Southern slave States wished other slave States to be admitted to the Union. In 1818 the Territory of Missouri desired admission as a slave State. The free-labor States were opposed to the admission of Missouri, but in 1820 a compromise, now known as the Missouri Compromise, was arranged by w^hich Missouri came into the Union as a slave- labor State in 1821 ; but in all the rest of the Louisiana pur- chase north of 3G° 30' slavery was prohibited. Maine came into the Union as a free-labor State in 1820. Monroe Doctrine. — In 1823 the Monroe Doctrine was pro- claimed by the President. This was an announcement to the Old World that the United States would resent any interfer- ence by European powers in the affairs of the New World. 47. The Administration of John Quincy Adams (182 5-1 829). — The sixth President was the son of the second. During his administration there was constant factional strife. Adams could not be reelected, but came back to Washington from Massachusetts as a member of the House of Eepresentatives in Congress, where he did magnificent service in defending the right of petition in the interest of Negro freedom. 48. The Administrations of Andrew Jackson (1829-1837). — Four Presidents are usually regarded as having exerted espe- cially great influence upon our political development, — Wash- ington, Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln. Of these, Jackson represented the spirit of freedom, equality, and democracy developed in the "new West." He believed that the majority of all the people rather than the best people should rule ; that is, he believed in democracy rather than in aristocracy. Webster on the Constitution. — In the eventful administration of Jackson, Webster expounded in the Senate his views as to the true meaning of the Constitution as an instrument upon which to establish a strong government for the nation. HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 43 Nullijication in South Carolina. — In a State convention in 1832, South Carolina proclaimed the national tariff law null and void ; but Jackson sent the navy and army to the State and compelled the people to obey the general government. The antislavery sentiment of the North, in which section Negro slavery, widespread before the Revolutionary War, had disappeared, now took definite form in the active measures of the Abolitionists. Abolition of Bank of United States. — Perhaps the most im- portant action taken by Jackson during his administrations was the abolition of the great National Bank, which in his judgment had become too influential in political affairs. The ruin of the Bank was followed by the development of State banks, some of which conducted their affairs so badly as to help bring on a general financial depression; known in our history as the "panic of 1837." 49. The Administration of Martin Van Buren (i 837-1841). — So sensitive had Congress now become regarding all questions of slavery that a resolution was passed to receive without debate all communications upon the subject. In this adminis- tration our present national treasury system was established. 50. The Administration of William Henry Harrison (1841). — The next President was a military hero of the War of 1812. He died after being but a month in office, a victim of the office seekers who preached and practiced the Jacksonian doctrine of " rotation in office." Harrison was the first Whig to become President. The Whigs, like the Federalists, believed in a strong central government. 51. The Administration of John Tyler (i 841-1845). — The new railroads, by making it easy for office seekers to get to Wash- ington, were, in this sense, responsible for the succession of John Tyler, the Vice President, to the Presidency. In his time the AVhigs carried through Congress a high protective tariff. 52. The Administration of James Knox Polk (i 845-1849). — The success of the Democratic candidate, Polk, who 44 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY sympathized with the upholders of slavery against the Whig candidate Clay, the *' great compromiser," was immediately followed by the admission into the Union of Texas, which had won its independence from Mexico. The resolution for the annexation of Texas had been j)assed just before the close of Tyler's ad- ministration. The area annexed included be- sides the present State of Texas, more than half of Kew Mexico, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. TJie Mexican War. — In 1846, after the annexa- tion of Texas, the people of the slave-labor States Tvished to extend their territory to the west and south. The President sent an army officer to dispute the south- ern boundary of Texas with the Mexicans. This led to the Mexican War. Victory of the Americans. — The Southern leaders hoped to conquer Mexico and to take possession of a large part of its territory. The war with Mexico was of brief duration. The Americans won many battles, among the most famous being Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and Churubusco. In September, 1847, General Scott took possession of the City of Mexico. The result of the war was that Mexico, in return for $20,000,000, ceded to the United States a large portion of territory, which, with the second Mexican cession (the Gadsden Con««^ Map of Eastern Mexico BISTORT OF OUR COUNTRY 45 purchase of 1853) gave us the region where we have now Cali- fornia, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Among the heroes of the Mexican War were General Winfield Scott and General Zachary Taylor. Oregon Boundary Settlement. — In 1846 the Oregon bound- ary dispute with Great Britain was settled. From the Oregon country, which was acquired through American exploration Entry of General Scott into the City of Mexico and settlement, have been formed the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of ]\Iontana and Wyoming. Wilmot Proviso. — In the same year the Wilmot Proviso was first presented, — that no new territory of the United States should ever be open to slavery. Squatter Sovereignty. — In 1848 the doctrine of "Squatter Sovereignty'' was proclaimed by the Democratic Presidential candidate, Lewis Cass, — that the people of each Territory, before its admission into the Union as a State, should them- selves decide by popular vote whether it should permit slavery BISTOIiY OF OUR COUNTRY 47 53. The Administration of Zachary Taylor (i 849-1 850). — The next President was a hero of the Mexican War. The most famous political measures of his time were the Compromise of 1850, which recognized the principle of " Squatter Sovereignty," and favored a Fugitive Slave Act, denying to runaway slaves the right of trial by jury and the right of habeas corpus. These measures marked the progress of the discussion regard- ing the presence and extension of slavery in the southern section of the country. President Taylor died soon after his inauguration. 54. The Administration of Millard Fillmore (1850-1853). — At the death of Taylor, the Vice President succeeded him. The period of his administration was occupied by the slavery debate. In 1852 Webster and Clay, the great Whig leaders, both died ; and Uncle Tom^s Cabin, a famous antislavery novel, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was first published. In the South, as well as in the North, there was great anxiety as to the future of Negro slavery and its effect upon the industrial development and social life of the slave-holding section of our country. 55. The Administration of Franklin Pierce (1853-1857). — New political parties now began to appear. The Free-soilers set forth their principles of " free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." In 1854 the Kausas-Nebraska Act, based on " Squatter Sovereignty," led to fearful conditions of riot and bloodshed, so that ^'Bleeding Kansas" became the theme of discussion throughout the nation. The Kepublican party was formed to include Pree-soilers, Abolitionists, and the remain- ing Wliigs. 56. The Administration of James Buchanan (1857-1861). — In 1857 the Supreme Court of the United States declared in the Dred Scott case that a slave was personal property and could be carried into the free States without depriving his master of his right of ownership. The great debate between Doug- las and Lincoln followed in Illinois. In it, Lincoln said : " I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave 48 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and half free. . . It will become all one thing or all the other." JoJui Broicn^s Raid. — In 1859 John Brown, who had become famous for the part taken by him in the Kansas struggles, tried to start a Negro insurrection in Virginia, but was cap- tured, condemned, and executed. His fanatical effort greatly angered the Southern slaveholders. Secession of Southern States. — In 1860 all the political par- ties were greatly excited over the question of slavery, and the Democratic party was split into factions. The election of the Eepublican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, resulted in the seces- sion of eleven of the Southern slave States from the Union, — ■ South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisi- ana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, in the period from December, 1860, to May, 1861. They framed a government called the Confederate States of America, of which Jefferson Davis was President. Characteristics of the South and the North. — In this action, the differences between the Cavalier South and Puritan New England culminated. The South had grown aristocratic and fond of leisure, of power, and of good living, while the North, largely influenced by New England, had grown democratic, industrious, rich, and intolerant of the Southern social system. 57. The Administration of Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865). The War of Secession or the Civil War. — Of the slave States, four remained in the Union, — Delaware, jVIaryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. West Virginia seceded from Virginia, which had joined the Confederate States, and was admitted into the Union of States. Attach on Fort Sumter. — In April, very soon after the inauguration of President Lincoln, the great Civil War, be- tween the Confederacy and the Union, began in earnest, when Port Sumter, in Charleston harbor, was attacked by the Confederates. Call for Volunteers. — Immediately a call was issued for vol- unteers to defend the Union and to compel the seceded States HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 49 to recognize the authority of the government at Washington. Soon an army of Union soldiers was ready for the invasion of the Mississippi Valley, while another army was raised to meet the Confederates in Virginia. From this time until the last year of the war two campaigns were prosecuted, — one in the West and South, and the other in Virginia. The Union army went down the valley of the Mississippi, fighting tremendous battles with the Confederates, year after year. 1862. — In the early part of 1862 they captured Forts Don- elson and Henry. In April was fought the great battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, which ended in a Union victory. Fort Sumter The Merrimac and the Monitor. — On ^larch 8, 1862, a ter- rific battle took place in Hampton Eoads, Virginia, between the Confederate Merrimac and the Union Monitor, the first iron- clads ever used in naval warfare. The result was favorable to the Union cause. 1863. — On July 4, 1863, the great Southern fortress of Vicks- burg on the Mississippi River was captured. Though the Union army suffered severe defeat by the Confederates at Chicka- mauga, Tennessee, they retreated to Chattanooga, where they won a brilliant victory under General Grant. The Union army then moved southeastward through the mountains, fighting many battles, until they reached Atlanta, Georgia. 1864. — From there, in 1864, Sherman led his army to Sa- vannah, tearing up every railroad, and burning all the buildings for miles in every direction. The result of this Western and Southern campaign was to separate Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, 50 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida from the Confed- eracy, and to paralyze agriculture and business throughout the entire region. Among the greatest battles was that of Nashville (December, 1864), where the Confederate army suffered so great a defeat by the Union army under Thomas that thereafter it was unable to accomplish anything in opposition to the Union forces. MeRRIMAC AM) MoMTOi; Campaign in Virginia, 1861-1865. — The campaign in Vir- ginia was of a very different nature, for the armies again and again fought over the same territory; even more men were engaged here than in the Western and Southern campaign, and greater battles were fought. In July, 1861, the Union army suffered a great defeat at Bull Run, not far from Washington ; and in the "Peninsular Campaign" in 1862 their attempt to capture the Confederate capital, Richmond, ended in failure. The Southern general, Robert E. Lee, then made an invasion of the North, but was stopped by the Union victory at Antie- tam, Maryland, in September, 1862. Two more attempts of the HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 51 Union army to advance on Richmond resulted in their defeat at Fredericksburg in December, 1862, and at Chancellorsville in May, 1863. On July 1, 2, and 3 of 1863, Lee's second in- vasion of the North was stopped by the tremendous battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in which nearly one hundred thousand men were engaged on each side. Although Lee was defeated, the Confederate army in Virginia continued to fight for two years more. The Confederate States Surrender of Lee. — Finally, after great battles in the Wil- derness and the siege and capture of Richmond, General Lee was forced to surrender to General Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April, 1865. This ended the Civil War, It is much to the credit of the South that no rebel bands con- tinued to fight in the mountains of Tennessee after the sur- render of Lee. It is also to the credit of the soldiers on both b'2 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY sides that, after the war was over, they returned to their homes and to such peaceful occupations as they could find. Cost of the War. — The War of Secession was a costly one both in lives and in treasure. Nearly a million men perished in it, and many who survived were maimed or disabled for life. Pensions to the Union soldiers have already been paid to the amount of more than $2,000,000,000, and the end is not yet. Soldiers' homes for both Union and Confederate soldiers have Surrender of General Lee been built, the former by the national government, and the latter by the Southern States and by popular subscriptions. It is estimated that the cost of the war in money fell little short of $10,000,000,000. This includes the large sums of money borrowed to help put State troops in the field, and the great loss of the Southern States, by the destruction of buildings and other property. Emancipation of Slaves. — The South lost also the value of $2,000,000,000 in slaves set free by President Lincoln's Eman- BISTOBT OF OVn COXINTUY 68 cipation Proclamation in 1863. Their freedom was confirmed by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States adopted in I860, 1868, and 1870. (See p. 108.) Effects of the War. — Yet the conflict was inevitable and its result has been almost wholly for the good of the American people. It has spread the system of free labor over the entire Union, and has made the United States one nation, indivisible in fact as it was in theory before the war. Especially for the South the war was really a blessing, though in frightful dis- guise, for Negro slavery prevented industrial progress, since slave labor does not stimulate inventive genius and cannot compete successfully with free labor in mills and factories. Even the agricultural con- ditions of the South are far better to-day than they were before the war was fought, for as a wage-earner the Negro is more profitable to his employer than he was as a slave to his owner. Other Affairs. — In the administration of Lincoln national banks were estab- lished, to assist in carry- ing on the affairs of the general government and also in developing the busi- ness of the country. The foreign affairs were greatly com- plicated because several European nations were disposed to assist the Confederacy to establish itself as an independent nation. The diplomacy of the minister to England, Charles Francis Adams, and the oratory of Henry Ward Beecher, who from the platform appealed to the English people to encourage the Union in setting free the Negro slaves, prevented recogni- tion of the Confederacy by Great Britain. Abraham Lincoln 54 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Assassination of Lincoln. — On April 14, 1865, the President was assassinated ; and the Vice President succeeded to his office. 58. The Administration of Andrew Johnson (i 865-1 869). — After the war was over, a great political problem confronted the statesmen of the nation. This was the problem of the method in which the former Confederate States should resume their places in Congress and in government affairs. Some people thought that Congress should require each State to apply for admission as though it were a new State. Others, following the opinion of Lincoln, thought that the States shouhl be encouraged to resume their former places in the Union in every respect as though they had never seceded. Unfortu- nately, a third set of leaders secured power in the government; so that in the Southern States, for many 3^ears afterward, the Southern whites who had not fought in Confederate armies and the newly freed Negroes had almost absohite power. To this Southern side were added some Northern men known as " carpet- baggers," who went to the South solely for the sake of getting public offices. In this wretched way, the political reconstruc- tion of the South was carried on. Industrial Condition oftJie Soidh. — After the war the indus- trial and agricultural affairs were in almost equally unfortunate condition with the political. At present, however, the South is progressive and prosperous, and its industrial conditions are much like those of the ISTorth, except for differences in climate and the presence of many Negroes in the population. Purchase of Alaska. — In 1867 we purchased Alaska from Russia, at a cost of $7,200,000. Pacific Rcdlroad. — In 1869 the first railroad from the Atlan- tic to the Pacific was completed. This was a political as well as a business tie between the West and the East. 59. The Administrations of Ulysses Simpson Grant (i 869-1877). ■ — -Early in the first aduiinistration of Grant, an international Court of Claims, meeting at Geneva, awarded damages of $15,500,000 payable by Great Britain to the United States nisroKY OF ouii country 66 because she had permitted several cruisers to be built and fitted out in her ports by the Confederacy, to attack Union merchant vessels upon the high seas. Centennial Exposition. — In 1876, one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence, there was held in Phila- delphia the Centennial Ex- position, to celebrate the independence of the United States. There had been other expositions before this, but their effect was by no means so great upon the national welfare. This ex- position did much to encour- age invention and scientific discovery in the United States, and brought together people from all sections. Election of Hayes. — Dur- ing the terms of Grant there was much dissatisfaction in the iSTorth over the corruption in the government of the nation and of certain cities, especially !N"ew York. Even greater dis- satisfaction existed in the South over the corruption and incompetence of the State governments. The popular dis- approval of the conditions of our government led to a very exciting presidential campaign in 1876. The opposing candi- dates were Samuel J. Tilden, a Democrat, and Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican. In the election the Democrats polled a much larger popular vote than the Republicans 5 but a great dispute arose as to which had a majority in the Electoral College.^ This was finally settled, in favor of the Republicans, by a special Electoral Commission. 60. The Administration of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1877- 1881). — Early in his administration, Hayes withdrew the I See p. 73. Ulysses S. Grant 56 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Federal troops that had been stationed in South Carolina and elsewhere ever since the Civil War. This popular act marked the end of the reconstruction of the Southern States by military force. Railroad Strike. — In 1877 a railroad strike in Pittsburg led to riot, and marked the beginning of strife and violence in this country between capital and labor. Return to Sound 3Ioney. — The United States government had been so greatly burdened by the debt of the Civil War that, until 1879, it was compelled to maintain a currency of paper money without actual redemption value in gold and silver. Then it became able once more to pay its obligations in money of intrinsic (real) value as metal. This great event did much to promote domestic business and international trade ; for, after this time, the standard money of the United States was stand- ard everywhere else, as it had always been up to the time of the financial disaster of the Civil War. 61. The Administration of James Abram Garfield (i88i). — The next President was an able and genial man, who fell by the hand of a political "crank" July 2, 1881, before he had been able to render that service to his country for which he was admirably fitted by his talents, education, and experience. 62. The Administration of Chester Alan Arthur (i 881-1885). — The important events of the administration of the fourth President who succeeded from the Vice Presidency were the passage of a civil service reform law, which made merit the sole qualification for office, a reduction in the tariff below the high rates which had prevailed since the Civil War, and an act suspending for ten years the immigration of Chinese laborers. 63. The First Administration of Grover Cleveland (i 885-1 889). — From 1861 to 1885, all the Presidents were Republicans. The new President was a Democrat. In his first term. Congress passed acts to regulate interstate commerce and to fix the presidential succession in the event of the death of both the President and Vice President. HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 57 64. The Administration of Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893). — The next President was a grandson of William Henry Harrison, and a Republican. In his term there was legislation by Con- gress concerning silver as legal tender money and regarding the tariff. The law concerning the exclusion of Chinese laborers was reenacted for another ten-year period. 65. The Second Administration of Grover Cleveland (1893-1 897). — In 1893 a commercial panic set in, caused in part by the unwise legislation regarding silver. The President persuaded Congress to pass a tariff bill reducing charges upon imports. An act establishing a national income tax was declared uncon- stitutional by the United States Supreme Court.^ WorlcVs Columbian Exposition. — In 1893 there was held at Chicago an exposition to celebrate the four hundredth anni- versary of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. This Columbian Exposition was the greatest to that time in the history of the world, and showed to what heights the United States and the other great nations of the earth had attained in the course of their progress in civilization. 66. The Administration of William McKinley (1897-1901). — Early in his first administration, the President called a special session of Congress which passed an improved tariff act. Tliis greatly benefited American business. Causes of the American-Spanish War, — The vast empire of Spain in North America and South America had long been dwindling in area until, in 1898, all the territories that she owned were the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, southeast of the United States. Spain treated the Cubans so cruelly that they were constantly in rebellion against the government. The rebellion of 1895 had continued for three years with detriment to American commerce and investments in Cuba. Further- 1 In both nation and State, throughout the United States, the constitutions of nation and State make the supreme law. These are interpreted by the Supreme Courts of the United States and of the various States. An act passed by Congress or a State Legislature is not a law when the Supreme Court declares that it violates some constitutional provision. 58 HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY more, the moral sentiments of the Americans were shocked by the cruelty of the Spaniards toward the Cubans. At last the United States government and people, especially angered by the destruction of our battleship Maine in Havana harbor, declared war. Manila and Santiago. — Admiral Dewey speedily took Ma- nila, the capital of the Spanish islands of the Philippines, far away in the Pacific Ocean. An invading army was sent to Santiago, Cuba, while a naval squadron blockaded the coast of The Oregon at Santiago tiie islands. There, in a great naval fight with the Spanish war vessels, the Americans were as successful as they had been at Manila. Santiago was then quickly taken by the American land forces. Results of the War. — The result of this war was that Spain abandoned Cuba, surrendered Porto Eico and the island of Guam as a war indemnity, and in consideration of the sum of $20,000,000 ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States. For a time the United States maintained government in Cuba ; but in 1902 the island became an independent republic under our protection in international affairs. HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 69 Hat-vaii and Tutuila. — In 1898 we annexed the Hawaiian Islands, and in 1900 they were erected into a territory of the United States. In 1900 Tutuila and some neighboring islands in the Pacific became the property of the United States by treaty with Germany and Great Britain. Interference in China. — In 1900 our government took a very prominent and successful part in the international troubles in China, where great mobs arose to drive out all foreigners. Assassination of McKinley. — Early in McKinley's second term, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, September, 1901, the President was assassinated by a foreign-born citizen who had never enjoyed the advantages of our public schools, and had never learned that our President directs the affairs of the nation in accordance with the will of the people and for their best welfare. 67. The Administrations of Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909). — Again a Vice President succeeded to the Presidency. The chief acts of his administration were the suppression of native insurrections in the Philippines, the establishment there of American control and education, the encouragement of the Cuban Republic, the settlement of a great controversy between capital and labor in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, arrange- ments for the completion by the United States of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and the recognition of the republic of Panama. The law concerning the exclusion of Chinese laborers was reenacted for another ten-year period, and was applied also to the islands belonging to the United States. Louisiana Purchase Exposition. — In 1904 a magnificent expo- sition Avas conducted at St. Louis to celebrate the centennial anniversary of our purchase of Louisiana. Gold Standard. — In the presidentipJ campaigns of 1896, 1900, and 1904 the adoption by this nation of the single gold standard for its currency was determined by the defeat of the opponents of this single standard at the polls in the first two campaigns and in the Democratic presidential convention in the last campaign. HIST. EV. sen. 4 60 II I STORY OF OUR COUNTRY Labor Troubles. — Iii the summer of 1904, two great labor wars took place, the first in Colorado, between the mine owners and the unionists, and the second in Chicago, between the rich packers of meat and their employees. These wars were closely associated in the public mind with the discussions over trusts and pools in their relations to the general welfare. The whole nation was much concerned also regarding tlie social relations be- tween the whites and the Negroes in the South. Great interest was felt also in the investigation conducted by the Senate of the United States into the relations existing in Utah between the Mormon Church and the State government. The question of tariff revision was also prominent in the minds of the people. Legislation of 1906. — In 190G Congress passed several laws for the more effective control of interstate commerce. The Administration of William Howard Taft (1909-1913). — Upon assuming office in 1909, President Taft called a special session of Congress, which passed a new tariff act. A tax was levied on the net earnings of every corporation in excess of $5000 a year. There was much discussion of "conservation," which means the saving of forests, mines, water powers, etc., for the benefit of the public. In the States and in the nation there was much agitation for more democratic methods of government. Present Issues. — In general, the great questions now before the American people may all be resolved into one : Can we establish and maintain that personal freedom and equality before the law for all our citizens, rich and poor, white and black, native and foreign-born, to which we are dedicated by the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the awful experience of the Civil War? PART III GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENSHIP 68. The Rights of the Citizen. — Every man, woman, and child born in the United States, or naturalized in accordance with the provisions of the laws of the nation and of any State, has rights and duties which are the result of our national history. This country is a representative democracy, in which each citizen is meant to be equal before the law with every The Capitol at Washington other citizen, and in which no man inherits more rights, offices, duties, or obligations in state or church than those of any other person. Each man has equal rights with every other man to think, speak, and act freely, to buy and sell property, to hold office, and to vote upon questions of government. 61 62 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT Enumeration of Rights. — An American citizen has the right to be considered innocent before he is proved guilty ; that is, he has the right to a jury trial and to be represented by coun- sel in the courts. He cannot be imprisoned without a hearing except for such crimes as murder and arson, when the evidence is strongly against him. Even then, by reason of the habeas corpus law, he has the right to a speedy trial before a jury of his equals. Further, he has the right to be protected by the police and militia in his property, and in his person from assault and battery. These rights were not secured without struggles through centuries. Within forty years, white masters sometimes treated their Negro slaves with the utmost brutality and without fear of punishment. By reason of his constitu- tional rights, the citizen is a free man ; his house must not be searched or even entered except by due warrant at law, which protects him from personal harm. 69. The Duties of the Citizen. — The citizen has certain duties prescribed by law and others prescribed by morals and common custom. It is the duty of the citizen to take up arms for his country when it is invaded by foreign enemies or when domes- tic peace is broken by riot and mob violence. As the citizen has the right to be protected from others who would do him harm, so he has the duty of protecting others from harm. It is the citizen's duty to serve on juries for the trial of criminal offenses. Such are some of his legal duties. Duties as a Voter. — Morally it is the duty of the citizen to vote at all elections and to attend the party primaries in which candidates are nominated for office. It is his duty to equip himself to vote intelligently upon public questions. To do this, he needs to study the history of our country, the prin- ciples of our government, and the actual questions before the community, the State, or the nation. Public Office. — It is the duty of the citizen to take public office when regularly nominated and elected to such office. It is good government in America that makes property secure and valuable ; and it is the duty of a citizen to serve that govern- OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT 63 ment, when requested to do so by a majority of his fellow- men, in any office for which his talents fit him, unless some other and greater public duty already claims his time and effort. Public Zeal. — It is the duty of the citizen to resist all acts and measures by which the public welfare is endangered or the rights of any of his fellow-citizens are infringed. It is his duty to know the facts regarding his city government, its officials, its expenditures, and its policies. The American citi- zen, therefore, has not only many rights, but also many duties. 70. Naturalization. — The term " citizen," in American gov- ernment, is used in two different senses. Sometimes it means any person — man, woman, or child — born in this country. As far as property holding is concerned, women have nearly the same rights as men. Children, as well as men and women, have the right to the protection of our flag, wherever they go, in any part of the world. All these people have equal rights to the protection of their property and their persoi: Qualifications of Voters. — The word " citizen " is, however, often used with a different meaning, as the equivalent of "voter." In several States now, women over twenty -one years of age, as well as men over that age, may vote and hold office. Generally, however, the word "citizen" means a man who is a voter. In some States not all men over twenty- one years of age may vote, but only those who have certain qualifications in the way of education. Laws of Naturalization. — Our country introduced a new principle in international affairs by permitting the natives of other countries to come here and to be naturalized as citizens. The laws with regard to naturalization are uniform in all the States. At least five years' residence in the United States is necessary, together with a declaration of intention to become a citizen two years before the citizenship papers are issued. Once naturalized, "the foreign-born citizen has the same rights as the native citizen, with the single exception that he cannot be elected President of the United States. 64 OVR CIVIL GOVEIiyMEXT 71. The Ballot. — The right to vote and the duty to vote thoughtfully are among the most important features of Ameri- can citizenship. Elections are held in accordance with regular provisions of the Constitution of the United States and of the constitution of each pai'ticular State. Usually one j^ear's resi- dence within a particular State is required before a citizen of another State may vote in the State into which he has moved. In many States the ballot is now secret, so that no influence can be brought to bear upon the voter by an emplo^'er, a cred- itor, or any other person. The counting of ballots is made with the utmost scrupulousness as to accuracy and honesty. In this respect there has been a marked improvement in the United States in the past twenty years. 72. Office Holding. — A successful candidate for office enters upon the duties of that office in accordance with the require- ments of the constitutions and statute laws of the nation and State. His first duty is to inform himself as to the duties of the office and as to the condition of its business affairs. It is then his obligation to his constituents, who include tliose who voted against him a^ well as those who voted for him, to per- form the duties of his office for the best welfare of his whole community. Once an office holder, public business should be considered as preceding in importance any kind of private business. The office holder ought to carry on the business of his office conscientiously and impartially. It is greatly to the credit of most American office holders that they are honest and industrious in the performance of their duties. Good government depends quite as much upon good men in office as upon the laws that they are elected or appointed to carry out. 73. Town or Township Meeting. — In the Xew England States and in certain other States, to^vn meetings are often main- tained to carry out the principles of pure democracy, that is, to bring the government as near the people as possible. At these town meetings, annual and special, the citizens discuss and settle, usually by ballot, all local public measures. If the tx)wn meeting were practicable in all circumstances, it would OUR CIVIL GOVERyyiENT 65 be the ideal methcMi for making all laws and electing all officers ; but tlie limits of the town meeting are very narrow. At most, not over a few hundred men can gather together in public meeting and debate and deliberate calmly and judicially. Large meetings are apt to be swayed, now this way and now that, by excessive popular enthusiasm. In great cities, meet- ings of all the interested citizens in one place are impossible. The town meetings are decreasing in number because of the growth of communities. Local problems now require fixed policies of government and continuous policies supported systematically by parties. 74. County Government. — The powers of county government and of local government differ greatly in various parts of the country. The county in Xew England is of very much less importance than it is in Virginia. Generally, counties have charge of the roads, the hospitals, the paupers, and the criminals. 75. City Government. — Cities usually grow from towns. When the system of town government has become inadequate for a community, the city is established either in accordance with general State laws, or in accordance with a specific charter granted by the State. Usually, cities undertake, in addition to the governmental duties of towns, some of the duties of counties. Occasionally, a city is partly within one county and partly within another. Usually, however, like the town, it is within the county jurisdiction. The conditions of life are so much more complicated in cities than in towns that the large cities must undertake many things not required of towns. The large cities must have streets paved with stone, brick, or asphalt, and sewers carrying off the waste of households and factories. They must have a large police force. They need such public buildings as city halls, hospitals, fire houses, libraries, and great schoolhouses. Complexity of City Government. — The departments to be administered by a modern city government are so numerous as to make a business quite as complicated as that of the greatest commercial enterprises. Large cities raise by taxes 66 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT many millions of dollars a year, all of which should be ex- pended economically and wisely. The city has hundreds and even thousands of employees, such as school teachers, firemen, and policemen ; and these employees range in ability from the common unskilled laborer to the chief of police, the expert city engineer, the school superintendent, and the mayor. Public Library, Boston Functions of City Government. — The city touches the life of the individual American at many points. It educates him in the public schools ; if he is poor, it cares for him in sick- ness ; it protects him in his person and property ; it looks out for his health by the various resources of the health depart- ment and by city ordinances relating to garbage, sewers, and public nuisances ; it licenses the drivers of vehicles that trans- port him and his goods ; it maintains firemen and fire apparatus to protect his home from destruction by fire; it lends him books at the public library ; and if he dies penniless, it buries him decently in the public grounds of the cemetery. OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT 67 76. State Government. — Of all the governments to which the individual citizen is subject, the most important and the most extensive in the range of its jurisdiction is that of the State, which makes nine out of ten of the laws by which the citizen is governed. Functions of State Governvient. — The State by its Legislature determines most of the rights and duties of the citizen. It determines the religious rights of the citizen; it provides for his education; it regulates the ballot; it prescribes the rules of marriage, and the legal relations of husband and wife and of parent and child: it i } defines what power the "^ = - f\ employer has over his employee, the master over his servant, the business man over his agent; it regulates the affairs of partners, of debtors and creditors ; it makes the __ laws for the inheritance Capitol Building, Albany, N.Y. of property, for its sale and purchase, and for the renting and leasing and mortgaging of property ; it decides the conditions for business contracts and for the hiring of labor ; it enforces nearly all the laws regarding crime and civil injuries between man and man; it legislates regarding the poor and the insane, and takes care of criminals convicted of serious offenses; it requires the building and maintenance of roads and schools; it decides upon what conditions corporations may be estab- lished, — municipal, public, and private. The municipal cor- porations include cities and incorporated towns, villages, and boroughs. The public corporations include railroads and street railways, gas companies, and water companies, requiring rights of way over land. The private corporations include fire and life insurance companies and all companies engaged in busi- ness in accordance with charters granted to them by the State government. 68 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT Our State Government is Unique. — In many respects our national government is not unlike that of certain nations in Europe. European cities, too, are governed very much as are our American cities. The counties and parishes of England are not unlike those in various parts of the United States. But to the American State governmeut, no government in Europe exactly or even closely corresponds. There was a time in the history of our country when many citizens felt that they owed allegiance to their State rather than to the United States. It was this feeling that caused the great body of Southerners to support their leaders in the effort to estab- lish the Confederate States. Many Southerners did not be- lieve in slavery, but all of them believed in State patriotism. In the American scheme of government, counties and towns are little more than convenient forms for subdividing the State for purposes of local government. The county and the town or city are directly dependent upon the State government for all their rights and privileges. State Constitution. — Every State has a written constitution, modeled after the Constitution of the United States, with which it may not conflict. Departments. — The State government consists of three de- partments : the legislative, which makes the laws ; the execu- tive, which enforces them ; and the judicial, which explains and applies them. State Legislature. — The Legislature of every State consists of two Houses. The higher is called the Senate; the lower is variously called the Assembly, the General Assembly, the House, the House of Representatives, or the House of Delegates. TJie Governor. — The head of the executive department is the governor of the State, who, in all but two States, has also a veto on legislation. The governor is commander in chief of the State militia. Courts. — In the judicial departments, the highest court is sometimes called the Court of Appeals and sometimes the Supreme Court, beneath which are inferior courts of more or OUR CIVIL GOVEENMEXT 69 less extended jurisdictions. The highest court is chiefly en- gaged in trying cases in which appeals have been taken from the decisions of the lower courts. It has the duty of interpreting the State constitution and of deciding whether the laws passed by the Legislature are or are not constitutional. (See note, p. 57.) Miscellaneous Boards. — In addition to these three regular departments of the State gov^ernment, there are usually various commissioners appointed by the Legislature or by the gov- ernor for various purposes, such as the State Board of Educa- tion and the State Board of Health, whose duties are indicated by their titles. 77. Government of Territories and Colonies. — In addition to its States, the United States has certain regions with carefully defined boundaries, known as the Territories. All of the States of the United States, except the thirteen "Original States" (including Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, and West Virginia) and California and Texas, were Territories before they became States. A Territory is ruled by a governor who is appointed by the President of the United States, with the consent of the Senate, but it elects its own Legislature and sends to Congress its own delegate, who has the right to serve upon committees and to debate, but not the right to vote. In many respects, the organization of Territories is very much like that of States. As soon as a Territory has secured a reasonably large popula- tion and its people have reached some degree of culture, civili- zation, and morality, the Territory upon its' own application may be received by Congress into the Union as a State. Government of Dependencies. — In addition to the Territories and to the District of Columbia, which is governed directly by Congress, there are now several colonies belonging to the United States. The most important of these are Porto Eico and the Philippine Islands. These are governed much like a Territory, except that one house of the legislature con- sists of men appointed by the President and the Senate. The colonies stand in a very different relation to the Union from that in which the Territories stand, since they are only to a 70 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT limited extent self-governing, and tlieir people are not citizens of the United States.^ 78. National Government. — Over all the States, Territories, and colonies is the national government, which, like the State governments, consists of three branches, — legislative, executive, and judicial. Congress. — The Legislature of the United States is composed of two Houses, an upper House called the Senate, and a lower House called the House of Representatives. This national Legislature is called the Congress, or the meetino: of the dele- Senatk at Washington gates from the different States. The senators represent the State and the representatives the people. Congress makes the laws subject to veto by the President. This veto may itself be annulled by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. The powers and duties of Congress are prescribed by the Con- stitution of the United States. All powers and duties not ex- pressly given to Congress by the Constitution are reserved to the States. Congress has, however, many very important powers, 1 For the names of the States, Territories, and colonies of the United States, see pp. 10-13. OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT 71 such as providing for the national defense, coining money and fixing the standards of weights and measures, maintaining the national mail service, borrowing money, and levying and col- lecting taxes. The President and the Senate together make treaties with foreign nations and appoint office-holders to many offices. Most of the national office appointments are made now in accordance with civil service provisions, requiring proof of special fitness by competitive examinations. Senators and Representatives. — Senators of the United States are elected by the Legislatures of the different States.^ Each State sends two senators. Each Territory sends a delegate. Members of the House of Eepresentatives are elected by dis- tricts, each State having one or more representatives. At the present time, the average number of constituents to each repre- sentative is a little more than two hundred thousand. Con- sequently, the State of Delaware sends one member to the House of Representatives, while New York sends forty-three. There are 435 representatives in all. United States Courts. — The courts of the United States include the Supreme Court and many inferior courts. These courts deal with questions of law arising between citizens of the different States. As with the Supreme Courts in the dif- ferent States, so with the Supreme Court of the United States, the most important duty is to interpret the meaning of the Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States is the most powerful law court in the world, for it decides whether a bill passed by Congress or by any one of the States is or is not in accordance with the Constitution ; and when it is not in accord- ance with the Constitution, the Supreme Court of the United States will not interpret it as a law. Therefore, the Supreme Court of the United States is the supreme governing body. It has final control in all matters save that amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by Congress or by a conven- tion of delegates from all the States. Such amendments, when 1 In 1912 Congress submitted to the States for adoption an amendment to the Constitution providing for the election of senators by the people. TJ, OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT ratified by the Legislatures or by conventions in three fourths of the States, become valid as parts of the Constitution. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.^ Many circuit and district courts are also maintained by the national government. The President and the Cabinet. — The President is at the head of the executive or administrative branch of the government. His duties in this branch are so much more extensive than his legislative power in vetoing acts of Congress that the Presi- dent's term of office is usually called "an administration." For convenience, the administrative branch of the national govern- ment is divided into nine departments with a secretary at the head of each. The nine secretaries form the cabinet of the President. Like the Justices of the Supreme Court, these heads of departments are all appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. They have no powers in their departments other than those delegated to them by the President. Their two general duties are to carry out his direc- tions in rela- tion to their departments and to advise him regarding the affairs of their own de- ymrtments and of the govern- ment as a whole. The nine depart- ments are State, Treasury, War, Justice, Post Office, Navy, Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce and Labor. Functions of the Departments. — The State Department deals with the international affairs of the United States, arranges 1 There are now nine Supreme Court Justices. OUB CIVIL GOVERNMENT 73 treaties, and maintains diplomatic relations with foreign nations. The Treasury deals with the money affairs, regulates the national banks, and collects the customs duties upon imports. The Department of Justice, presided over by the Attorney- General, takes charge of the legal matters in which the United States is concerned. The Department of the Interior has charge of pensions, public lands, Indian affairs, patents, education, and the geological survey. The Post Office Department manages the national mail service, which extends to every city, town, and hamlet of the land, and communicates with foreign countries. The duties of the Departments of War, of the Navy, of Agri- culture, and of Commerce and Labor are those suggested by their titles. These departments govern this nation in many other ways not stated here. Taxes. — Most of the revenue of the United States is derived from the taxation of merchandise of various kinds. Taxes are levied upon many kinds of goods imported at the seacoast cities of the East and West, and at the land borders north and south of the United States. Taxes are also levied upon beer, whisky, and tobacco manufactured in the United States. Minor taxes are raised by imposts and tariffs levied in various other ways. Presidential Election. — The President of the United States is elected by an Electoral College whose members are called electors and are chosen every four years. Each State has as many electors in the Electoral College as it has representatives and senators together. Thus, Delaware had three electors and New York had forty -five at the presidential election of 1912. Electors are nominated by party conventions held in the States for that purpose. The names of the State electors of each party are printed on the ballot under the name of the party, and these electors are voted for by the people. Those who receive the greatest number of votes are elected, and are expected to vote in the following January for the candidate of the party they represent. 79. The Nature of our Government. — The United States gov- ernment is like a board of arbit; alien to mai.itain perpetual 74 OUR CIVIL GOVERN MEJST peace between the different States. For the sake of this per- petual peace and of free trade among themselves, the States have surrendered to the central government various rights be- longing only to independent nations. Effect of the Constitution. — As soon as the Revolutionary War began on the part of the thirteen colonies of England, it became evident that it would be impossible for thirteen separate nations to exist peaceably together on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. At the beginning of that war, these colonies were not very friendly to one another, but the English government com- pelled them to remain at peace. After the war was over, some of the States set up tariffs to prevent the citizens of other States from trading with them freely. Perfect peace and absolute free trade between the States were established by the Constitu- tion in 1787. Though the national government has charge of the general affairs of all the millions of people who live in the United States, the State, by its laws, comes most closely to the individual citizen. (See p. 67.) 80. The United States in Comparison with Other Nations. — We have followed the history of the United States from the discovery of the New World by Columbus to the present time, in which it has become one of the great world powers, and we have studied the government of the United States, national. State, county, and city. What are the points of resemblance and difference between the United States government and that of other nations of the world ? England. — In some respects England is more democratic than our country. When the English government is no longer satisfactory to a majority of the House of Commons, its head officers must resign, and the members of the House of Commons must appeal to their constituents for reelection. Public opinion governs even more directly in England than in the United States. France. — France is a republic like ours in form, but the central government of France controls all the details of govern ment in every part of France. This is as tliough Congress OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT 75 should decide whether or not a street should be built in this or that city of our country. France is a much more highly centralized nation than ours. There is no subordinate govern- ing institution in France corresponding with our individual State. Germany. — In Germany there are many distinct States, and there is also an imperial government; but Prussia in Germany is stronger than all the rest of the States together, and it is Prussia that really rules Germany. This is as though New York State should control the government of the United States. The President of our nation has almost as much authority as has the hereditary German Kaiser; but the President of the United States is elected and holds office for only four years at a time. In the entire history of the country no President has served more than eight years. Our President is an American citizen, raised to his office by the choice of his equals. France has a President who holds his position upon much the same conditions. Foreign City Governments. — Our city governments corre- spond more closely with the city governments of Europe than does our national government with theirs. This similarity is especially noticeable in the case of English and German cities. But, in general, the cities of England and Germany undertake more for their citizens than do the American cities. Many of these foreign cities not only maintain parks, schools, libraries, streets, water service, police service, and fire houses for their citizens, but also build houses for them and provide many other things. All together, the conditions of life in America make the American citizen more free and independent than in any other land. Self-government and self-support by individual effort, without direct or indirect dependence upon others, are the standards of American life. 81. Democracy and Freedom. — A citizen of the United States is a voter in his town or his municipality, in his county, in his State, and in the nation. Often he is a voter in a school dis- trict separate from his municipality. He is partly a subject HIST. EV. SCH. 5 76 OUR CIVIL GOVEBNMENT and partly a ruler in four or five governments, one within another. The essential feature of the American system of government is that the citizen governs himself either directly or through a representative in whose election he has a part. The control of government is secured either by a majority or a plurality of votes. A majority of votes means more than one half, and a plurality of votes means more than any other party or person has received. Meaning of " Bepublic'^ and "Democracy.'^ — "We call our country the land of representative democracy or of republi- canism. In a pure democracy the majority of the voters rule directly. Such a democracy is that of a town meeting. In a representative democracy the people select those who shall rule them by voting for them indirectly through representa- tives. A republic is a land in which the people rule either by pure democracy or by representative democracy. In such a country no man may inherit any office of government. In government and in religion, by far tlie most important con- cerns of mankind, every American is equal to every other in rights and opportunities. This means that before the law one man is as good as another until he has been convicted of being evil. It means that no private citizen can dictate to another, and even the rulers can rule only as long as the people main- tain them in office ; and they rule then only in respect to those matters concerning which the law directs them to rule. In all these respects America is the most fortunate country in the world. 82. Duties of Public Officers. — When a man is installed in office, he takes charge of the duties of that office. In cities, the voters deal with matters of local affairs ; in counties and States, with matters of State law ; and in a nation, with matters of national law. A city alderman or a councilman votes regarding ordinances and resolutions to govern the city. The treasurer takes charge of the public funds. The commissioners of charity take charge of the poor. The police board selects and manages the policemen. The board of education selects the superin- OUB CIVIL GOVERNMENT 77 tendent of schools and establishes rules for the government of the schools.^ The mayor is head of the general city govern- ment, and sees to the general enforcement of all legislation. The duties of various departments of government in great cities are so numerous that it would take several pages merely to make a list of them. The private citizen comes in contact more frequently with the men who hold municipal than with those who hold county and State offices. His relation to them is that of a voter for or against them, but he is also a subject, aud must obey their laws while they are in office. 83. America, the Land of Opportunity. — Behind the American citizen is a glorious history of national independence won and maintained by force of arms. Personal independence has been secured through centuries of lawmaking that have resulted finally in the plan and purj^ose of giving equal freedom, equal rights, and equal opportunities to every man. When this New ^Vorld was first settled, the people were divided into classes and even into castes. Gentlemen's sons inherited rights that were denied to the sons of laborers. As the result of these centuries of political contention and improvement, America has come to be truly the land of opportunity. A law-abiding citizen who takes advantage of the opportunities of education, of the free ballot, and of the right to hold land or to buy and sell it, has before him the certainty of possessing those three unalienable rights, — ^'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- ness," which belong to all men, according to the immortal Decla- ration of Independence, but which w^ere never hitherto realized in history. He lives in a land with many scenes of the greatest natural beauty, inviting him to keep his mind open to travel. By governing himself, he helps to govern the whole nation, for always by the ballot and sometimes by holding office he has a part in directing public affairs. He finds true personal lib- erty in obedience to laws and law enforcement, controlled by a 1 One of the original and interesting features of American government is tlie establisliment and maintenance of free public education, which exists in no other land of the world. 78 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT majority of his political equals. By reading books and news- papers all through life, by taking advantage in youth of the opportunities of systematic education, and by attending public lectures and great political meetings, in adult life, the American citizen becomes as intelligent and competent in public affairs as he is typically the best workman or business man of the world. 84. Education and the General Welfare. — The object of all government is to care for the welfare and happiness of its people. The government of the United States not only sees to it that citizens are able to enjoy their rights without inter- ference, but also provides for the improvement of its citizens through education. In a republic such as ours, where each must take his part in governing the nation, whether it be by voting or by hold- ing office, the na- tional welfare is entirely dependent on the intelligence of the people. Therefore, the edu- cation of the people is a necessary duty of government. Public Schools. — Kealizing the importance of edu- cating each citizen, every State has established a system of public schools. These schools are entirely free to all children without regard to race, color, or religion. More than this, in many States laws have been passed compelling all children between certain ages to attend the public schools. When such children do not go to school, the parents are held responsible. The parents may be arrested, brought before a magistrate, and punished for neglecting to do their duty in this matter. Public School, New York City OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT 79 School Funds. — The expense of carrying on the public schools is met largely by taxation. Every citizen is taxed according to the amount of property he owns. Some citizens pay much more than others for the education of their children. Indeed, it often happens that a man is taxed large sums of money for education when he has no children at all. But this makes no difference, as the object is the education of all for the general welfare. The citizens do not often meet the whole expense of the public schools, however. Nearly every State has a school fund, which is derived from a certain part of public lands reserved for that purpose. The money from this fund is divided among the school districts in proportion to the number of school children in each. The remaining expense is met by the taxation of the people. State Superintendent of Schools. — In many States there is an officer known as the State Superintendent of Schools. It is his duty to exercise general supervision over the schools of the State and to suggest improvements to the State Legisla- ture. There are officers in each county who aid him in his work. Board of Education. — Each school district is in charge of a Board of Education, the members of which are elected by the voters of the district. Boards of Education have power to employ teachers, build schoolhouses, and buy text-books and supplies. Importance of Public Schools. — Every American citizen should be ready to do as much as he can for the public schools, for it is through the schools alone that the coming generation may be prepared to govern the country properly. 85. Party Organization. — In every republican form of gov- ernment, political parties are a necessity. They present the different sides of all public questions to the voters, so that intelligent decisions may be made on public matters. Functions of Parties. — Parties educate and crystallize public opinion, select and nominate persons for public office, and carry on political campaigns. They arouse as much enthusiasm as 80 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT they can for their candidates at the time of election, and get out as large a vote as possible. Methods. — For the purpose of arousing enthusiasm, the newspapers, pamphlets, stump speeches, torchlight parades, political clubs, and fireworks have their uses. Before every election, the newspapers are full of news concerning party candidates and party policies. Just before election, parties frequently distribute pamphlets that furnish the public with information regarding their plans and candidates, and some- times regarding the shortcomings of their opponents. Through stump speeches, the candidates make themselves personally known to large numbers of voters. Before an election every citizen is canvassed with a view to obtaining his vote for the candidates favored. On election day the party provides car- riages to bring to the polls those who otherwise either could not or would not walk to the voting place. Party Machinery. — Every party has a "machine." This is made up of men who are agreed as to what the party policy should be. They unite for the sake of the strength such union gives them. Each member of the " machine " holds his position because of the political influence he has among the voters of the party. The leader of the " machine " is called the "boss." The "boss" is usually a man of very great power in political matters. The "machine" is always at work among the voters, whether it is election time or not. Party Noyninations. — Sometimes the nomination for public office takes place in the party convention which is composed of delegates appointed for the purpose. In many of the States, however, the party nominations are usually made through pri- maries. The primary is an election made by the voters of the party before and preliminary to the regular election. At the primary, the voters of the party nominate candidates to represent them at the regular election. The party sees to it that no one who is not a member of the party takes a part in its primaries. To prevent this, it keeps a list of all voters who belong to it. When one party is decidedly larger than OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT 81 the other, the nomination by that party at the primary or at the convention is practically equivalent to election. In order to become President of the United States, it is first necessary for a man to secure the nomination of one of the great political parties. Next, he must have a majority of enough States, so that his electors may elect him in the Electoral College. Party Conventions. — A city convention made up of delegates from the various wards takes charge of the municipal affairs of the party ; a county convention made np of delegates from the various towns and cities takes charge of county affairs ; a State convention made up of delegates from the various coun- ties takes charge of State affairs, and a national convention made up of delegates from the various States takes charge of national affairs. Party Platform. — The declaration of party principles adopted by a convention is called a platform, and each principle enun- ciated is called a plank. 86. Party History. — America's political parties are not, like its government, copies of Old World institutions, but are the peculiar product of our peculiar conditions. With us, a party is not a mere faction of the people, but rather a great system- atic organization, with both a policy and a history. The great national parties have grown up by slow processes. The first parties were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The former believed in a strong national government, so that the United States might maintain a dignified place among the na- tions of the world. The Anti-Federalists wished to see the State governments strong, so that individual citizens might be protected from oppression by the national government. In the course of time, these parties disappeared, while others took their places. Among these were the Whigs, who favored a protective tariff, and the Free-soilers, who were opposed to the extension of slavery. Present Parties. — At the present time there are two great political parties in the United States, while there are several others of minor importance, such as the Populists, the Socialists, 82 OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT and the Prohibitionists. The two great parties are the Repub- lican and the Democratic. The Republicans have usually- favored a high protective tariff for the encouragement of home industries, while the Democrats have been in favor of a low tariff, so that prices of goods to consumers should be low. In recent years the Republicans have favored the single gold standard of money, while the Democrats for a time were in favor of the double standard, gold and silver. The positions of the two great parties upon other questions now before the American people are not very sharply defined. Growth and Decline of Parties. — When a party has once taken a definite stand before the people in regard to certain policies, it will support its candidates only so long as they maintain their pledges to carry out its policies. Thus, such a party is responsible for its candidates. A weak and unwise party disappears, as also does one that has accomplished its mission ; and new parties come forward, stronger and wiser. It is possible in the course of time that a small party may become great, or that some new party not yet thought of may get a majority of the electors and may at some future time elect a President. New Issues. — Among the new great questions are the fol- lowing: whether the nation shall adopt or maintain the policy of imperialism, by governing colonies of subject races remote from the United States ; and whether the government shall own, or at least control, such great industries as coal mining, railroading, and telegraphing. PART lY OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS . 87. Inventions. — The progress of the United States in population and territory has been accompanied by equal prog- ress in material wealth. We have four times the area that we had in 1800 and fifteen times the population, while our general wealth has increased from a billion to almost a hundred billion dollars. This vast increase in wealth has been due in part to increase in land area and in the numbers of agricultural, industrial, and commercial workers. It has been largely due also to scientific discoveries and mechanical inventions. Tlie Cotton Gin. — Among the most important of these in- ventions was the cotton gin, which came into use in 1793. The cotton gin enabled man to accomplish by ma- chinery work that had before been done by hand methods, and led to a number of other important inventions in the manufacture of cotton. These cotton inventions, together with the immense in- crease in the number of slaves and the almost unlimited market in Europe for cotton, brought great wealth to the South. Since the War of Secession, progress in cotton raising and in manufacture has been very great. Steamships and Railirays. — In 1807 the first successful steam- ship was built. The application of steam to water travel led 83 COTTO-N GlX 84 OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS m to a vast increase of transportation by water along the inland lakes and rivers. In 1819 a steamship crossed the Atlantic Ocean. In 1830 the steam locomotive and the iron railway came into practical use in this country. The new railway led to even greater economic changes than the steamship, which had to follow fixed waterways, while the lines of the steam loco- motive could go north, east, south, and west, almost at the pleasure of man. Before 1860 Early Locomotive railways were to be found in all parts of the United States east of the Mississippi, and during the Civil War a railway was carried west from the Mississippi toward the Pacific Coast. The Telegraph. — Before the railway and the steamship had reached the degree of perfection that made them commercially practicable, the telegraph was invented. Which of the three, the steam locomotive, the steamship, or the electric telegraph, has been the most important agent in the economic and political transformation of this country, it would be very hard to say. Taken together, they have almost annihilated time and space. By telegraph, Boston may communicate with San Francisco within the briefest time; by steamship, one may go from New York to Liverpool in less than six days; and by rail, Boston and Philadelphia, cities that one hundred years ago were more than a week apart by steady stage coaching, are now within seven hours of travel, while New York and Chicago are less than one day apart. Tlie Telephone. — Wonderful as these inventions have been in some respects, that of the telephone, which came into use in 1876, is still more remarkable. It enables men to talk to one another though they may be five hundred miles apart. These means of rapid intercommunication, man with man, supplemented as they have been by the inventions of swift printing presses and of photography, and by the development OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS 85 of the government mail service, have made it possible to or- ganize business combinations of a size hitherto not dreamed of. 88. Business Associations. — Within the past ten years single corporations have grown until their capital stock and bonds have reached not merely fifty or one hundred million dollars, vast as such sums seem, but even half a billion, a full billion, and in one instance a billion and a half of dollars. This repre- sents more than the total wealth of the United States in 1800. The human mind can scarcely realize such sums.^ Labor Unions. — While this movement has been going on upon the side of capital invested in business, an equally im- portant movement has taken place among the laborers, who have combined in unions to protect themselves against small corporations, while the unions have combined in amalgamations to protect themselves against the great corporations. Strife betiveen Labor and Capital. — The last few years of American economic history have witnessed many struggles be- tween the capitalists on one side and the laborers on the other. The Constitution guarantees to protect all forms of private property. At the same time, it is an essential principle of American democracy that the citizens are equal in rights and opportunities. The struggle between capital and labor is one of the most important movements in American history. 89. The Protective Tariff. — The amazing development of manufactures in the United States has taken place partly be- cause of the fostering care of our tariff system. Since the United States government must have money for its annual ex- penditures, it is necessary and advisable to impose taxes upon imported goods. By making these taxes heavy upon classes of goods manufactured at less cost in the Old World than in the United States, their prices to the American consumers are in- creased. For these increased prices American manufacturers can afford to produce them ; hence, the tariff has stimulated 1 It is profitable to discuss in class by illustrations the meaning of a thou- sand dollars' worth of property, ten thousand dollars' worth, and so on up to millions. Newspaper financial reports furnish valuable material. 86 OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS the manufacture of various kinds of goods that would not otherwise have been produced in this country. The protective tariff has had bitter opposition, and free traders have claimed that more harm than good has resulted from it, because of the increased prices to consumers. This discussion has been one of the most important in American politics for two generations. 90. The Principles of Business. — Some knowledge of the natural laws of business is essential to a fair understanding of the great questions now before our people. These great questions are whether or not the organization of monopolistic combinations of labor should be restrained by national law, and whether or not such properties as coal mines, railroads, and telegraph lines should be owned by the State or the national governments. Other great questions similar to these have been solved by men who have known the history of nations and have understood the science, commonly called economics, dealing with the laws of business. Tlie Xature of Business. — Not every activity that men en- gage in constitutes business. Play, which is physical activity for its own sake, is not business ; nor is that hard and contin- uous form of effort known as domestic service business. Not everything that involves the handling of money is business to all parties concerned, for charity is not business ; and yet charity costs private persons and whole communities great sums of money. Business consists in the production and dis- tribution of commodities that miuister to human welfare. It involves the buying and selling of products or of services. There are always two parties to a business transaction, both of whom wish to gain something. Business involves exchange of services or articles of value. The business world is com- posed of business men and of workmen of many classes. A business man may be a contractor, a tradesman, a manufac- turer, a merchant, or a banker. The business man is at the head of a business enterprise. He furnishes the capital that provides employment for labor, and his purpose in engaging in the enterprise is to make a profit by which he can maintain OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS 87 himself and his family and increase his property. The work- men include clerks, mechanics, artisans, general employees, and unskilled laborers. Corpordtions. — In modern business, the great corporations are taking the place of individual business men and of firms of business men in the management of enterprises, so that the head employees of corporations, though they are paid salaries like workmen, are really business men ; that is, managers of business. While the business men work for the sake of prof- its, the workmen labor to receive salaries and wages. Some of the important men employed in the management of great corporations receive very large salaries. The ^nanagers and presidents of great life insurance companies and railroads re- ceive from f 20,000 to $100,000 a year. The salaries and wages paid to men engaged in the more common employments are familiar to us all. The compensations of men range from $8 a week up, while the compensations of women, and of boys and girls over fifteen years of age range from $3 a week up. Sources of Profit. — One who understands the laws of busi- ness knows why some men make such great profits from business that in the course of a few years they may accumu- late hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of projoerty, while good workmen receive from $15 to $40 a week as wages. A manufacturing company engages in business for the sake of making a profit from the sale of its products. In order to make the products, it is necessary for the company to have land, buildings, machinery, materials, and working people. It is necessary also for the company to bear its share of the general expenses of the government. After all these expen- ditures are paid for, the surplus remaining from the sale of products is the profit. Therefore, in order to understand how a profit is realized from business, it is first necessary to under- stand what the expenses of business are. Land and Rent. — The first expense in any business is that of renting or purchasing land. When a manufacturer has only a small capital, he usually prefers to rent the land on which 88 OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS his buildings are to stand. The owner of the land usually makes a lease with the manufacturer for a term of years, with a provision for a renewal of the lease for an additional term of years, so that the manufacturer will not lose the value of the building that he erects. Variations in Price of Land. — The annual rent depends entirely upon the quality of the land or on its accessibility to the market. Since the owner of land has by law the right to exclude all others from using it, he can compel any one who wishes to use it to pay him for the privilege of so doing; but influences outside of his personal feelings determine how much the tenant will pay, for no tenant will pay more for a piece of land than he would have to pay for equally desirable land elsewhere. Consequently, the rents of various pieces of land vary. Inaccessible and inconvenient locations are worth noth- ing to manufacturers and merchants, while those very near and convenient to the market are worth great sums of money annu- ally. A manufacturer can afford to pay more for land imme- diately upon a railroad track than he can for land far away from a railroad, since with a factory upon land near the track he saves the cost of transporting his products by team to the railroad. Relation of Rent to Interest. — When the manufacturer pre- fers to buy the land outright, the price depends upon what the rent would be if the land were rented annually. Where bor- rowed money costs five per cent annually and where taxes on real estate are about one per cent on the value of the land, that value is about sixteen times the annual rent. Where money is dearer annually, land is cheaper to buy ; and where money is cheaper, land is dearer. This is a complicated problem in arithmetic which manufacturers have to work out practically. Capital and Interest. — The second expense that the manu- facturer must meet is that of money borrowed as capital. If he uses his own capital in the business, it must nevertheless be considered as an expense, since his capital would have yielded OUli BUSINESS AFFAIRS 89 him money if he liad lent it to another. He will use this capi- tal to put up his buildings, and to buy machinery and materials .for manufacturing. He needs also some cash capital to handle his products on the market.^ Where the total amount of money which is in the market to lend is large, and where the loan pro- posed is very safe, there the annual interest, or price for the use of money, is small. On the other hand, where the amount of money available for lending is small and where the risks of the loans are great, money is very dear. In the United States, within the past twenty-five years, money has been lent to manu- facturers for business uses at interest rates varying from four and five per cent to twelve and even greater per cents. Insurance for Money Risks. — If money lenders were paid the same rates of interest for loans where the risk of getting their capital back is great, as where the risk is small, one or the other of two things would happen: either the money lenders would be unAvilling to lend their capital, or all accumulated wealth would be borrowed by so many unsuccessful enterprises that it would gradually disappear. The excess of interest paid by those who borrow for risky ventures over the interest that is paid by those who borrow for steady-going enterprises, is in the nature of an insurance fund out of which losses of capital are paid. Laws concerning Interest. — In interest for the use of money, the law of the State interferes as in the case of rent for the use of land. Just as the law guarantees to the owner of the title to landed property the right of excluding all others from the prop- erty and enables a landlord to take his tenant's personal prop- erty, when rent due is not paid, so the law of the State enables a lender of money to collect from the property, real or personal, of a borrower, the capital sum borrowed, together with interest at the legal rate or as agreed, subject to the conditions set by the law. 1 Most merchandise is sold upon a time credit of thirty, sixty, or ninety days. The seller gives up possession of his goods a considerable time before he receives cash in payment for them. ^0 OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS Labor and Wages. — The third expense of the manufacturer is that for labor employed in his business. This expense con- sists of salaries, wages, and pay for piecework. The landlord owns land and can exclude others from it; the capitalist owns money and can keep others from taking it ; and every man in the United States has the right to his own labor. And as the capitalist or the landlord who will not use or let others use his capital or his land can get no income from it, so the working- man, who has neither land nor capital, and who will not work, can get no income day by day. The times have been when land yielded no rent, when money brought no interest, and when most men were slaves and had to work without wages for masters whether they wished to do so or not ; but, in those times, even the greatest nations were very poor in comparison with so rich a nation of free and equal men as the United States. Laws governing Wages. — Natural laws of business tend to govern the wages paid to labor. Some of these laws are diffi- cult to understand. The simplest and most important ones are the following: 1. When the demand for workmen is great and the supply of workmen is relatively small, wages are high ; and when the demand is small and the supply is relatively large, wages are low. In "good times" wages rise; in 'Hiard times" they fall. 2. Men will not work for wages lower than the amount they regard as necessary to support a decent mode of life. When offered less than such an amount they refuse to accept the work, and do something else instead. They engage in business for themselves, or take to farming, or go to other places wdiere labor is better paid. Sometimes they live without work for long periods, and are then forced by necessity to try to live on less wages than they were willing to accept before. 3. Men without ability to do various kinds of labor are apt to get lower wages than those whose ability enables them to do now one thing, now another ; because when dissatisfied they have not the power to turn to some other kind of work. OUE BUSINESS AFFAIRS 91 Employers try to keep wages from rising, and employees try to make them rise. There is a steady push and pull in which poor men, or those poorly educated, are at a disadvantage. 4. Men working at tasks requiring unusual ability or long preparation receive higher wages than those who do work requiring less ability and less preparation. This is because the supply of able men, well prepared for difficult work, is small while the demand is great; and because, as the hire of land well located is high, so the hire of men well educated is high. The landlord gets high rents for his desirable land, and the laborer gets high wages for his desirable labor. 5. In occupations requiring skill, the men often unite in unions and agree upon a minimum price for their labor. This uniting tends to raise wages but to decrease both the demand for and the supply of a particular kind of skilled labor. Materials and Price. — The next expense of the manufacturer is for the materials that he uses in his factory. Their cost to him depends upon their price, and their price depends upon the supply of and the demand for such materials in the general market. Price measures value in money. The value of goods depends partly upon the cost of producing them, and partly on how useful they seem to others. The price of goods is not for any great length of time lower than the cost of producing them, for the producers will cease to produce particular kinds of goods after beginning to lose money on them. This by dimin- ishing the supply of the goods will tend to raise their price. On the other hand, where competition is free, the price of goods cannot long remain much above the cost of production. For if the profits are very great, so many goods will be pro- duced that the supply will exceed the demand, — a condition which will tend to lower the price. The price of goods is never higher than the buyers are willing to pay rather than to do without them. OtJier Expenses. — The manufacturer has still other expenses to consider before he can estimate correctly his profits and his losses. These include taxes, insurance, and other items. HIST. Ev. sen. — 6 92 OUR BUSINESS AFFAIRS Taxes. — Taxes are the amounts levied upon property bj government for its own expenditures. In every civilized nation, taxes are unavoidable. Government pays for the police, who, sometimes at the risk of their own lives, make property secure ; government pays for education by which chil- dren are prepared for life as good and useful citizens ; it pays for the protection of buildings from destruction by fire ; for the army and navy that keep foreign enemies away from our homes ; and for many other things. Fire Insurance. — Fire insurance is the provision by which, upon the payment of a premium, various corporations agree to give in case of loss of property by fire either certain amounts of money or to repair the property. Only very wealthy men or corporations owning many different buildings can afford to run the risk of losing a building by fire. Frojlt and Loss. — After the manufacturer has paid the rent of land, the interest on the cost of buildings, machinery, and cash capital, the wages of the workingmen, the taxes and insur- ance on his property, and all other expenses, and has received payment for the products of his factory, he knows whether he has made a profit or sustained a loss. Competition and Trusts. — As the workman cannot live unless he gets his wages, so the employer cannot long continue his business unless he makes profits. Many employers fail in business. This is due partly to competition which tends con- stantly to reduce the prices of products, and partly to the employers' drawing for themselves out of their receipts from sales more money than the profits warrant. In recent years, in the United States, more than half the business men — manufacturers, merchants, contractors — have failed at least once in business. In order to do away as much as possi- ble with competition, the capitalists in recent years have been organizing great corporations or trusts that have com- bined smaller competing enterprises and have put the former heads of these enterprises upon regular salaries in the great corporations. SUMMAEY 91. America in History. — When the colonists in America declared independence from England in 1776, they little under- stood what they had undertaken and what the nation that they had begun was yet to become. They would have been aston- ished by a vision of the things that are now real. To them not the only incredible things would have been the telephone and telegraph, the steam locomotive and steamship, the great twenty-story office buildings, and the marvelous billion-dollar industrial corporations. Incredible to them would have been the present average popular intelligence due to the free public schools and libraries, and to the activity of the modern print- ing press. Incredible would have been the present high posi' tion of woman. Incredible would have been the political equality of all citizens, rich and poor, educated and ignorant. We have many things yet to accomplish in America, but there is not much that we can do in the way of progress by trying to revive or to imitate conditions in the Old W^orld. In the United States we have yet to solve, if possible, the problems of capital and labor, of wealth and poverty, and of the overcrowding of cities ; but ever since the first European settlement of America, the people of this land have gone on from experiment to experiment in all the affairs of govern- ment and society, steadily realizing better and better condi- tions of life for the body and for the soul. It is the American ideal that all are to share in the general progress in wealth, intelligence, and morality. Here opportunity is denied to none. Here, for the first time in human history, a great and rich nation of men, free and equal, has grown up, conscious of the purpose in all its institutions to help each citizen to make the most of himself. By the free institutions of America, 93 94 SUMMAET heritages of all past ages in science and art and literature, in government and religion, in the home and in the school, con- stituting an incalculable treasure, are ready and waiting to be taken by all who desire to possess them. How much we re- ceive depends almost entirely upon ourselves, upon our desire and our effort. The vast, progressive civilization all about us, by means of which we live, offers its aid on every hand, when we understand its meaning and are ourselves willing and able to take our place and to do our part in its great and beneficent activities. APPENDIX THE PRESIDENTS Party Term George Washington No party 1789-1797 John Adams Federalist 1797-1801 Thomas Jefferson Republican i 1801-1809 James Madison Republican i 1809-1817 James Monroe Republican i 1817-1825 John Quincy Adams Republican 2 1825-1829 Andrew Jackson Democratic 1829-18o7 Martin Van Buren Democratic 1837-1841 William Henry Harrison Whig 1841 J..lin Tyler Whig^ 1841-1845 James Knox Polk Democratic 1845-1849 Zachary Taylor Whig 1849-1850 Millard Fillmore Whig 1850-1853 Franklin Pierce Democratic 1853-1857 James Buchanan Democratic 1857-1861 Abraham Lincoln Republican 1861-1865 Andrew Johnson Republican ^ 1865-1869 Ulysses Simpson Grant Republican 1869-1877 Rutherford Birchard Hayes Republican 1877-1881 James Abram Garfield Republican 1881 Chester Alan Arthur Republican 1881-1885 Grover Cleveland Democratic 1885-1889 Benjamin Harrison Republican 1889-1893 Giover Cleveland Democratic 1893-1897 William McKinley Republican 1897-1901 Theodore Roosevelt Republican 1901-1909 William H. Tal't Republican 1909- State Virginia Massachusetts Virginia Virginia Virginia Massachusetts Tennessee New York Ohio Virginia Tennessee Louisiana New York New Hampshire Pennsylvania Illinois Tennessee Illinois Ohio Ohio New York New York Indiana New York Ohio New York Ohio the 1 Sometimes called Democratic-Republican — the party from which Democratic party of to-day claims descent. 2 At the time of John Quincy Adams's election, political parties were dis organized. He called himself a Republican but his doctrines were Federalistic 3 An anti-Jackson Democrat elected on the Whig ticket. 4 A Union war Democrat elected upon the Republican ticket. 95 96 APPENDIX DATES OF SETTLEMENT AND ADMISSION OF STATES No. Delaware . . Pennsylvania New Jersey . Georgia . . . Connecticut . Massachusetts Maryland . . South Carolina New Hampshire Virginia. . . New York . . North Carol in Rhode Island Vermont . . Kentucky . . Tennessee . . Ohio Louisiana . . Indiana . . . Mississippi . Illinois . . . Alabama . . Maine .... Missouri . . Date of Admission INTO THE Union