.W79 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DD002733t.aE V'^^.O^* \-.o<^>A* %'^^^'C*^ -<* i^^i*S • ^-'^^ ' • . s ^O-^ci. .HO. V^-\/ "o^'-^'Z \-^^*y ^o rT ^ ,^HO. CZZ9 A BRIEF OF United States History L. A. WIRICK. MAY88I89<; History is not chronology, nor is it biography ; but, building upon chronology and biography, it seeks to unfold the philosophy of human development. Copyright, 1896, by L. A. Wirick, Brookfield. Mo. en'? MARTIN a. JONES, PRINTERS, BROOKFIEID, MO. PREFACE. IN Ccisting about for a title for this little book, I lit upon the lawyers' word "Brief," which means, say^ Webster "a concise statement of a case or a statement of the heads of a discourse." That is what I have tried to make of these topics and notes on the history of our country. The study of history is answering the five ques- tions, what, who, where, when, why, "and the last is the greatest of these." To illustrate, take the bare statement "One stormy day in the autumn of 1620, the Mayflower, with a band of a hundred pil- grims, came to anchor in Cape Cod harbor." What de. tail of the Mayflower voyage makes it stand for so much in our history? Not that it was 1620, nor that it was Cape Cod harbor, even though a different date or a different place would have caused a different course of subsequent events; not even that it was the pilgrims who came, except so far as we can read their character and discover avhy they came. And so with every event: it is of only secondary importance unless it helps us to see the chain of causes, running, link after link, through the four centuries of American history. L. A. W. April 3, 1896. i I / /V: J ' f<. I / /^^ ^ / / .,y / 'i y I i / / A BRIEF OF= United States History Discovery of the New World. THE WORLD OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 1. The Mediterranean Sea, — "In the midst of the lands." 2. Venice. — Trade with the east by way of Alex- andria and the Red Sea. 3. Genoa. — Trade with the east by way of Con- stantinople, Black Sea and caravan routes to the Per- sian G-ulf and India. 4. Portugal. — " The Hero Nation." 5. Spain. — Moorish invasion and conquest; union of Castile, Leon and Arragon under Ferdinand and Isa- bella; fall of Granada (1492). 6. France. 7. England — the leading protestant nation. 8. Holland. 9. The Norse "vikings" — the pirates of the "viks," or bays of Scandinavia; their discovery of Ice- land, Greenland and Vinland. 10. The Venetian traveller, Marco Polo and his book. (1260-1295.) 11. The Atlantic Ocean — "the sea of darkness;" Canary Islands (1344); Azores and Madeiras; African coast as far as Cap Nun. 12. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks (1453) and downfall of Genoese eastern trade. THE EASTERN WAY TO INDIA. 13. Prince Henry of Portugal, "the Navigator;" the terrors of the equator; Portuguese exploration along the African coast; Cape Blanco (1441); Verde (1445); Sierra Leone (1462); equator crossed (1471); Fernando Po (1474); Congo (1484); Cape of Storms, "Good Hope of finding India " (1487). 14. Vasco da Gama reached India by way of Good Hope (1498). 15. Cabral, bound for India, reached Brazil (1500) and India. The hundred years of Portuguese domin- ion in the East Indies. THE WESTERN WAY TO INDIA. 16. Columbus. — Genoese by birth [see 3 and 12]; Portuguese by adoption [13]; Spanish by commission. / i I / I '^ I ; \ ^ \ It ^ X ^ ^^ a -^ o\ . H, I y^v ^Ki:^;7^"p- /""^ \ ^A)i7 .^rT-.TTT?-rr/ -r- ' I / / (y.fc R/ij&l-Lf/. 7 g ^/ U a- i^^ ! /Vf<9^'^//zr/r. /or6- -• ■■?> m, ../r.. As a Portuguese navigator made a voyage to Iceland (1477) [9]; along the African coast; read Marco Polo's book [10] and studied Toscanelli's map. "The crazy dream he hawked about Europe for twenty years— a route to India by sailing west;" his voyage and discov- ery. What he proved: that land could be reached by sailing west. What he did not prove: that the earth is round or that India was only 3,000 or 4,000 miles west of Spain. 17. The new lands of the world divided by the Pope between Spain and Portugal by the line 370 leagues west of the Azores (1493). 18. The hundred years of Spanish ascendancy in the west, ending with the defeat of the Great Armada (1588). 19. The new land not India but supposed to be a narrow line of Islands. The search for a way through or around them. 20. Balboa (1513) crossed the isthmus, discovered the ''South Sea" and modestly claimed for Spain all the lands whose shores it washed. 21. Magellan (1520-21) passed the straits and crossed the Pacific. One of his ships and 18 men cir- cumnavigated the globe, thus demonstrating its ro- tundity. 22. Demand of France to be shown "that clause in the will of Father Adam that divides the earth be- tween the Spanish and Portuguese and excludes the French." 23. Cartier (1535) discovered the St. Lawrence. 24. Protestant England, ignoring the Pope's de- cree, tries to find a western way to India. The voy- ages of Frobisher (1576), Drake (1577). 25. Spain, France, England and Holland search- ing for a way through the supposed islands barring the way to India. The search continued into the seventeenth century. Instructions to the London Company (1606) [34J to explore all rivers and inlets "to find a short and easy way to the South Sea. " Hudson's discovery of Hudson river (1609) [45J and Hudson bay (1610). LaSalle's settlement at La Chine — " China '' — on the St. Lawrence (1666), 26. The idea gradually forcing its way that the new land was a vast continent and as such worthy of conquest and settlement. DeSoto's explorations (1540-42). Coronado's explorations (1540-42). The Conquest of the Continent. SPANISH ACQUISITIONS. 27. Conquest of Hayti (14:95) and its subsequent depopulation. Cuba (1511), Mexico (1521), Peru (1531). 28. Permanent settlements made at Buenos Ayers (1535), Santiago (1541), St. Augustine (1565), Santa Fe (1585). 29. The nine Spanish provinces — Mexico, Peru, New G-ranada, LaPlata; Yucatan, Gautemala, Chili, Venezuela, Cuba. 30. The centuries of Spanish rapacity, treachery and cruelty. The cession of western Hayti to France (Peace of Ryswick, 1697), the first break in the unity of Spanish America. Cuba the last Spanish Ameri- can possession [194]. FRENCH ACQUISITIONS. 31. Colony at Quebec (1608). Settlements in Acadia (1610). Previous attempts at Port Royal 1562), St. Augustine (1564), Acadia (1604). 32. Explorations of Joliet and Marquette (1673), LaSalle (1679-82), Hennepin (1680). ENGLISH COMMERCIAL SETTLEMENTS. ELIZABETH, 1558-1603 JAMES I, 1{;U3-1625 38. Raleigh's charter and at- tempts to plant colonies (158-1-7). 34. The Virginia company chartered (1606). The two divis- ions, London company and Plymouth com.pany. The London company's colony at Jamestown (1()07). A new charter (1609). 35. G-rant to Gorges and Mason (1623) and set- tlements at Dover and Portsmouth. 36. "The Governor and Com- pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England" (1629). 37. Grants to the Clarendon company (1663-5). Locke and his "Grand Model.'" CHARLES I, 162.-.-l(J49 CHARLES II, l(56ii-l(;85 ENGLISH EMIGRATION FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 38. The Separatist.s— "Pil- grims." Their flight to Holland. JAMES ] 1603-162.5 Settlement at Plymouth in the grant of Voyage to America (1620) with help of an English company the Plymouth Virginia company 39. The Puritans at Salem (1628). -to. Catholics settled along the Chesapeake. Grant to Calvert. 41. Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts CHARLES I, ] 62.-1-1649 Providence founded (1636). Charter for Rhode Island obtained (1644) from Parliament. 42. Emigrants from Massachusetts settled in Connecticut (1635-6). Charter obtained from the king (1662). 43. Wm. Penn and his "Holy Experiment" (J 682). Treaty with CHARLES II, 16(50-1685 the Indians. Founding of Philadelphia (1683) 44. Oglethorp (1733). GEORGE II, 1727-1760 DUTCH SETTLEMENTS. 45. New Amsterdam (1609). SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 46. New Sweden (1638). English Supremacy, THE EXTINCTION OF DUTCH AND SWEDISH CLAIMS. 47. Swedish settlements on the Delaware taken by the Dutch (1(354). 48. New Amsterdam surrendered to the English (1664); retaken by the Dutch (1673). All Dutch pos- sessions transferred to England (1674). THE DRIFT OF EQROPEAN WARS. WILLIAM AND MARY, 1689-1702 49. The English Revolu tion of 1688; Protestant Eng lish against the Jacobites and French. Capture of Port Royal and Acadia by a force from New England. Their return to France by the terms of peace. 50. The war of the Spanish succession; England, Holland and G-ermany against anne France and Spain (1702-18). Cap- __j!!^^ ture of Port Royal (Annapolis) and part of Acadia (Nova Scotia). 51. The war of the Austrian succession; England, Holland and GEORGE II, 17-27-17W) Austria against France, Spain and Prussia (1741-49). Capture of Louisburg. Its return to France in ex- change for Madras, India, by the terms of peace. THE DOWNFALL OF FRENCH DOMINION IN AMERICA. 52. The extent and situation of English settle- ments and French trading-posts. The conflicting ter- ritorial claims. 53. The Ohio company (1748). New French forts at Presque Isle (Erie, Pa.) (1753), Le Boeuf (LeBoeuf, Pa.) (1753), Venango (Franklin, Pa.) (1753), Du Quesne (Pittsburg) (1754). 54. The French line of occupation. Quebec, the key to the French possessions. Louisburg, protecting the St. Lawrence; Ticonderoga and Crown Point on the Champlain route to Quebec; Ft. Niagara, the out- fitting point for the upper lakes; Ft. Du Quesne con- trolling the middle west. 55. The English situation. Congress at Albany; Franklin's plan of union. The English outposts: Hal- ifax, Ft. Wm. Henry, Ft. Edward, Oswego, Ft. Cum- berland. 5H. Braddock's expedition against Ft. Du Quesne and his defeat. The taking of Acadia and the depor- tation and dispersal of the Acadians. 57. Grand strategem of the war. Louisburg taken (1758), Ft. GEORGE IT, 1727-1760 Du Quesne (Ft. Pitt) (1758), Niagara (1758), Ticonde- roga and Crown Point (1759). GKOKGK III, 1760-1820 58. Capture of Quebec (1759). 59. Treaty of Paris (1763). Supremacy of English in America, — Protestant instead of Catholic, Anglo-Saxon instead of Latin. 60. Transfers of territory (1768): England re- ceived from France all territory east of Mississippi river except city and district of New Orleans, and re- linquished to France all claim to territory west of the Mississippi river; England received from Spain, Flor- ida in exchange for Havana; France transferred to Spain by a secret treaty, all territory west of Missis- sippi river under the name of Louisiana. "^z f^-^ ^--"X ^ ^■^^V- . ^^t^\,'^^^'.<^| 'S" /- — V V- ( ■ C-, X 1\l^ ^ ^ / .y \ ■■U'.'~J^T^-< L._...J !: English Empire in America. THE RIGHTS OF FREE-BORN ENGLISH SUBJECTS. 61. The charter provision that the colonists "should have and enjoy all the liberties, franchises and immunities of free denizens and natural subjects * * * to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born in this our realm of England." (Virginia charter, 1609). 62. Virginia House of Bur- gesses, a representative body. Berkeley and Bacon's Rebellion. 63. "Mayflower compact." Massachusetts Bay colony and their charter. Town meetings, pure de- mocracy. 64:. "The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." No mention made of king or com- pany. 65. The charter of Massachusetts revoked. JAMES I, 1603-1625 Divine Right of Kings CHARLES I, 162.')-1649 "Petition of Right," 1628 LONG PARLIAMENT, 1640-16.53 CHARLES II AND JAMES II, 1660-1685 1685-1688 Andros as viceroy of the northern colonies. Revolution of 1(588, WILLIAM AND MARY 1()89-1702 Declaratioa of Rights Bill of Rights, 1689 6Q. The colonies consid- ered merely as a source of rev- enue to the mother country. Trade restrictions as early as 1621. Manufacturing restrictions. 67. Evasion of navigation laws. Trade with West Indies. COLONIAL LIFE AND CHARACTER. 68. Population a million, mainly English. Scotch in New Hampshire and North Carolina; Irish, French Huguenots, Swedes; Dutch in New York; Germans in Pennsylvania. 69. Entire separation of church and state only in Rhode Island. 70. Social and industrial life. Slavery in all the colonies. Pillory and stocks. Aristocracy. Patroons in New York. 71. Education. Newspapers. Schools and colleges. 72. Political life. New England town meeting. Virginia county meeting. Republican form of govern- ment in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Proprietary government in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. Royal government in others. 73. The devotion of the colonists to Eno-lish laws and customs. TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. GKENVILLE 74. Stamp act (1765). First pro- posed by Gov. Keith of Pennsylvania in 1789. 75. Colonial congress at New York: declaration of rights, petition to king, memorial to parliament. 76. Sons of Liberty and non - importation societies. BAKKE, PITT, BUKKE British merchants and their trade of $30,000,000 per year. Repeal of the stamp act. 77. Import tax. Board of com- missioners. Writs of assistance re- TOWNSHEND newed. Troops sent to New York. Refusal of quar- ters. Legislature prorogued. 78. Troops sent to Boston. Quartered on the common and in the state house. Boston massacre. Removal of the troops to Castle William. ^ NORTH Sam Adams and his committees of corres- pondence. 79. Reduction of taxes. Tea sent to New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Charleston. Boston "Tea party." " The Five Intolerable Acts. " Port of Salem open to Boston merchants. 80. Continental congress at Philadelphia: decla- ration of rights, articles of association, address to the people of Great Britain, memorial to Canada, petition to the king. 81. Lexington, Concord, siege of Boston. 82. Second continental congress at Philadelphia: Washington commander-in-chief. 83. Bunker Hill. Evacuation of Boston. 84. Declaration of Independence. ''A New Nation, Conceived in Liberty." REVOLUTION. 85. Tories and rebels in the colonies: New York the center of Tory sentiment, New England the hot bed of rebellion. Whigs and '^ Kings Friends " in England. 86. The grand strategem of the war. New York the center of British operations; the loyalist strong- hold, cut off New Engfland from the southern colonies, control the Hudson and Champlain route to Canada. 87. Washington's retreat from Long Island, evacuation of New York, loss of Ft. Washington. Lee's treason. Washington's retreat through New Jersey. British advance on Philadelphia checked by the battles at Trenton and Princeton. 88. British plan of campaign for 1777. Bur- goyne's advance, Ticonderoga and Bennington. 89. Renewed attack toward Philadelphia. Bat- tle of Brandy wine. Capture of Philadelphia. Battle of German town. Valley Forge. 90. Battles of Saratoga. 91. French recognition and alliance. English overtures for peace. 92. Evacuation of Philadelphia. Battle of Mon- mouth. 93. Declaration of war by Spain against England (June, 1779). American privateers in the ports of Holland. Armed neutrality of Russia, Denmark and Sweden. 9-1. Transfer of the war to the south. Capture of Savannah and Charleston. Green's campaign. Cornwallis in Virginia. 95. Occupation of Yorktovvn. Washington's march to Virginia. French blockading fleet and army. Siege and surrender of Yorktown (Oct. 19, 1781). 96. Situation in England. Resignation of the North ministry. Treaty of Peace, April 19, 1783. THE CONFEDERATED STATES. 97. The colonies changed to states. 98. Articles of confederation adopted by con- gress, 1777. In effect when ratified by Maryland, 1781. 99. Conflicting land claims. G-rants of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia. Or- dinance of 1787. 100. Import duties levied by each state. Inter- state relations. 101. Convention proposed to regulate commerce. Twelve delegates from five states. ^^^v...-'^,^ THE CONSTITUTION. 102. Convention called by congress met in Phil- adelphia (1787). 103. Compromises effected: two houses of con- gress, one based on population, the other on equal representation ; the counting of slaves in estimating population; regulation of commerce and slave trade. 104. The constitution submitted to the states. " The Federalist." Ratified by the states. ''An Equal Station Among the Powers of the Earth." ORGANIZATION OF THE NATION. 105. The new congress. Elec- Washington. tion of Washington and Adams. Cab- 1 789-1797. inet appointments. 106. Financial problems. Assumption of state debts. Tariff. Funding of national debt. Incorpo- ration of United States Bank. 107. Organization of judicial department. Cotton gin. Admission of Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee. 108. Party differences. Con- i adams, struction of the constitution. Rela- 1797-1801 tions with England and France. "X. Y. Z. papers.' Removal of capital to Washington. 109. Alien and sedition laws. Nullification reso lutions by Virginia and Kentucky. REPUBLICAN SUPREMACY. 110. War with Barbary pirates. jeffekson, Decatur. i80i-]809. r ^^ 4 — 111. Purchase of Louisiana. Explorations of Lewis and Clark. Fulton's steamboat. Admissiou of Ohio. 112. War between England and France (Napoleon) and its effect on American commerce. Embargo Act. 113. War with England. Na- madison, j val battles. Invasion of Canada. Bat- isoi)-mi. \ tie of New Orleans. Admission of Louisiana and Indiana- National Development. ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 114. Political harmony. Disap- j monkoe, pearance of old issues. Anti-federal- | 1817-I825. ist or Republican-Democratic party still in power but "completely federalized" (Josiah Quincy). Admission of Mississippi, Illiuois and Alabama. 115. Importance of slavery question. Mason and Dixon line and Ohio river. 116. Missouri Compromise. Admission of Maine and Missouri 117. Jackson in Florida. Purchase of Florida, and relinquishment of claims to Texas. 118. System of internal improvements. Cum- berland road. Erie canal. 119. Revolt of Spanish- American colonies. The "Holy Alliance" of Russia, Prussia and Austria. Monroe Doctrine. NEW NATIONAL QUESTIONS. 120. The "Scrub race" for Presi- adams, dent — election by house of Represen- 1 825-1 829. tatives. 121. Internal improvements. Opposition to the JACKSON, 1829-1837. 122. The spoils system. "To the victors belong the spoils of the enemy '' (Marcy). 123. The United States Bank. 124. Tariff. Nullification by Industrial progress Railroads, coal, gas, newspapers sion of Arkansas and Michigan. South Carolina. Admis- VAN 13UREN, 1837-1841. HARRISON-TYLER 1841-1845. 125. The panic of 1837. Paper money, speculation. The sub- treas- ury system. 126. Tyler, "the accidental president," a Democrat elected on a Whig ticket. 127. The national bank question. Tyler's vetoes Resignation of the cabinet. 128. The Ashburton treaty. Admission of Florida. Slavery and State Rights. INTRODUCTION AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY. 129. Slave trade begun by John Hawkins (15G2). 180. Slaves in Virginia in 1619; in all the col- onies before 1776; gradually abolished in northern colonies. 131. The ordinance of 1787. Slave trade abol- ished by England in 1789. Compromises in the Con- stitution. 132. Effect of Whitney's cotton gin. 133. Slave trade prohibited by congress (1808). 134. Missouri Compromise [116]. 135. Slavery abolished in England (1833). SOUTHW^ESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN EX- TENSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 136. Slavery abolished in Mexico (1829). Amer- ican settlements in Texas. Revolt and independence of Texas (1836). ..-i /-'■ 1 / l/^-i(yA;>''^ A C--4 ■^'~ic \ V /S-^(7, V', ^-. i C. /\; Ct u / -S A/ /,s / !. y // k ^.. / \ ^^ ^/ .'i t- --^ '.V i ^ >^: ' -^ - 4 -i\- 137. Annexation of Texas and POLK, dispute as to boundary. | 1845-1849 138. Mexican war. Mexican cession. 139. Oregon boundary. '• Fifty-four-forty or fight." Treaty of 1846. Admissiou of Texas, lowaaud Wiscousiu. THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY EXTENSION. 140. The balance between slave and free states: Mississippi, Alabama — Indiana,* Illinois; Missouri — Maine; Arkansas — Michigan; Florida, Texas — Iowa, Wisconsin. ^ Discovery of gold iu California. 141. The compromise of 1850: California free, Texas TAYLOIl-FILLMOKE, 1849-1853. claims paid by general government, New Mexico and Utah organized as territories, slavery prohibited in District of Columbia, fugitive slave law passed. Admission of California Gadsden purchase. 142. Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska i pierce, Bill: "Squatter Sovereignty;" re- I 185;j1857. peal of Missouri compromise. J 43. Border warfare in Kan- sas. Dred Scott decision. BUCHANAN, 1857-1861. ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 144. The abolitionists. Garrison and "The Lib- erator." Phillips. Parker. Adams as congressman and the slavery petitions. 145. The "Free Soilers." STATE RIGHTS. 14G. The opposite views concerning federal su- premacy, centralization, strict construction [103]. 147. The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions concerning alien and sedition laws [109]. 148. The Hartford convention concerning the war with England [113]. 149. South Carolina nullification concerning the tariff [124]. SECESSION. 150. Union of freesoilers and I buchanan, | anti-slavery whigs and anti-slavery i857-i86i. , democrats, forming the republican party. Their atti- tude toward slavery. Admission of Minnesota and Oregon. 151. Resumption of slave trade. Lecompton constitution in Kansas. John Brown. 152. Election of Lincoln. Secession of seven "cotton states." Organization of the so-called "Con- federate States." Admission of Kansas. CIVIL WAR. 153. Seizure of forts and sup- Lincoln. 1861-1865. plies by state governments. 154. Firing on Sumter. Lincoln's call for troops. Massing of troops at Washington. Mob at Baltimore. 155. Secession of Virginia, North Carolina, Ten- nessee and Arkansas. 15G. Border States: Maryland; West Virginia — Phillipi and King's Mountain ; Kentucky and her neu- trality; Missouri — Blair and Lyon, Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge. 157. The line of confederate occupation through Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. 158. The blockade of southern ports — Fortress Monroe, Ft. Pickens (Pensacola, Fla.), Key West and Tortugas held by federal forces. 159. Bull Run. 160. Mason and Slidell. Trent affair. 161. First confederate line in the west, Cumberland G-ap to Columbus. 1863. Ft. Henry (Feb. 6). Ft. Donelson (Feb. 16). 162. Naval affairs: Monitor and Merrimac (Mar. 9), blockade, capture of New Orleans (Apr. 25). 163. Peninsular campaign ; second Bull Run (Aug. 29). Lee's invasion of Maryland; Antietam (Sept. 17). 164. Second confederate line in the west, Chatta- nooga to Memphis. Shiloh (Apr. 6), Corinth (Oct. 3, 4). 165. Bragg's invasion of Kentucky; Stone River (Dec. 31). Admission of West Virginia. 166. Emancipation of slaves as a war measure. 167. Vicksburg campaign. 168. Fredricksburg (Dec. 13, '62). 1863. Chancellorsville (May 1-4). Gettysburg (July 1-3) 169. Chattanooga campaign. 170. Grant's Virginia campaign. i ^ ^ ^ ! 1864. Admissiou of Nevada. ! 171. Completion of the blockade: Ft. Wagner (Charleston), Mobile, Wilmington. Confederate pri- vateers. 172. Advance on Atlanta. Hood's Tennessee campaign. 173. Sherman's march to the sea. March north- ward, Goldsboro. 174. Final Virginia campaign. 1865. The Indestructible Union RECONSTRUCTION 175. Assassination of Lin- coln. LINCOLN-JOHNSON 1865-1869. 170. Johnson's policy of reconstruction. 177. Congressional policy of reconstruction. 178. Amendments to the constitution. Admission of Nebraska. Purchase of Alaska. 179. Impeachment of President Johnson. 180. "Carpet baggers." Dom- grant. inance of negro votes. " Ku Klux ism-inn. Klan." 181. Alabama claims [171], Geneva award. 182. Panic of 1873. Admission of Colorado. Centennial exhibition, 183. Election of 1876. Electoral Commission. ECONOMIC PROGRESS. 18-1. National debt. Greenbacks. Depreciation. 185. Demonetization of silver, i hayks, Resumption of specie payment. Bland | i877-i88i . bill. 186. Assassination of Pres- ident Garfield. 187. Civil service reform. 188. Chinese immigration. 189. Mills bill (1888). McKinley Wilson bill (1894). GAKFIELD-ARTHUK 1881-1885. CLEVELAND, 1885-1889, It- bill (1890). Admi.ssiou of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wash- in.^ton. 190. Pan-American Congress. 191. Sherman Act (1890). hakkison, Admission of Idaho and Wyoming 1889-1893. 192. Foreign complications aly, Chili, Behring Sea, Hawaii. 198. Depression of 1893. coinage of silver. Admission of Utah. 194. Cuban insurrection. The Monroe doctrine applied to Venezuelan boundary dispute; the Ven- ezuelan commission. CLEVELAND, 1893-1807. Bimetallism. Free APPENDIX. THE WORLD OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Modern history had its dawn in the fifteenth cen- tury. It was then that the civilized peoples of the earth awoke from the lethargic sleep of the middle ages and began their new career of advancement and enlargement. The world was then Europe and a por- tion of western Asia and of northern Africa, and a more or less shadowy knowledge of southern and east- ern Asia. In addition to this there were Norse tradi- tions and Icelandic records of a "Vinland" far away to the west. The great Mediterranean sea lay in the midst of these lands and was the great highway of communication. Of nationality there was little; of ocean commerce, but little; of religious tolera- tion, none; of political liberty, the barest beginning. What civilization there was, was found in the lands of southern and western Europe. England had risen on her foundation of Saxon, Angle, Danish and Norman blood and her people were already grappling with the questions of civil and relig- ious liberty they were destined to solve. In 1485 be- gan the reign of the house of Tudor which during the hundred years then beginning brought England to the front rank of European nations. France issued from her hundred years' war with England great in her monarchical absolutism and great in her place among nations. Thanks to the inspira- tion of the dreaming shepherd girl from Dom Remy, she had pushed back the English to their island home, leaving them only a finger hold on Calais. Venice and Genoa from opposite sides of the Ital- ian peninsula ruled the commerce of the Mediterran- ean and grew rich and prosperous from their trade in the silks and spices of the Orient. Portugal took the lead in pushing back the bord- ers of the unknown and after finding an ocean way to the east held the trade in oriental products. A cen- tury later the Netherlands usurped this profitable commerce and Portugal herself become the prey of Spain. Germany, Sweden and Russia far away on the northern borders exerted little .f any influence beyond their own limits. Spain was many separate kingdoms which were finally united into one powerful nation which stood pre-eminent for a hundred years. English, French, Germans, Italians, Spaniards — warring among themselves and with each other — against these, thus discordant, came the half barbar- ous hordes of Moslem, swarming across Gibraltar and across the Bosporus into Europe. Spain had been, in the hands of the Moors for over seven hundred years, but it was only in 1453 that Constantinople fell and with it the hopes of Christendom. The Moslem ad- vance from the east was checked by the brave resist- ance of the Hungarians. In the west their advance had been checked by the battle of Tours and their frontier gradually pushed back. The land so recovered became several independent kingdoms, chief of which were Arragon and Castile-Leon. When these two kingdoms were united by the marriage of Ferdinand, king of Arragon, and Isabella, queen of Castile and Leon, the Moors held only the southern part of the peninsula under the name of the Kingdom of Granada. After ten years of war, Granada fell, and Europe, safe from the threatened dominance of Asiatic barbarism, was ready to look across unknown seas to unknown lands where, in coming years, there was to be a new nation with a government of the people, for the people and by the people. THE GROWTH OF ENGLISH POLITICAL LIBERTY. The foundation of English liberty is that "'Great Charter" which the barons of England forced King John to grant them in 1215. The principal features of this document are the provisions that none should be deprived of liberty or property except by the judg- ment of his equals, and that no taxes should be levied except by consent of the National Council. Edward I in 1207 confirmed the Magna Charta, especially binding himself not to tax his subjects without their consent. This was the beginning of that long struggle to estab- lish the principle that "Taxation without representa- tion is tyranny." During the fourteenth century the commons began to assemble separately from the House of Peers and by 1407 obtained the exclusive right of levying all taxes. This made the King dependent for his revenue on the direct representatives of the people, and thereafter many valuable rights of the people were acknowledged by the King in exchange for a grant of taxes. During the Tudor reigns the power of parliament weakened, the monarchs of that house set- ting up practically a "personal monarcy" superior to both parliament and constitution. With the later years of Elizabeth's reign, the pow- er of Parliament revived, reaching such a height in the next fifty years as to compass the complete over- throw of royal prerogative along with the execution of the King. After eleven years of commonwealth rule, royal power was again established. A second Charles and a second James brought matters to another crisis, and the bloodless revolution of 1688 showed the will of the people as expressed through Parliament to be stronger than the monarch's sovereignty. With the coming William and Mary a convention parliament drew up a Declaration of Right — not a Petition of Right such as had been presented to Charles sixty years before and granted by him but a Declaration of Right which within a year was expanded and formu- lated as a Bill of Rights. This formed the third great charter of English liberty. George III attempted to restore personal monarchy but his attempt failed and severed from England her most valuable colonial pos- sessions. By bribery and corruption George III suc- ceeded in raising a party of "King's Friends," or Tories, sufficiently strong to overcome the "Old Whigs" led by Burke and Fox and the "New Whigs " under the leadership of Pitt. But the measures thus carried by the King in spite of powerful opposition in parliament brought on the "King's war" which resulted in American independ- ence on one side of the Atlantic and on the other in the overthrow of royal tyranny and the triumph of the constitution. The American revolution was thus a part and parcel of the great struggle through six cen- turies which at last gave political liberty to the Eng- lish speaking people. H 19 89 • fyO-n*. (• >^/ .*S»: ^.^^ •' •' "'^oc.'i : '^^o'' co\'i;^.> ,/\.^i,\ ^^*:^^'> ..^ 5^% ^o VP9 * aV •^^ • ^6V^ <^. * o - ^*".,. * = . . • ^^ ''•'^'