Class Book d^ / (jS- ^ Copyright N ».ffi^25- COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. /9/5 STORIES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY TIk >.ui,a Maria, the Little Flagship of €'01111111)118. with whose memorable voyage American history begins. STORIES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY WILBUR F. GORDY FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. I AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS," "ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," "AMERICAN LEADERS AND HEROES," "AMERICAN BEGINNINGS IN EUROPE," " STORIES OF AMERICAN EX- PLORERS," AND "colonial DAYS " WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON £ /7? Copyright, 1913, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS ©CI,Aa54120 1^ .\ . PEEFACE In writing this book, no attempt has been made to deal especially with the causal aspects of history. They belong to a later phase of the learner's growth. The earlier stage, for which this book is designed, obtains its ideas of the past most naturally from the pictorial side; that is, from those external features of events which can best be presented through pictures, descriptions, and illustrative stories put together in chronological sequence. The aim of the author has been to select those interest- ing and colorful facts identified more or less closely with the lives of strong and masterful men who were the leaders of great movements and the centres of important situations; and then, with the teacher's co-operation, to interpret the material thus selected in such a way as to appeal to the imagination, and through the imagination to the heart and will of the child. Thus will he l^e helped to make real and living the past — to people it with vigorous flesh-and-blood men and women, thinking, feeling, willing, and acting very much like the men and women about him. He will, so far as his imagination allows, stand by the side of great leaders, feeling the impulse of their ideals and aspirations, sharing in their achievements, and learning from their successes and failures something for use in his own life. vi PREFACE For children of tender years, the material must not only be conci-etc and colorful, but it must also he presented in language so simple that the thought can be easily grasped. If the author has succeeded in this twofold purpose, "Stories of Early American History" should fulfil its mission. It is hoped that the fine illustrations and the attractive typographical features of the Iwok \\'ill help in bringing vividh' l)efore the child's mind the events recounted in the text. Another aid in making the stories real will, it is intended, be found in ''Some Things to Think About." These and similar questions, which will suggest themselves to the teacher, will doubtless serve to help the child in vitalizing the life of the past and connecting it with the present and his own life. In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge m}- deep obliga- tion to Mr. Forrest Morgan, of the Watkinson Liljrary, Hart- ford, and to Miss Elizabeth P. Peck, of the Hartford Public High School, both of whom have read the manuscript and have made many valuable suggestions and criticisms. Wilbur F. Gordy. Hartford, Conn., June, 1913. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Christopher Columbus 1 II. John Cabot and Americus Vespucius 15 III. The American Indians 18 IV. Vasco Nunez Balboa and Ferdinand Magellan .... 30 V. Hernando Cortez 36 VI. Francisco Pizarro 42 VII. Juan Ponck de Leon and Hernando de Soto 48 VIII. Jacques Cartier 55 IX. Sir Francis Drake 58 X. Sir Walter Raleigh 63 XI. Stories of Early Virginia 71 XII. Stories of Early Maryland 87 XIII. Stories of Early New England 93 XIV. Stories of Early New York 116 XV. Stories of Early Pennsylvania ].")() XVI. Stories of Early Georgia 136 XVII. Life in Early Colonial Days 140 XVIII. Father Marquette 158 vii viii CONTEXTS CHAPTER PAGE XIX. Robert Caveuer, Sieur de La Salle 1G4 XX. Stories of the New Englanders and the Indians ... 172 XXI. Stories of the English and the French 178 XXII. The English and the French in North America . . . 185 Index 205 ILLUSTRATIONS The Santa Maria, the Little Flagship of Columbus Front if! piece PAGE Christopher Columbus 3 He was fond of jjlaying on the wharves 4 The Fleet of Christopher Columbus 8 Columbus in Chains 13 John Cabot in London 16 Americus Vespucius 17 In each wigwam lived a whole family , 19 An Iroquois "Long House" 20 Sometimes these strange pueblos were perehed high on the cliffs .... 21 Fish Spear, Arrow for War, Hunting Arrow, Shoshonee Bow 23 A Pappoose Case 23 An Indian Pipe 24 A light bark canoe, easily carried 25 Snow-shoes 2(5 Balboa . 31 Ferdinand Magellan 32 The Strait of Magellan 33 ix X TLLI'ST RAT IONS PAGE Hernando Cortez 37 Horses they had never seen before 08 Meeting of Cortez and Montezuma 40 A Street in Ciizco 43 The i)e()ple of Peru thought tlie horses were stranij-e monsters 44 Tlie Inca Makinp; the Mark ri)ou the Wall 4.') The Death of Pizarro 46 Searching for the Fountain of Youth 49 Hernando de Soto 50 De Soto Reaching the Mississippi River 52 Burial of De Soto 53 Jacques Cartier -'^o Cartier Arriving at Montreal 56 Young Drake Watching Vessels Put Out to Sea 59 Drake Sees the Pacific Ocean for the First Time 00 A Spanish Galleon of the Sixteenth Century 61 An English Ship of the Fifteenth Century 62 Raleigh Spreading His Cloak Before (^ueen F.lizaheth 64 Sir Walter Raleigh 65 Queen Elizabeth 66 Finding the Name Carved Upon the Tree 68 John Smith 74 Pocahontas 77 Landing of Lord Delaware 79 ILLUSTRATIONS xi PAGE Jamestown, 1622 82 A \'irginia Planter S3 Vessel at Wharf Receiving Tobacco 84 George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) 88 Friendly Indians, crowding tlie banks, gazed in wonder at the huge ships 89 Departure of Pilgrim Fathers from Delft Haven, 162U 95 ^liles Standish in Armor 97 William Bradford's Chair 98 Pilgrim Exiles 99 The Ma;)'flower in Plymouth Harbor 102 Plymouth in the Early Days 105 They built around Plymouth a i)alisade of posts 107 John Winthrop 108 Puritans on Horseback 109 Roger Williams Fleeing Through the Woods Ill Thomas Hooker and Party on the Way to Connecticut 113 Henry Hudson 117 Dutch Trading With the Indians 119 Indian Fur Trader 120 Champlain killed one or two of their number 121 A Patroon 123 New Amsterdam in 1673 124-125 A Dutch Manor 126 Peter Stuyvesant 127 xii ILLUSTRATIONS PACE William Penn at the Age of 22 (166G) 131 Cottage of William Penn, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia 133 William Penn's Treaty with the Indians 134 James Oglethorpe 137 He noticed many mulberry-trees 138 A Block-House 140 One of the children runs to a neighbor's and brings home a burning stick 142 The Spinning-Wheel 144 Their school-house is a rude log hut 145 The big fireplace with its high-backed seat on either side 146 The rich planters live in houses called mansions 150 Old Log Cabin for the Slaves 151 Tables, Chairs, Four-posted Bedstead 152 Early Dutch Windmill 154 The Great Chest of Drawers Set on Casters 155 Statue of James Marquette 159 The priest, in his long black robe, in one canoe, and Joliet in the other . 160 Launching the Griffin 165 For sixty-five days this painful journey lasted 166 Here, in the name of the French king, he planted a column and a cross 168 One morning one of them shot him dead 170 They sailed down the Connecticut River 173 This was a village of wigwams, surrounded by a palisade 174 King Philip 175 ILLUSTRATIONS xiii PACE Indians are stealing quietly upon the fort, stopping now and then to listen 179 They forced the mother and nurse to march with them toward Canada ISO Old House at Deerfield, Mass 1S2 The two were together much of the time 1S6 When he needed some one to survey land, he chose Washington for the task 187 Benjamin Franklin 192 Braddock's Toilsome March Through the Wilderness 195 The Acadians were torn from their homes and carried into strange lands 197 James Wolfe 199 An English Soldier of Wolfe's Army 199 Montcalm 200 Each man had to pull himself up by clinging to the roots and bushes . . 201 31 A PS PAGE The First Voyage of C'olunibiis, and Places of Interest in Connection witli His Later \'oyages 10 Routes Traversed by De Soto and De Leon 48 Raleigh's Various Colonies 67 Early Settlements in Virginia and Maryland 91 Early Settlements in New England 114 Early Settlements in New York and New Jersey 12S Early Settlements in Georgia 138 Map Showing Routes of Cartier, Champlain, and La Salle, also French and English Possessions at the Time of the Last French War . . 1(37 The English Colonies and the French Claims in 1754 183 The French in the Ohio \'alley 191 (Quebec and Surroundings 202 STORIES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY CHAPTER I CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Over 800 years ago, long before it was known there was such a place as A-mer'i-ca, a war broke out between the peoples of western Eu'rope and those of western A'sia. The peoples of western Europe were followers of Christ, while those of western Asia were followers of Ma-hom'et. The Ma-hom'et-ans held the Holy Land where Christ had lived, and the Christians wished to get it back. This war was followed by others. For nearly 200 years they never wholly died down, but the hard fighting was at eight different times. The wars were called the Cru-sades', or Wars of the Cross, because the Christian soldiers wore crosses on their coats. Millions of men lost their lives in this dreadful struggle, Init many lived to go back to their homes in Europe. They told wonderful tales of the strange lands where they had fought, and of the curious and l)eautiful things they had seen there. They told of beasts and l)irds, fruits and flowers, peoples, dress, houses, furniture, and customs that seemed very strange. 2 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY How do you suppose this made the people feel who had stayed at home? Of course, they also wanted to visit these lands, and many who had never loeen far from home began to travel to Asia. They had known nothing of the great world outside of the little place where they had grown up. Imagine how surprised they were to find that the people of the East understood many arts of which they themselves knew nothing. They found soft, fine silks and other rich cloths to wear, spices which made their food taste better, rugs to warm and soften the floors, and man}" of the comforts of life. Wishing to take some of these things back home, they traded for them things they themselves had made. This business of trading kept growing, as time went on. In Ven'ice and Gen'o-a there were merchants and sailors who took a large part in it. Look at your maps and see if you can tell why boys growing up in those cities should take to the sea. From these two cities great merchant fleets saiknl out, and returned loaded with goods from the East. These goods had to he brought on the l^acks of camels, horses, and mules, all the w^ay from Per'sia, InVli-a, and Chi'na, down to the ports where the ships were waiting for them. Pict- ure to yourself long lines of these beasts of l)urden as they wound along their way to the sea-coast. At one time there were three main routes by which the CHRISTOPHER coLr:\rnr's caravans reached the sea. All were costly and full of daii<2;(M', for it was the custom of the Turks to pluiid(M' the carax ans or to force them to give up a part of their goods Ix'fore they would let them go on. The most northern route. led through the Black Sea by way of what is now southern Russia. But in 145:^ the Turks captured Con-stan-ti-no'ple and cut off this route. This was a hard blow to Genoa, for that city had always used the northern route. But it was a blow felt l)y all Europe, for other nations had become eager for a share in the Eastern trade. It hap- pened, too, just when the desire for Eastern goods was growing very fast. For a long time men had been trying to find a way to reach India, China, and Japan by water, so as to escape the dangers l:>y land. Now they felt that such a route must be found. Por'tu-gal and Spain were the two nations whose sailors went most to sea. So they took the lead in the search for this all-water route. Portugal set out to find it by sailing down the west coast of Africa. It was very slow work, luit at last a brave sea Christopher Cohimbus. EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY captain of that country, A'as'co da Gam'a; reached the most southern end of Africa. He called it the "Cape of Storms." You can guess why. But the King of Portugal said, "It shall be called the Cape of Good Hope." Can you think why he gave it that name? When Portugal had found her route by sailing south, Spain dared not sail over it herself for fear of trouble with Portugal. So she had to find an- other way. The man who showed her how was Chris'to-pher Co- lum'bus. He was not a Spaniard. Let us see how it came about that Spain was the countiy to send him out and get the glory for what he did. Columbus was born in Genoa. His father was a poor man, who earned his living by making wool ready for the spinners. We do not know much about the boy Christopher, but we can well believe that he was fond of playing on the He was fond of playing on the wharves. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 5 whan'es near his home. Here he could see hundreds of vessels coming and going. We may be sure that he spent many hours watching their white sails. Most likely he was fond of the water and learned while he was quite young to swim and to sail boats. But he did not play all the time. He had work to do like other boys. He learned his father's trade, and he also went to school, where he learned reading, writing, arith- metic, geography, and map-drawing. All these were of great use in his later life. He must have heard older people talk a great deal about the loss of the Eastern trade after the Turks had shut up the Black Sea route, and about the need of finding a new route over the ocean. YEARS OF TRIAL FOR COLUMBUS Many years later, when he had become a grown-up man, he went to live in Lis'bon, which, you know, is the capital of Portugal. Here lived one of his brothers, and here, as in Genoa, lived many sailors. Here again he must have heard much talk about finding a water route to India. Columbus listened earnestly to sailors' stories; he stud- ied maps and charts; he thought a great deal. It seemed to him that the earth must be round like a globe, instead of flat as many others supposed. He tried to get all the proofs he could of this. He also took many voy- ages himself. 6 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY After many long years of study, he felt sure that he could get to India by sailing straight across the Atlantic Ocean. He would go right in the opposite direction from that in which India lay. "The way to the East is ])y the West," said he. If he should be able to reach India in this way, he would prove that the earth was round and would bring the wealth of the Indies to Europe. The more he thought about this great plan, the more he longed to carry it out. In fact, he thought of it by day and dreamed of it by night. But he was poor and he had few friends. How could he get money and help to make his great dream come true? At last he laid his plan before King John of Portugal. But the king would not promise to help him. Columbus then took his little son Diego (de-a'go) by the hand and started across the mountains to Spain. We may picture father and son hurrying along the rough moun- tain roads. Columbus could hardly stop to see whether his little boy was tired, so eager was he to find some one to help him. When he came to a place near the town of Pa'los, he left Diego with an aunt, and set out alone in search of the king and queen, Fer'di-nand and Is'a-bel-la. At that time a war was going on in the south of Spain between the Spaniards and the Moors. So Columbus had a hard time getting them to listen to him. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 7 At last they gave him a hearing. They liad asked a number of wise men to be present. Some of them laughed at Columbus for saying that the earth was round like a globe. Others said, "We lielieve he is right." But the king and queen would not help him. Sick at heart, therefore^ he planned to leave Spain and go to France. Up to this time he had failed. He was poor and had few friends. Men said, ''He is a crazy dreamer." When he walked through a \'illage with sad face and threadbare clothing, the l^oys laughed at him. But Columbus did not give up hope. He had faith in his plans, and believed that sometime he should succeed. He started l^ravely, therefore, for the court of France, taking Diego with him. At that time, we are told, Columbus was a fine-looking man. He was tall and strong, and had a noble face with keen blue eyes. His white hair fell in long wavy locks about his shoulders. Although his clothing was plain and per- haps shabby, there was something in his manner that made people like him. After father and son had walked about a mile and a half, they stopped at the Convent of St. Maiy. Perhaps they wanted some bread and water. Just then the good Pri'or of the Convent was passing by and the two men began to talk together. Columbus reasoned well about his plans. The Prior 8 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY listened closely, and then wrote at once to Queen Isabella, who knew him and believed in him as a wise and good man. This letter proved a help to Columbus, for a little later the queen told him she would furnish him with men and vessels for the voyage. Santa Maria Piiita Nina The Fleet of Christopher Coliimbus. But even with the queen's help, he still had many trials before him. The ocean was unknown. The sailors were afraid to go out far from land upon the deep, dark waters. In the course of time, however, three small vessels with one hundred and twenty men were ready to start. The vessels were not larger than many of our fishing-boats to-day. The largest was the San'ta Ma-ri'a and was commanded by Columbus. It was about ninety feet long, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 9 and was the only vessel of the fleet which had a com- plete deck. A half hour before sunrise on Friday morning, August 3^ 1492, the little fleet sailed out of the port of Palos. It was a sorrowful time for the poor sailors and their friends. All ])elieved that the vessels would be lost, and that the sailors would never again see home and family. When, about a month later, they left the Canary Islands and the furthest land known to them faded from sight, the sailors cried like children. Fresh worries lay before them. At the end of a week the compass needle no longer pointed to the North Star. Of course, the poor sailors were in great fear. A few days later the fleet entered a vast stretch of sea- weed. Again the sailors were much troubled. They feared that the vessels would stick fast in the grass, or run upon rocks lying just below the surface of the water. But when the wind blew up a little stronger, the vessels passed on in safety. Later on they entered the belt of trade-winds, which blew them steadily westward. They said: "We are lost! We can never see our friends again!" They begged Colum- bus to turn about and steer for home. He refused. They became angr}^, called him crazy, and even wished to kill him. One of them said: "Let us push him overboard some night when he is looking at the stars." 10 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Columbus knew his life was in danger, but he would not give up. He still had faith and hope. The greater the dan- ger, the more firmly he set himself to meet it with an iron will and a high puipose. At last, on October 11, signs of land such as birds and l:)roken bits of trees appeared. That night no one slept. COLUMBUS TIliST YOVA(iE, 1492-3 arLF OF \j -, ^^,^'*^^■t>■ ' Columbus J^'' t — MEXICO _r^»*N/r — ^^^1 ■*?S%S.'.' ..vs^"/ '* T L A N T I C •Ql'Or.TCl RICO O C E A. N PA C I F I (I C E A y The First Voyage of Columbus, and Places of Interest in Connection with His Later Voyages. Every one was straining his eyes to catch the first glimpse of the distant shore. About ten o'clock in the evening Columbus himself saw a moving light in the distance. It looked like a torch in the hand of a man who was running along the shore. COLUMBUS AND THE NEW WORLD Earl}' in the morning little boats were lowered, and eveiybody went ashore. Columbus, dressed in a rich robe of bright scarlet, carried in his hand the royal flag of Spain. As soon as he reached the land, he fell on his knees. With CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 11 tears in his eyes he kissed the earth and thanked God for the safe voyage. Columbus called the dark-skinned natives Indians, be- cause he thought he was in the East Indies. At first the Indians ran into the woods because they were afraid, but soon they came back, curious to learn about these strange visitors. They worshipped the white men, thinking the}' were beings from the sk}-. They believed the vessels were great birds, and that the sails were great white wings. Columbus called the island upon which he had landed San Salvador, which means Holy Saviour. Sailing on, he reached the coast of Cuba. Now he thought he was in Japan, and called the island Ci-pan'go (Japan) ; and he kept on the lookout for the cities of Asia. In them he expected to find the gold, spices, and jewels he was looking for. But he found no cities; and he found no gold, no jewels, and no spices. On Christmas morning he had a serious mishap. While it was still dark, one of his little vessels ran ashore on a sand-bar and was knocked to pieces by the waves. Another of his vessels had already deserted the fleet, so now he had but one left. On Januaiy 4, 1493, he sailed for Spain. After a very stormy voyage, on March 1") he entered the harbor of Palos. It AMIS a jo}'ful day for the people and the}' stopped all 12 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY business to give a welcome to Columbus. His praise was now on every man's lips. Soon he went to Bar-ce-lo'na, where he was honored by a street parade. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent for him, and when he came into their presence they honored him by rising. As he knelt to kiss their hands, they commanded him to rise and sit with them as an equal. The idle dreamer had become a great man. Everybody was eager to share his honor and his fame. It was now easy to get the most powerful men in the country to join him on a second voyage. In September, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen vessels. This time he had with him 1,500 men, and many of them were from the best families in Spain. They meant to stay in the "Indies" long enough to become rich men, and go l3ack to Spain to live as grandees. They expected to use gangs of the natives to dig gold for them. On reaching Hayti Columbus built a little town, and then started to explore the new country. But troul^le met him on every hand. The Indians were not always friendly, and his own men were often unwilling to obey him. They had not come to do hard, rough work, but to make fortunes at once. At the end of three years, he sailed back to Spain. Dur- ing a long and trying voyage all the food on l^oard was used up, so that he and his men almost starved. But at last he reached home. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 13 A few years later he sailed on a third ^'oyage. More troubles were waiting foi- him. When he reached the little town which he had built in Hayti, he found things were going badly. The Indians were unfriendly, and serious quarrels had broken out among the settlers them- selves. For two long years Co- lumbus tried to make things right, but he could not. At length an officer was sent from Spain to see how things were going in the colony. He unjustly put Columbus in chains and sent him back to Spain. Queen Isabella sent for him to come to court, and he appeared before her still l^ound in chains. When she saw him she wept, and he also broke down and wept at her feet. Having been set free, a few years later he went on a fourth voyage. Again he met trouble after trouble. First, his ship was wrecked, and then he spent a long, painful year of hardship and misery. Columbus in Chains. 14 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY At last he sailed back to Spain, where he arrived only a short time before Queen Isabella died. He lived only eighteen months after this, for he was broken in health and felt that he had little to live for. On May 20, 1506, he died of a broken heart. Up to the very last he thought he had sailed only to the Indies. He never knew that he had discovered a new world. Some Things to Think About 1. Why (lid Spain and Portugal wish to find an all-water route to India, China, and Japan? 2. How did Columbus come to believe that he could reach the Far East by sailinji' west across the Atlantic? 3. Imagine yourself with him on liis first voyage and tell all you can about his trials. 4. What land did he think he had reached? What was his great work? 5. What do you admire in Columbus? CHAPTER II JOHN CABOT AND AMERICUS VESPUCIUS JOHN CABOT • At the time when Columbus sailed on his first voyage, another sea-captain, born in the very same city as Columbus, was planning to sail westward in search of the In'dies. This was John Cab'ot. He was born in Genoa, had his home later in Venice, but was now living in Bristol, England. He had travelled much, and had spent some time in western Asia, where he had seen a caravan loaded with spices. After he returned to England, he asked King Henry VII if he might go on a voyage of discovery, and the king gave his consent. But it was not until May, 1497, nearly five years after Columbus had first sailed, that Cabot put out to sea with only one small vessel and eighteen men. He sailed straight west and landed on the coast of Lab'ra-dor. He was the first sea-captain to reach the mainland of North America, for Columbus did not do this until his second voyage in 1498. On Cabot's return to England he was called the " Great Admiral." He was treated with much honor. The simple sea-captain now dressed in fine clothing like the noted men of those days. 15 16 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY The following year, with six vessels, he made another voyage. Where he went, what he found, whether he ever came back, we do not know. But it is rather likely that he Jolin Cabot in London. went to what is now Flor'i-da. On the strength of what England declared that he had discovered, she at a later time claimed all of North America. AMERICUS VESPUCIUS From what you have learned, you will probably think that the New World should have been named after Colum- bus. The reason why it was not can be told in a few words. After Columbus had led the way, many other explorers sailed for the West. Among them was A-mer'i-cus Ves- pu'cius. How many voyages he made, and just when he made JOHN CABOT AND AMERICUS VESPUCIUS 17 them, we do not know. But it is thought that he sailed along the coast of Bra-ziK, or perhaps along a part of the eastern coast of South America lying south of Brazil. He wrote letters also in which he told what he had seen in his voyag- ing, and what he said in these letters was the first printed ac- count of the mainland of the New World. The good accounts that Ves- pucius wrote of what he had seen were read by German geog- raphers. They liked the ac- counts because they were so in- teresting. One of these geographers also supposed that Americus Vespucius was the first man to discover the New World. So the land that Columbus discovered came to be called America. Americus Vespucius. Some Things to Think About 1. Who was John Cabot? What was he the first man to do? 2. Why was the New World called America? CHAPTER III THE AMERICAN INDIANS As we have learned, Columbus called the people of the New World Indians. They did not live close together like the people in Europe, but were scattered all over the coun- try. Yet many of them were related, so that really they formed five great groups, or families. Those which we must know about are the three living east of the Mis'sis-sip'pi River. These were the South'ern Indians, the Tro-ciuois, and the Al-gon'quins. Let us take our maps and see where each of these three lived. The Southern Indians lived, mostly, in a belt lying be- tween the Ten-nes-see' River on the north and the Gulf of Mex'i-co on the south. This belt extended from the Mis- sissippi River clear to the Atlantic Ocean. The Iroc|Uois Indians were made up mainly of the five tribes, or Five Nations, as they were called, of central New York. Leaving out the Iroquois, all the other tribes spreading east from the Mississippi and north from the Tennessee clear up into Can'a-da were called Algonquins. Although the Indians of the different tribes did not look alike, we may say that, as a rule, they had straight 18 THE AMERICAN INDIANS 19 black hair, small black eyes, high cheek-bones, and copper- colored skins. The women wore their hair long. The men in most of In each wigwam lived a wliole family. the tribes shaved their heads, except at the top, where they left a scalp-lock. The dress of the Indian was made largely of the skins of wild animals. Instead of leather shoes, like ours, he wore moccasins made of skins. 20 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY An Iroquois "Long House.' The pieces of the moccasin were sewed together, although the Indians had no needles and thread. What do you think they used? Their needles w^re small sharp fish-bones, and their thread the tough sinews of deer or some other wild ani- mal. Many of the Indians lived in little villages. In some tribes these villages were made up of wigwams, in each of which, small as it was, lived a whole family. The wigwams were tents, covered inside and out by skins, mats, or bark. Sometimes a l3ear's hide was used for a door. There was no floor except the bare earth. Here, in the centre of the wigwam, the fire was built, and the smoke was let out through a hole at the top. There was no carpet, but soft skins kept the feet out of the mud or off the frozen ground. Some tribes had other kinds of dwellings than wigwams. The Iroquois built huge log cabins called ''long houses," with side rooms screened off by skins. Some of these houses were one hundred feet long, and as many as twenty families with all their relatives could live in one of them. THE AMERICAN INDIANS 21 The Indians of the Southwest had the strangest dwell- ings of all. They were made of a-do'be, or clay baked in the sun, and were called pueb'los. The chief ones were many times larger than the ''long houses," and the people of a good-sized town of to-day could live in a single pueblo. Sometimes these strange pueblos were perched high on the cUfls. There was one large enough to furnish homes for five thou- sand persons. Indeed, each pueblo was a kind of apart- ment house, town, and fort all in one. Some were two stories high, some were four, and others as high as seven stories. Each story was set back a little from the one below it, so that the roof of the first be- 22 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY came the sidewalk, or street, of the second, and so on to the top. Nobody ever called out, "Don't slam the door," to the Indian boys and girls who lived in these pueblos. For eveiyone had to climb to the top of his home on a ladder and let himself in through an opening in the roof. Can you guess why they chose such a strange way of getting into their houses? It was because they thought that if the en- trance was on top, it would not be easy for an enemy to surprise them. Sometimes these strange pueblos were perched high on the cliffs to make it still harder for enemies to reach them. The people living in these strongholds were called cliff- dwellers. They built on high places because they were weak and afraid of their enemies. The strong tribes always built their pueblos close to a river or lake. In this fish could be caught, and in the gardens nearby the squaws could till the soil. THE INDIAN BRAVE AND THE SQUAW You may sometimes hear it said that the squaw had to do all the work. People who say this believe that the Indian brave was lazy, and wished to make a slave of his wife. But this is not true, for the man had his own work just as the woman had hers. Hunting and fishing were his share; and any tribe whose men did not keep themselves THE AMERICAN INDIANS 23 =©^ 1 trained for fighting and on the watch for foes would soon have been killed or made slaves of by some other tribe. The Indian brave was quite willing to make arrows, bows, canoes, and other tools which he might need. But he felt too proud to do what he thought was a squaw's work. The squaw kept busy about the home clothing - 3 1. Hunting Arrow. 2. Arrow for War. 3. Fish Spear. Slioshonee Bow. ITTS She cooked the food and made the She tended the patches of corn, melons, beans, squashes, and pumpkins. In doing this she scratched the ground with simple tools like pointed sticks, or stone spades, or hoes. She also gathered wood, made fires, and set up the wigwam. But the squaw's first duty was to care for the children. She had a queer-looking cradle, or cradle- board, for her little pap-poose', as she called her child, and used it till the baby was two years old or so. The cradle was some two feet A Pappoose Case. long, and nearly a foot wide. It 24 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY was covered with skins, the outer one forming a pocket which was hned with grass and moss, making a soft Uttle nest where the baby snuggled. She carried it on her back when walking. But when at work she stood it against a bush or rock or hung it on a low bough. Perhaps you have heard your mother sing to the baby: "Rock-a-bye baby upon the tree-top, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock; When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall — Down comes rock-a-bye baby and all." This song came from the Indian mother's habit of hang- ing the cradle on a tree. The Indian boy did not go to a school like yours. His lessons were learned out of doors, and his books were the woods and the lakes and m the running streams about him. By watch- ing, and listening, and trying, he learned to swim like a fish, to dive like a beaver, to climb trees like a squin^el, and to run like a deer. As soon as he could hold a bow and arrow, he was taught to shoot at a mark and to throw the tomahawk. He had also to learn how to set traps for wild animals An Indian Pipe. THE AMERICAN INDIANS 25 and how to hunt them. He learned to make the calls of wild birds and beasts. For if he could howl like a wolf, quack like a duck, and gobble like a turkey, he could get nearer his game when on the hunt. He had to learn how to track his enemies and how to conceal his own tracks when he wished to get away from his enemies. He had to become a brave, strong warrior, and be able to kill his foe and pre- vent his foe from killing him. For, after all, the most impor- tant part of his work when he grew up was to fight the enemies of his tribe. If he did not make war upon them, they would think he was weak and would attack him. So whether he wished or not, he had to fight. Most boys like to ''play Indian" and surprise those who they pretend are enemies. The real Indians were very A light bark canoe, easily carried 26 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY fond of this kind of fighting by ambush. They would hide in the woods and then suddenly rush out upon their foes as they passed or shoot them down. They learned to keep so perfectly still and so com- pletely out of sight behind the trees or in the bushes and tall grass that the enemj^ would not suspect there was anybody near. Thus many of the enemy would be killed or captured while they themselves lost very few men. On returning home, the war party would often bring back captives. Some of these they might adopt into their own tribe, for often their numbers be- Snow-shoes. came much thinned by war. But sometimes the captives were tortured and put to death. Does it not seem strange that any one could enjoy seeing people suffer? The Indian's way of travelling from place to place was very simple. When he was looking for fresh hunting-grounds or new streams or lakes for fishing, or when he was with a war party, as a rule he went on foot. Sometimes he took a forest path or trail, but it was much easier to travel by water. Then he found his light bark canoe very useful. Two men could easily carry it, and even one could carry it alone over his shoulder. Its framework was strips of wood, fastened together by tough roots or sinews. This was covered by pieces of bark THE AMERICAN INDIANS 27 sewed together. The whole was made water-tight by fill- ing the seams with pitch and grease. Sometimes such a canoe would hold fifty people. In the winter, when the lakes and rivers were frozen, the canoe was no longer useful. Then, if the Indian brave wished to go far, he used his snow-shoes. These were two or three feet long and a foot or more wide to keep him from sinking into the snow. They were light and strong, often being made of a maple-wood frame, filled in with a network of deer's hide or sinews. THE INDIANS AND THE WHITES Before the white men came, most Indians lived very simple lives as hunters, fishermen, and warriors. They had dogs, but there were no native animals which they could tame to give them milk like our cows, or to draw their loads like our oxen and mules, or to carry them like our horses. The Indians were at first very much afraid of horses, but afterward used them wdth much skill in making war upon other tribes and upon the white man. Before the white man came, the Indian had never seen a sword, a gun, an iron axe, nor a knife made of metal. But he soon learned how to use all these. They made life much easier for him. For a wooden bow, a stone tomahawk or hatchet, or an arrow tipped with bone or stone killed fewer animals and got him much less food than guns and sharp iron tools. 28 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY You can see, then, that the coming of the white man greatly changed the red man's Hfe. But the Indian also changed the life of the white man. For when the early settler went out into the woods to live, he found it best to live much as the Indians did. He had to learn how to track his foe, and how to con- ceal his own trail through the forest. He even dressed like the Indian. He lived in simple houses like the ''long houses" of the Iroquois, only smaller. He ate such food as the Indians were likely to find in the forest, and like them, he many times suffered for want of food. Let us not forget, too, that more than once when food was scarce for all, the hungry settlers were kept from starving by the food which friendly Indians shared with them. Among the strange things which were a part of the life and work of the Indians are the mounds which they built. Many thousands of these have been found in 0-hi'o and other states of our country. They were of many shapes, some being large and some small. Thousands of them have been opened, and many relics found in them. Among these are knives and trinkets, arrow-heads and spades, stone axes and hammers, tools for spinning and weaving, and also water-jugs, kettles, pipes, and urns. At one time it was thought that the Mound Build'ers were a people who were far more skilful than the American THE AMERICAN INDIANS 29 Indians. But the mounds themselves, with their rehcs, leave no doubt now that they were the work of Indian tril^es. In fact, we know that some of these mounds were built by the Cherokee Indians, after the white people came to America. So we think that probably all the Mound Builders were just American Indians, like the other tribes which the early settlers found when they came to the New World. Some Things to Think About 1. Imagine yourself in an Indian wigwam, and describe what you see. What was the "long house"? the pueblo? Who were the cliff-dwellers? 2. What was the work of the Indian brave? of the squaw? 3. Imagine yourself an Indian boy Hving in a wigwam, and tell where you learn your lessons and the things you must learn to do. 4. Tell all you can about the bark canoe and the snow-shoe and their use by the Indians. 5. How did the white man change the life of the Indian, and how did the Indian change the white man's life? CHAPTER lY VASCO NXXEZ BALBOA AND FERDINAND MAGELLAN BALBOA The Indians, as you now veiy well know, were not in the least like the people of India. Their lives were simple, and they had veiy few things to use or to enjoy. Colum- bus and those who followed him found none of the spices, jewels, and precious stuffs which they were seeking. But they did find rich mines of gold and silver, and new fruits and plants. They could also make the natives work for them as slaves to dig ore or till the soil. So they kept coming over to seek their fortunes as mine-owners or planters. Many of them settled on the Isth'mus of Pan- a-ma^ Among them was Bal-bo'a. He had heard from an Indian chief that beyond the mountams was a great sea and far to the south a countr}' rich in gold. As soon as he could get ready, he started out in search of both, taking with him about two hundred Spaniards and several hmidred Indians. This was in September, 1513. On his way across the isthmus one morning early he climbed the mountains. At the top he stopped and gazed, for stretching before him far away to the south lay a vast 30 BALBOA AND MAGELLAN 31 body of water. He had made a great discovery^ for he was the first white man to behold the Pacific Ocean. But the mountains were so thick with tangled underbrush and the journey was so hard that it took him and his men four days longer to reach the coast. Then, with a sword in one hand and a flag in the other, he walked into the rising tide of the new-found ocean, and took possession of it in the name of the King and Queen of Spain. He named it the South Sea, but you know it as the Pacific Ocean. Balboa had done more than dis- cover the Pacific, however. He had led the way in finding out that the land which Columbus discovered was not Asia at all. It was a New World. Balboa. MAGELLAN But men did not yet know whether they could reach the land of silks and spices by sailing west. The honor of making sure of this belongs to Fer^i-nand Ma-gel 'Ian. He was a Portuguese sea-captain. While a young man, he went to Lisbon just as Columbus had done. There he 32 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY heard much talk about the great voyages in search of the Far East. One of these had been made by Vasco da Gama, who, you remember, in 1497 sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India. For several years ]\Iagellan himself had been going to India l^y that route, but it took too long. So, like Columbus, he studied maps and charts to discover a shorter one. He was sure that, if he could find a passage through America, this route would be shorter. Of course he had no proper map of America, for it was still almost an unknown land. But he could sail into every ba}^ or river till he found one which went clear through. The king of his country refused to aid him. So, like Columbus, he turned to Spain. That countiy was so glad it had helped Columbus that it dared to take up this new plan. It gave him a fleet of five old vessels and two hundred and eighty men. With these in September, 1519, Magellan put out to sea. Many dangers awaited him. He had to face heavy storms, the fear that food and water would not hold out, and angry sailors, who were only too read}' to do him harm and make the voyage fail in order to get back home. Ferdinand Magellan. BALBOA AND MAGELLAN 33 Not until six months after leaving Spain did he find a well sheltered harbor. There he cast anchor, and there for the first time his men enjoyed a meal of fresh fish in place of salt junk. But they were still unhappy, for they had little bread and wine left and no hope of getting more. They begged The Strait of Magellan. Magellan to turn l^ack, but he would not. Then three of his captains plotted to kill him. But he was more than a match for them all, and the ships sailed forward. Soon one of them was wrecked, but Magellan still pushed on. At length the fleet entered a new passage. On eveiy side were great mountains. It was what we now call the Strait of Magellan at the end of South America. Again the sailors begged to return. "I will go on," said Magellan, "if we have to eat the leather off the ship's yards." WheU; 34 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY a little later, he passed through the strait and beheld the ocean, he wept for joy. He had only three ships left, but still he headed west- ward. Then began a terrible voyage across Balboa's South Sea, which ^Magellan now called the Pacific because it seemed so peaceful. But though the ocean was calm, not so the sailors. Ma- gellan's troubles were still thick about him. The worst \\ere }'et to come, — terrible hunger, disease, and death. Those who did not die grew sick at heart. They kept alive only by eating the skins and leather wound about the great ropes of the ship. At last they reached some islands, which are now part of the Phil'ip-pines. But Death was waiting for the great cap- tain. In a fight \\'ith the natives the brave Magellan was slain. Those of his men who still lived pulled up the anchors and sailed for home. The voyage back was a long one. Not until September, 1522, nearly three years after setting out, did they arri^•e at the home port. Only one vessel, with eighteen starving sailors, got back to Spain. Such was the sad end of the most wonderful voyage that had ever been made. The gloiy of it has never faded. It meant a great deal to the men of those times, for there was no longer any doubt that the earth was round. ]\Ien now knew that the land discovered by Columbus was not the East Indies, but a New \Vorld. You know how they came to call it America. BALBOA AND MAGELLAN 35 Somf: Things to Think About 1. Who was Balhoa, and what did he do? 2. What (hd Maj^elhui wish to do? What (hd he discover? 3. Imagine yourseU" sailing with him on his ship, and tell something of the dangers that were all about him. 4. How did his men suffer? Why did some of them desire to kill him? 5. Why do we eall his voyage wonderful? What do you admire in Magellan? CHAPTER V HERXAXDO CORTEZ Twelve years after Columbus made his first voyage to America, a young Spaniard of nineteen, Her-nan'do Cor'tez by name, sailed on one of the fleets bound for the New World. After a stormy voyage, he landed at Cuba, where he lived for some years. There was something about this man that made others admire him and look to him as a leader. So when a strong commander was needed to head an expedition to ^klexico, he was chosen. He soon made his way to the eastern coast of that coun- try', reaching it in February', 1519. One of his first acts showed that he was bound to have his owni way. Soon after landing, he gave the order, "Sink all the ships." This he did to prevent any homesick soldiers from going back to Cuba. He could not afford to lose one, for he had only 450 men. Yet with this small army, six small cannon, and fifteen horses, he dared to face any danger he might meet. And he had not far to go before danger came. He soon met a strong tribe which was unfriendly. They at once showed hatred for the white men and fear of the horses. 36 HERNANDO CORTEZ 37 Later he found that all the natives, even the ruling people of Mexico, the Az'tecs, and their chief, Mon-te- zu'ma, felt the same way, and he soon learned why. It seems that they be- lieved a story that long ago a fair-skinned being, called the Sky God, had been driven out of the countiy by the God of Darkness. During the stay of the Sky God among the Mexi- cans he had taught them much. ^Mlen he left them, he said, "Some day I shall return and become ruler of the country." The natives believed that Cortez was this Sky God, and Montezuma jealously thought, "Now I shall have to give up my power." So you see why all the Mexicans hated the white-skinned warriors with their coats of iron and their shining swords. Horses they had never seen l^efore, and the}' thought that the Sky God had brought those monsters from another world. But the Mexicans were not people who gave up easily. So the first tribe he met soon gathered courage to fight. Their army and their strange dress excited the won- der of Cortez and his men. They wore ciuilted cotton Hernando Cortez. 38 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY coats, leather shields, and helmets trimmed with feathers. Their weapons were long bows, arrows tipped with stone, Horses they had never seen before, and they thought that the Sky God had brought those monsters from another world. lances, slings, and heavy wooden swords with blades of sharpened stone. They fought two battles. In each Cortez won the vic- tory, and then the natives felt quite sure that he was more HERNANDO CORTEZ 39 than a man and that it was no use to fight him. After they had made peace, they sent at least a thousand warriors to march with him on toward the City of Mexico, for this tribe had been enemies of the Aztecs. A great surprise awaited the Spaniards when they first looked upon the city. They were astonished at its beauty. It stood on an island in a lake. From the shores of the lake three great roadways of solid mason-work, from twenty to thirty feet wide and from four to five miles long, led to the centre of the city. Where these roads met, stood a huge temple. Around it were steps of stone, one hundred and fourteen in all, leading up to an altar on top. Up these long flights of steps, it was the custom for religious proces- sions to wind their way for worship. As the Spaniards marched along the great roadways, they passed beautiful floating islands, and within the city they found canals which w^re used as streets. Here, canoes, gliding to and fro, reminded them of Venice, and blossom- ing gardens on the flat roofs seemed but another part of a beautiful dream. As soon as they reached the city, Cortez and his men were given charters in a large building near the great temple. To weaken the power of his enemies, Cortez invited Montezuma to visit him. Though treated as a guest, the chief was in reality a prisoner. The Aztecs were angry and eager for revenge, yet they feared to make war without the 40 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY command of their king, and Montezuma dared not give the command for fear of instant death. But when at last during a rehgious festival the Spaniards attacked them and killed many of their leading men, the ' y^^^mw Meeting of Cortez and Montezuma. Aztecs could hold themselves in no longer. They fell upon the Spaniards with great fuiy, crowded the streets, and swarmed over the roofs as they tried to get at their hated foes. Cortez forced Montezuma to go out on the roof of his house, and order the Mexicans to stop the fighting. But, HERNANDO CORTEZ 41 as Montezuma's brother had now been made their leader, they did not obey their former king. With a shower of stones that filled the air, they struck him down. A few days later he died of a broken heart. After a whole week of hard fighting, Cortez saw that he must leave the city. He tried to steal away at night, but the Mexicans were on the watch and attacked him by land and by water. The fighting in the dark was frightful. Cortez barely got away after a large part of his army had been killed or captured. The next morning he was so overcome with grief by the loss and suffering of his men that he sat down upon a rock and wept bitterly. But he did not give up the idea of taking the city. With another army he returned about six months later and again made an attack. After five months the city surrendered, but it was half in ruins. Cortez had conquered Mexico. Some Things to Think About 1. What was Cortez trying to do? 2. Why were the Aztecs afraid of the Spaniards? Why did IVIonte- zuma fear Cortez? 3. Imagine yourself as having been one of the Spaniards, and tell what you saw when you first looked upon the city of Mexico. 4. Tell what happened to Montezuma after Cortez reached the city. 5. What was the great work of Cortez? What do you tliink of him? CHAPTER VI FRANCISCO PIZARRO Not many years after Cortez conquered IVIexico, another Spaniard, equally daring, went to Peru, This soldier, who made his name famous, was Fran-cis'co Pi-zar'ro. He had served under Balboa and had been with him when the Pacific Ocean was discovered. Having heard many stories of the gold and silver lying south of Panama, he was eager to go there. In 1531, he sailed with three vessels, three hundred and fifty men, and fifty horses. A few months later, he landed on the coast of Pe-ru', and began to march toward Cuz'co, the city where the ruler dwelt. This ruler was called the In'ca. In Peru Pizarro and his men came upon many strange sights. They saw fields watered by canals, with growing crops of white potatoes, Indian corn, and fine, puffy white cotton, none of which grew in Europe. Men were pulling the wooden ploughs through the ground, for there were no horses and oxen. Although at times llamas were used for this purpose, they were too small and weak to do much. The Spaniards wondered at the fine roads. They were 42 FRANCISCO PIZARRO 43 about twenty-five feet wide and almost as level as our rail- roads are to-day. Of course you can see that it was not easy to build such roads in this country with so many hills, high mountains, and deep, broad valleys to cross. As Pizarro and his men climbed higher and higher on their way over the moun- tains, they saw here and there beautiful gardens on the mountain-sides. Although the marching was slow and hard, the little army kept going forward. At last, when the Inca learned that the white strangers were on their way up from the sea, in fear he sent messengers to Pizarro with gifts and words of welcome. Like the Mex- icans, the people of Peru thought the horses were strange monsters, and the guns thunder-bolts; so they were afraid. On meeting Pizarro, the Inca's messengers called him ''Son of the Sky God," because they believed he had powers greater than those of human beings. After these greetings Pizarro marched to the city of Cax- a-mar'ca, and on November 15, entered it with a small army. A Street in Cuzco. 44 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY He at once sent De So'to, a trusty captain, with thirty-five horsemen, to invite the Inca to visit him. De Soto found the Inca surrounded by women slaves, and by chiefs wearing cjuilted cotton clothes, and carrying The people of Peru thought the horses were strange monsters. weapons. They had lances, clubs, bows, slings, and lassoes. The Inca treated them politely and promised to return the visit the next day. But when Pizarro learned of the size of the Inca's army, he felt that his small body of men was in great danger. FRANCISCO PIZARRO 45 Brave as he was, do you think he slept well that night? It is more than hkely that all the Spaniards expected the next day would be their last. But Pizarro gave no sign of fear. He hid his men in the The Inca Making the Mark Upon the Wall. houses of Caxamarca, and sent a priest to meet the Inca. When the two met, the priest began to make a long speech, and handed a Bible to the Inca. The proud ruler threw it upon the ground, no doubt thinking it was something to harm him. 46 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY No sooner had he done this than, at a given signal, the Spaniards rushed from the houses where they were hidden, seized the Inca, and for two hours cut down his followers. He was shut in a room twent3''-two feet long and seventeen feet wide. Reaching as high as he could, he made a mark upon the wall. He told Pizarro that he would fill the room with gold up to that mark for the Spaniards, if they would let him go. The crafty Spanish leader agreed to do so. At once messen- gers were sent to many parts of Peru, and the promised gold began to come in. For six months the natives toiled away, bringing, day by day, great loads of gold and silver. At last they got together what would now be worth many million dollars. The Death of Pizarro. FRANCISCO PIZARRO 47 The greedy Spaniards were greatly pleased. For a time they treated the Inca with kindness. But a little later, fearing his power, Pizarro broke his promise, brought him to trial, and had him cruelly murdered. It was in this way that he made sure of conquering Peru (1533). But Pizarro was not to enjoy what he had won so un- fairly. A quarrel with one of his leaders soon brought him to a bitter end. One day at noon while he was at dinner, nineteen heavily armed men entered his palace and took him by surprise. He had not time to put on his armor, but he quickly seized a spear and fought like a lion. Although a white-haired man past seventy years of age, he cut down one after an- other in the fearful struggle he made for his life. Finally they overcame him, and he fell. Making a cross on the floor, he kissed it and breathed his last. With great joy his enemies shouted, "The tyrant is dead!" Such was the end of Pizarro, the fearless conqueror of Peru. Some Things to Think About 1. Why was Pizarro eager to go to Peru? 2. Imagine yourself as having been with the marching Spaniards and tell something of the strange sights they came upon. 3. What did the people of Peru think of the horses and guns of the Spaniards? 4. Tell how Pizarro treated the Inca. What do you think of such treatment? 5. Why was Pizarro murdered by his own men? Is there anything you admire in him? CHAPTER VII JUAN PONCE DE LEON AND HERNANDO DE SOTO PONCE DE LEON Among the many Spaniards who were seeking fortunes in the New World was Ju-an' Ponce de Leon (pon'tha da la-on'). He was governor of Por'to Ri'co about the time that Balboa discovered the Pacific. His health was poor, and he was no longer young. Hav- ing heard of a wonderful fountain of youth on an island not far to the north, he longed to drink of its waters, for he believed they would bring back his health and make him young again. So he got the consent of the King of Spain to explore and conquer the island on which he had been told this fountain could be found. Sailing north from Porto Rico, he reached land on Easter morning, 1513, and named the new country Flor'i-da, in honor of the day.* Of course he did not find the fountain of youth, and after sailing along the coast for * Pascua Florida is the Spanish name for Easter Sunday. 48 Routes Traversed by De Soto and De Leon Searching for the Fountain of Youth. 50 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY many miles with his men, he returned to Porto Rico, remember him as the man who discovered Florida. We DE SOTO Most of the explorers sought, however, not youth, but gold. So many sailors had gone back to Spain with won- derful stories of what they had seen and heard that men were now eager to try their fortunes in the new land. Among these was Her-nan'do de So'to. You remember that he was with Pizarro in Peru. From there he went back to Spain with great wealth and honor. Hoping to find another land as rich as Peru and Mexico, he asked the King of Spain to make him governor of Cuba. The king did so, and also told him that he might conquer and settle Florida. De Soto easily found men to join his company. There were 600 in all, among them many gay nobles and daring soldiers. After reaching Cuba and planting a settlement there, De Soto, with 570 men and 223 horses, sailed for Florida. Two weeks later, in May, 1529, they landed on its western coast. A>ry soon their troubles began. The journey was full of Hernando De Soto. DE LEON AND DE SOTO 51 danger. As there were no roads, the Spaniards had to make their way through thick woods and tangled under- brush, by following the trails of Indians and wild beasts. Even these trails often failed, and then they had to cross rivers and wade through swamps, not knowing where they would come out. The soldiers suffered also from hunger, for they had little meat or salt. Then too they had to fight the Indians much of the time, for, from the start, De Soto had treated them with great cruelty, and they hated the Spaniards bitterly. After a while, some of De Soto's men lost heart and begged him to turn back. But he said, "We must go for- ward." In the course of his march he reached the town of a giant chief who had made ready to receive the strangers. He sat upon cushions on a raised platform. All about him were his followers, and some of them held over his head a buckskin umbrella stained in red and white. He waited quietly for the coming of the Spanish horse- men, and showed no fear of their prancing steeds. But in spite of his grave dignity De Soto treated him with no respect. He compelled him to supply food, and then go with them to the next town. Here the Spaniards and the Indians had a bloody battle. It was one of the hardest ever fought in those early days between the white men and the red men. The Span- iards at last set fire to the houses, and by nightfall had 52 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY killed all the Indians but three. Two of these fell while fighting, and the last one hanged himself with his bowstring. The battle was a serious one for the white men also. Many of them were killed or wounded, and most of their De Soto Keacliiag tliu Mississippi River. clothing, arms, and supplies were burned. In fact, they had to weave long grass into mats for clothing. They were in a pitiful condition, and longed to return to home and friends. Again they begged De Soto to go back, but he would not. At last the Spaniards reached the Mississippi, and after crossing it marched north along its western bank, still searching for gold. DE LEON AND DE SOTO 53 The next winter was long and severe, and their suffer- ings were ahnost greater than they could bear. De Soto Burial of De Soto. himself now gave up all hope. He decided to go to the coast and build ships to send for aid. When he reached the mouth of the Red River, he went with an Indian chief as a guest to his town. Here, sick at heart and weakened in body, he fell ill with a fever, and died in May, 1542. At first his followers buried his body within the walls of the town, but they feared that the 54 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY red men might attack them if De Soto's death became known. So they dug up the body, wrapped it in blank- ets, and in the darkness of midnight lowered it into the black waters of the Mississippi. De Soto had come to America to seek wealth and honor. What he found was hunger, hardship, disease, and a grave in the mighty river he had discovered. Some Things to Think About 1. \Miat was De Leon trying to find? What important thing did he do? 2. Wliat did De Soto come to America to seek? 3. Imagine yourself as having been with him, and tell all you can about your struggles with hunger, disease, and the Indians. 4. Tell how De Soto treated the giant chief, and what was the out- come. 5. What was the great work of De Soto? What do you think of him? CHAPTER VIII JACQUES CARTIER Thus far nothing has been said about the work of the French explorers. But France was not willing to be left out of the struggle for riches and power. She, too, wanted the gold, silver, spices, and jewels which all were seeking. Yet it was not until 1534 that she sent an explorer to find the Northwest Passage to China. The name of this l)oId and skilful sea-captain was Jacques Cartier (zhak car- ty-a'). He sailed along the coast of northeastern America, passed into the Gulf of St. Law'rence, and carried back to France a full report of what he had seen. The following year he made another voyage, this time up the St. Lawrence. He believed this river to be the passage through America which he was seeking. He landed at a little Indian village where Que-bec' now stands. The Indians did not want their rivals up the river to share in what the white men had taught them. So they told 55 Jacques Carlior. 56 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY absurd stories of awful tempests and islands of floating ice to frighten him out of going further. But he pushed on. On his way upstream he came to another Indian vil- Cartier Arriving at Montreal. lage with a veiy steep hill back of it. He named it Mont- re-al', which is French for "royal mountain." Here the Indians flocked down to the shore, all eager to welcome the white strangers. They danced and sang, and brought gifts of fish and corn. After the Frenchmen had landed, the Indian women and children crowded about them, feeling in wonder of the white men's beards and touching their faces. Then the warriors brought their sick chief and placed JACQUES CARTIER 57 him on the ground at Cartier's feet to be healed by his touch. After a brief sta}', the French went back to Quebec. There they spent a terrible winter, losing twenty-five of their number. At one time only three or four were well enough to care for the sick. As the ground was frozen so hard that they could not dig graves, they hid the l^odies of the dead in the deep snow-drifts. In the spring after this awful winter, Cartier was glad to go back to France. Five years later he tried again to plant a colony at Quebec, but again he failed. Some Things to Think About 1. What was Cartier trying to find? 2. Go with him in imagination up the St. Lawrence to Montreal, and tell what the Indians did when the Frenchmen landed. 3. How did Cartier and his men suffer during the following winter in Quebec? 4. Cartier did not find the Northwest Passage. Did he fail in any- thing else? CHAPTER IX SIR FRANCIS DRAKE After the conquest of Mexico and Peru, Spain got from them a very great quantity of gold and silver, which she spent in making wars upon other nations. She had a strong desire to crush England, and bring that country under her power. When English seamen were captured by Spanish sea- men, some were thrown into dark prisons, some hanged, and others burned to death at the stake. • You will not need to be told, then, that Englishmen hated Spain, and no one hated her more than did Fran'cis Drake. He was a great sea-captain. He spent most of his life on the sea, and for many years fought against Spain, doing all he could to weaken her power. He made his first voyage to America as pilot for Sir John Haw'kins. While they were on the coast of Mexico, Spanish vessels suddenly swooped down upon them one day, took their gold and silver, and destroyed all but two of their ships. Of course, Drake was very angry. He became more bitter than ever against the Spaniards, and began to lay plans to attack their settlements and to capture their gold. 58 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 59 On one of his voyages he sailed to Panama, and while there he went across the Isthmus. One day the natives took him to the top of a hill^ and ^^ from under the branches of a large tree he gazed upon the vast w^aters of the Pacific. He was the first Englishman to look u})on that ocean. In awe he fell upon his knees, and prayed that God would let him go out upon that water. For he knew that the Spanish ships were sailing there and gathering gold and silver to cany back to Spain. It was several years before he could make another voyage to the New World. Then by the help of some wealthy friends, he got together a fleet of five ships. They were richly fitted out. His table was set with dishes of gold and silver, and he himself dressed in fine clothes. The fleet sailed in November, 1577. After being nearly Young Drake Watching Vessels Put Out to Sea. 60 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY two months out of sight of land, Drake and his men reached the coast of Brazil. Saihng along the coast they met with so man}^ severe storms and dense fogs that they were often forced to tm*n back, and two of their vessels were lost. In August of the next year the three vessels that were left sailed into the Strait of Magellan. Here for two long weeks they were tossed about by storms and head-winds. They feared their vessels might be dashed to pieces; but as Drake was brave and skilful, they passed safely on. It was a time of trial and hea\y loss. One of the ves- sels deserted, and after a while another was lost. Now only the flag-ship, the Golden Hind, was left; but Drake would not turn back. After sailing through the Strait, there w^ere no more Drake Sees the Pacific Ocean for the First Time. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 61 storms. Then Drake went northward; passing along the western coast of the new continent, South America. Things looked brighter now, for he began to find the Spanish treasure he was seeking. In one harbor he captured a Spanish ship loaded with wine and gold, and in the harbor of Lima, he came upon Spanish ships lying at anchor, and took from them silks, linen, and a chest of plate. But he did not stop long, because he heard that a vessel loaded with treasure had just sailed out of the harbor for Panama. Eagerly he started after her, promising a golden chain to the sailor who should first sight the Spanish vessel. At last one of his men. saw her, trying hard to escape. After a hot chase, Drake overtook her and obtained a large quantity of gold and jewels. He now began to think of sailing back to England. But it did not seem wise to return by the same way he had come, because the Spaniards might be lying in wait for him. For this reason he made up his mind to sail west and reach England that way. On his homeward voyage, he stopped at the Philippines A Spanish Galleon of the Sixteenth Century. 62 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY and other islands of the Pacific, where he traded with the natives and took on fresh food. Having explored these islands, he sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, and after several narrow escapes he reached the home port early in Novem- ber, 1580. His voyage had lasted nearly three years. At first the queen would not let him land, because in capturing Spanish ships Drake might have brought on a An English Ship of the Fifteenth Century. ^^^ ^-^j^ Spain. But later he was treated with great honor. He was in- vited to the Queen's court, and she herself came to dinner on board his ship, and made him a knight, so that from that time, he was called Sir Francis Drake. He was the second man and the first Englishman to sail entirely around the world. Can you think who had done this before? Some Things to Think About 1. Why did Drake and other EngHshmen hate Spain? 2. What did Drake do soon after he looked upon the Pacific for the first time? Why? 3. Tell what you can about Drake's stormy passage through the Strait of Magellan. 4. In what ways did he try to harm the Spaniards? 5. Why did the Queen of England make him a knight? 6. What great thing did he do? What do you admire in him? CHAPTER X SIR WALTER RALEIGH One of the foremost Englishmen that Hved in the time of Drake was Wal'ter Ra'leigh (raw'K). He was born in a town near the sea in the southern part of England. He was a fine-looking lad, full of life and fond of all out-door sports. In his home town lived many old sailors, who could tell the l)right, wide-awake boy stirring tales of life at sea and of hard fights with Spaniards. While he was still a youth of less than twenty years, he went to France and became a soldier; and later he joined the army of the Dutch in Holland, who were at war with Spain. At the age of twenty-seven, a few years after his return from Holland, he attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth by a simple act of courtesy. One day as the queen with her attendants was passing along, Raleigh happened to be standing by. On seeing her stop when she reached a muddy spot, he quickly took off his beautiful velvet cloak and spread it across the way for her to walk upon. As a queen and a woman, this won her heart and made her a friend of the young Raleigh, who soon became one of the leading men in her court. 63 64 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY He was now a tall, handsome man, with dark hair, a high color, and blue eyes. He dressed in a striking way. On his hat he wore a pearl-covered band, and a black feather / fli Raleigh Spreading His Cloak Before Queen Elizabeth. decked with jewels. His shoes, also, which were tied with white ribbons, were ornamented with gems. His richest suit of armor was made of silver. In those days rich men dressed much .^iiore brilliantly than women. Although Queen E-liz'a-beth herself had SIR WALTER RALEIGH 65 1,075 dresses decked with jewels of great value, and owned eighty wigs of various colors, yet the men of her court out- shone even her. While Raleigh had much money, he did not waste it. In fact, he almost always knew how to spend it wisely. As the stoiy goes on, you will see that we Americans owe him much for what he did in trying to plant an English colony in the New World. In 1578 he joined his half- brother. Sir Hum'phrey Gilbert, in a voyage to New'found-land with the purpose of planting a settle- ment on the coast of America. But this plan failed. Six years later Raleigh fitted out two vessels which he sent over to the New World to find out something al)out the country. On their return the men in charge of these vessels said they found the Indians friendly and the land beautiful. The queen was so pleased with this report that she said the new land should be called Vir-gin'ia in honor of herself, the Virgin Queen. The next year Raleigh sent out a colony of 108 per- sons. Sir Richard Gren'ville was commander of the fleet, and Ralph Lane was to be governor of the colony. They landed at Ro'a-noke. From the first they were Sir Walter Raleigh. 66 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY most unwise, because they treated the Indians so harshly that they became very unfriendly. And the ill-will of the Indians was not the only trouble the colonists had. Food became scarce, and Grenville had to sail to England for more. While he was away, Lane started out to explore the Roanoke River, of which he had heard wonderful tales from ^^^:^ the Indians. "This stream flows through lands rich with gold and silver," they said. "Its waters come out of a fountain which is so near the South Sea that in time of storm the waves break over into the fountain. Near this stream also," they added, "is a town sur- rounded by walls made of pearls." But Lane and the men who went with him found no such fountain or town. What they did Their food became so scarce that they had to eat dog flesh to keep themselves alive. When Lane returned, all were sick at heart, the future looked so dark. But about this time. Sir Francis Drake with 23 vessels cast anchor near the island. He had come from the West Indies, where he had been plunder- ing Spanish settlements, and was on his way to England. He agreed to leave food and a part of his fleet with the Queen Elizabeth. find was great hardship. SIR WALTER RALEIGH G7 colonists. But when a heavy storm came up, the settlers in their fear begged to return to England, and he took them all on board. They had found no gold, but they took back to England things of far more value. These were sweet potatoes, Indian corn, and tobacco. Long before this first cargo had arrived in England, Grenville had returned to Roanoke with food. Finding no one there, he left 15 men and sailed back home. Raleigh's second colony Most men would by this time have lost courage, but Raleigh was too strong and brave to give up. Two years later, he made an- other attempt. This time he sent Captain John WTiite, with 150 men, 17 women, and 11 children. The company landed at Roanoke but could not find the 15 men left there by Grenville. Like the first colony, in a short time these settlers made enemies of the Indians. Very soon, also, food became scarce and they l)egged Captain White to go back to England for more. He did not wish to leave the colony. Nor did he like to say good-by to his little granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the Raleigh's Various Colonies. 68 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY first white child born in the New World. But he knew they must have food, so he started. Before he left, the settlers agreed that if they should leave the place for any reason, they would cut into the bark Finding the Name Carved Upon the Tree. of a tree the name of the place to which they were going. They said also, "If we are in trouble, we will make a cross above the name." White reached home just as his countr}'men were prepar- ing to meet the attack of the great Spanish fleet, the "Ar- SIR WALTER RALEIGH 69 ma'da." To defend herself, England needed eveiy ship that her seamen could get ready. So the two small vessels which Raleigh had fitted out for his colony were held for this great sea-fight. Almost three years went by before Captain White could return to Roanoke. When he at last arrived, not a single person was left. He found only some chests of books, some maps, and some fire-arms. You may be sure that he lost no time in looking for the message on the tree. He found " Cro-a-to'an " cut in cap- ital letters, but no cross. Now Croatoan is the name of an island near Roanoke. ^^^lite therefore begged the captain of the vessel on which he was sailing to carry him to this island. But the weather was so stormy that the captain would not do so. AATiat became of the lost colony, no one has ever learned. Five times Raleigh sent out men to look for it, but he never heard from it again. Years afterwards it was found that four men, two boys, and one girl had been adopted into an Indian tribe. Very likely the rest of the settlers were killed by the Indians. Raleigh's work in America was over. Although he had failed to plant a colony, he had done something better. He had taught the English that they should not value the New W^orld so much for the gold and silver they might find in it, as for the homes they might build there for themselves and their children. 70 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Some Things to Think About 1. Tell how Raleigh spread his cloak across the way for Queen Eliza- beth to walk upon. 2. Tell something about how Raleigh and the queen dressed. 3. In what ways did the men of Raleigh's first colony act unwisely? 4. What came out of his first attempt to plant a colony? What out of his second attempt? 5. Raleigh did something better than plant a colony. What was it? What do you think of him? CHAPTER XI STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA Twenty years passed by after Sir Walter Raleigh's col- ony came to such a sad end before any one tried again. Then a group of merchants, nobles, and sea-captains, called The London Company, made another attempt to start a settlement in the New World. They hoped that the settlers might make the company rich by finding gold and silver, as the Spaniards had done, and by building up trade. As a beginning, the company sent out 105 men. These set sail from London on New Year's Day, 1607, in three frail vessels. But they were not the right kind of men to settle a new country. About half of them were men who had never done any rough, hard work, such as cutting down trees and chopping wood. They called themselves "gentlemen," and they expected to come over to America and pick up a fort- une without work. Then they would go back to England and live at ease the rest of their lives. Their voyage across the ocean was a long one, and it was well that they did not know what dangers and hardships awaited them. They sailed down to the Canary Islands 71 72 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY and from there to the West IndieS; where they stopped sev- eral weeks. It took them about four months to make the journey, and at the end their food was nearly gone. They had in- tended to land at Roanoke Island, where Raleigh's colony had been. But a storm drove them out of their course, and they entered Ches'a-peake Bay. From here they sailed up a beautiful river with the flowers of a southern May blooming on its banks. They named it the James, in honor of the King of England. Fifty miles from the mouth of the river, the voyagers landed and, after looking about, picked out a place in which to settle down, naming it after their king, James'town. You can imagine that when people come to live in a new land, there is a great deal to do. The first thing was to make some sort of shelter. Some of them quickly put up rude huts covered with bark or turf, some made tents of old sails, and some merely dug holes in the ground. Going to church did not mean for them going indoors, for their church had only an old sail for a roof, a plank nailed up between two trees for a pulpit, and logs of wood for seats. You boys and girls who like to camp out may think all this must have been great fun. But living in this way is not so pleasant if one has to do it all the time. Before they were fairly settled, trouble began. It was very hot in the new countiy, and the damp, unhealthy air STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 73 rising from the undrained swamps brought disease. Many of the settlers fell ill and tossed about on their rough beds in high fever. Sometimes three or four died in a single night. TheUj too, food became so scarce that each man had only a cupful of mouldy wheat or barley to last all day. To make matters even worse, the Indians were un- friendly. Very soon after the white men came, two hundred redskins had attacked them, killing one and wounding eleven of their number. After that, the settlers took turns in acting as watchmen. Each man had to be on guard every third night, and lying on the damp, bare ground caused more illness. Sometimes there were not five men strong enough to carry guns. JOHN SMITH AND THE INDIANS During the summer about half the colonists died. Per- haps none would have lived but for one brave and strong man. This was John Smith. According to his story, which, however, not everybody believes, he had already passed through many dangers in foreign lands, often narrowly escaping death. He had returned to England from the war with the Turks just in time to join these men coming to Virginia. Being fearless and quick to think what to do, he proved a great help to the colonists during this hard summer. When, however, the cooler days of autumn set in, the 74 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY John Smith. future looked much brighter. There was more food and less sickness. Game began to run in the woods, their garden vegetables ripened, and water-birds and fish were plentiful. Now that the colony was in better condition, Smith thought he ought to be looking for the passage to the "South Sea," as the London Com- pany had ordered them to do. You see, men were still searching for the shorter route to the East, and many even then believed that the Pacific Ocean lay just beyond the mountains west of Jamestown. It was December when Smith started out to explore, and the weather was cold. After some days, he reached the Chick-a-hom'i-ny River. When the water became too shallow for his boat, Smith changed into a light canoe and with two white men and two Indian guides paddled on upstream. Before long they landed. Then Smith left the white men in charge of the canoe, and with one of his Indians pushed his way into the forests. Soon they were set upon by two hundred Indian warriors, and Smith was captured. You may be sure he had an exciting story to tell, when he got back, of what happened to him during the next few weeks. He said that the Indians first tied him to a tree and STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 75 were about to shoot him. But to save his life, he pulled out an ivory compass and showed it to them, in this way arousing their curiosity. They looked at the needle moving about under the glass and tried to touch it. When they could not, they were puzzled. Smith then wrote a letter to his friends at Jamestown, telling them of his capture, and sent it by some of the In- dians. They could not see how the white man was able to make the paper talk. Thinking that he must be more than human, they spared his life. The Indians took Smith around to visit many of their villages, and at last to their chief, Pow-ha-tan'. This old chief lived in a "long house" on the York River fifteen miles from Jamestown. He was tall and strongly built. His face was round and fat, and his thin gray hair hung down his back. He was dressed in a robe of raccoon skin, and sat before the fire on a sort of bench covered with mats. Near him were young Indian maidens. At his right and at his left were warriors, and close to the wall on either side sat a row of squaws. What do you think happened next? Some of the war- riors placed two stones upon the ground, seized Smith, and laid him down with his head upon the stones. Then with clubs in their hands and arms raised they stood ready to kill him. But just at that moment, Smith tells us, the chief's little 76 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY daughter, Po-ca-hon'tas, rushed forward and fell upon his body. She threw her arms about his neck and begged her father to spare his life. Powhatan did so and adopted Smith into the tribe. This was all according to an Indian custom which was sometimes followed to save a prisoner's life. Three days later, Smith was allowed to return to James- town. He had been away about two weeks. When he got back, he found the settlers were out of food. But that very day Captain Newport returned from England with fresh supplies and with one hundred and twenty new colonists. Pocahontas also, along with a band of Indian braves, soon came to the settlement bringing baskets of corn, wild- fowl, and other kinds of food. What a good friend and peace-maker this little maid was! The following summer Smith explored the Potomac River and various parts of Chesapeake Bay. He sailed 3,000 miles and made some very good maps of the countr3\ On his return to Jamestown (September, 1608), he was made president of the council. Not many weeks later, Jamestown was again in trouble. The Indians had turned against the settlers. You see, Powhatan was afraid that if white people kept coming, his people would, before long, be driven from their hunting- grounds. So he planned to get rid of the Englishmen. He thought that by refusing to give them corn, he could starve them out. Smith, knowing well that the settlers STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 77 must make a brave stand, with some forty armed men went to Powhatan's village and said, "We must have corn." "You can have it," said Powhatan, "if for every basket- ful you will give me an English sword." Smith at once refused, but he com- pelled the Indians to carry corn on board his boat. Although the old chief acted as if he were friendly, he was all the time planning to murder Smith and all his men. But again little Poca- hontas proved herself a friend to the white man. For that night, at the risk of her life, she came to Smith in the dark- ness and told him of his danger. The next morning Smith sailed away unhurt. But as he needed more corn, he stopped at another Indian village. Suddenly he found that hundreds of warriors with weapons were surrounding him. Boldly he seized their chief by the scalp-lock, and putting a pistol to his breast cried, "Corn or your life!" Then the Indians brought Smith all the corn he needed. Pocahontas. 78 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY In this way Smith managed the Indians. It was well for Jamestown that he could manage the settlers also. For not long after he had brought back corn from the Indians, the colony had to face a new danger. Swarms of rats, which had been brought over in the ships, were eating up what little food they had. When this was discovered. Smith declared: "To save ourselves from starving, every man must turn to and help by working. He who will not help shall not eat." And every man had to obey the new rule. Although the lazy settlers did not like it, they set to work cutting down trees, building houses, clearing up the land, and planting corn. As we should expect, the outlook grew brighter. If Smith had stayed with them, we may well believe the col- ony would have prospered. But as he had received a wound which would not heal, he had to go back to England to have it treated. "the starving time " AND WHAT FOLLOWED When he left, Jamestown had five hundred settlers. Shortly after he had gone the Indians began to rob and plunder the settlement, even killing some of the settlers. Cold weather set in, and then there was much sickness and suffering. Sometimes several died in a single day. To make matters worse, before the end of the winter there was no food. STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 79 The starving men tried in vain to live on roots and herbs, and then were driven to eat their dogs and horses. At the end of this dreadful winter, which was called "the starving time," only sixty of the five hundred men were left alive. Landing of Lord Delaware. Late in the spring a little vessel arrived from England with more men. They found the settlers so weak that they could hardly walk and quite unable to do any work. But oh, how glad they were to see friends! As the ship brought little food, they all decided to sail away to England. Before they got out of the mouth of the James River, however, they met Lord Del'a-ware. He was the new governor, and had come with three ships loaded 80 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY with men and supplies. So they turned back, and the colony was saved. Lord Delaware made wise laws, and everybody seemed ready to do his part. But just as they were becoming hope- ful once more, the governor had to go back to England be- cause he was not well. ' Sir Thomas Dale was left in charge of the colony. He was a stern ruler, but he made one very good change. Ever since coming to Jamestown, the colonists had kept up the foolish plan of having one large storehouse which they used in common. That is, every man put in what he raised, and took out what he needed. As you might expect, the lazy men let the others do the work for them. But by the new plan, each settler was to have three acres of land for himself and was to turn into this common storehouse only six bushels of corn a year. The rest of his crop he could use as he pleased. This was much fairer. The lazy men had to get to work or starve, while the good workers raised so much that the colony after that not only had all it needed but could sell to the Indians. Another change that worked well was a new way of making laws. Up to this time the settlers had had nothing to do with managing the affairs of the colony. But in 1619 a new charter allowed each settlement (there were now eleven) to send two men to an assembly to help make laws for all. STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA . 81 Now that each man could keep for himself what he earned and have a share in making the laws, a better class of settlers came to Virginia. Men with families were willing to take their chances in the new country. Up to this time most of the men who came over were not married. Of course they expected to remain only a while and then return to England. But if they had their own homes they would be likely to settle for good in Virginia. Early in 1620 the London Company sent out a new kind of cargo. It was ninety young women to become wives of the settlers. Each settler, however, had to win the consent of the maiden he chose for his bride. When he had done so, he paid the company one hundred and fifty pounds of to- bacco, which was the cost of her passage from England. This all seems queer to us, but the plan worked finely, and many happy homes were started. The planters now had good reasons for being pleased with their new life. They were making money rapidly by raising tobacco, and they were all the time feeling safer and stronger as a colony because their numbers were growing larger. AN UPRISING OF THE INDIANS By 1622 the settlements extended from the coast along the James River up to where Richmond is now. They spread out, making a belt five or six miles wide on each side of the river. 82 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY In some places the settlers had put up thick-walled block'houses and pal'i-sades, or rows of stakes, as a defence against attacks from the Indians. But so far no attacks had been made. Jamestown, 1622. ® For years settlers and red men lived in peace and good- will with one another. The settlers freely visited the In- dian villages, and the Indians were welcome in the homes of the white men. To make the friendship even stronger, the Indian maiden, Pocahontas, married one of the leading white men, John Rolfe. But a change was about to take place. After Powhatan died, his brother became chief. He at once began to work in secret for the murder of all the white settlers in Virginia. The plan was that on a certain day all the settlements were to be attacked at the same hour. But until the time came, all the Indians were to pretend to be very friendly. STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 83 Even on the morning when the outbreak took place, they carried game to the settlers' houses and sat down as friends at their tables. But when the hour of eight o'clock came, the Indians set upon them and shot or struck dead every white person within reach, in field or shop or even at the breakfast tables where they had been eating as guests. Before the day closed, they had slain over four hundred settlers and left some seventy plantations without a living soul upon them. There was hardly a household of which at least one member was not killed. How do you think the white men felt at such base treatment? Of course, they arose in their might, and hunted down the Indians like wild beasts, killing them l:)y hundreds. After conquering them they went back and took up the work of peace once more. TOBACCO AND THE PLANTATION They had found that the most money could be made by raising tobacco, so they planted many acres of it. But as tobacco would not grow year after year in the same soil, the planters had to own a great deal of land, that is, large plan-ta'tions. A Virginia Planter. 84 EARLY AATERICAN HISTORY To care for these plantations, many workers were needed. To meet this need poor boys and girls were brought over from England and bound to service until they should grow up. Later on men came who had agreed, before starting, to work a certain number of years for the man who paid their passage. These were called indented servants. Until the promised number of years was up, they could be sold by their masters, just as horses, tobacco, or anything else could be. But when they had worked off their debt, they became free and could hire out. Some, by saving their wages, after a time bought plantations of their own. Finally some negroes were brought to Virginia. Twenty came from Africa in a Dutch vessel (1619) and were sold as slaves. But for a long time the number did not increase very much. There were many rivers in eastern Virginia, and each planter tried to secure a plantation facing one of them. Vessel at Wharf Receiving Tobacco. storip:s of early Virginia 85 There he could have his own wharf and load his tobacco, for market. If the stream was so shallow that a vessel could not sail up to the wharf, the tobacco was loaded on rafts and pushed downstream. Sometimes casks filled with tol3acco were rolled down to the landing over what were called "cor'du-roy roads," made of tree-trunks laid side by side in the mud. Then again the casks were pulled to the wharf l^y horses or oxen. When the vessel which took the tobacco to England came back, it brought such things as chairs and tables, pots and kettles, axes, hoes, ploughs, and clothing. In fact, for years after Jamestown was settled almost everything that the planter needed for his house and his plantation was brought from England by vessel to his wharf. Among the indented servants were masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, sawyers, spinners, and weavers. There were also coopers, who made the casks in which the tobacco was shipped. So before long, the simpler things needed could be made at home. The plantations were so large and so far apart, that no large towns grew up. But the many rivers and smaller streams made it possible for the planters to visit one an- other. If they could not go by water, they were very likely to ride on horseback over bridle-paths through the forests. 86 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Some Things to Think About 1. Why did men of the London Company make another attempt to start a settlement in the New World? 2. Imagine yourself living in Jamestown that first summer, and tell all you can about the trials of the settlers. 3. Go in imagination with John Smith to the "long house." Tell what Smith saw as he entered the house, and also how little Pocahontas saved his life. 4. In what ways was she afterward kind to John Smith and the Vir- ginia settlers? 5. Go in imagination with John Smith when he went to the Indians after corn, and tell what happened. 6. Tell what you can about what Governor Dale did to do away with the common storehouse. Why was his plan a good one? 7. Why did the Indians attack the settlement ? 8. Why did the Virginia settlers raise so much tobacco and live on plantations? Why did most of the plantations face some river? CHAPTER XII STORIES OF EARLY MARYLAND At the time when the Jamestown settlers were having their hardest struggle with disease, famine, and Indians, the Catholics in England were also having a hard time. Some of them were fined and some of them thrown into prison for not obeying the laws about public worship. One of their number, George Calvert, Lord Bal'ti-more, resolved to plant a settlement in the New World where the Catholics could worship God in their own way without being punished. King James was his friend and gave him permis- sion to plant such a colony in New'f ound-land ; but it was too cold there. Lord Baltimore then got the consent of the new king, Charles I, the son of King James, to plant a colony in the lands lying north of the Po-to'mac. In November, 1633, two of Baltimore's vessels, the Ark and the Dove, sailed from England with between two and three hundred settlers. Only twenty of these called them- selves "gentlemen"; the rest were used to work. They had with them a good supply of food and tools. After a voyage of over three months, and a few days of rest at Point Comfort in Virginia, they reached the Potomac. 87 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Near its mouth they landed on a httle wooded island, and planted a cross as a sign that it belonged to a Catholic people. The settlers were delighted with the beauty of the scen- ery, the blossoming river-bank, the strange trees, the wild grape-vines, the flocks of wild tur- keys, and the birds of bright colors. Friendly Indians, crowding the banks, gazed in wonder at the huge ships, scooped, they thought, like their canoes, out of single tree- trunks. They wondered where such great trees could grow. Sailing a few miles up the Po- tomac, the settlers entered a broad, inviting bay, which proved to be the mouths of some little streams. There was a good landing near its head, and they chose it for their first settlement. They named it St. Mary's, and the bay St. Mary's "River." The colony Lord Baltimore later called ilf ar?/-land, after the Queen, Hen'ri-et'ta Ma-ri'a. They found the Indians friendly, and bought from them a tract of land, paying for it with axes, hoes, and cloth. Of course you know the Indians could not use money. These Indians seemed glad to have the white strangers dwell in their country. They even let them have a part of their own village. Indeed, one of their chiefs gave up his cabin to the priest. Father White, to be used as a chapel. George Calvert (Lord Baltimore). STORIES OF EARLY IVIARYLAXD SO The Indian l^raves joined the white men in their work, and the squaws taught the women how to make loread of Friendly Indians, crowding tlie banks, gazed in wonder at the huge ships. pounded corn. When later the Indians brought wild-tur- keys and other food to the settlement, they received a fair price, and often spent the night with the white men. 90 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY But although the Indians were friendly, this colony was not without its troubles. Its neighbors, the colonists of Vir- ginia, of whom you have just read, claimed the land where the Ma'ry-land-ers had settled and were angry at them for taking it. They disliked also to have a Catholic colony so near to them. But in time this trouble passed over. Lord Baltimore made all religions equal in the colony, and every one might worship as he pleased. There were other troubles of various kinds, but in spite of all Maryland grew and prospered. The climate was mild and healthful, the soil was good, and there was plenty of game. Deer, turkeys, and pigeons abounded in the for- ests; the streams were alive with swans, geese, and ducks; while Chesapeake Bay, as now, was the home of oysters and ter'ra-pin beyond number. Fancy what good things the little boys and girls of early Maryland had to eat, and what fun they must have had in helping to get them ! As in Virginia, nearly all the people lived on plantations, most of which were connected by water. Travel was chiefly by boats and canoes, or on horseback, as there were no carriages. Everybody knew how to ride. A pretty sight it must have been to see the ladies and gentlemen cantering along the green forest paths. There were few highways, and so wild was the country and so dense the forests that lonel}' STORIES OF EARLY MARYLAND 91 travellers sometimes lost their way and had to spend the night in the woods. Strangers always found a welcome in the settler's home. It was pleasant to get news from the outside world, for you must remember that there were no newspapers then. At night, when the candles were lighted and the logs were burning in the open fireplaces, stories true or made up were always sure of eager listeners. The large plantations lay along the rivers which emptied into Chesapeake Bay or into the Potomac. As in Virginia, the ships brought almost to the planter's door the things which he needed and took in trade his tobacco and corn, while from the inland plantations, where the ships could not go, tobacco was brought down to the river-fronts over "corduroy roads." As in Virginia, also, plantation life left no chance for towns to grow. For many years St. Maiy's, the capital, *7 '^ Cape Charles Early Settlements in Virginia and Maryland. 92 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY was the only town in Maryland, and for a long time this was little more than a village. Some Things to Think About 1. Why did Lord Baltimore wish to plant a settlement in the New World? 2. Tell all you can about the friendly feeling between the settlers and the Indians. 3. Give any reasons why you think the boys and girls enjoyed living in the Maryland colony. 4. The settlers had large plantations just as the people in Virginia had. Can you tell why? Why did not towns grow in Mary- land and in Virginia? CHAPTER XIII STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND Besides the Catholics, there were other people in Eng- land who were not willing to worship as the law said they should. These people loved the Church of England, but they wished to make its forms of worship more simple. They were called Pu'ri-tans. Some of these disliked the forms of worship so much that they even wished to separate from the Church of England and form a church of their own. These are the people who later came to be called Pil'grims because, as we shall see, they journeyed about so much for the sake of their religion. Before they left England, these people met for Sunday service in the home of William Brewster, one of their chief men. He lived in the little village of Scroo'by. For a year they tried to worship by themselves. But the law did not permit secret meetings. So when they were found out they were punished and some were thrown into prison. This was hard, and after a while they made up their minds to leave England and seek homes in Holland, where they knew tho}- could worship Ciod as they pleased. 93 94 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY But as the king wanted his own way he was unwilling that they should go; so it was not easy for them to cany out their plan. Yet in 1608, a year after the settlement of Jamestown, they managed to get away and they sailed to Am'ster-dam, moving later to Ley'den (h'd'n). They were well treated in Holland and got work as weavers, tailors, carpenters, and so on. But they were not happy there. They felt like strangers in a strange land. Besides, it was harder for them to make a living there than in England, where most of them had been farmers. Even after they had been in Holland for many years, they still loved England and did not get over longing for the English ways of doing things. It made them sad to see their children growing up as Dutch children and speaking Dutch instead of English. Finally, they said, "We will go to America, where we can worship God and bring up our children in our own way." But the English king was not willing to let them settle in America. Besides, they were poor, and found it hard to raise money for the voyage. At last the king promised he would not trouble them in America so long as they did noth- ing to displease him there. So the money needed for the voyage was borrowed, and after a long time a company was made ready to leave Hol- land. They sailed in a little vessel called the Speed'well. But STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 95 not all of them could go^ — some were too old and weak, — and the parting was a sad one. When good-byes were said, we may be sure that many eyes filled with tears. The From a painting by Charles IV. Cope, Departure of Pilgrim Fathers from Delft Haven, 1620. pastor, who stayed in Holland, knelt on the shore and asked God to bless those of his flock who were going to the far-off land. At Ply'mouth, England, the Speedwell was joined by a rather larger vessel, the May^fiow-er. Twice the Pilgrims started, and twice they had to go back because the Speed- well leaked. Finally, they had to leave her behind, and crowd as many as possible into the Mayflower. 96 EARLY AMERTCAX HISTORY At last on September 6, 1620, they made the final start. There were about one hundred people on board, among them twenty boys and eight girls. It was a terrible journey. Day after day, heavy storms and high winds tossed the boat about as if she were a cork. The sails were torn, and at times it seemed as if the little vessel would be lost in the great waves. Surely the Pilgrim boys and girls must have been homesick for the safe though simple life they had left behind. In spite of storms, however, the ship sailed safely to the end of its voyage; and on Saturday, November 21st, she anchored in what is now called the Harbor of Prov'- ince-towD. THE PILGRIMS IN SEARCH OF A HOME What thoughts must have come to these brave men and women as they caught the first glimpse of the strange new land which was to be their home! How tired and lonely they must have felt! Not a house nor a human being in sight! Only sand-hills and trees and dreary stretches of deep snow! Yet they had faith in God's care and were not afraid. They had been sixty-four days in crossing the At-lan'tic, a trip which some of our great steam-ships to-day make in less than a week. Before any one landed, the Pilgrim fathers gathered in the cabin of the Mayflower, and agreed to stand together STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 97 and obey such laws as they might pass later. They elected John Car'ver as their governor, and Captain Miles Stan'- dish as their military leader. Captain Standish was not a Pilgrim, but he liked these brave men and enjoyed adventure. He was a small man but active and daring. He was also a good soldier, and was a great help to the Pilgrims in meet- ing the dangers of their new life. Without delay a few of the men, with Miles Standish as leader, went ashore to look for a place to settle. At night they returned without having found one. As the next day was Sunday, all stayed on board the ship and listened to a sermon preached by their minister. Elder Brewster. On Monday morning the whole company landed. The water was too shallow to float the boat, so the men had to wade ashore cariying the women, bitter cold that their wet clothing soon stiffened with ice. But fires were lighted at once, and while the women were 1:)usy washing clothes, the men stood on guard with mus- kets readv if wild beasts or Indians should attack them. Miles Standish in .Armor. The weather was so 98 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY The PilgriiiiH had brought with them a, shallop, or .small boat; which the}' expected to use in exploring the coast. While it was being made ready, Captain Standish and his men started out 1j}' land to look further for a good place to settle. They went as soldiers and put on all their armor. Just imagine how the little company looked ! Not much like our soldiers of to-day. They wore steel helmets, iron breast'plates, and quilted coats of mail. Surely Indian arrows could not hurt them! But what a heavy load to cany! Some of them, Captain Standish for one, of course, had swords hanging at their sides. All carried muskets, so big and heav}' that they had to be rested on some support before they could be fired off. How clumsy and slow they would seem now! The Pilgrims had not gone more than a mile when they saw just ahead some Indians running away from them. Then the}' came upon a patch of land cleared for corn, and a hut. Inside was a large iron kettle which had been used for cooking. Looking about, they came upon some mounds in which wel'e bows and arrows. In one were baskets of corn stored away. The Pilgrims took some of the corn for seed, l)ut they were very careful to pay the Indians for it later. William Bradford's Chair. STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 99 While on this trip, William Brad'ford had a queer acci- dent. As he was picking his way through the underljrush, he was suddenly jerked upward and held dangling by one From a fimHting by €. II. Boiighton. Pilgrim Exiles. leg in mid-air. His foot had l^een caught in a deer trap, and of course he was cjuickly set free. Very likely when he was safe on his feet again, all joined in a good laugh. After a two days' search the exploring party went l:)ack to the JVIaj^flower without yet having found a suitable place for a settlement. Ten days later, still another party went out, this time in the shallop; but they did not succeed any better. It was now two weeks since the Mayflower had landed. The Pilgrims were tired and were longing for a home. 100 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Besides, the winter was already upon them, and they felt that they must get settled. On December 16, a company of ten picked men set out once more in the shallop. The day was bitter cold. The ocean spray, blown by the wind, froze to ice upon the men's clothing. Yet they bravely went forward. ^Vhen it grew dark, they went ashore for the night. To protect themselves against the Indians and to keep from freezing they built a barricade of logs, sticks, and boughs, five or six feet high, and inside kept a huge fire burning. With their cloaks wrapped about them and their feet turned toward the fire, all but the watchful sentinel lay down to sleep. The great trees of the forest were their only shelter that cold winter night. On the second morning, before daybreak all were astir, some preparing breakfast and others putting the supplies into the boat. Suddenly a strange cry made ever}^ one stop to listen. It was the warwhoop of the Indians. Then a shower of arrows fell upon the little Pilgrim band. For a time the fighting went on briskly. But when Captain Standish wounded the leader of the Indians they quickly fled and the Pilgrims took to their shallop. This was but the beginning of a day full of danger. Late in the afternoon a furious storm of snow and rain caught them. They were in great peril and found it hard to keep afloat. Just before dark, a big wave almost swal- STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 101 lowed them up. Soon their rudder was swept away^ and then an angry gust of wind struck the mast and snapped it into three pieces. THE FIRST WINTER IN PLYMOUTH But they finally landed safe on an island where they found shelter. Here they kindled a fire to warm themselves and to dry their wet clothing. Sunday, as usual, was made a day of rest. But on Monday, December 21, they went to the mainland and at last chose a place to settle. They were not long in get- ting back to tell the company, and the same day the May- flower entered the harbor and the Pilgrims made a landing. One whole month had passed since they cast anchor near Cape Cod. They named the place Plymouth. I think you can tell why they loved that name. I wonder if you can tell also what the Pilgrims would look for in choosing a place in which to live. A good harbor, pure drinking-water from a running stream, and a hill near by on which to build a fort — these they must have, and all these they found at Plymouth. There were also several acres of cleared land, which had been used by the Indians some years before. As soon as the settlers had landed, everybody set to woi-k. We can almost see the busy men and boys, some eagerly chopping down trees, others sawing trunks into logs of 102 EARLY AMP:RICAN HISTORY proper length, and still others dragging the logs to the places where they were to be used. All this had to be done by hand, for we must remember the Pilgrims brought no horses, and in fact no animals at all, except a dog or two. From a painting by W. F, Hallsalt. The Mayflower iii Plymouth Harbor. While the men and boys were getting up a big appetite over their work, the women and girls were l3usy kindling fires, washing clothes, cooking food, and doing the many things that need to be done for the famil}^ comfort. How good it would be to have a home once more ! The first building which they put up was a rude log- house twenty feet square. This was to serve for the com- mon storehouse and for shelter until they could build sep- arate houses to live in. The logs were laid upon one another, to form the walls STORIES OF EARLY NEW EN (J LAND 103 of the buildings. Then the cracks wei'e filled with straw and mud, and the roof was covered with reeds. The win- dows were made of oiled j^aper. AA'hen, later, they built their houses, they placed them for safety in two rows, one on each side of the street which led from the harbor up the hill. At the top stood the fort, where they could run for i)rotection if Indians attacked them. During that first winter their food was plain, and there was none too much of it. Bread made of wheat, r}'e, or barley was about all they had. Only once in a while, when some one killed a deer or a wild-fowl, did they have any meat to eat; for, like the planters of Jamestown, the Pil- grims had no chickens or cows. Cold water, too, was all they had to drink. The}' must have thought how good the milk which they used to have in England and Holland would taste. But besides having too little food, and that not very good, the Pilgrims suffered much from the cold. Until their dwellings were finished, some had slept on board the May- flower. Scant food and lack of warm clothing, \^•ith many other hardships, caused much suffering. At one time only Elder Brewster, Captain Standish, and five others were well enough to take care of the sick. Standish, w^ho was very gentle and kind in sickness, made an excellent nurse. He also cheerfully helped with the cooking, washing, and other household duties. 104 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY At times there was a death every day, and at the end of the first winter one-half of the settlers had gone. Yet in spite of all this suffering, when in the spring the Mayflower sailed back to England, not one would leave Plymouth. They felt that they must do the work which they had set out to do, and it was not right to give up. How proud we may be that our first Americans were such fine, strong people ! THE PILGRIMS AND THE INDIANS Although they were in constant dread of attack from the Indians, it was nearly three months before an Indian showed himself at the settlement. Then, one day in March, a dusky stranger was seen coming down the street of the village. His first words were: "Wel-come, En-glish-men." This was Sam'o-set. Where do you suppose he learned those English words? A week later he returned with a friend named Squan'to. Squanto had formerly lived at Plymouth with other Indians, who had been swept away by a plague. That was why the Pilgrims found the cleared land deserted. Squanto was glad to get back to his old home once more. He liked the Pilgrims so well that he was willing to live with them, and he taught them many things. He showed them how to hunt, to catch fish, and to plant corn, and how to feed the soil to make it grow. About a week after Samoset made his first visit to Plym- STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 105 outh, he came again, bringing the chief, Mas-sa-soit', with him. Captain Standish with his company of soldiers went out to meet the Indian chief and escort him to Governor Carver. This was an important meeting. The Pilgrims spread upon the floor of the cabin a green mat, and covered it with cushions for the chief and the governor to sit upon. Plymouth in the Early Days. Amid the beating of drums and the l)lowing of trumpets, Massasoit was brought into the room where he met the Pil- grim governor. The two men agreed to be friends, and to keep peace between the white men and the red men. This peace lasted for more than fifty years. With summer came easier times. There was much less sickness and much more food. In the autumn they had good crops of corn and barley to store away, and plenty of wild ducks, geese, turkeys, and deer, which they brought down with their guns. lOfi EARLY AIMERICAX HISTORY Late ill the autuiuii Massasoit with iiiiiet}' Indians came to pay a visit to Plymouth. They brought with them some deer, and the Pilgrims supplied other food. A three days' feast followed, and that was the beginning of our New Eng- land Thanks-giv'ing. This feast made the Indians and white men still better friends than they had ever been before. But not all the Indians were so friendly as Massasoit and his tribe. One day a Nar-ra-gan'sett brave ran through the village of Plymouth, and threw into the governor's house a l3Uiidle of arrows tied up in a snake's skin. "What does this mean?" the Pilgrims asked Squanto. "It means," said he, "that the Indians wish to make w^ar upon you." But the Pilgrims made a very good answer. They at once stuffed the skin with powder and bullets and sent it back to the chief. When it came back to him in this way, he was afraid to touch it. Pie was not even willing to let it stay in his wig- wam. 80 it was sent from place to place until it came back again to Plymouth. The Pilgrims thought it wise, however, to get ready for Indian attacks. They built around Plymouth a palisade of posts ten to twelve feet high. These were set deep in the ground and pointed at the top. They also l)uilt on "Burial Hill" a large, square l)lockhouse, or thick-walled building, with holes out of which to fii'e their guns. STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 107 The lower part was used as a meeting-house, when^ meet- ings of all kinds were held. On Sunday it was a place of worship. But when they wished to talk over some plan for the public good, such as the building of a road or a bridge, they met here also on week days. These week- day meetings were very like our town meetings to-day. But the Pilgrims had other worries be- sides the Indians. They had borrowed a great deal of money when they came to the New World, and men and women alike had to work very hard to pay it back. Yet 1)}- trading with the Indians, mainly for furs, by sending furs, fish, and tim- ber to England, and by earning and saving in eveiy way, at the end of six years they had freed themselves from debt. Such people were bound to succeed. Although poor in houses and lands, they had something which was worth They built around Plymouth a palis;idc of posts. 108 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY far more; and that was the desire and the will to do what was right. But life in the colony was hard, and their numbers grew but slowly. At the end of four years there were only one hundred and eighty persons and thirty-two houses. THE PURITANS COME TO NEW ENGLAND From time to time, news of the free life of the Pilgrims reached England, where the king, Charles I, was making it harder than ever for the Puritans. He believed that whatever he did as king was right, and that all should obey him without any question. The Puritans became so unhap- py that many of them gave up their old homes and sailed for New England to make new ones in a free country. They were not simple folk like the Pilgrims. Many were rich men, some l^elonged to families of high rank, and some had great learning. A small company had come over in 1628 and settled at Sa'lem. But in 1630 the great body of Puritans began to come over in throngs. Nine hundred of them, led by John Win'throp, a rich law^^er and country gentleman, settled first at Charles'town, then spread out to Bos'ton and other towns near bv. John Winthrop. STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 109 The first part of this company left England in eleven vessels, bringing with them horses, cattle, and many other things useful in settling a new country. After a voyage of nearly nine weeks they reached New England about the middle of June. The time of sailing had been carefully planned - - . so that they should reach their new homes early enough to get ready for winter. But in spite of their foresight, all did not go as they had planned. Winter did not find them ready and they had many hardships to meet. The coarse food did not agree with them. Corn-bread, bad drinking-water, and poor shelter made many ill. Before December two hundred had died, and yet nobody thought of going back. " I am not sorry that I have come," said the leader, John Winthrop, a man of strong and beau- tiful character. When the future looked darkest, a fast-day was ap- pointed to ask for God's help. But on the very day before it, a supply ship came from England. So the fast-day was turned into a da}- of thanksgiving. Puritans on Horseback. no EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY The worst was over. Soon spring brought milder weather, then came the earl}^ wild fruits, and soon after- ward the new crops. Before another winter they had learned how to make themselves more comfortable. ROGER W^ILLIAMS AND RHODE ISLAND The Puritans valued their religion more than anything else in the world. For its sake they had given up their homes in England and most of what was pleasant in their lives. Since their freedom of worship had cost so much, of course they wished to make sure of not losing it. They thought that, above all else, they must not let any other religions grow up. So they made very strict laws. They said: ''Every one must go to the Puritan church." "No one may vote or take any part in making the laws except members of the church." Some of the Puritans did not like this. Among them was Roger Williams, a young man of gentle and nol^le, yet strong character. He was a minister, first at Salem, then at Plymouth, then again at Salem. While at Plymouth, he took a deep interest in the Indians. Although he was so poor that he had to earn his living by farming and fishing, yet he gave much of his time to the red men. He studied their language and learned to know them well. He was kind to them in many wa3'S, and they returned his love with kindness and aood-will. STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 111 It was when he returned to Salem that he got into trouble with the Puritans, for he said many things they did not like. ''You do not own the land you live on," he boldly declared. "You got your claim to it from the King of England. But as he never owned the land he had no right to give it to you." ''You have no right," he went on, "to tax people to sup- port a church to which they do not belong. Nor have you the right to make people go to church." His bold talk star- tled the Puritans. Of course, they did not like it. Such ideas might make them no end of trouble if Roger WilUams kept on preaching them. So they made him leave the colony. Bidding good-by to his wife and children, he set out alone with only a compass for a guide. To keep from freezing, he carried an axe to chop wood, and flint and --«?"■ ^^^ m Rogers Williams Fleeing Through the Woods. 112 EARLY A:MERICAN HISTORY steel to kindle fires. His only shelter at night was a hol- low tree or perhaps a covering of brush. After many days^ he reached Mount Hope, and there the Indians sheltered him. He spent most of the winter in the wigwam of his good friend, Massasoit. In the spring he started out in a frail canoe to a place where the Indians said that there was good spring water. He found it, and, with five or six friends who had joined him, made a settlement, which he called Prov'i-dence. Such was the beginning of Rhode Island (rode i'land) Colony. There at first ever}' man was welcome and eveiy man could worship as he thought best, or not at all if he chose. THOMAS HOOKER AND THE HARTFORD COLONY During the same year (1636) in which Roger Williams began the settlement of Rhode Island, Thom'as Hook'er led a company of settlers to the Con-nect'i-cut Valle}^ Like Roger Williams, he believed that the Puritans were wrong in keeping all men except church-members from voting and from taking part in making the laws. So because of this belief and for some other reasons, he and the members of his congregation at Watertown left Massachusetts to make new homes for themselves on the bank of the Connecticut River, Al)out one hundred men, women, and children set out in June, driving before them one hundred and sixty cattle. STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 113 The children must have been very tired sometimes, but they must have had their frolics too. We may imagine them gathering wild flowers and listening to the birds, and Thomas Hooker and Party on the Way to Connecticut. also eating their meals, as if on a picnic, under leafy branches of spreading trees. The men carried packs on their backs and guns in their hands. There were no roads, nor even trails of Indians or wild beasts to follow through this wild region. A compass 114 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY was their only guide on their journey of more than one hundred miles through the woods. At last they reached the place where Hartford now stands. They were much pleased with its beauty. The PiWirttuce "^-"^ i 'I. Judith Early Settlements in New England. rolling hills, the broad ri\'er with its wooded banks, the rich green meadows with the wigwams of the Indians, and the few log cabins of earlier settlers squatting here and there, made a restful sight for the e^-es of the tired travellers. THE NEW HAVEN COLONY Two years later, another body of Puritans made a set- tlement thirty miles west of the Connecticut River on Long Island Sound. There in the spring of 1638, under the leafy l^ranches of a great oak-tree, John Da\''en-port, their min- ister and leader, preached his first sermon. STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND n5 As in IMas-sa-chu'setts, so here, none but church-mem- bers were allowed to vote. There were no written laws, but all agreed to live by the Word of God. Such was the begin- ning of New Haven Colony. Some Thixgs to Think About L Who were the Pilgrims? Why (Hd they go to Holhind, and why ack to Virginia. This was in the spring of 1754. The war to decide who owned the Ohio Valley had begun, and soon grew into a war which would decide who owned the greater part of North America. As you may remem- l)er, the English had made settlements all along the Atlantic coast, while most of the French had settled in Canada. There were fifteen times as many Eng- lish settlers as there were French; but the English lived and worked in separate groups, while the French were all together. Some sort of union was veiy much needed among the English colonies. The French in the Ohio Valley. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN One of their leading men tried to luring it about. His name was Ben'ja-min Frank'lin, and he was truly a great man. 192 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY He had such an important part in what happened to the colonies then and later that we should know something about his hfe. It is full of interest. His father was a candle-maker, and when Benjamin was only ten he went to work in his father's shop. Here he did such things as cutting wicks for the candles, filling the moulds with tallow, selling soap in the shop, and acting as errand-boy. Although he was faithful in all his work, he did not enjoy doing these things. But he was fond of being outdoors, and near the wa- ter. He could swim and row and sail boats better than most of the boys. He had good habits. He was never idle, because he put a high value upon time. He never spent money foolishly, because he knew the easiest way to make money was to save what he had. He was very fond of books and reading. On that account his father put him into a printer's shop in Boston with his older brother. But Benjamin thought his brother was not quite fair with him, and he set out to seek his fortune alone. He was then seventeen. He went to Philadelphia where most of his life was spent. An amusing stoiy is told of how he looked to his Benjamin Franklin. ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AIMERICA 19;{ future wife when he first arrived in that city. Look it up and tell it to your teacher. Years after this he set up in the printing business for himself. But in order to do it; he had to borrow money. He worked early and late to pay off the debt, and some- times even made his own ink and cast type with his own hands. But no matter where he was, or how hard he had to work, he always found time to read and improve his mind. Here are some of the rules he made: "Be orderly about your work. Do not waste anything. Never be idle. When you decide to do anything, do it with a brave heart." Some of these rules appeared in an almanac which he published and called "Poor Richard's Almanack." People liked it verj^ much, and it became well known eveiywhere. Franklin also liked to make things that were useful in the home. Perhaps you have seen a Franklin stove. This invention was so much better than the open fireplace that it soon came to be widely used. But the most wonderful of all the things he did was to prove that e-lec-tric'i-ty was the same thing as the lightning we see in the clouds. You would hardly expect a man of these tastes to be the one to work out a plan to unite the English colonies. Yet it was he who, seeing clearly that the English colonies would be much stronger if they would work together, pro- posed in 1754 a "Plan of Union," 194 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY This was a step toward the union which the colonies made later in the struggle against England which we call the American Revolution. But at this time, they were not far-seeing enough to get together and ward off the Indians. So the war was fought out by the different groups in differ- ent parts of the country. England's help In 1755 England sent out help to her colonies. General Brad'dock with a large number of English troops came over, and made plans to march against Fort Duquesne. He invited Washington to be one of his aids. Braddock's task was a hard one. He had to cut a road through the forest much of the way, and at the same time fight the Indians. He was used to making war in the open fields of Europe, but of this woodland warfare he knew nothing. Washington warned him to be on the lookout against the Indian way of fighting. But he thought he knew more about the business of war than young Washington, and he paid no attention to this warning. After many toilsome days of marching, at last, when within eight miles of the French fort, they had a battle. First they suddenly saw a man bounding along the pathway just ahead. He was dressed like an Indian. Catching sight of the British army, he turned and waved his hat. At once a body of French soldiers and Indian warriors ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 195 dashed out from the underbrush and a hideous warwhoop rent the air. Then, as suddenly as they had come, the French and the Indians vanished. They had run back and, hiding behind trees and bushes where Braddock and his men could not see Braddock's Toilsome March Through the Wilderness. them, they shot down the English by hundreds. Brad- dock's men could only fire blindly into the dense forests. They could not see a single man. After two hours of fighting, the English threw away their guns and fled for their lives. Braddock fought bravely. So did Washington. Two horses were shot from under him and four bullets tore through his clothing, but he was not hurt. Seven hundred 100 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY men were either killed or wounded, among them Brad dock himself; who received a mortal womid. The defeat was a terrible one. If Washington had not managed to get the army back it would have been even worse. Such was the result of the first real battle of the last French War. THE ACADIANS During the same year in which General Braddock was defeated, war was going on far to the north, and a veiy sad thing happened. This was the removal of the A-ca'- di-ans from their home land. The Acadians were simple French peasants living in what we now call NoVa Sco'tia. They called it A-ca'di-a, and they or their forefathers had lived there since early in the seventeenth century. They did not like the English, and, although their land had come under English control, the}' themselves remained French at heart and loyal to France. They would not promise to be faithful to England. Nor would they promise to join the English armies against the French or the Indians. It was quite plain to the English that if the French should attack Acadia, the people there would rise as one man to help them against the English. For this reason, they decided to move the Acadians away and scatter them among the English colonies. In doing this, they tried to keep the people of each ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 197 A'illage together on the vessels that carried them away. But in the grief of partings and in the confusion of getting The Acadians were torn from their homes and carried into strange lands. off, husbands were separated from their wives and mothers from their children. And they never saw one another again. By this cruel act, six thousand Acadians were torn from their homes and carried into strange lands. 198 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Before the Acadians sailed away, their houses and barns were burned, so as to be of no use to any who might try to remain behind. Some da}- you will read the pitiful stories of the Acadians in a beautiful poem, Evangeline, by Long- fellow. THE ENGLISH BEGIN TO WIN For the next three years, the French got the best of the fighting. But in 1758 and 1759, the English began to win. They droye the French from Fort Duquesne and named it Fort Pitt, after William Pitt, who was then at the head of affairs in England. At the north they also droye the French from their strongholds on Lake George and Lake Champlain.^ They next set out to concjuer the French in the St. Law- rence Valley. To do this, they had to capture Quebec, the most important French stronghold on the St. Lawrence River. GENERAL WOLFE For this great task William Pitt picked out James Wolfe, who became the hero of Quebec. He is indeed one of the heroes of the world. 1 One of the colonial leaders who took an important part in defeating the French was Sir William Johnson. He was an Englishman who had settled on the Mohawk River, where he lived in a large stone mansion. He knew well the language of the Indians and their customs. He lived their life, joining in their sports and sitting at their council fires. He always treated them fairly so tliat they trusted him and came to love him. In fact, the Mohawks adopted him into their nation and made him a war chief. It is said that no other man at that time had so much power over the Iroquois Indians. ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 199 James Wolfe. At this time, he was thirty-two years old. To look at him you would never imagine that he was a soldier. He was tall and thin, with narrow shoul- ders and frail body. His hair was red and his face plain, but his beautiful eyes were full of thought and showed a fearless spirit. His health was never robust. As a child, he had often been sick, and at this time he was suffering from a disease which must soon have ended his life. But he had an iron will and a strong wish to serve his country in some way. Although he had a hot temper, he had a tender and frank nature, which helped him to make friends and to keep them. His soldiers loved him and were willing to follow him through any dangers even to death. It was in June, 1759, that Wolfe with an army of nearly nine thousand men cast an- chor in the St. Lawrence River not far from Quebec. The town stood on a rocky An English soiciier of ^ ^ Wolfe's Army. cliff two hundred feet above the river. Wolfe saw from the first that it would be no easy task to capture this place, so hard to reach. 200 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY And there were many hardships to endure. His soldiers suffered from the intense heat and drenching rains. Many were sick, and Wolfe himself became ill with a fever. But he would not give up. Although in great pain most of the time, he went from tent to tent among his men, tiying to give them courage. He said to his doctor: "I know you cannot cure me. But pray make me up so that I can be without pain for a few days, and able to do my duty. That is all I want." You see he feared that his weak body would not keep him alive long enough for him to finish his task. At last, after much waiting and searching, he discovered a pathway up the steep cliff leading to the fort. Then he knew that the best way to defeat Montcalm, the French commander, was to get the English army up to the plain by this pathway. Montcalm. THE CAPTURE OF QUEBEC So Wolfe took a number of men in boats up the river to a point nine miles above the place where he intended to make the attack. Two hours after midnight, on Sep- tember 13th, the signal was given for the advance. It was a clear, starlit night, but as there was no moon the English ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 201 were hidden in darkness while they moved slowly down the river. Let us imagine ourselves standing by Wolfe's side as the boats float quietly down the stream. He is speaking in low tones. We listen closer. He is repeating the words of a poem that he loves. One line seems to make him sad: "The paths of gloiy lead but to the grave." He has come to the end. He pauses and says gently: "Gentlemen, I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec." Alter landing, j^^^ch man had to pull himself up by clinging to . __ ... , . the roots and bushes. the iLnglish struggled up the great cliff. Each man, with musket over his shoul- der, had to pull himself up by clinging to the roots and bushes. But by six o'clock in the morning Wolfe had his army drawn up in line ready for battle. It had been an anxious night for the sick young English general. But it was no less so for Montcalm. Though not sick 202 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Quebec and Surroundings. in body, he was sick at heart. He was fighting for a losing cause; and he knew it. He had not men enough to defend the city, he was short of suppHes, and the people of the city did not stand by him. He said that he had not taken off his clothes to rest since the twenty-third of June. About six o'clock that morn- ing he heard musket shots and the firing of cannon. Mounting his black horse, he rode at once toward Quebec. When he saw in the distance the British soldiers drawn up in red ranks, he said to an officer who was riding by his side: "This is serious business." At ten o'clock the French advanced upon the English. The struggle was a bitter one, but the French lost the battle. Wolfe was struck by three bullets, the last of which brought him to the earth. Then four of his men bore him tenderly and lovingly to the rear. A moment later some one said: "They run! See how they run!" The dying man opened his eyes as if waking from a deep sleep, and said: "Who runs?" " The enemy, sir. Egad, they give way everywhere." "Now," said Wolfe, as he breathed his last, "God be praised; I will die in peace." Montcalm also received a mortal wound. But, sup- ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 203 ported by his soldiers, he kept his saddle as he rode through the town. When told that he could not live many hours, he said: "So much the better. Thank God, I shall not live to see Quebec surrendered." Five days later Quebec passed out of the hands of the French into the hands of the English. Not even then, how- ever, did France give wsij, and for a while it seemed almost as if she might get back at least her own lands. But it was too late. By the treaty of peace, in 1763, she gave up to Spain the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and to England she gave up Canada and the land east of the Mississippi. North America was now in the hands of England and Spain, and England had control of all the land east of the Mississippi except Florida. Later George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and other American leaders and heroes joined in a struggle against England herself. As a result of that war, which you will learn about in your later reading, the American colonies became free from England and a nation by them- selves. They became States, and afterward joined one another to form the United States. OUR COUNTRY This is your country and mine. Let us try to be loyal to it and give it our best service. 204 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY Although we cannot do great things such as Washington did, we can, Hke him, be honest and true, and hve up to the motto that "whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." By living and working in this way, whether at home or at school, we can make ourselves useful citizens. We can be loyal to our flag and to our countiy. Let us never for- get that a great and good nation is made only of great and good men and women. Some Things to Think About L Do you know the cause of the last French War? the result? 2. What kind of boy was George Washington? 3. Imagine yourself with him when he was surveying land beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. What happened? 4. In imagination go with him on his long journey to the French fort, and tell the story of the journey. 5. What do you admire in Washington? 6. What kind of boy was Benjamin Franklin? Do you think you would like such a boy if he were in your school? 7. What important thing did Franklin try to bring about? Did he succeed? 8. What kind of man was Braddock? What do you think was the cause of his defeat? 9. Imagine yourself as having been a near friend of James Wolfe and tell why you like him. 10. What were some of his trials? IL Imagine yourself with him on the evening when his boat floated down-stream toward Quebec, and tell as clearly as you can all that happened. 12. In what ways can you be like Washington? INDEX ACADIANS, 196-198 Albany, 117, 119 Algonquin Indians, 18 Amsterdam, New, 119, 124 Asia, European trade with, 1-3, 5 Aztecs, 37-41 Balboa, 30, 31 Baltimore, Lord, 87 Boston, 108 Braddock, General, 194-196 Bradford, William, 99 Brewster, William, 93 Cabot, John, 15, 16 Cartier, 55-57 Carver, John, 97, 105 Cathohc missionaries, 158, 159 CathoHcs, 87 Champlain, 121, 122 Church, Captain, 176 Columbus, Christopher, 4-14 Connecticut, 112-115 Cortez, 36-41 Crusades, 1 Da Gama, Vasco, 4 Dale, Sir Thomas, 80, 81 Davenport, John, 114 Deerfield, attack on, 182 Delaware, Lord, 79, 80 De Leon, 48-50 De Soto, 44, 50-54 Diego, 6, 7 Drake, Sir Francis, 58-62 Duquesne, Fort, 191, 198 Dustin, Hannah, 181 Dutch, the, 116-129 Elizabeth, Queen, 64-66 Fairfax, Lord, 188 Ferdinand, 6, 12 Franklin, Benjamin, 191-193 French War, Last, 184-204 Georgia, 136-139 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 65 Grenville, Sir Richard, 65 Griffin, 164-166 Half Moon, 116 Hartford, 114 Haverhill, attack on, ISO, 181 Hooker, Thomas, 112-114 Hudson, Henry, lir>-118 Hudson River, 116 Inca, the, 42-46 Indented servants, 84 Indians, 18-29, 73-76, 81-83, 125, 126, 172-184 Iroquois Indians, 18, 122 Isabella, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14 Jamestown, 72 Johnson, Sir WilUam, 198 Joliet, 160 King Philip's War, 175, 176 Lane, Ralph, 65, 66 La Salle, 163-171 Last French War, 184-204 Magellan, 31-34 Manhattan Island, 120 5,89, 205 20G INDEX Marquette, Father, 158-162 Maryland, 87-92 Massachusetts, 90-115, 140-149 Massasoit, 105 Mayflower, 95, 96, 101, 104 Minuit, Peter, 120 Mississippi River, 52-54, 159, 169 Montcalm, General, 200-203 Montezuma, 37-41 Montreal, 56 Moimd Builders, 28, 29 Negroes, 84 New Amsterdam, 119, 124 New England, 90-115, 140-149 New Haven Colonv, 114 New Netherland, 116-129, 153-156 New York, 116-129, 153-156 Northwest Passage, 55, 74, 118, 164 Oglethorpe, 136-139 Ohio Company, 185 Patroons, 122, 123 Penn, WiUiam, 131-135 Pennsylvania, 130-135 Pequot Indians, 172-174 Philadelphia, 132 Philip, King, war of, 175, 176 Pilgrims, 93-108 Pitt, William, 198 Pizarro, 42-47 Plymouth, 101-107 Pocahontas, 75-77, 82 "Poor Richard's Almanack," 193 Powhatan, 75-77 Providence, 112 Puritans, 93, 108-115 Quakers, 130-132 Quebec, captun- of, 200-203 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 63-69 Rhode Island, 112 Roanoke Island, 65-69 Rolfe, John, 82 St. Lawrence River, 55-57 St. Mary, Convent of. 7 Salem, 108, 110 Samoset, 104, 106 Santa Maria, 8 Savannah, 137 Schenectady, attack upon, 178-180 Scrooby, 93 Slavery, 84 Smith, Captain John, 73-78 Southern colonies, 149-153 Speedwell, 95 Squanton, 104 Standish, Miles, 97, 98, 100, 103, 105 Stuyvesant, Governor, 126-129 Thanksgiving, 106 Tobacco, 81, 83, 85, 91 Travel, modes of, 90, 148, 149 Venice, 2 Vespucius, Americus, 16, 17 Virginia, 65, 71-85 Washington, George, 186-190 White, John, 67, 69 Wilhams, John, 182 Williams, Roger, 110-112 Winthrop, John, 108, 109 Wolfe, General, 198-202 M vG 27 ^9^8