CopyiightN^. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION A HISTORY FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BY JACQUES WARDLAW REDWAY, F.R.G.S. ■1 WITH MANY MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO V -f^^ 7^ UBHARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received DEC 28 1905 Copyrieht Entry CLASS 0~- XXc, No f 3 S H "io COPY B. Copyright, 1905, By JACQUES W. REDWAY TO THE AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS There is no better guide by which the future of our country may be discerned than an intelligent study of the past. In a score of years hence the affairs of the nation will be controlled by the young men and women who are now preparing to close the period of school life. To be a good and efficient citizen, it is not enough merely to know the political history of the past ; one must be a part of the politi- cal affairs of to-day. In other words, every good citizen, whether man or woman, boy or girl, must be an active politician, earnestly engaged in politics — not the sort of political life that bears the odor of graft and corruption, but the healthful political activity that develops the highest and the best in citizenship. Remember that your political life must stand the test when examined by the searchlight of virtue and the rule of everlasting righteousness. A FOREWORD OR TWO The influence of climate and topography as dominant factors in shaping the destiny of mankind is no longer a question having two sides; on the contrary, political history may be broadly summed up as a quantitative expression of temperature, rainfall, and surface features. When the man has been wise enough to adapt himself easily to the conditions of his environment, there has been but little friction in his political history as a rule ; on the other hand, if the attempts to adapt himself to his environ- ment have been attended with a great deal of difficulty, either there has been much friction in his history or else he has drifted to a materially lower plane of civilization. Nowhere are these fundamental principles of history better illustrated than in the industrial development of the American nation. The wonderful development of commerce in New Eng- land when the harbor facilities were discovered and utilized ; the transference of food production to the prairies of the Missis- sippi Valley ; the wresting of the cotton industry from India and its relocation in the Southern states ; the localization of steel- making at a position where cheap fuel and a low rate of trans- portation have made it a world-commanding economy — these, and not the eloquence of statesmen in legislative halls, have made the political fabric of the nation what it is to-day. Politi- cal revolution is almost always the chief result of commercial evolution. Two wars with Great Britain gave to the Republic the only independence that is real — namely, commercial inde- pendence ; the Civil War broke the bonds that for years had prevented commercial expansion. These great struggles, it is vii viii A FOREWORD OR TWO hardly necessary to add, were the tremendous efforts whereby the man adapted himself to his geographic environment and the conditions which it imposed. A text-book adapted to the needs of to-day requires a discus- sion of certain principles that have come to be a part of modern life. In discussing these — especially in Chapter XX — the teacher should consider the maturity of the pupil's mind. With young pupils it will be wise to postpone, or even to omit, such topics as cannot be comprehended. In such cases it is not a question of capability but of age. In the lists of collateral read- ing the b(k)ks mentioned are those most likely to be found in available libraries; others covering the subjects may be used instead. A comprehensive list of good books for further read- ing is given in the Appendix. In the preparation of this book, I am greatly indebted to Mr. Charles A. Shaver, former Supervisor of Institutes of New York, for valuable assistance, especially in the plans of the Revolutionary and the Civil wars and for various maps relating to the same. I also desire to acknowledge the kindness of Professor Cyrus W. Hodgin of the Department of History of Earlham College, Indiana, for a critical reading of the text. J. W. R. Mount Vernon, New York. CONTENTS Cir AFTER PAGE I. Discoveries and Explorations 1 II. The Indians 19 III. The Southern Colonies . .25 First Settlements 25 Virginia .26 Maryland 35 The Carolinas — North and South 38 Georgia 41 iV. The Dutch and Quaker Colonies 45 New York 45 New Jersey 52 Pennsylvania . 54 Delaware 57 V. The New England Colonies 59 Plymouth Colony 59 Massachusetts 65 Ehode Island 73 Connecticut and New Haven 76 New Hampshire and Maine 78 The New England Confederacy 81 YI. The Colonists and the Indians .84 VII. A Century of Colonial Life 94 VIII. The Struggle for the Possession of the Continent . 106 French Explorations and Settlements 106 Wars between the French and the English . . . .111 IX. The Estrangement of the Colonies 122 X. The Revolt and the Declaration of Independence . . 138 XI. The War of the Revolution . . . . . .152 The War in New York and the Middle States . . .152 The War in the South 164 CONTENTS CHAPTER XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. The Formation of a Federal Goternment Starting the Wheels of Government and adjusting International Affairs Territorial Expansion and the War for Commercial Independence, 1800-1814 ...... A Period of Industrial Growth, 1789-1840 Political Events from the Treaty of Ghent to the Annexation of Texas, 181G-1840 . . . . The Expansion of Slavery; Political Events; Indus- trial Progress, 1840-1860 .... The Civil War Opening Events 1862 The First Year of the War .... The Campaign in tlie West, Jannary, 1862, to ]\Iay, The War in the East, January, 1862, to July, 1863 Opening the Mississippi, January, 1863, to July, 186 The Campaign in Tennessee and Georgia, July, 1863, to July, 1864 The Closing Campaigns in Virginia, May, 1864, to April 1865 Naval Work of the Civil War, 1861 to 1865 Financing the War Reconstruction ...... Political Events from 1860 to 1900 . Industrial Development and Economic Problems The Spanish-American War and Territorial Expansion Recent Events PAGE 177 190 206 232 246 270 299 299 306 313 317 325 328 331 335 342 345 355 374 395 413 Appendix The Declaration of Independence 3 The Constitution of the United States 8 The States 25 Presidents of the United States 32 Topical Analysis for Review 33 A List of Reference Books ........ 44 A Pronouncing List of Proper Names 46 Index 49 MAPS PAGE Trade Routes to the East 5 The World as known in the Time of Columbus 6 Toscanelli's Map, 1474 8 The Line of Demarcation and the Routes of Columbus's Voyages . 11 Grants of London and Plymouth Companies, 1606 .... 28 The Southern Colonies 39 The Maiollo Map, 1527 45 The Middle Colonies 53 The New England Colonies 66 The Location of the Eastern Indian Tribes 85 French Explorations and Forts 108 The Colonies during the French and Indian War. (Colored) Following 110 ' The Gateway to the St. Lawrence 112 Gateways through the Appalachians 114 The Campaign around Boston, 1775-1776 142 Campaigns in New York and New Jersey 155 The Campaigns in the Middle States 159 Clark's Campaign in the Northwest, 1778-1779 162 The Campaigns in the South 166 The States and their Land Claims at the Close of the Revolution. (Colored) Following 176 The Districts of Ohio 197 The United States in 1800. (Colored) .... Folloioing 206 ■ The Expansion resulting from the Louisiana Purchase .... 208 Western Explorations, 1804-1806 . 211 The Route of the Cumberland Road 213 Scene of Operations in the War of 1812 221 The Development of the Northwest Territory, 1790-1810 . . .228 The Regions of Cotton and of Manufactures 236 The Route of the Erie Canal 241 Slave and Free Areas after the Missouri Compromise .... 250 The Oregon Country 267 The Territorial Growth of the United States. (Colored) Following 270 The Mexican War 277 xi xii MAPS PAGE The United States in 1850, showing the Result of the Compromise regarding Slavery. (Colored) .... Folloicing 284 Where Wheat is grown in the United States ...... 296 The United States during the Civil War. (Colored) . Following 298 Scene of Operations in Virginia ...»»... 310 Western Campaigns. (Colored) ..... Following 312 The Peninsular Campaign .. o ..... . 318 Virginia Campaigns. (Colored) ..... Following 318 , The Battleground of Gettysburg 324 The Vicksburg Campaign 326 The Limits of War Territory, May, 1861, August 1, 1863, and Januaiy 1,1865. (Colored) Folloicing 328 Sherman's Campaign in Georgia 331 A Trunk Railway Line 375 The United States in 1904. (Colored) .... Folloicing 372 The Hawaiian Islands, a Station on Commercial Routes . . . 407 The Philippine Islands 409 The United States and its Dependencies, showing Commercial Routes. (Colored) Following 412 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION CHAPTER I DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS Chinese and Japanese Legends. — When we speak of the New World, almost always the mind reverts to the voyage of Columbus and that eventful day in October when the banner of Spain was unfurled on the island which the great ex- plorer named San Salvador. But there are accounts of voyagers who may have found this same new land five hundred and possi- bly one thousand years before the discoveries of the great explorer. Certain legends common to the knowledge of both the Chinese and the Japanese relate the deeds of one Hwui Shan/ a Buddhist missionary, who found, many miles to the eastward of China, a land which he called Fusang.^ About the A Native's Home. The Chinese find America year 499 he, with five brother priests, went along the coast of China to Kamchatka, and thence by way of the Aleutian Islands to Alaska. Hwui Shan's description of the people he found applies very correctly to the Aleuts and the Eskimos living in this region to-day. From Alaska, which they called 1 For the pronunciation of difficult names, see the Appendix, page 4<). 2 This story only recently came into the literature of western peoples. A few years ago the Chinese government directed one of its hest scholars to search the I'ecords of the imperial historian, and from these records came the story as here given. The details are vague, and scholars are divided between assigning the description to Japan or the American coast. 2 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Great Han, the missionary party proceeded along the coast to Fusang. Hwui Shan describes the houses of Fusang as made of sun-dried bricks of mud, and containing many people — a description which fits the pueblos of ancient America. He men- tions a plant which was used in making both cordage and paper, which afforded a vegetable milk, and which yielded tender sprouts that were used for food. Now there is but one plant which answers to this description, and that is the maguey.^ He also describes a plant and its fruit which must have been the cactus, or prickly pear. Fusang, according to these accounts, was very much like Mexico. Whatever credit we may give to the story, one fact cannot be overlooked. Steady winds blow from China and Japan toward Uncertainty ^^^® Pacific coast of North America, dragging with of our them the surface drift of the Japan Current. More- knowledge Qvgj., the Chinese of the coast and the Japanese are born sailors, and their junks, numbering tens of thousands, went everywhere. From the very nature of the conditions, one or more of these junks must accidentally have been blown across the ocean. Certain it is, too, that Asiatic peoples must have crossed Bering Strait, or traversed the chain of the Aleutian Islands. But the records and "proofs concerning such voyages are unsatisfactory, and the evidence of them is circumstantial. Norse Discoveries. — In the accounts of discoveries by adven- turous mariners of northern Europe, however, we are dealing with historic facts about which there is no doubt; and although the settlements made by the Northmen have no connection with the history of modern America, we should at least notice the leading facts. Shortly after the settlement of Iceland (probably 875) a master mariner named Gunnbjorn lost his reckoning at sea and was carried to the unknown Greenland coast, where he was forced to spend the winter locked in an ice pack. This land was again visited, about 983, by a Norse sea rover named Eric the Red. He made a settlement there, and in time several hundred people came out from Iceland. For more than 1 Pronounced ma'-gwa. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS four centuries Greenland was a commercial center. Late in the fourteenth century the government forbade the people of Green- lami, Iceland, and the near-by islands to carry on their great sea commerce, or even to own the vessels in which the goods were carried. As a result, the trade dropped off and, little by little, the Greenland colony passed out of existence. A short time after the settlement of Greenland an adventurous young fellow named Herjulf, who was on his way to Greenland from Iceland, sailed into foggy weather, and after , ., „ . -If T 1 -1 j^- 1 T Leif Encson several days came m sight of a low, heavily timbered coast, apparently free from ice and snow. Finding his position, he turned his vessel north- eastward to his home in Greenland. One of the hearers of Herjulf 's story was Leif Ericson, a son of Eric the Red. His curiosity was ex- cited, and he resolved to learn for himself about the strange coast that Herjulf described. So in the year 1000 he left his home with a crew of thirty-five men. Their first landing was made somewhere along the coast of Labrador or Newfoundland. The surface was so thickly covered with rock that they called it Helluland, meaning "Slateland." It was not an attractive country, and so they turned the vessel south- ward along the coast. After several days they reached a timbered coast, probably that of Nova Scotia, which they named Mark- land. Thence they sailed southward for two days, casting anchor in a pleasant place where Ericson and his crew resolved to spend the fall and winter. In the following spring Leif Ericson returned to Greenland, his vessel laden with timber. The trade in lumber proved so successful that his brothers, one after another, fitted out vessels The Northmen on the Seas. 4 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION to engage in the business, which was regularly carried on until the year 1011. Then a quarrel ended in the massacre of half the people of the settlement, and the survivors returned to Green- land. And so ended the settlement at Vinland, as it was called, the first definitely known to have been established by Europeans in America.^ No evidence exists to show that the Norse rovers intended to colonize the coast. Their settlement was a lumber camp, founded for commerce and for no other purpose. The visit of the Ericson brothers should not be considered as the finding of a new continent. It was an incident and a note- worthy one ; but it is wholly apart from the voyages and explora- tions that, one after another, resulted in the discovery of a then unknown continent. Trade Routes between Europe and India. — The blockading of trade routes between Europe and India, more than five hundred years ago, would seem to have little connection with the first settlement of the United States of America, but the two occur- rences are links in the same chain of events. During the wars of the Crusades the people of western Europe for the first time began to have open trade not only with one another, but also with India and China. Only in those two countries could then be procured the silks, muslins, spices, pearls, gems, and ivory — commodities that were wanted by the wealthy people of Europe. A splendid trade resulted in the course of time, and most of this trade concentrated at the ports of Venice and Genoa. Now, although we commonly consider Europe and Asia as a single great body of laud, as a matter of fact an almost impass- able barrier separates them. This barrier is the desert highland that rises abruptly in front of the Persian Gulf and culminates in the Hindu Kush plateau. In only two or three places can this 1 Just where the Vinland camp was pitched is not known. Two circumstances aiford a slight clew. From casual statements made by Leif Ericson it has been inferred that the shortest day of winter was about nine hours long. Moreover, they found an abundance of wild grapes, probably the common fox grape, and this gave the camp its name. From these statements it is reasonable to believe that Vinland was somewhere between Nova Scotia and Massachusetts Bay — more likely nearer the latter than the former. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS lofty highland be crossed; in two or three others it can be avoided. The chief routes of travel and trade were : — (1) From Venice to Alexandria, through the Red Sea, to the east coast of India. (2) From Genoa to Constantinople, by way of the Black Sea, the Tigris and Euphrates, to the Persian Gulf, to the coast of India. (3) From Constantinople and the Black Sea, across to the Cas- pian Sea, up the Amu Darya (or Oxus), to the Indus. Route from Venice; w4>*t- Routi! from Genoa: _■._....-..- Route from Constantinuiile^.^— JJoute of Vasco da.Gama: • Trade Routes to the East. The Turks blockade the Trade Routes. — Half-savage Turko- mans in their zeal for the religion taught them by followers of Mohammed began to interfere with this trade of the Christian European nations. In 1453 they captured Constantinople, and a few years later they barred every other gateway to the East. Commerce must always move along lines in which there are no great obstacles. In the face of high mountain ranges across which there are no passes, or over wide deserts, the transit of 6 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION goods at that time was next to impossible. Even though it might be possible to transport the goods, the cost would be so great as to be prohibitive. This blockading of the trade routes caused gen- eral concern, for people were beginning to realize the importance of commerce and trade routes, The Search for a Route around Africa. — Energies were di- rected toward the search for a route around Africa which the Turks could not blockade. In this search Portugal took the The World as known in the Time of Columbus. lead — mainly from the fact that Prince Henry of Portugal, best known as " the Navigator," had established a school for training master mariners, and this institution had drawn to itself many of the best sailors of the Mediterranean.^ Long before the voyage of Columbus the Portuguese sailors were Vascoda actively at work. Many geographers believed that Gama Africa was a peninsula, and therefore there must be a 1 Pope Eugenius IV had conferred (about 1442) upon Portugal "all heathen lands from Cape Bojador [on the west coast of Africa, about latitude 28° Nortli] eastward even to the Indies." Spain therefore must look westward for her route to India, and her sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, were consequently interested in the proposals of Christopher Columbus for an expedition across the Atlantic to India. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS way around its southern point. Under the direction of Prince Henry, the Portuguese vessels, one after another, got farther and farther along the west coast until, in 1487, Bartholomew Dias passed the cape now called Cape of Good Hope.^ Ten years later (1497) Vasco da Gama rounded the cape in a furious cyclone that carried him in a northeasterly direction, almost to the west coast of India. When he let go his anchors, his vessel was at the city of Calicut, India. And thus one part of the problem of reaching India was solved. The Search for a Westward Route : Columbus. — Before Vasco da Gama had reached India, a new factor was introduced into the problem. This factor was a man of both power and perseverance. His name was Christopher Colum- bus. Columbus was a native of the state of Genoa, and possibly of the city of that name; he was born within a few years of 1434. He had begun a sea-faring life when- in his teens, and at the age of fifty was well known as a master mariner and a maker of charts and globes.^ Some years before the voyage of Da Gama, Columbus had made up his mind that India might be reached by a westward route across the Atlantic instead of eastward, around Africa. In reach- ing this conclusion he had been guided by a number of traditions Christopher Columbus. 1 His vessel was so badly shattered by a cyclone that he put back to Portugal in sore distress. He called the headland Cape Tormentoso, meaning " Cape of the Furies." After Da Gama's voyage, however, King John of Portugal gave it its present name. 2 Contrary to common opinion, the rotundity of the earth was generally ac- cepted at that time by merchants, sailors, and people engaged in commercial pursuits. Columbus thought the circumference to be 20,400 miles, and this ap- pears to have been his greatest error. Many years before, Eratosthenes had computed it at 25,290 nautical miles ; but apparently Columbus did not know this. 8 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION about land to the west in the untraveled ocean. ^ There was evi- dence which none could gainsay. Tropical vegetation, borne by winds and ocean currents, had been cast on European shores, and so also had the drowned bodies of people of a swarthy-colored race. Perhaps the matter which more than any other influenced him was a letter and a map that had been sent by Toscanelli, the astronomer of Florence in Italy, to an officer in the household of the king of Portugal. Toscanelli believed that India could be reached by sailing west across the Atlantic. He afterward sent a copy of the map and the letter to Columbus, and this seems greatly to have strengthened the explorer's determination. The plans of Columbus were well laid, and his ideas were very clear. It was about eighteen years, however, before he was able to carry them out. Although both Genoa and Venice had everything to gain and nothing to lose in the discovery of a new route to India, neither 1 Among the master mariners there was a story about a certain Jean Cousin whose vessel had heen blown from the African coast clear across the ocean to an unknown land, which was probably Brazil. This actually happened to Cabral in 1500. Another story referred to Alonzo Sanchez, a Spanish pilot, who was in similar fashion cast ashore on the island now called Haiti. This story was com- mon at the time and was known to Columbus. Indeed, the air was full of that sort of talk, and bad been since the blockade of the old trade routes. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS Columbus in Portugal state seems to have taken any interest in the matter. Portugal alone was active ; Columbus therefore turned to that state. He made a favorable impression on King John, and, had Prince Henry the Navigator been living, it is prob- able that the plans of Columbus would have been accepted by the Portuguese king. Unfortunately for Portugal, the matter was referred by the king to certain learned men of the state, and by them condemned. The king then fitted out a vessel secretly and dispatched it along the route suggested by Columbus. The master of the vessel, however, lacking the courage to attempt such an uncertain voyage, put back to Lisbon, and thus the secret was out. In disgust, Columbus shook the dust of Portugal from his feet and departed for Spain. In 1486 he sub- mitted his plans to a group of Spanish scholars, and the latter practically derided them. Fortunately there were several priests among them who were inclined to give the plans of Columbus a fair trial, and their influence finally prevailed. Perhaps the fact that all the idle gossip about India made it a country of fabulous wealth had something to do with the favorable decision of the king, for he was sorely pressed for funds. At all events it was Queen Isabella who came to the front at the last moment and pledged her jewels for the amount necessary to fit out the expedi- tion. A flagship and two caravels were purchased for the expedi- 1 This picture is from a photojyraph of the caravels built for the Columbian Exposition in 1893, exactly reproducing the ships of Columbus. /^ 1 - '- ' 1* i /l^ji_ mm '^^mg^gm^^ m ^ The Santa Maria, i Columbus in Spain 10 THE MAKING OF THE AMEBIC AN NATION tion; they were the Santa Maria (or Capitana), the flagship, the Pinta, and the Nina. The largest of the three was about ninety feet in length over all. The First Voyage of Columbus. 1492. — The squadron set sail from Palos, a small seaport of Spain, August 3, 1492. The ves- sels put in at the Canary Islands to repair the rudder of the Pinta ; this done, they turned south westward headed, as Columbus thought, for Zipango, or Japan. As the days and weeks passed, the crew, a motley lot of roustabouts, showed signs of mutiny and laid plans to throw Columbus overboard. Then their fears were calmed by occasional signs of land, and so the squadron kept on. Columbus had understated his daily runs intentionally, so that by October 7 the real distance of twenty-seven hundred miles was made to appear five hundred miles less. In a few days, however, the signs of land were unmistakable, and on the 12th of October, 1492 (October 21, present style of reck- oning), seventy days after their starting, land was sighted. That same morning Columbus went ashore on one of the islands now known as the West Indies and took possession of the land in the name of Spain. He named the island San Salvador; the natives, of whom he found a great number, called it Guana- haui.^ Columbus spent a few days among the islands, feeling certain that he was near the coast of Asia. The natives he called Indians, because he supposed he was in the East Indian archi- pelago. He found many of them wearing gold ornaments, and he learned from them that the precious metal came from a large island to the southwest. He visited this island, now known to be Cuba, thinking it might be Japan; and then he Avent to Haiti, which he named Espagnola, or Little Spain. On Christmas the Santa Maria was wrecked on a shoal off the coast of Haiti. From the timbers of this vessel Columbus built a fort, and left in it a small garrison. With the rest of his men he returned to Spain. Fort Nativity, as it was called, was the 1 It is not with certainty known on wliicli island of the Bahama group the first landing was made; various historians have favored Cat Island, Turks, and Wat- ling, but the strongest evidence is in favor of Samana, or Atwood Key, a small Island northeast of Ackliu and Crooked islands. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 11 first European colony established in the New World, after the lumber camp of Leif Ericson, nearly five hundred years earlier. Other Voyages of Columbus : South America Discovered. — Colum- bus made three more voyages, in which he discovered other islands of the West Indies. On his third voyage he entered the mouth of the Orinoco River (1498). The great volume of the stream, The Line of Demarcation, and the Routes of Columbus's Voyages. greater than that of any European river, convinced him that it could drain nothing less than a continent ; and so the discovery of South America justly belongs to him. On his fourth voyage (1502-1504) he coasted the shore of that part of North America now called Central America. The gold, gems, and spices which the Spanish monarch had hoped for were not found. Enemies rose up to plot against the great discoverer, and he died forsaken and in poverty. His 12 THE MAKIN(? OF THE AMERICAN NATION remains, first buried at Yalladolid in Spain, were several times removed, and to this day no one knows tlieir final resting place.' Columbus died ignorant of the fact that the land he had found was not India. The Outcome of the Discoveries. — The voyages of Columbus and Da Gama are turning points in the history of America and of Europe. In time it was learned that, instead of a new route to an old land, a new world was discovered. Still it was nearly twoscore years after the first voyage of Columbus before Europe seemed to realize the fact that an unknown con- tinent, and not the eastern shores of India and China, had been found. In order to keep peace between Spain and Portugal, Pope Alex- ander VI (1494) issued a decree which gave to Spain all lands west, and to Portugal all lands east, of the meridian e ine ^^^^^ j^^ three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde. Possibly this measure, which established the " line of demarcation," kept a nominal peace between the two countries, but it left open the gates to hordes of adventurers from all parts of maritime Europe ; and for more than a century afterward the history of the New World was the history of plunder, rapine, warfare, and massacre. The Cabots discover the Coast of North America. 1497-1498. — The half century beginning with the year 1475 was a period of active research and exploration. In addition to Da Gama's dis- covery of the cape route to India and the voyages of Columbus to the new land in the west, several other expeditions of discovery were undertaken which greatly influenced the course of history. The merchants and trading companies of England were deter- mined to look ahead for the possibilities of enlarging their field of commerce. In 1497 John Cabot, and probably his son Sebas- tian, undertook to find a shorter route to India by the northwest. Cabot did not find a northwest passage to India, but he did land upon the shores of Labrador or Newfoundland, which he claimed 1 The sarcophagus long in the cathedral at Havana, Cuba, and removed to Spain about the close of the nineteenth century, niay have contained the remains of his son, but it seems certain that they were not those of Columbus. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 13 for England. He was, so far as history records, the first European after Lief Ericson to see North America. On his return an expe- dition of five ships was quickly- fitted out for further explora- tion. The squadron of vessels failed to force a passage through the ice-bound straits of the northwest, and so Cabot turned southward and explored the coast possibly as far as Cape Hatteras (1498). Upon this discovery of the Cabots England in after years based her claim to North America. In an account book of Henry VII, known as the "Privy Purse," there occurs this entry : — lOth August 1497. To him that found the New Isle £10. Voyages of Vespucci. 1499- 1503. — In 1499 Amerigo Ves- pucci, a master mariner of Florence in the service of Por- tugal, became an active factor in exploration. On his first voyage he followed the coast of Venezuela and Guiana, and possibly he may have con- tinued along the northeast coast of Brazil. His subsequent expeditions were the result of an interesting circumstance. It seems that Cabral, also in the service of Portugal, who was following the African coast, got into foul weather and was carried westward across the Atlantic to the east coast of Brazil. He was somewhat surprised at the sight of land lying so far to the east ; he knew that it must be east of the " demarcation line " and that it therefore must belong to Portugal by his discovery. Cabral dispatched a ship to the king to inform him of the fact, The Cabot Memorial Tower at Bristol, England. 14 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Amerigo Vespucci. and Vespucci was sent to explore the region. His three ships seem to have followed about eighteen hundred miles of coast, and Vespucci himself entered the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, or Plata River. The discoveries of Cabral and Vespucci secured Brazil to Portugal. The report of Vespucci's work greatly interested Europe. Ves- pucci was not only a The naming „qq^ explorer but an of America „ , , . , excellent chronicler as well, and his accounts of his explorations were widely read. There had been traditions for more than twenty centuries that the world " contained four parts." Three of these, Europe, Asia, and Africa, were known; the great new continent to the southwest was looked upon as the " fourth part." ^ Waldseemliller, a German geographer, proposed calling the " fourth part " America, in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. This name was in time applied to the whole northern and southern continent. Completing the Discovery of America. — The growing belief that the new land was not a part of Asia was intensified when, in 1513, Vasco Nuflez de Balboa, in the service of Spain, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean, or South Sea, as he named it. The belief was confirmed by the most remarkable voyage ever made up to that time. Ferdinand Magellan, as the name is called in English, a Portu- guese master mariner in the service of Spain, conceived the idea of reaching the IVIolucca Islands, lying to the southeast of Asia, 1 Herodotus expresses the opinion, "All men say that the earth contains three parts, Europe, Asia, and Libya (Africa), now certainly they should add a fourth part, the Delta land of Egypt." The geography of Mela also taught that there were four parts, though Ptolemy's geography claimed only three. Balboa DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 15 Magellan by a westward passage. In order to avoid the Portuguese and the English lauds, he determined upon a southerly course. In 1519 he cleared from the coast of Spain with five ships aud two hundred and eighty men. Following the east coast of South America, they reached a break in the coast which proved to be the strait now bearing the commander's name. It required five weeks to work the ships through the strait. About this time one ship was wrecked and one deserted. During their long voyage across the Pacific, the crew of the three remaining vessels suffered most horribly from starvation. They stopped at one of the islands now called the Ladrones and at the Philippines, where Magel- lan was killed in a fight with the natives. Thence the squad- ron proceeded to the Moluccas, where one ship was burned and another condemned as unsea- worthy. After three years of hardship and suffering, one ship, with eighteen starved and scurvy-stricken men, sailed in- to the Guadalquivir River of Spain. The surviving ship of the squadron had sailed around the world.^ Even after Magellan's voyage, it was more than half a century before the fact that America was a continent was fully realized. Other work of discovery and exploration was necessary. First among these explorations was the voyage of Sir Francis Drake (1577-1580). Drake passed through the Strait of Magellan and skirted the west coast of the continent to a point a little way north of San Francisco Bay. He returned to England by way 1 The captain of the surviving ship secured a royal coat of arms bearing a globe upon wliich was iuscribed the legend, "Primus eircumdedisti me (thou first cir- cumscribedst me)." '''l4jffi.'''"'iS'T'- -rvsi^Ji The Tomb of Magellan, on the Spot wheee He fell. 16 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION of the Molucca Islands. Martin Frobislier (1576-1578), John Davis (1585-1587), Henry Hudson (1607-1609), and William Baffin (1615) visited the coast along the northeast in search of a route to Asia. It was more than two centuries after Magellan's voyage (1728) that the strait which separates America from Asia was discovered by Veit Bering. The Spaniards in North America. — Many daring men, in the service of Spain, explored the coasts and inland region of North America. Vicente Pinzon and Juan Solis (1498) explored the South Atlan- tic and Gulf coasts. Ponce de Leon, governor of Porto Eico (1513), discovered Florida while seeking the fountain of perpetual youth. Alvarez de Pineda (1519) explored the Gulf Coast and entered the river de Santo Espiritu — probably Mobile Bay and River, pos- sibly the Mississippi or Appalachicola. He reported much gold in the hands of the natives. Hernando Cortez (1519) entered upon the conquest of Mexico. Panfilo de Narvaez (1528) explored the region about the Gulf of Mexico. De Vaca continued the exploration to the Gulf of California. Fray Marcos (1539) searched the region about New Mexico for the Seven Cities of Cibola, in the country of the Zuni Indians. Francisco Coronado (1510-1512) explored regions about the Rio Grande and the Colorado River. Hernando de Soto (1539-1541) explored the region embracing the South Atlantic states as far west as the Mississippi River. From the foregoing summary it is readily seen that the Span- iards were very active in exploring the New World. Few of the explorations seem to have been looking toward the establishment of colonies ; practically all were made for the purpose of trade or else in search of gold. The conquest of Mexico by Cortez and the settlement of Cuba probably incited most of the other expeditions, and these were confined mainly to the region about the Gulf of Mexico. Pineda's accounts of the gold held by the Indians were plaus- ible because Cortez had actually obtained much gold treasure from Montezuma, the Aztec king in Mexico. In turn, Narvaez DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 17 was led by the stories of Pineda to undertake the expedition that led to his death, by drowning, at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Some of his survivors, however, crossed the continent under the lead of Cabeza de Vaca. These men brought back the report that far inland were seven great cities. The story, as it was told, had all the glamour of mar- velous tales of the Arabian Nights, and the Spanish governor of Mexico sent Brother Mark (Fray Marcos), ^^ ^^®° a Franciscan friar, in search of the cities. Brother Mark was a man of great ability, and was therefore expected to accomplish by tact what his military predecessors had thought to win by force of arms. He found not seven great cities, but a number of Indian settlements, pueblos of the Zuhi tribe. In spite of this disillusion, in the following year (1540) Coronado, with a force of more than one thousand men, proceeded against the seven cities. He apparently thought that the pueblos were not worth having, and so continued his march over the plains probably as far as the boundary of the present state of Nebraska. He looked for gold, but found none. The expedition then returned to Mexico. De Soto's expedition also was a result of that of Narvaez'. De Soto had been appointed governor of Cuba, and was ordered to hold all the territory discovered by Narvaez. His -p. c ^ explorations were carried on mainly in the lower part of the Mississippi Valley, and he fell a victim to the pestilential fever that still lingers there. His body was silently buried in the river, and his followers made their way down the river and across the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba. Up to this time not a single permanent settlement had been founded within the main body of land that now constitutes the United States; but immediately after the expedition Spanish of Coronado, Catholic missionaries seemed to be in missions; almost every place where an explorer's feet had trod, Santa Fe and missions were established through the southern part of the country. Of these missions that at Santa Fe was the most im- portant. When first visited by an exploring party (about 1541), Santa Fe was a thriving Indian pueblo having a population of fifteen thousand ; in 1582 it became a Spanish mission. 18 TUB MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION SUMMARY According to Chinese legends, Alaska and perhaps the western part of North America were discovered about 500 a.d. About 1000 A.D Leif Ericson, with a company of Northmen, estab- lished a lumber camp at Vinland, probably some point in New England. This settlement had no influence on the history of America. The blockade of the trade routes between Europe and the East led to the search for a route to India by sailing around Africa; and this was finally discovered by Vasco da Gama. Columbus, endeavoring to reach the shores of India by a westward voyage in 1492, discovered land that proved to be a new continent un- known to Europeans. The new continent was named America after Amerigo Vespucci, an explorer and chronicler. The Cabots explored portions of the northern coast of North Amer- ica in 1497-1498, and their discovery was made the basis of England's claims to the mainland of the continent. The discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Balboa, together with the voy- age of Magellan's squadron around the world, practically showed that Columbus had not discovered the eastern shores of India. Most of the voyages and explorations, especially those of Spain, were a quest for gold. COLLATERAL READING The Discnveri/ of America — Fiske. Chapter III. Ferdinand and Isabella — Prescott. Chapters VIII, IX, XVIII. History of the United States — hancrott. Vol. L Chapters I, II, IIL CHAPTER II THE INDIANS The Origin of the Indians. — The origin of the race to which the name Indians has been given is not with certainty known. Some have claimed that they are the descendants of peoples who, at some time in the remote past, crossed to America by way of Bering Strait. The student of history should remember that changes in the elevation of the land are constantly taking place, and that in times gone by Asia and America were joined at Bering Strait by a broad belt of land. At that time Asians might have crossed to the American continent. But although it is certain that people have in early times -reached the American coast across Bering Strait, the statement that Asians peopled all America has not been proved. Beyond doubt the aboriginal peoples whom we call Indians must have been living in America many centuries before ever a European had reached its shores, for the heaps of discarded shells which they left scattered all over ^^ ^/ ""° •^ . records the continent from Maine to California must have required a very long time to accumulate. In the Mississippi Valley, especially in Ohio, there are many mounds of earth — some of them wrought into fantastic shapes — which were built by the peoples who followed the makers of the shell heaps. In the Colorado plateau one may still find the dismantled walls of more recently built pueblos, some made of roughly shaped stone, others of sun-dried brick ; these were built by the aborigines only a few centuries ago. In Mexico and South America the aborigines had reached a stage of advancement that savored of barbaric splendor. More- over, they lived at a time which belongs to the period of written 19 20 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION history. The Aztecs, whom Cortez found in Mexico, and the Peruvians, whose rulers Pizarro so cruelly exterminated, do not belong to the legendary period ; they were facts and factors in the real history of America. Indian Civilization. — The romance of history is so fascinating that we are apt to magnify the greatness of these peoples. As a matter of fact, they had not reached civilization at all. In the struggle for existence some tribes had surpassed others in the ability to organize and to wield power with intelligence. There The Indian Pueblo of Zuni. was very little of common interest between tribes ; indeed, they were almost always at war with one another. Commercial pursuits were practically unknown. Tlie Indian warrior disdained every employment save the himt and the warpath. In these pursuits he was most expert. He could track his prey along a trail so blind that a trained white woodsman would not suspect its exist- ence. In acuteness his sight was much like the scent- ing power of a hound. He could perfectly imitate the call of the wild animals, and could stalk his prey with the stealthy tread of a cat. His patience and endurance were marvelous; half clad The Indian warrior TUE INDIANS 21 as he crept through the forest, he seemed to feel neither cold nor hunger. War was his chief delight, and in the pursuit of his foe he was revengeful and cruel. He took fiendish delight in torturing his captive foe, and his ingenuity in devis- ing the most horrible way of putting a victim to death was extraordinary. In their general dealings with the white men, however, the Indians were fairly well disposed ; they were also about as honest in business transactions as were the white men. To the squaws fell the drudgery of domestic life. It was the squaw whose labor built the wigwam, or qu ws ■^j(J^j^^p^ planted the maize and beans, and stored them for winter use. With nothing better than a pointed stick of hard wood and a flat piece of pine, she could kindle a fire. With no tools but a knife and a hatchet of flint, she was as skillful in handicraft as her dusky husband. With such tools they felled birch trees and, from the bark, fashioned canoes, the seams of which were sewed with rawhide and made water-tight with the pitch of the spruce tree. Most of the Indians had reached that stage of advancement when they were ready to cast aside tools of flint for those of metal. The white man furnished them with "^""'^ ^°*^ The knife and the hatchet which the Indian discarded were made by chipping pieces of flint into shape. The making of them re- quired days and even weeks. The tomahawk had a pointed blade An Ax of Flint. ^^^^ ^ handle that was elaborately carved. It was used as a weapon of war, and an expert warrior could hurl it with faultless aim at the head of his foe. An Indian Squaw and Papoose. the tools of metal. 22 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION The bow and arrow, however, constituted the chief weapon. The head of the arrow was made usually of flint; the wooden shaft was scraped into shape with a sharp edge of rock and finished between two pieces of grooved rock. The shaft was feathered to give to it the whirling motion necessary to accurate aim. With the coming of the white man, the Indian at once began to discard flint for the more usable iron and steel, in mak- ing his arrowheads and knives. He also quickly discerned the value of the flintlock musket, and to possess himself of such a weapon he would barter away about all the property he had. The Iroquois Confederacy. — Of all the Indians with whom the Europeans came in contact, the Iroquoian tribes were the most powerful. Most of these tribes were settled in what is now New York State ; some pushed southward along the Susquehanna Valley ; and one tribe, the Tuscaroras, lived in the present state of North Carolina. ¥rom a strategic standpoint the location in New York was most wisely chosen. It was the most commanding position in the eastern part of the continent. Toward the northeast, the Iroquoians could easily descend the St. Law- rence. On the east, there was the Mohawk Valley, a broad and level stretch that led to the Hudson River and thence to the sea. To the south were the open valleys of the Sus- quehanna and the Allegheny, both of which opened into the hunting grounds of the Algonquian tribe. In such a position as this the Iroquoians were bound to become great, and the wily old sachems ^ knew this only too well. Even to-day the advantage of this location is evident, for the great railway company whose tracks thread these gateways exercises such con- trol that it practically regulates the rates of trafiic between the Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic seaboard. About fifty years before the first voyage of Columbus, the five 1 The sachem was the chief of a tribe. A Chief of the Iroquoians. TUE INDIANS 23 tribes of central New York formed the Iroquois Confederacy, calling themselves the Five Nations. All who refused to join them were set upon and exterminated, or were driven east across the Hudson River. Within a few years the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy were masters everywhere e Five from the Hudson to the Ohio. They were a scourge upon other Indian tribes, exterminating all those from whom they could not force an annual tribute, as they did from the Mohegans and some of the Algonquians to the south. About 1715 the Tus- caroras left their territory in North Carolina and joined the con- federacy, thus forming the Six Nations. The great power of the Six Nations lay partly in their organi- zation,^ which was directed by sachems chosen for their ability in statecraft ; but they were aided materially by the firearms pro- vided by the fur traders, who soon followed the explorers. These arms made them vastly superior to the tribes whose best weapon was the bow and arrow. When the Dutch settled New York, they provided the Iroquoian tribes with muskets and, at the same time, forbade the Indians in the lower Hudson Valley to have them; with such an advantage in their favor, the Six Nations had no effective opposition among the Indians. SUMMARY The origin of the American Indian is not known. By some it is thought that the aborigines came from Asia to America long before the period of written history. 1 The plan of government bore some resemblance to that of the United States. Each tribe was self-governing, but there was also a central government consisting of a Great Council. This body consisted of fifty sachems, elected bj'^ certain clans of the tribes. Once a year the Council met in the " Castle," or council house of the confederacy, not far from the present site of Syracuse. In their proceedings the Great Council adopted the "unit rule"; that is, each tribe had a single vote. There was no head sachem ; instead, the Council elected a military commander who also exercised certain civil powei's. A vote of the Council pledged the action of the confederacy. The vote of the tribe, like that of a modern jury, was required to be unanimous in order to count. One tribe, therefore, might block the will of the Council. The sachems of one tribe might call an extra session of the Council. 24 TUB MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Some tribes progressed more rapidly than others and, when the Europeans came, were in the higher stages of barbarism, approaching civilization. The Iroquoian tribes were the most advanced and most powerful of all the Indians. The famous confederacy of the Five Nations was formed about fifty years before the voyage of Columbus. It afterward became the Six Nations, by the addition of the Tuscaroras. COLLATERAL READING Discovery of A merica — Fiske. Chapter I. CHAPTER III THE SOUTHERN COLONIES FIRST SETTLEMENTS Early Attempts at Settlement. — The division of the New World between Spain and Portugal did not strike the other European nations agreeably. England, not being a Catholic country, would not recognize at all the decree of Pope Alexander VI ; the Neth- erlands and Sweden ignored it; France ridiculed it, and French adventurers frequently cruised along the American coast. A party of Huguenots,^ headed by Jean Ribault, attempted (1562) to establish a colony where Port Royal in South Carolina is, but they were ill-fitted for frontier life. Some of them were rescued by an English vessel ; others, including Eibault, w^ent to Florida. Another party, under Laudonniere, built Fort Caroline, at the mouth of St. Johns River, in Florida. In order to head them off, the king of Spain ordered troops (1565) to the place where St. Augustine now stands. Menendez, the ^^^^ "^"®" Spanish commander, assailed the Huguenots at Fort Caroline and massacred the whole garrison — men, women, and children. Learning also that Ribault with some of his followers was near by, he sought them, murdered most of them, and made slaves of the rest. There was no excuse for this foul murder. In retaliation Dominique de Gourges, a Frenchman, sold his estates in France to raise the necessary funds, crossed the Atlantic with two hun- dred men, captured Fort Caroline, and put every Spaniard of the garrison to death. Above the ruins of the fort he placed the inscription — "Not as to Spaniards, but as to liars and mur- 1 These Huguenots were Protestants who had fled from France. 25 26 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION derers." Menendez himself was not at the fort, and therefore escaped the punishment. The garrison at St. Augustine was maintained by the Spaniards, and it was the first permanent settlement in the main body of what is now the United States. VIRGINIA Sir "Walter Raleigh's Colonies. 1585-1590. — The English did not avail themselves of Cabot's discovery for nearly a century. In 1578 Sir H\uniihrey Gilbert received a charter from Queen Elizabeth to settle Newfoundland, but the colony which he started was abandoned on his death in 1583. Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of ( Jilbert, then obtained permission to establish a colony in America, pro- \ ided it could be done without tres- ])assing on the claims of any other European power. In 1585 Kaleigh made a settlement at Roanoke Island, off the coast of the present state of North Carolina ; the country was named Virginia in honor of the virgin queen. The people com- posing the first lot of settlers were wholly unfit for pioneer life, and, when almost starved, were rescued by Sir Francis Drake and carried back to England. About the only result of this attempt to colo- nize was the discovery of the potato and tobacco plants, both of which quickly found favor in Europe. In time the commercial profits from these articles helped greatly to interest merchants in the settlements of the New World. Raleigh's second attempt (1587) also resulted disastrously. A nitmber of families under John White landed at Roanoke Island, intending to establish a colony there. Soon after they reached Roanoke a child was born to Eleanor Dare, the daughter of Gov- THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 27 ernor White ; this child, who was christened Virginia Dare, was probably the first child born of English parents in the New World. White was compelled to return to England almost im- mediately. He found that the war with Spain had drawn into service nearly every available vessel, and it was three Disappear- years before he could charter one in which to return ance of the to his colony. When he arrived, in 1590, not a sign colony of the colonists was to be found ; not one of them was ever seen again.^ Raleigh, sick at heart, disposed of his charter, and no other attempt at colonization was made during the sixteenth century. The London and Plymouth Companies. 1606. — Early in the fol- lowing century the work of exploration and settlement was facili- tated by the discovery of a route that shortened the sailing distance between Europe and America nearly °f^ ^°^^^ "^ to America one half. This discovery was made by Bartholomew Gosnold, an English navigator. Instead of going first to the West Indies and then to the American coast, as had been the custom, Gosnold simply laid the route straight across the ocean, landing at Cape Cod. The importance of this route was at once apparent to the thrifty merchants of England, and as a result King James I in 1606 chartered two companies, the London and the Plymouth, directing them to establish colonies in Virginia. According to the charter, Virginia embraced all the Atlantic coast from Maine to the Spanish boundary in Florida. The London company might occupy the coast between the thirty-fourth and thirty- eighth parallels, which was the area from Cape Fear to the 1 It had been agreed that if the colonists should leave the island, the name of the place whither they went should be carved on a certain tree. When White reached Roanoke Island, the settlement was deserted. The word " Croatan," the name of a near-by island, was carved on the tree, but there was no cross to indi- cate that they had left the island in distress, as had been agreed. White tried to reach Croatan Island, but foul weather prevented; the captain of the ship headed for England, giving Wliite the choice of going with him or remaining alone on the deserted island. Recent researches seem to indicate that some of the lost colonists were killed by Indians, others perished, and those remaining were taken into the Croatan tribe. No positive facts about the matter have ever been brought to light. 28 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Potomac River; the Plymouth company might settle between the forty-first and forty-fifth parallels, from the Hudson River to the Bay of Fundy. The intermediate territory should be a neutral zone which could be occupied by each company to a point not nearer than one hundred miles of the other. By a subsequent charter each grant extended westward to the " South Sea," or Pacific Ocean. The colonists were to have the rights and privileges of English subjects.^ The Plymouth company, in 160G, attempted to establish a colony near the mouth of the Kennebec River, but the attempt failed and the colonists returned to England. 1 All the land and the products of labor were to be held in common for five years. This community plan was afterward abolished. THE SOUrilEHN COLONIES 29 The London company got ready three ships, and in 1607 sent out a party which made a settlement on a river flowing into Chesapeake Bay. The river was named the James xhefound- and the settlement Jamestown in honor of the king, ing of In the main the colonists consisted of " gentlemen," ^ Jamestown, who had no thought of working, but expected to grow rich from finding gold and from trade with the Indians. Half of the colo- nists died before the summer was over, but in the fall about five hundred more men arrived. Smith's Leadership ; the Starving Time. — Practically the only leader among the Jamestown colonists was Captain John Smith. Smith kept a wholesome discipline among the motley crowd, and prevented any hostile outbreak between the colo- nists and the Indians. At various times, when starvation threatened the colonists, he 'secured supplies of corn from the Indians. Although the burden of support thus rested on Smith, he found time to do considerable explora- tion, which enabled him to make an excellent sailing chart of the Virginia coast, the Chesapeake Bay, and its tributaries. On one of his trips he ^"'"^'^ '^'^"^ ^^^™-' was captured by Indians and sentenced to be killed, but his life was saved by the intercession of Pocahontas, the daughter of 1 In England the terms "gentlemen" and "gentry" apply to men who are descended from titled families but are themselves without any title of nobility. In former years it was considered disgraceful for a gentleman to engage in the ordinary occupations of life. Those who did not care to become clergymen or soldiers often became adventurers. 2 This portrait is copied from one in John Smith's General! Ilistorie of Vir- ginia, jiublished in 1624. Accompanying it are the following lines : — These are the Lines that shew thy Face ; but those That Shew thy Grace and (xlory, brighter bee ; Thy Faire-Discoueries and Fowle-Overthrowes Of Salvages, much civilliz'd by thee Best shew thy Spirit ; and to it Glory Wyn So, thou art Brasse without, but Golde within. 30 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Chief Powhatan.^ Had it not been for the leadership of Smith, the colony would have perished. In 1609 Smith was injured by the explosion of some gun- powder and was obliged to return to England. After that mat- ters went from bad to worse. Of the number who e aware s j^^^^ come to the colony, nearly seven hundred in all, only sixty were alive by the summer of IGIO ; the others had perished from fever and starvation, or had been killed by the Indians. The survivors, ill in mind and body, determined to abandon the settlement. They took ship, and were on their way down the Chesapeake Bay when they met Lord Delaware with three vessels laden with men and provisions. The starving time, as it was called, was at an end. The Beginning of Prosperity. — Lord Delaware had come out as governor of the colony, and his arrival marked the real beginning of the history of Virginia. Under the leadership of Lord Dela- ware and his deputy. Sir Thomas Dale, all able-bodied men were set to work ; ^ the idlers had the choice of working or being flogged ; a few were banished. As a result, in a very few years the colony had a population of four thousand people, grouped in eleven settlements. The House of Burgesses. 1619. — In 1619 the London com- pany determined to make the colony of Virginia self-governing. The plan was put into operation by Sir George Yeardley, the deputy governor. Yeardley began his governorship by establish- ing a general assembly that should give the colonists the right to make their laws and to govern themselves. In 1619 this as- sembly met at Jamestown. It was composed of twenty-two mem- bers, two elected from each of the eleven settlements, and was styled the House of Burgesses. Since there was no capitol build- 1 The story, divested of its romantic elements, is probably true. According to the Indian custom, a captive under sentence might be reprieved at the demand of a chief or any i)rominent member of the tribe, and tliis was frequently done. Pocahontas, then a child, always had a deep affection for Smith, whom she addressed as "father." At the age of seventeen she married an Englishman named Rolfe and was received in England as a princess of royal blood. Slie died at rjravesend, England, a few year.s later. Several distinguished families, among them tliat of John Randolph, are descended from her. 2 Dale gave each laborer the privilege of cultivating three acres of land for himself. This stimulated industry more than did the flogging. TUB SOUTHERN COLONIES 31 ing, the sessions were held in the ehiirch. The governor Avas the presiding officer. The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly of white men in America. Tobacco Cultivation. — Yeardley was not only a good governor, but he was also an excellent business man. He recognized that the success of the colony depended upon a staple export crop ; and his business training led him to determine that this crop would be tobacco. As a result of his advice, large crops of tobacco were planted, and the venture proved successful beyond expectation. The tobacco plant had already become known in England, and in spite of the efforts of King James to prevent its use,^ tobacco had become very popular. The growing of this plant was a great boon to the colonists, for it paid large profits and, in time, made Virginia the richest of the colonies. The tobacco itself sold so readily that for many years prices were reckoned in pounds of tobacco instead of in money. The social effects of this industry were marked. Not all land was fit for tobacco cultivation, and the tobacco planter sought the locality that would produce the best crops. This had the effect of scattering the population instead of concentrating it in towns and villages. Since there were few towns, Virginia came to be organized by counties. The Redemptioners ; Slavery. — The labor problem was a difficult one, and various methods were adopted to secure servants and workmen for the plantations. The importation of convicts from England was a common thing, and not infrequently organized bodies in the larger cities of England, known as press gangs, would kidnap young men and put them aboard outgoing ships. A more common way of securing servants was to induce unemployed men and women, by the payment of their passage money, to go to the colony. On their arrival they were bound to the planters for a term of two or three years, or until their passage money had been earned. Many held responsible positions of trust, and there was no loss of social standing on the part of the indentured - servants. ^ The cultivation of tobacco in England is forbidden to this day. 2 So called because their conditions of service were written out on papers called indentures. 32 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Because they could redeem themselves from servitude, they were commonly known as redemptioners. To get good field laborers was also a difficult matter, because few white laborers could endure the sultry heat of the fields. Late in the summer of 1619 a Dutch ship called at Jamestown and sold into slavery twenty negroes brought from Africa. Inas- much as the negroes were native to a tropical region, they were not troubled by the summer heat. The venture proved satisfac- tory. For a few years not many slaves were imported, but in the course of the next fifty years more than two thousand slaves, purchased from Arab traders on the Guinea coast of Africa, were brought to Virginia. They were sold at values varying from $25 to $125. Virginia becomes a Royal Colony. 1624. — l>y this time the growing spirit of independence in Virginia began to alarm the king, and he endeavored to find some way or other by which he {Mm J^iM^ Berkeley's Signature to a Document. could annul the charter. His judges decided that the affairs of the colony had been mismanaged ; so in 1G24 the charter was annulled. After that the London company had no hand in the management of the colony, and it became a royal province governed by the king.^ From this time to the Revolution the governors of Virginia were appointed by the king. Notable among them was Sir William Berkeley. Berkeley was an upright man, but he had little sympathy with the colony and its industries. iThe records of the colony fell into the possession of the king's advisers and were destroyed. Anticipating this, Nicholas Ferrar, the London company's treasurer, made a copy of the records, and, in time, they were obtained by Thomas Jefferson. They are now in the Library of Congress, and they contain about all that is known of this early period of the colony. THE SOUTH EBN COLONIES 33 His chief desire was to look after the interests of the king. He did not abolish the House of Burgesses, but he was very careful that every burgess should be willing to do his bidding. The Coming of the Cavaliers. — In the meanwhile a civil war was brewing in England. The two parties in the war were the Puri- tans and the Cavaliers. The former were opposed to the king and the Church of Eng- land ; the latter were loyal to both. In the struggle the Cavaliers were defeated, King Charles I wasbeheaded, and Oliver Cromwell made himself ruler of England. The war had the effect of driving a large number of Cavaliers with their f am ilies to Virginia ; and inasmuch as these included some of the best blood of England, the colony was a great gainer. Even to this day the strain of Cava- lier blood is a dominating element in many parts of the South. Navigation Laws. 1660. — While Cromwell was in power, Berkeley was displaced as governor ; but when Charles II ascended the ^ Cavalier. throne, Berkeley was again appointed royal governor. Almost immediately there began a series of troubles which in the course of a hundred years was to change A^irginia from a most loyal colony to one that was decidedly rebellious. During the early years of the colony few restrictions were placed upon the trade of the Virginians, but beginning with the time of Cromwell enactments known as the navigation laws were made. These laws, made in the interests of London merchants, forbade the colonists selling their tobacco anywhere except in England, or shipping their goods in any but English vessels.^ The object of the laws was to prevent the competition of the Dutch, who were then becoming very active in the tobacco trade. The navigation laws did not prevent the competition of the Dutch, but the enforcement of them hurt the colonists most seriously. The planters were compelled to sell their tobacco at whatever price 1 These navigation laws applied to all the colonies. 34 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION the English merchants might choose to fix, and the tobacco- growing industry well-nigh failed. Financially the Virginians were almost ruined. Bacon's Rebellion. 1676. — An Indian outbreak and massacre brought to a crisis the troubles in Virginia. Governor Berkeley promised to protect the settlers, but he failed to keep his word. In the meantime, the massacres at outlying settlements continued. A man with the quality of leadership was needed, and he came to the front. The man was Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon asked for an officer's commis- sion empowering him to raise troops with which to fight the Indians, but Governor Berke- ley refused to give it. Dur- ing the quarrel over this matter, in which both men did various things which were not strictly lawful, Bacon managed to have himself elect- ed to the House of Burgesses. For a time the quarrel was patched up, and Berkeley gave Bacon a commission as com- mander of the militia. Bacon raised a force of about one thousand men and started for the scene of the Indian trou- bles. As soon as he was fairly out of sight. Governor Berkeley proclaimed him a rebel and collected a force of twelve hundred men, who were ordered to capture him. When Bacon learned of this, he started back with his troops. At this the governor was deserted by his force. Bacon brought his company back to Jamestown, and as a show of resistance was made, he captured and burned the town. Very sliortly after this Bacon was overcome by severe illness Fr.iiii tlu' puintiii;4 hy Krlly. Bacon demands his Commission from Governor Berkeley. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 35 and died. Berkeley quickly returned to Jamestown, seized the government, and hanged about twenty of Bacon's followers. On account of his conduct he was recalled to England.^ The Progress of Virginia. — Virginia remained the wealthiest of the American colonies up to the time of the War of the Revolu- tion. That her progress was not so rapid as that of New York or Pennsylvania was due in part to the absence of good roads and commercial centers ; it was also due to the conservative character qf the people, who, being very prosperous, were content to let well enough alone. Governor Berkeley, in his time, wrote, "I thank God there are no free schools and no printing ; " but after this period a broad and liberal spirit was manifested toward educational affairs. Through the energy of James Blair, William and Mary College was established in 1693 at a place to which the name of Williamsburg was given. MARYLAND The Maryland Charter. 1632. — The early history of Maryland is closely connected with that of Virginia, because the colony was established on a part of the original Virginia territory. George Calvert, better known as Lord Baltimore, was a warm friend of Charles I, who used his royal power to cut a large slice out of Virginia for a land grant to Lord Baltimore. The territory was named Maryland in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria. Calvert had previously attempted to establish a settlement in New- foundland, but it was abandoned on account of the severe climate. The Maryland charter to Lord Baltimore gave him considerable authority. He could grant titles of nobility, establish courts, and pardon criminals ; he could make the laws with the assent of the freeholders, although he could not levy taxes without their con- sent ; in fact, the form of government was in theory as much a monarchy as England herself.^ Lord Baltimore died before the 1 Charles 11 said of him, " That old fool has put to death in that naked country more people than I did here for the death of my father." Only six of the fifty- nine judges who sentenced Charles I suffered the death penalty. 2 It was a form of government closely resembling the "palatinates" of Germany. 36 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION plans for the colony were completed, but the same privileges were immediately conferred on his son, Cecil Calvert, who became the second Lord Baltimore. It was fortunate for the colony that both father and son were men of broad and lofty character. Establishing the Colony. 1634-1649. — The Cal verts were Catho- lics, and they wished to establish the colony especially for Catho- Medal of Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, and his Wife. This shows the two sides of a very rare silver medal given Lord Baltimore by Charles I, iu the year of the Maryland grant. lies, who were then bitterly persecuted in England.^ But inasmuch as England was under a Protestant sovereign at that time, it was deemed wise to establish a colony in which all Christian denomi- nations should have religious freedom. The " Toleration Act," passed in 1G49, guaranteed this freedom. The first settlement in the Maryland colony was made in 1634, at the site of an Indian village overlooking a beautiful estuary. - Both the settlement and the river were named St. Marys. About 1 At that time a Catholic in England was not permitted to educate his children in a foreign country ; he was forbidden to employ a Catholic teacher in his family ; he was not allowed to have books that in any way set forth the Catholic faith. He was required to attend the services of the Church of England under penalty of a fine of twenty pounds per month. Lest he might become a danger- ous rebel, he could not own a weapon of any kind, nor could he sit in the Parlia- ment, where he might utter his views freely. 2 From tlie Indians the preparation of two articles of food was learned, and these in time became dishes of national reputation, namely, corn-pone and hominy. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 37 fifteen years later (1C49) a Puritan settlement was made at the present site of Annapolis. In both settlements tobacco growing quickly became the chief industry, and commerce in tobacco was the financial foundation of the colony. An assembly to which the colonists sent representatives was established in 1638. There was the usual amount of friction in the administration of the colony's affairs, but, owing to the wisdom and fairness of Lord Baltimore, there was practically no trouble with the Indians. Trouble with Virginia. — The Virginians were not willing to see a slice cut out of their territory and given to their competi- tors. The ill feeling was intensified when, in 1635, William Claiborne of Virginia, a fur trader, was Claiborne's ordered off Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay, where his trading post had been established. Claiborne refused to recognize the authority of Lord Baltimore, and tried to hold the island by force of arms. A clash between the authorities of the two colonies resulted, and Claiborne was put off the island. For several years afterward, however, he was busy fomenting trouble. The Overthrow of the Catholics. — After the beheading of Charles I, the political revolution which placed the Puritans in power in England extended to Maryland. Commissioners sent by Crom- The Seal op the Province of Maryland. In use from 1658 to 1776. well demanded that the people should swear loyalty to the new Commonwealth ; Lord Baltimore insisted that they should give their allegiance to him. Governor Stone, a most able officer and a Protestant, agreed to acknowledge loyalty to the Commonwealth 38 TUE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION of England, but refused to forswear his allegiance to Lord Balti- more. In consequence he was forced out of office. The commissioners then ordered the election of a general assembly (1654). They also directed that no Catholic should be elected to it. The assembly at its meeting declared that Lord Baltimore no longer had any proprietary rights in the colony, repealed the Toleration Act, and forbade Catholics to worship in the colony. This state of affairs continued for several years. In 1658, however, a new Parliament restored to Lord Baltimore his rights in the colony. When "William and Mary came to the throne of England, in 1689, Maryland was made a royal province under the pretense that the Catholics were conspiring with the Indians to massacre all Puritans. In 1715 the colony was restored to the third Lord Baltimore, who was a Protestant, at the almost unanimous desire of the people in the colony, without respect to creed. The colony remained in the hands of the Balti- more family until the Revolution. Mason and Dixon's Line. — At times bloody disputes occurred over the boundary line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Finally (1760) two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jere- miah Dixon, were employed to locate the line. Stone posts were placed along the line at intervals of one mile, every fifth column being marked with the coat of arms of the proprietors. The latitude of the boundary thus located is 39° 43' 26.3". It be- came known as " Mason and Dixon's line." THE CAROLINAS — NORTH AND SOUTH Early Settlements. 1653-1670. — Nearly a century after Ribault's attempt to found a colony where Port Royal now is,^ some Vir- ginians (1653) settled on Chowan River, near Albemarle Sound. Ten years later settlements were made by English planters from Barbadoes, forming the Carteret colony on Cape Fear River. At this time Charles II granted the region between the parallels The Carolina of 30° and 36° 30' to an English company. The coast grant frontage of the grant embraced practically the present 1 See page 25. THE SOUTH EBN COLONIES 39 Carolinas, Georgia, and a i^art of Florida. In recognition of this gift from the king, the name Carolina^ was given to the territory. Within a few years the peninsula between Ashley and Cooper rivers was settled, and at its point Charles's Town, or Charleston, was built (1670). Religious liberty was guarau- Thk Southern Colonies. teed to all settlers, and many Huguenots went there. Most of them were wealthy and educated, and they made the best of citizens.^ ^ Carolus is the Latin form for Charles. 2 Among their descendants were Henry Laurens, who signed the Treaty of Peace at the close of the Revolutionary War, and General Marion, a famous soldier of the Revolution. 40 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION The Grand Model. 1669. — Lord Sliaf tsbiuy and the philosopher John Locke drew up a scheme for the government of the colony, which was proclaimed the " Grand Model " and asserted to be ''the most perfect plan ever designed." Unfortunately, the scheme did not give any rights of citizenship to the men who had built up the colony ; they had the right neither to vote nor to own the land which they had made productive. In a very short time the Grand Model proved to be a grand farce, and was unceremoniously dropped out of sight. The Division into Two Colonies. — The northern and southern settlements were remote from each other and therefore had but little intercommunication. They were under separate governors most of the time, though forming a single colony. In 1712 the colony was divided formally into North Carolina and South Caro- lina. In 1729 the proprietors sold their rights to the king, and each colony became a royal province. Some Unique Industries. — In North Carolina the manufacture of naval stores — that is, tar and pitch — for a time was the chief industry; The enterprise was made possible by the abundant growth of the pitch pine there. The materials were in demand by shipbuilders, and North Carolina furnished the world's chief supply. It was discovered that the coast lowlands of South Carolina would produce an excellent quality of rice, and rice growing became the most important industry of that colony. Through the efforts of the daughter of Governor Lucas, the culti- vation of the indigo plant was undertaken, and for many years South C^arolina had a rich income from the sales of this substance. The Tendency to Self -Government. — The enforcement of the navigation laws^ crippled the Carolinas quite as much as it did Virginia. As in the other colonies, too, the people grew into the habit of resisting any interference with self-government; they knew better than the mother country what sort of government was best adapted to their needs. At one time (1G78) John Cul- peper, at the head of a force of men, deposed the officers of the Albemarle settlement and organized a new government. He was tried for treason and acquitted. 1 See page 33. The southern colonies 41 GEORGIA The Objects in Founding the Colony. — Georgia, the last to be es- tablished of the colonies that became a part of the United States, was not organized until 1732, about a century and a quarter after Virginia had been settled. The founder ogkthorpe of the colony was General James Oglethorpe, a far- sighted and benevolent Englishman. One of Oglethorpe's objects was to establish a "buffer" territory between the English and Spanish frontiers. At that time this step had become necessary from the fact that several col- lisions had occurred between the English and the Spanish colonies. Such a territory, therefore, would make an excel- lent base for military defense. The other object was philan- thropic. At that time imprison- ment was a lawful punishment for debt in England. A man owing so small a sum as a shil- ling might be cast into prison and kept there until his friends paid the debt ; and many a poor wretch spent the greater part of his years behind the bars of a debtor's prison. Moreover, by a system of fees and charges, a debt of a few shillings quickly grew to one of many pounds ; and death by starvation was no uncommon end of an unfortunate whose only crime was a debt that he could not discharge. Oglethorpe planned to settle the debts of deserving people, send them to his new colony, and after putting them on their feet, give them an opportunity to live comfortably, as they could not in England. Establishing the Colony. 1733. — The charter for a colony between the Savannah and the Altamaha rivers was granted by King George II in 1732 to Oglethorpe and his associates, who 42 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION were made trustees of the colony. Emigrants sent out with Oglethorpe founded Savannah in 1733. Other settlements were made soon by the Scotch-Irish and Moravians, a sect of German Protestants, who came in considerable numbers. After twenty years the trustees gave up their charter, and Georgia became a royal province (1752) under the direct control of the king. Trade and Political Restrictions. — For some years the progress of the colony was retarded by restrictions, some of which were unwise. During the first twenty-one years the right to make the laws of the colony was vested in an association of trustees in whose appointment the people had no voice. The people did not have any part in the government, and therefore had no training in citizenship. Another article in the law prohibited women and Catholics from holding or owning land. Still another forbade slavery, and this restriction crippled the agri- culture and the commerce of the colony to such an extent that competition with other colonies in tobacco growing was out of the question.^ The importation of liquor was also forbidden ; this restriction prevented the sale of Georgia pine in the West Indies, owing to the fact that rum was the chief article offered by the islands in exchange for importations. One benefit arising from the trade restrictions, however, was the introduction of silk culture, which for a time was an important industry. These restrictions were removed, for the greater part, in 1755. Border Warfare with the Spaniards. 1742. — The establishment of the Georgia colony proved to be a most wise measure. In 1742 the Spaniards at St. Augustine determined to drive the English out of Georgia. They landed three thousand men and began the task of invasion. General Oglethorpe retreated from the coast, and when the Spanish force was drawn into a position suitable for attack, he let loose his Scotch-Irish militia. In about an hour all the fight was thrashed out of the Spaniards. 1 It was largely through the efforts of George Whitefield, the celebrated preacher, that slavery was finally permitted in the colony. John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were members of the colony. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 43 Those not killed or captvired got back to their ships and sailed for St. Augustine. A few years later the present southern boundary of Georgia was fixed. SUMMARY Between 1585 and 1500 Sir Walter Raleigh made two unsuccessful efforts to establish a colony on Roanoke Island. The discovery of the " short route " to America by Bartholomew Gos- nold encouraged exploration, and the Plymouth and London companies were formed. Virginia was settled by the London company at Jamestown in 1607. In the early days John Smith saved the colony from destruction. With tobacco growing came prosperity, followed by the coming of many Englishmen and the introduction of slavery. The House of Burgesses in Virginia, established in 1619, was the first elective legislative assembly in America. The charter was annulled in 1624, and the colony was made a royal province, directly dependent on the Crown. Maryland, designed as a colony for persecuted Catholics, was founded by Lord Baltimore as proprietor in 1634. All Christian denominations enjoyed religious toleration. Under the rule of Oliver Cromwell in England, the Puritans in Mary- land came into power. They not only denied the title of Lord Balti- more to the colony, but forbade to the Catholics the exercise of political rights. After a few years his rights were restored to Lord Baltimore. For twenty-six years Maryland was a royal province, but in 1715 it was given again to the third Lord Baltimore. Tobacco planting was the chief industry of the colony. In order to establish a boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason and Dixon line was surveyed. The Carolinas were settled by Virginians at ChoM^an River, and by Barbadoes planters on Cape Fear River. These settlements grew into the colony of North Carolina. A settlement was made at Charleston, where many French Huguenots came. This came to be South Carolina. The manufacture of naval stores was the chief industry in North Caro- 44 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION lina ; the cultivation of rice and indigo was the chief employment in South Carolina. For much of the time the two Carolinas were under separate govern- ors, although they were one colony. They were made distinct royal provinces in 1729. Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe as a colony for men res- cued from English debtors' prisons. It was also regarded as a " buffer " frontier against the Spaniards. Savannah was settled in 1733. Political and trade restrictions retarded the growth of the colony. The Spaniards attempted an invasion, but were defeated by General Oglethorpe. COLLATERAL READING Old Vhr/inin and her Neighbors — Fiske. Read the following topics: Drake's voyage. Vol. I, 25 ; Captain John Smith, Vol. I, 80 ; starving time, Vol. I, 119 ; the Kingdom of Virginia, Vol. I, 223 ; piracy. Vol. II, 338; tobacco culture in the Southern colonies. Vol. II, 17-4; Maryland after the death of Cromwell, Vol. II, 131 ; the northern boundary, Vol. II, 145 ; Locke's perfect plan, Vol. II, 272 ; the beginning of Georgia, Vol. II, 335. These topics may be read also in Bancroft's History of the United States. Stories of Pennsylvania — Brumbaugh and Walton. For biographical sketches read Chandler's Makers of Virginia History, and Chappell's Georgia History Stories. ^ CHAPTER IV THE DUTCH AND QUAKER COLONIES NEW YORK Verrazano visits New York Bay. 1524. — Among the people interested in the trade with India in the early years of the six- teenth century were certain merchants of Dieppe, in France. At that time the belief was general that the newly found continent was a very narrow body of land. Balboa had crossed it at the 7 A^.^Vopw^ Maxt Oceonum The Maiollo Map, 1527. Copied from a chart made by Verrazano 's brother, showing the isthmus supposed to separate the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Isthmus of Panama, where it is less than thirty miles wide, and Magellan had sailed through the short strait that now bears his name. Hence there were pretty good reasons for such a belief. Full of the idea that a passage-way through the new land must 45 46 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION exist, a company of these merchants of Dieppe employed Giovanni da Verrazano to search the coast for such a passage. In January, 1524, Verrazano reached the coast of North Caro- lina, which he described as "a new land, never before seen by men." Keeping along the coast to the northeast he th^p^ ■fi'^ entered nearly every bay or estuary which he sighted, hoping that it might be a strait leading to the Pacific. That he thought he had seen the Pacific Ocean seems probable from a map made by his brother. On this map North America is shaped much like an hourglass, being about ten miles wide at a point which may be either the eastern shore of Virginia or the spit that incloses Pamlico Sound (North Carolina). It is fairly certain that Verrazano visited New York Bay. His description fits this bay so accurately as to leave little room for doubt ; moreover, French fur traders were very shortly after- ward doing a lucrative business there with the Indians. They built a stockade and trading post on an island in the Hudson not far from the place where Albany now stands. No permanent settlement, however, was made in the region for nearly a century, nor did the French make an effort to establish any claim to the land. Henry Hudson explores New York Bay. 1609. — Early in the seventeenth century there was a well-to-do family in London who, as merchants and traders, held a high position in commercial circles. One member of this famil}^, Henry Hudson, had been employed by an English trading company to seek a short route to India by way of the north polar regions. Hudson did not find the passage he sought, but he nevertheless made himself famous as a sailor and active explorer. In the service of a Dutch com- Search for a V^'^Y '^"^ April, 1609, he sailed out of the Zuyder Zee northern in the Half Moon, a vessel about the size of a pleasure passage yacht, in search of a northeast route to India. After finding his way blocked by the ice that had gathered about the island of Nova Zerabla, he decided to turn back. Hudson had in his possession two things which influenced him to disobey the order to return home in case he was obstructed by ice. One was the map of Verrazano, showing the narrow waist THE DUTCH AND QUAKER COLONIES 47 of land with Verrazano Sea (the Pacific Ocean) beyond it; the other was a letter from Captain John Smith telling him that, although there was no pas- sage through to the Pacific in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, there might be one farther north. Within a few weeks from the time that Hudson turned away from the polar regions, the Half Moon entered Delaware Bay. Finding no prospect of a passage there, Hudson sailed northward into New York Bay. He spent about the whole of Sej)tember ex- ploring the bay and the river that flows into it, ascend- ing the river as far as the Henry Hudson. present site of Albany. Kot finding any passage to the ocean, he returned to New York Bay.^ The Dutch occupy New Netherland. 1613. — The merchants of Amsterdam quickly saw the great possibilities of New York Bay. The harbor was not surpassed by any in Europe ; the ^he country around was peopled with Indians. The har- West India bor was most advantageous for a trading post, and the Company Indians could procure an abundance of pelts and furs. So a cor- poration, the West India Company, was formed for the purpose of developing trade, and a trading post was established on Man- hattan Island.^ 1 On his return to Europe he was ordered to England and put in charge of another arctic expedition under the English flag. While in arctic waters, his crew became mutinous and set Hudson, his young son, and seven sailors in a boat, out in the open sea. They were never heard of afterward. 2 About the same time a master mariner and trader, Hendrick Christianson, rebuilt an old trading post, Fort Nassau, on an island in the Hudson River, not far from the site of Albany. It had been occupied formerly by French traders, but at that time (1614) had been abandoned. On account of floods the post 48 TUB MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION As early as 1613 a " strong house," or fort, of considerable pre- tensions and a number of houses were in existence, some of the latter being constructed of brick brought from Holland. The settlement was called New Amsterdam, and New Netherland was the name given to the country around Manhattan Island. The colony, composed mainly of traders, did not increase very rapidly ; nevertheless in 1634 there were settlements on Man- hattan Island, on Long Island, at Breucklen (Brooklyn), and on the peninsula between New York and Newark bays.^ -^A [ Dutchmen trading with the Indians. Manhattan Island was purchased of the Indians (1626) by the first resident governor, Peter Miniiit, for sixty guilders, a Purchase of ^^^^^^ about equal to twenty -four dollars. The payment Manhattan was made in commodities needed by the Indians. Island Perhaps the transaction might not stand a veiy strict examination, yet on the whole the West India Company was was afterward moved to the mainland and named Fort Orange. This fort was the heginninjj of Albany. 1 This strip of land was named Pavonia, a Latinized form of the patroon's name, one De Pauw. The name Bayonne, now applied to the town embracing the peninsula, is evidently a modern derivation. THE DUTCH AND QUAKER COLONIES 49 accustomed to deal fairly with the Indians, because the success of the fur trade depended on friendly relations with them. The Patroons. — In order to encourage permanent settlement in New Netherland, the West India Company in 1629 offered a large tract of land to each of its members who should bring to the colony fifty able-bodied settlers. This grant constituted a manor, and the member to whom the grant was made was styled a patroon. The patroon was required to pay the emigrant's passage money and to furnish him house, stock, and farming utensils.^ It was customary also to provide a clergyman and a school teacher. The tenant, for his part, was required to pay a nominal rental, but this was not always exacted. He was required also to give the patroon the first chance to buy his crops. He was not permitted to engage in the manufacture of anything that was made in Holland, nor could he traffic in furs and pelts. The patroon who located his estates on one side of a navigable river could have sixteen miles of water front ; if he located on both sides, he had eight miles on the river. The West India Company's grant, or patent, did not give the patroon a full title to the lands ; the latter must be purchased of the Indians, and this, as a rule, was scrupulously done. On his manor the patroon had absolute authority, being lawmaker, ruler, and judge. Even at the present time some of the old manor buildings still exist, and the patroon names are common along the Hudson. Dutch Governors. 1626-1664. — The affairs of the West India Company were at no time very prosperous, although the traders and patroons got along very well. Minuit's successoi*. Governor Wouter Van Twiller, lacked administrative ability, and the wasp- ish temper of Governor Kieft plunged the colony into troubles with the Indians which resulted in a terrible Indian war.^ 1 In some instances African slaves were also furnished. These were owned by the patroon, but were fed and lodged by the tenant. 2 The Indians about New Amsterdam were Delawares, who belonged to the Algonquian family ; those about the Mohawk Valley were Iroquoians and the mortal enemies of the Delawares. Kieft forbade the Delawares to possess tire- arms, while he supplied them to the Mohawks, in order to facilitate the fur and pelt trade. See page 86 for an account of this war. 50 THE MAKING OF THE AMEBIC AN NATION Peter Stuyvesant, the last and most capable governor during the period of Dutch occupation, put the company's affairs in good shape. He permitted the election of an advi- Stuyvesant ^^^T council to look after some of the details of government, and induced the company to make more liberal provisions for education. He was an honest and efficient ruler, although decidedly arbitrary and tyrannical. He brooked no interference with his administration, and the settlement was probably the better for it. Conflict over English Claims. — New Netherland was situated in the neutral zone between the grants of the London company and the Plymouth company.^ The English therefore regarded the presence of the Dutch in Manhattan and the Hudson Valley as an intrusion. There were English settlers in considerable numbers on Long Island and in the western part of what is now Connecticut. They had settled, moreover, upon lands claimed by the West India Company, under the charter of New Nether- land. Governor Stuyvesant wisely refrained from disturbing them, however, fearing that it would bring about a conflict with England.- English settlers kept encroaching on the lands of the West India Company and finally (IGoo) one Thomas Pell leisurely sur- veyed a large tract within a dozen miles of Governor The case of f^tuvvesant's farm, and proceeded to move his goods Colonel Pell / , , ., o. . i ^ ^ ■ j^ and chattels upon it. Stuyvesant ordered him on, but Pell paid no attention to the order, probably because he had been promised protection by Governor Winthrop of Connecti- cut. The affair caused no little friction between the colonies, and, with other matters, was laid before the home governments. The Fall of New Netherland. 1664. — By this time the English had begun to realize the fact that New York Bay was not only 1 See page 28. - In 1(!50 Stuyvesant renounced the Dutch claims to the eastern part of Long Island and Connecticut, and, by a treaty signed at Hartford, it was agreed that a line north from Greenwich Bay (at the present western boundary of Connecticut) should separate the two colonies on the mainland, while one drawn south from Oyster Bay should be the boundary on Long Island. The charter of Massachu- setts gave that colony sovereignty westward to the Pacific Ocean. THE DUTCH AND QUAKER COLONIES 51 the commercial key to the Atlantic coast of North America, but the most strategic point as well. England was at peace with Holland at this time. Nevertheless, King Charles II secretly gave the whole region about New York Bay, including Connecti- cut, to his brother the Duke of York, who then dispatched four vessels with five hundred men to seize New Amsterdam. When Colonel Richard Nichols with this squadron reached New Amsterdam in 1664, to his surprise he found but little op- position. Governor Stuyvesant stormed about and swore he would not surrender, but he finally sub- mitted to the inevi- table. The Dutch flag was hauled down and the Eng- lish standard was raised. New Nether- land thereby became, an English province, and New Amster- dam was christened New York. In 1673, during a war be- tween England and Holland, New York was recaptured, but it was given back to the English in less than a year, in ex- change for Surinam (Dutch Guiana) and an island of the Banda group, near the Moluccas. The fall of New Netherland could be regarded as a foregone conclusion from the first. Even were there no internal causes, From the painting by PowpU. Stuyvesant destroys the Demand for Surrender. 52 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION the geograpliical position of the colony was such that it must either absorb the two English colonies that surrounded it, or The rule ^^^^ ^^ absorbed by them. But the rule of the West of the India Company was of a military nature and it con- West India stantly irritated the people. In the main, the settlers ompany ^^^^ certainly prosperous, but they were not nearly so well off as their English neighbors all around them. The latter paid no taxes except the small sums which they assessed upon themselves ; the Dutch, on the other hand, were heavily taxed. The English elected the officers to administer the laws they themselves made ; the Dutch had no voice in the plan by which they were ruled. They finally came to the conclusion that any rule was better than that of the West India Company. A Century of English Rule. — New York remained a royal colony for more than a century. The English governors, one of whom Avas Edmund Andros, with few exceptions, rarely visited the colony ; they were content to draw their salaries and remain at home ^ — a plan that was highly satisfactory to all concerned. The responsible executive was the lieutenant-governor, who was almost always a colonist. The real management of affairs was in the hands of the leading men of the colony. The colonial charter gave to the assembly, which was elected by the people, control of the public funds, and without funds the governor could accom- plish nothing; he certainly was powerless to do any mischief. Thus, with an elective assembly controlling the public funds, even a royal province might enjoy a large amount of local self- government. NEW JERSEY The Settlement of New Jersey. — During the Dutch period, the territory between the Hudson and Delaware rivers had remained almost unoccupied, except for the manors that had been established 1 Governor Thomas Dongan -was a notable exception. He was a statesman possessing great executive ability and a breadth of character not commonly found in the men of his time. In shaping the policy of the future state, he accomplished more than all the other colonial governors. THE DUTCH AND QUAKER COLONIES 53 along the rivers.^ Governor Winthrop of Connecticut had been led to believe that this region would be given to Connecticut as a reward for his services in the overturning of New Netherland. Colonel Nichols, the governor of New York, had supposed it to be a part of that colony, and had issued to purchasers several patents (T The Middle Colonies. for tracts of considerable size. To the surprise of all, however, they discovered that the Duke of York had already given away the whole region to Sir George Carteret and Lord John Berkeley (166-4). These proprietors named it New Jersey. 1 There were the villages of Hoboken, Pavonia, and Bergen. A few families from Long Island had taken farms on the shore of Newark Bay. 64 TUE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION Carteret and Berkeley did not find the task of colony making an easy one. In spite of the fact that the people had abont all the political privileges they asked for, there was constant turmoil. Lord Berkeley finally wearied of his purchase and sold it (1673) to a company of Friends, who founded the town of Burlington. At this time the region was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey. William Penn, acting for another company of Friends, purchased West Jersey. In 1702 both colonies agreed to give up their charters, and they Avere united as the royal province of New Jersey. PENNSYLVANIA The Society of Friends. — Since the Church was managed by the State in most European countries at this period, a religious heretic was almost always a political heretic as well, no matter what might be his country or his faith. Among the religious sects in England that became very prominent was the Society of Friends, or Quakers,^ as they are commonly called. Now, although their belief was a pure and spiritual doctrine, yet some of the members of the society were very troublesome. In obedience to what they conceived to be their duty, they not only re- fused to recognize the forms of church wor- ship established by law, but they also refused to observe the ceremonies expected of citizens toward their chief magistrates. A Friend would not dofP his hat to the king, nor would he kneel to the Pope ; he would not A Quaker. permit him self to address any one by a title of honor. He would pay taxes neither for the support of an estab- lished church nor for war. He would not even take an oath in court. 1 It is alleged that George Fox, the foniuler of the sect, when hefore Judge Beuuet at Derby (KiSO), said to him, " T hid thee tremble before the word of the Lord " ; whereupon the judge was satirically called a " Quaker." THE DUTCU AND QUAKER COLONIES 65 As a result, the Friends were constantly in trouble. In England tliey were punished as violators of the law, and were mercilessly persecuted as well. This resulted, not in crushing them but, as is usually the case, in increasing their numbers and strengthening the cause they upheld. William Penn. — William Penn, a son of Admiral Sir William Penn, was a Friend. He came from a noted lighting family, and his conversion to the principles of the sect seems to have devel- oped in him the fighting characteristics of the family. He was expelled from Oxford University for obnoxious conduct in express- ing his faith, and for the next ten or fifteen years he divided his time between a very strenuous "passive resistance"^ and the prison, to which he was sent as a punishment for disobedience. He had the friendship of Charles II before the latter became king; more than once Charles interceded for Penn and, on one occasion, got him out of prison.^ During the turmoil incident to restoring the monarchy after the rule of Cromwell, Charles II had become indebted to Admiral Penn to the amount of sixteen thousand pounds, -j-jjg This claim against the king was inherited by William Pennsyi- Penn. When he decided to remove the Society of "^^'^'^ ^^^^^ Friends from England, he offered the king a receipt in full for the debt, provided he should have a deed to the unoccupied lands remaining in the neutral zone between the grants of the London and the Plymouth companies. This territory, in all about forty thousand square miles, was granted to Penn in 1681. At the same time Penn purchased the land now forming the state of Delaware, in order to have a seaboard for his colony. The Colony of Pennsylvania. — During 1681 a number of Quaker families settled at Chester on the Delaware, a town which had 1 Passive resistance, as distinguished from active, forcible resistance, marked tlie conduct and the policy of the society. 2 Admiral Penn was a strong supporter of the Stuarts, then the reigning family of England, and had helped in restoring the House of Stuart to the throne. William Penn, the son, was absolutely fearless in doing what he believed to be right and just. His fighting proclivities were mellowed by the ripeness of age, and even his bitterest opponents bore testimony to the sturdy quality of his character. 56 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION been settled by the Swedes. The following year (1682) Penn him- self, in company with abont one hundred people, set sail for America, in order to establish what he termed the " Holy Experi- ment." That same year he founded the city of Philadelphia,^ the plan of which remains practically unchanged to this day.^ The first house was built in 1683, and in three years following the city gained more in population than New York City had gained in forty years. Penn was determined that the government should be very liberal. He himself appointed the governor ; an advisory council and an assembly were elected by the people. The Indians were paid for all lands taken, and the treaty made between them and the colony was kept so long as the Friends controlled the colony. Full religious liberty was guar- anteed ; all taxpayers could vote ; any member of a Christian church might hold office ; and every child was to be taught a useful trade. The liberality in religious mat- ters, together with 'the excellent government, attracted many set- tlers, and these were of the very best. At the middle of the eighteenth century Philadelphia had a population of thirty thousand ; Lancaster, York, and New- castle were thriving towns. ^ Next to Virginia, Pennsylvania was the richest colony. Wheat, lumber, ale, glass, and pig iron 1 The name Philadelphia means " brotherly love." The name of the colony, Pennsylvania, si