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美国简史
爱德华钱宁哈佛美国史思维导图，整理了1000-1600到1889-1900的内容，有兴趣的可以看看哟。
编辑于2023-02-20 10:47:08 江苏省
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A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing
1000-1600
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION
1. The European Discovery of America.
1. 👦 Leif Ericson discovers America.
1000
👦 Leif Ericsson
Northman
The Son of 👦 Eric the Red (Erik Thorvaldsson:Discover Greenland)
The Real Discoverer of America
Unknown Land（North America）+Grape-Vines
Vinland
Vinland Map
Wineland
2. Early European Travelers.
Visited the Far East (Asia)
Missionaries ✝
Marvelous Tales
Rich Lands
Great Princes
Traders
Silks
Spices
Ornaments
Gold
Silver
👦 Marco Polo
Venetian
Cathay/China&Cipango/Japan
Floors paved with pure gold
Turks
Conquered the lands between Europe and golden East
Find new ways
3. Early Portuguese Sailors.
👦 Vasco da Gama
Reached India by the Cape of Good Hope （the Cape of Storms）
4. 👦 Columbus.
Italian
The Voyage⛵
1492
Left Spain in August
Refitted at the Canaries⛳
Sailed westward into the Sea of Darkness
Took possession of the new land for 👦Ferdinand and 👦Isabella （King and Queen of Aragon and Castile）
Called the natives Indians
People wore no clothes of any kind
Kept saying “Cubanaquan”
Discovered Cuba⛳
5. The Voyage ⛵.
1492
6. The Indians and the Indies.
7. 👦 John Cabot.
1497
Sailed with a license from ♚ Henry Ⅶ of England （The first of the Tudor kings）
Setting boldly forth from Bristol⛳
Crossed the north Atlantic
Reached the coast of America north of Nova Scotia⛳
Upon his discovery English kings based their claim to the right to colonize North America
8. The Naming of America.
👦 Americus Vespucius
Italian
Said that South America was not a part of Asia
Named South America the New World
Someone suggested that the New World should be named America in his honor
9. Balboa and Magellan.
1513
👦 Vasco Nunez Balboa
Spaniard
Found a high mountain in the center of the Isthmus of Panama.
Called a new sea（the Pacific） the South Sea
Waved his sword in the air and took possession of the new sea for the King of Spain
1520
👦 Magellan
Portuguese Seaman
Sailed through the Straits of Magellan
Entered the great ocean which he called the Pacific
Reached the Philippine Islands
Was killed by natives
2. Spanish and French Pioneers in the United States.
10. Stories of Golden Lands.
the Bahama Indians told the spaniards stories of golden lands toward the north
Not only was there gold in that land
There was also a fountain whose waters restored youth and vigor to the drinker
11. Discovery of Florida ⛳.
1513
👦Ponce de Leon
Spanish Soldier
Sailed northward and westward from the Bahamas
Anchored off the shores of a new land on Easter Sunday
Called the new land Florida
Sailed around the southern end of Florida
Back to the West Indies
Visited Florida again in 1521
Was wounded by an Indian arrow
Returned home to die
12. Spanish Voyages ⛵ and Conquests ⚔.
Appeared in quick succession on the northern and western shores of the Gulf of Mexico
Discovered the mouth of the Mississippi
Stole Indians and carried them to the islands to work as slaves
👦 Hernan Cortez
Conquered Mexico after a thrilling campaign
This discovery led to more expeditions and to the exploration of the southern half of the United States
13. 👦 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in the Southwest.
1540-1542
Set out from the Spanish towns on the Gulf of Coronado to seek for more gold and silver
Journeyed northward until came to the pueblos of the southwest
Crossed vast plain （The Great Plains ⛳）
Nowhere was there gold or silver
Broken hearted ，rode southward to old home in Mexico
14. The Great Plains.
15. 👦 Hernando De Soto in the Southeast.
1539-1543
In 1539 a Spanish army landed at Tampa Bay
The leader of this army was De Soto（one of the conquerors of Peru）
Marched northward to south Carolina and Mobile Bay
Killed many of Indians
Wandered northwestward until came to Mississippi
Died and buried in the Mississippi
Those of his men who still lived managed to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico
16. Other Spanish Expeditions.
Visited before 1550.
Made attempts to found settlements.
All these attempts ended in failure.
17. Early French Voyages ⛵.
👦 Verrazano
1524
Italian
Sailed in the service of FrancisⅠ.
Led the first French expedition to America
From the Cape Fear River to Nova Scotia.
Entered New York harbor
Spent two weeks in Newport harbor
👦 Cartier
French
1534
Visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
1535
Sailed up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal.
1536
Returned to France
18. The French in Carolina ⛳.
1562
👦 Ribault
Commander
Explored the shores of the Carolinas.
Discovered the River of May（St. Johns）.
19. The French in Florida ⛳.
1564-1565
The new French colony was planted on the banks of the River of May.
Some of the colonists plunder the Spaniards in the West Indies.
20. The Spaniards in Florida ⛳.
1565
Menendez👦
Founded St. Augustine.
Killed nearly all of Ribault's sailors.
Ended the French attempts to found a colony in Carolina and Florida.
3. Pioneers of England.
21. Sir 👦 John Hawkins.
Sold negro slaves from Africa to the Spanish planters.
One of the leading men of Elizabeth's little navy
22. Sir 👦 Francis Drake.
Hawkins's cousin
In 1577 he made a famous voyage round the world.
Steering through the Straits of Magellan
Plundered the Spanish towns
His ship: the Pelican
23. Sir 👦 Walter Ralegh.
Sent Amadas and Barlowe to explore the Atlantic seashore of North America.
Sent colony to settle on Roanoke Island
24. The "Lost Colony" .
1587
Among the lost was little Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America.
25. Destruction of the Spanish Armada.
1588
Hawkins, Drake, Ralegh, and the men behind the English guns were too strong even for the Invincible Armada. Spain's sea-power never recovered from this terrible blow.
1600-1660
COLONIZATION
4. French Colonists, Missionaries, and Explorers.
26. The French in Acadia ⛳.
In 1604, a few Frenchmen settled on an island in the St. Croix River.
But the place was so cold and windy that after a few months they crossed the Bay of Fundy and founded the town of Port Royal.
The country they called Acadia.
27. 👦 Champlain and his Work.
Passed by Boston harbor and Charles River
To the lake the explorer gave his own name, and we still call it in his honor, Lake Champlain.
Joined the St. Lawrence Indians in their war parties and again attacked the Iroquois.
28. The French on the Great Lakes 💧.
Found Lake Superior and Lake Michigan; reached the headwaters of the Wisconsin River
29. The French Missionaries ✝.
Jesuits
Built stations on the shores of the Great Lakes.
30. The Iroquois 𓀀.
Hated Frenchman.
Looked upon the Dutch and the English as their friends.
5. Virginia ⛳ and Maryland ⛳.
31. The Virginia Company.
1606
In 1606 the Virginia Company was formed and colonization began on a large scale.
32. Founding of Jamestown 🏘️.
1607
Starving times
Colonists reached Chesapeake Bay and James River and settled on a peninsula on the James, about thirty miles from its mouth.
33. Sir 👦 Thomas Dale and Good Order.
In 1611 Sir Thomas Dale came out as ruler, and he ruled with an iron hand, giving three acres of land to every one of the old planters, and he also allowed them time to work on their own land.
34. Tobacco-growing and Prosperity.
Tobacco grew wild in Virginia.
The colonists planted tobacco on every spot of cleared land.
Soon tobacco became the money of the colony.
But it was difficult to find enough laborers to do the necessary work.
35. Servants and Slaves.
Most of the laborers were white men and women.
In 1619 the first negro slaves were brought to Virginia by a Dutch vessel.
The slaves make much difference in the life of the colony.
36. The first American Legislature 🏛️.
1619
Sir Edwin Sandys and his friends sent Sir George Yeardley to Virginia as governor.
They ordered him to summon an assembly to be made up of representatives chosen by the freemen of the colony.
These representatives soon did away with Dale's ferocious regulations, and made other and much milder laws.
37. Virginia ⛳ becomes a Royal Province.
1624
King James thought that the new rulers of the Virginia Company were much too liberal, and he determined to destroy the company.
The judges in those days dared not displease the king and declared the Virginia charter to be of no force.
In this way the Virginia Company came to an end, and Virginia became a royal province with a governor appointed by the king.
38. Religious Intolerance 🔥.
In 1625 King James died, and his son Charles became king.
King Charles gave the northern part of Virginia to a Roman Catholic favorite, Lord Baltimore, with the name of Maryland.
Many Roman Catholics soon settled in Lord Baltimore's colony.
Governor Berkeley and the leading Virginians were Episcopalians.
They did not like the Puritans any better than they liked the Roman Catholics.
They made harsh laws against them and drove them out of Virginia into Maryland.
39. Settlement of Maryland.
Lord Baltimore invited people to settle in Maryland and offered to give them large tracts of land on the payment of a small sum every year forever.
The Baltimores gave their colonists a large share in the government of the colony and did what they could to bring about religious toleration in Maryland.
40. The Maryland ⛳ Toleration Act.
1649
The English Roman Catholics were cruelly oppressed.
Lord Baltimore hoped that his fellow Catholics might find a place of shelter in Maryland.
But it was evident that it would be difficult for Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and Puritans to live together without some kind of law to go by.
So a law was made that any Christian might worship as he saw fit.
It was the first toleration act in the history of modern times.
41. Maryland ⛳ Industries.
In time also there grew up a large trading town.
This was Baltimore.
Nearly all the hard labor in the former colony was done by white servants.
6. New England.
42. The Puritans.
The New England colonies were founded by English Puritans.
All Puritans were agreed in wishing for a freer government than they had in England under the Stuart kings.
The settlers of Plymouth were Separatists; the settlers of Boston and neighboring towns were Non-Conformists.
43. The Pilgrims.
King James decided to make all Puritans conform to the State Church or to hunt them out of the land.
The Pilgrims determined to found a colony in America.
They thought they would have entire religious freedom in America.
44. The Voyage ⛵ across the Atlantic 🌊.
Brewster's old friend, Sir Edwin Sandys, easily procured land for the Pilgrims in northern Virginia.
The Pilgrims had a dreadful voyage across the Atlantic in the Mayflower.
On November 19, 1620, they sighted land off the coast of Cape Cod.
They anchored in Provincetown harbor.
45. The Mayflower Compact 📄.
1620
The Pilgrims drew up and signed a compact which obliged the signers to obey whatever was decided to be for the public good.
It gave the chosen leaders power to make the unruly obey their commands.
46. The First Winter at Plymouth ⛳.
For nearly a month the Pilgrims explored the shores of Cape Cod Bay.
On December 21, 1620, a boat party landed on the mainland inside of Plymouth harbor.
About a week later the Mayflower anchored in Plymouth harbor.
For months the Pilgrims lived on the ship while working parties built the necessary huts on shore.
Before the Mayflower sailed away in the spring one-half of the little band was dead.
47. New Plymouth Colony.
Indians Squanto taught the Pilgrims to grow corn and to dig clams, and thus saved the Pilgrims from starvation.
The Pilgrims made a treaty which both parties obeyed for more than fifty years with Massasoit(Chief of the strongest Indian tribe near Plymouth).
Other towns were settled near by, and Plymouth became the capital of the colony of New Plymouth.
48. The Founding of Massachusetts ⛳.
1629-1630
The founders of Massachusetts were men of wealth and social position, as for instance, John Winthrop and Sir Richard.
To found a Puritan state in America.
They got a great tract of land extending from the Merrimac to the Charles, and westward across the continent.
They settled Boston, Salem, and neighboring towns.
49. 👦 Roger Williams and Religious Liberty.
Roger Williams, a Puritan minister, disagreed with the Massachusetts leaders on several points.
The Massachusetts government expelled him from the colony.
In the spring of 1636; with four companions he founded the town of Providence.
There he decided that every one should be free to worship God as he or she saw fit.
50. The Rhode Island ⛳ Towns.
1637
Mrs. Hutchinson was a brilliant Puritan woman who had come to Boston from England to enjoy the ministry of John Cotton, one of the Boston ministers.
She soon began to find fault with the other ministers of the colony.
Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers had to leave Massachusetts.
They settled on the island of Rhode Island.
51. The Connecticut ⛳ Colony.
There were other settlers who left Massachusetts of their own free will.
Among these were the founders of Connecticut.
They settled the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Weathersfield, on the Connecticut River.
At about the same time John Winthrop, Jr., led a colony to Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut.
52. The Pequod 𓀀 War.
1637
The Pequod Indians attacked Wethersfield.
Captain John Mason of Connecticut and Captain John Underhill of Massachusetts went against them.
In a short time the Pequod tribe was destroyed.
53. The First American Constitution 🔖.
1638-1639
Connecticut people had no charter, and they wanted something more definite than a vague compact.
They met at Hartford and set down on paper a complete set of rules for their guidance.
The first truly political written constitution in history.
54. New Haven.
1638
The settlers of New Haven went even farther than the Massachusetts rulers and held that the State should really be a part of the Church.
Massachusetts was not entirely to their tastes.
They passed only one winter there and then moved away and settled New Haven.
55. The New England Confederation 👥.
1643
In 1640 the Long Parliament met in England, and in 1645 Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans destroyed the royal army in the battle of Naseby.
In these troubled times England could do little to protect the New England colonists, and could do nothing to punish them for acting independently.
The New England colonists were surrounded by foreigners.
Thinking all these things over, the four leading colonies decided to join together for protection.
They formed the New England Confederation, and drew up a constitution.
56. Social Conditions.
The New Englanders were small farmers, mechanics, ship-builders, and fishermen.
Harvard College was founded in 1636.
7. New Netherland and New Sweden.
57. The Dutch.
At this time the Dutch were the greatest traders and shipowners in the world.
The Dutch India Company hired Henry Hudson, an English sailor, to search for a new route to India.
58. 👦 Hudson's Voyage.
1609
Hudson set forth in 1609 in the Half-Moon, a stanch little ship.
He sailed southwestward to find a strait, which was said to lead through America, north of Chesapeake Bay.
On August 3, 1609, he reached the entrance of what is now New York harbor.
Finally she came to anchor near the present site of Albany.
59. The Dutch Fur-Traders.
Many Dutch merchants thought that they could make money from trading for furs with the Indians.
They sent many expeditions to Hudson's River, and made a great deal of money.
Some of their captains explored the coast northward and southward as far as Boston harbor and Delaware Bay.
Their principal trading-posts were on Manhattan Island, and near the site of Albany.
In 1614 some of the leading traders obtained from the Dutch government the sole right to trade between New France and Virginia.
They called this region New Netherland.
60. The Founding of New Netherland ⛳.
In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was founded.
Its first object was trade, but it also was directed "to advance the peopling" of the American lands claimed by the Dutch.
Colonists now came over; they settled at New Amsterdam, on the southern end of Manhattan Island, and also on the western end of Long Island.
By 1628 there were four hundred colonists in New Netherland.
61. 👦 Kieft and the Indians.
1643-1644
William Kieft's brutality brought on an Indian war that nearly destroyed the colony.
The Dutch colonists were driven from their farms.
When there were less than two hundred people left in New Amsterdam, Kieft was recalled, and Peter Stuyvesant was sent as governor in his stead.
62. 👦 Stuyvesant's Rule.
Stuyvesan ruled New Netherland for a long time, from 1647 to 1664.
Stuyvesant was obliged to lay heavy taxes on the people.
He ruled so sternly that the colonists were glad when the English came and conquered them.
63. New Sweden ⛳.
Swedish armies were fighting the Dutchmen's battles in Europe.
So the Swedes sent out a colony to settle on lands claimed by the Dutch.
When the European war came to an end, Stuyvesant was told to conquer them.
New Sweden became a part of New Netherland.
64. Summary.
We have seen how the French, the Dutch, the Swedish, and the English colonies were established on the Atlantic seashore and in the St. Lawrence valley.
In the next hundred years we shall see how the English conquered first the Dutch and then the French; how they planted colonies far to the south of Virginia and in these ways occupied the whole coast north of Florida.
1660-1760
A CENTURY OF COLONIAL HISTORY
8. The Colonies under ♚ Charles II.
65. The Puritans and the Colonists.
1649-1660
In 1649 Charles I was executed, and for eleven years the Puritans were supreme in England.
During this time the New England colonists governed themselves, and paid little heed to the wishes and orders of England's rulers.
66. Colonial Policy of ♚ Charles II.
In 1660 Charles II became king of England.
In 1651 the Puritans had begun the system of giving the English trade only to English merchants and shipowners.
This system was now extended, and the more important colonial products could be carried only to English ports.
67. Attacks on Massachusetts ⛳.
The new government was especially displeased by the independent spirit shown by Massachusetts.
The English government ordered the Massachusetts rulers to send Quakers to England for trial.
But, when this order reached Massachusetts, there were no Quakers in prison awaiting trial, and none were ever sent to England.
68. Connecticut ⛳ and Rhode Island ⛳.
While the English government was attacking Massachusetts it was giving most liberal charters to Connecticut and to Rhode Island.
The Connecticut charter included New Haven within the limits of the larger colony and thus put an end to the separate existence of New Haven.
69. Conquest of New Netherland ⛳.
1664
The English government now determined to conquer New Netherland.
An English fleet sailed to New Amsterdam.
Stuyvesant soon surrendered, and New Netherland became an English colony.
The Dutch later recaptured it and held it for a time; but in 1674 they finally handed it over to England.
70. New York ⛳.
Even before the colony was seized in 1664, Charles II gave it away to his brother James, Duke of York and Albany, who afterward became king as James II.
The name of New Netherland was therefore changed to New York, and the principal towns were also named in his honor, New York and Albany.
71. New Jersey ⛳.
James gave some of the best portions of New Netherland to two faithful friends, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley.
Their territory extended from New York harbor to the Delaware River, and was named New Jersey in honor of Carteret's defense of the island of Jersey against the Puritans.
Colonists at once began coming to the new province and settled at Elizabethtown.
72. Later New Jersey ⛳.
Soon New Jersey was divided into two parts, East Jersey and West Jersey.
West Jersey belonged to Lord Berkeley and he sold it to the Quakers.
Not very many years later the Quakers also bought East Jersey.
The New Jersey colonists had their own legislature.
In time also they secured a governor all to themselves and became a royal province entirely separate from New York.
Pennsylvania and New York protected the Jersey people from the French and the Indians, and provided markets for the products of the Jersey farms.
73. The Founding of Carolina ⛳.
With Lord Chancellor Clarendon and other noblemen Carteret and Berkeley obtained from Charles land in southern Virginia extending southward into Spanish Florida.
This great territory was named Carolina.
74. The Carolina Colonists.
In 1663, when the Carolina charter was granted, other colonists came from outside mainly from the Barbadoes and settled on the Cape Fear River.
In this way was formed a colony in northern Carolina.
But the most important settlement was in the southern part of the province at Charleston.
Southern Carolina at once became prosperous.Before long, there were more negroes than whites in southern Carolina.
In this way there grew up two distinct centers of colonial life in the province.
75. 👦 Bacon's Rebellion.
1676
Led by Nathaniel Bacon the colonists marched to Jamestown and demanded authority to go against the Indians.
Berkeley gave Bacon a commission.
But, as soon as Bacon left Jamestown on his expedition, Berkeley declared that he was a rebel.
Until Bacon died, Berkeley captured the other leaders one after another and hanged them.
76. Virginia ⛳ after 👦 Bacon's Rebellion.--
The Virginians were now handed over to a set of greedy governors.
The founding of William and Mary College (1691) at Williamsburg.
William and Mary College was the second oldest college in the English colonies.
77. 👦 King Philip's War.
1675-1676
In New England also the Indians attacked the whites.
They were led by Massasoit's son, King Philip.
The strongest chief to join Philip was Canonchet of the Narragansetts.
The colonial soldiers stormed his fort and killed a thousand Indian warriors.
Before long King Philip himself was killed, and the war slowly came to an end.
78. 👦 William Penn.
Among the greatest Englishmen of that time was William Penn.
He wished to found a colony in which he and the Quakers could work out their ideas in religious and civil matters.
Penn obtained Pennsylvania.
James, for his part, gave him Delaware.
79. Founding of Pennsylvania ⛳.
1682
William Penn found Pennsylvania.
In a very short time the colony became strong and prosperous.
In the first place, the soil of Pennsylvania was rich and productive while its climate was well suited to the growth of grain.
In the second place, Penn was very liberal to his colonists.
He also insisted on fair and honest dealing with the Indians.
80. 👦 Mason and 👦 Dixon's Line.
This line was surveyed by two English engineers, Mason and Dixon, and is always called after their names.
It is the present boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
In colonial days it separated the colonies where slavery was the rule from those where labor was generally free.
In the first half of the nineteenth century it separated the free states from the slave states.
9. Colonial Development.
1688-1760
81. The ♚ Stuart Tyranny.
Instead of admiring the growth of the colonies in strength and in liberty, Charles and James determined to reduce all the colonies to royal provinces.
82. The ♚ Stuart Tyranny in New England ⛳.
The Massachusetts charter was now taken away, and Sir Edmund Andros was sent over to govern the colony.
He was ordered to make laws and to tax the people without asking their consent.
He also enforced the navigation laws and took possession of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Plymouth.
At the same time he was also governor of New Hampshire and of New York.
83. The "Glorious Revolution" in America.
1689
In 1688 The English people rebelled and made William of Orange and his wife Mary, James's eldest daughter, King and Queen of England.
On their part, the Massachusetts colonists seized Andros and his followers and shut them up in prison (April 18, 1689).
The people of Connecticut and Rhode Island turned out Andros's agents and set up their old governments.
In New York also Andros's deputy governor was expelled, and the people took control of affairs until the king and queen should send out a governor.
Indeed, all the colonies, except Maryland, declared for William and Mary.
84. The New Arrangements 📄.
William appointed royal governors for both Pennsylvania and Maryland.
William Penn soon had his colony given back to him.
In New York the new governor was persuaded to order the execution of the leaders in the rising against Andros.
Massachusetts got another charter.
This provided that the king should appoint the governor, but the people should elect a House of Representatives.
The most important result of this new arrangement was a series of disputes between the king's governor and the people's representatives.
Maine and New Plymouth were included in Massachusetts under the new charter.
But New Hampshire remained a royal province.
85. The Colonies.
1700-1760
During these years immigrants thronged to America, and the colonies became constantly stronger.
86. North and South Carolina ⛳.
In 1719 the people of Charleston rebelled.
The king then interfered, and appointed a royal governor.
Later he bought out the rights of the proprietors.
In this way Carolina became a royal province.
It was soon divided into two provinces, North Carolina and South Carolina.
87. Founding of Georgia ⛳.
1732
In those days it was the custom in England to send persons who could not pay their debts to prison.
General Oglethorpe, a member of Parliament, looked into the prison management.
With a number of charitable persons he obtained a part of South Carolina for a colony, and named it Georgia for George II, who gave the land.
88. Georgia 🏘️.
1733-1752
Naturally Oglethorpe had no difficulty in getting colonists.
Savannah was founded in 1733.
The Spaniards attacked the Georgians, and Oglethorpe spent years in fighting them.
Finally the Georgia proprietors gave way and permitted the colonists to own slaves.
Georgia became a royal province.
10. Expulsion of the French.
89. Causes of the French Wars.
At the time of the "Glorious Revolution" James II found refuge with Louis XIV, King of France.
William and Louis had already been fighting.
Louis made war on the English and the Dutch.
The conflict soon spread across the Atlantic.
90. Strength of the Combatants ⚔.
At first sight it might seem as if the English colonists were much stronger than the French colonists.
But their settlements were scattered over a great extent of seacoast from the Kennebec to the Savannah.
Their governments were more or less free. But this very freedom weakened them for war.
The French colonial government was a despotism directed from France.
91. ♚ King William's War.
1689-1697
The Iroquois began this war by destroying Montreal.
The next winter the French invaded New York.
They captured Schenectady and killed nearly all the inhabitants.
Other bands destroyed New England towns and killed or drove away their inhabitants.
The English, on their part, seized Port Royal in Acadia, but they failed in an attempt against Quebec.
In 1697 this war came to an end.
Acadia was given back to the French, and nothing was gained by all the bloodshed and suffering.
92. ♚ Queen Anne's War.
1701-1713
In 1701 the conflict began again.
It lasted for twelve years, until 1713.
Duke of Marlborough won the battle of Blenheim.
In America the French and Indians made long expeditions to New England.
This time the English kept Port Royal and all Acadia.
Port Royal they called Annapolis, and the name of Acadia was changed to Nova Scotia.
93. ♚ King George's War.
1744-1748
In 1744 the French and Indians attacked the New England frontier towns.
But the New Englanders, on their part, won a great success.
94. The French in the Mississippi Valley ♒.
The first Frenchman to sail down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico was La Salle in 1681.
95. Founding of Louisiana ⛳.
La Salle named this immense region Louisiana in honor of the French king.
In 1699, another French expedition appeared in the Gulf of Mexico.
The colonists settled on the shores of Mobile Bay.
It was not until 1718 that New Orleans was founded.
96. Struggle for the Ohio Valley ♒.
In 1749 French explorers gained the Alleghany River from Lake Erie and went down the Ohio as far as the Miami.
The next year (1750) King George gave a great tract of land on the Ohio River to an association of Virginians, who formed the Ohio Company.
The struggle for the Ohio Valley had fairly begun.
97. 👦 George Washington.
Before twenty George Washington had surveyed large tracts of wilderness, and had done his work well amidst great difficulties.
When Dinwiddie wanted a messenger to take his letter to the French commander on the Ohio, George Washington's employer at once suggested him as the best person to send on the dangerous journey.
98. Fort Duquesne 🏰.
The French built Fort Duquesne (Dü-kan') at the spot where the Alleghany and Monongahela join to form the Ohio,--on the site of the present city of Pittsburg.
Dinwiddie therefore sent Washington with a small force of soldiers to drive them away.
The French besieged Washington in Fort Necessity and compelled him to surrender (July 4, 1754).
99. 👦 Braddock's Defeat.
1755
The English government now sent General Braddock with a small army of regular soldiers to Virginia.
The French and Indians left Fort Duquesne to draw him into ambush.
The regulars broke and fled.
Braddock was fatally wounded.
100. The War to 1759.
in 1757 William Pitt became the British war minister.
In 1758 Amherst and Wolfe captured Louisburg, and Forbes, greatly aided by Washington, seized Fort Duquesne.
Bradstreet captured Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario.
In 1759 Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point and opened the way to Canada by Lake Champlain.
101. Capture of Quebec ⛳.
1759
James Wolfe was given the task of capturing Quebec.
The British army was drawn up on the Plains of Abraham.
The French were beaten.
Quebec surrendered.
Montreal was captured in 1760, and in 1763 the war came to an end.
102. Peace of Paris 📄.
1763
By this great treaty, or set of treaties, the French withdrew from the continent of North America.
To Spain, who had lost Florida, the French gave the island of New Orleans and all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi.
To Great Britain the French gave up all the rest of their American possessions except two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Spain, on her part, gave up Florida to the British.
1760-1774
COLONIAL UNION
11. Britain's Colonial System.
103. Early Colonial Policy.
At the outset, England's rulers had been very kind to Englishmen who founded colonies.
But, as the colonists grew in strength and in riches, Britain's rulers tried to make their trade profitable to British merchants and interfered in their government.
104. Writs of Assistance 📄.
1761
It was almost impossible for the customs officers to prevent goods being landed contrary to law.
So the officers asked the judges to give them writs of assistance.
Among the leading lawyers of Boston was James Otis.
James Otis objected to the use of writs of assistance because they enabled a customs officer to become a tyrant.
105. The Parson's Cause.
1763
The Virginians made a law regulating the salaries of clergymen in the colony.
The king vetoed the law.
The Virginians paid no heed to the veto.
The king's veto was openly disobeyed.
106. The King's Proclamation 📃 of 1763.
In the same year that the Parson's Cause was decided the king issued a proclamation which greatly lessened the rights of Virginia and several other colonies to western lands.
By the treaty of 1763 the king, for himself and his subjects, abandoned all claim to lands west of Mississippi River.
Now in the Proclamation of 1763 he forbade the colonial governors to grant any lands west of the Alleghany Mountains.
The western limit of Virginia and the Carolinas was fixed.
12. Taxation without Representation.
107. ♚ George III and 👦 George Grenville.
George III became king in 1760.
George Grenville became the head of the government.
Great Britain was burdened with a national debt.
Parliament passed the Stamp Act to tax them.
108. 👦 Henry's Resolutions.
1765
The colonists declared that Parliament had no power to tax them.
Taxes, they said, could be voted only by themselves or their representatives.
They were represented in their own colonial assemblies, and nowhere else.
The Virginians declared that they were not subject to Acts of Parliament laying taxes or interfering in the internal affairs of Virginia.
109. Stamp Act 📘 Riots, 1765.
1765
In every colony the people visited the stamp officers and told them to resign.
If they refused, they were mobbed until they resigned.
110. The Stamp Act 📘 Congress.
1765
The Stamp Act Congress was summoned by the colonists to protest against the doings of king and Parliament.
111. Work of the Stamp Act Congress.
Delegates from nine colonies met at New York in October, 1765.
They drew up a "Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists."
In this paper they declared that the colonists, as subjects of the British king, had the same rights as British subjects living in Britain, and were free from taxes except those to which they had given their consent.
112. 👦 Franklin's Examination.
Benjamin Franklin was in London as agent for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
He was examined at the bar of the House of Commons.
113. Repeal of the Stamp Act 📘.
1766
The Stamp Act was repealed.
At the same time another law should be passed declaring that Parliament had power to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever.
The Declaratory Act was passed.
114. The 👦 Townshend Acts 📘.
1767
Charles Townshend hit upon a scheme of laying duties on wine, oil, glass, lead, painter's colors, and tea imported into the colonies.
Mr.Pitt had said that Parliament could regulate colonial trade.
The best way to regulate trade was to tax it.
At the same time that Townshend brought in this bill, he brought in others to reorganize the colonial customs service and make it possible to collect the duties.
115. Colonial Opposition.
1768
Many years before this, Parliament had made a law taxing all sugar brought into the continental colonies, except sugar that had been made in the British West Indies.
Now it was plain that this tax and the Townshend duties were to be collected.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives drew up a circular letter to the other colonial assemblies asking them to join in opposing the new taxes.
The British government ordered the House to recall the letter.
It refused and was dissolved.
The other colonial assemblies were directed to take no notice of the circular letter.
They replied at the first possible moment and were dissolved.
116. The New Customs Officers 👮 at Boston ⛳.
1768
As John Hancock had no idea of paying the duty, the customs officers seized the sloop Liberty and towed her under the guns of a warship which was in the harbor.
Crowds of people seized one of the war-ship's boats, carried it to the Common, and had a famous bonfire.
117. The Virginia Resolves 📄 of 1769.
These resolves asserted:
(1) that the colonists only had the right to tax the colonists;
(2) that the colonists had the right to petition either by themselves or with the people of other colonies;
(3) that no colonist ought to be sent to England for trial.
118. Non-Importation Agreements 📄.
1769
George Washington laid before them a written agreement to use no British goods upon which duties had been paid.
The British merchants petitioned Parliament to repeal the duties, and Parliament answered them by repealing all the duties except the tax on tea.
13. Revolution impending.
119. The Soldiers at New York ⛳ and Boston ⛳.
Soldiers had been stationed at New York ever since the end of the French war because that was the most central point on the coast.
In 1768 two regiments came from New York to Boston to protect the customs officers.
120. The Boston Massacre 💀.
1770
On March 5, 1770, a crowd gathered around the soldiers stationed on King's Street, now State Street.
The soldiers fired on the people.
Led by Samuel Adams, the people demanded the removal of the soldiers to the fort in the harbor.
121. Committees of Correspondence 👥.
By 1775 all the colonies were united by a complete system of Committees of Correspondence.
122. The Tea Tax 💵.
The government told the British East India Company that it might send tea to America without paying any taxes in England, but the three-penny colonial tax would have to be paid in the colonies.
In this way the colonists would get their tea cheaper than the people of England.
But the colonists were not to be bribed into paying the tax in any such way.
123. The Boston Tea Party 👥.
1773
A party of patriots, dressed as Indians, went on board of the ships as the British East India Company lay at the wharf, broke open the tea boxes, and threw the tea into the harbor.
124. Punishment of Massachusetts.
1774
One act put an end to the constitution of Massachusetts.
Another act closed the port of Boston so tightly that the people could not bring hay from Charlestown to give to their starving horses.
A third act provided that soldiers who fired on the people should be tried in England.
And a fourth act compelled the colonists to feed and shelter the soldiers employed to punish them.
125. Sympathy with the Bostonians.
George Washington offered to raise a thousand men with his own money, march with them to Boston, and rescue the oppressed people from their oppressors.
126. The Quebec Act 📘.
1774
The Quebec Act provided that the land between the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes should be added to the Province of Quebec.
These colonies were to be deprived of their rights to land in that region.
The Quebec Act also provided for the establishment of a very strong government in that province.
127. The First Continental Congress.
1774
The members of the Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, in September, 1774.
Of all the greatest Americans only Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were absent.
128. The American Association.
1774
As the colonies joining American Association agreed to buy no more British goods.
This policy was to be carried out by the Committees of Correspondence.
Any colony refusing to join the Association should be looked upon as hostile "to the liberties of this country," and treated as an enemy.
The American Association was the real beginning of the American Union.
129. The Association carried out.
1774-1775
It was soon evident that Congress in forming the Association had done precisely what the people wished to have done.
Military companies were formed in every county and carried out the orders of the committees.
The ordinary courts were entirely disregarded.
In fact, the royal government had come to an end in the Old Dominion.
130. More Punishment for Massachusetts.
1774-1775
Parliament passed acts forbidding the Massachusetts fishermen to catch fish and forbidding the Massachusetts traders to trade with the people of Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and all foreign countries.
General Gage was given more soldiers and ordered to crush the rebellion.
131. 👦 Gage in Massachusetts.
1774-1775
General Gage found he had a good deal to do before he could begin to crush the rebellion.
The colonists, on their part, elected a Provincial Congress to take the place of the regular government.
The militia was reorganized, and military stores gathered together.
132. Lexington ⛳ and Concord ⛳.
1775.4.19
In April, 1775, Gage began to crush the rebellion by sending a strong force to Concord to destroy stores which his spies told him had been collected there.
At Lexington, the British found a few militiamen drawn up on the village green.
Some of the militiamen attacked the regulars at Concord, and when the British started on their homeward march, the fighting began in earnest.
At Lexington the British met reinforcements, or they would all have been killed or captured.
It continued until the survivors reached a place of safety under the guns of the warships anchored off Charlestown.
The Americans camped for the night at Cambridge and began the siege of Boston.
1775-1783
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
14. Bunker Hill 🗻 to Trenton ⛳.
133. Advantages of the British.
There were five or six times as many people in the British Isles as there were in the continental colonies.
The British government had a great standing army.
The British government had quantities of powder, guns, and clothing, while the Americans had scarcely any military stores of any kind.
134. Advantages of the Americans.
In the first place, America was a long way off from Europe.
It was very difficult and very costly to send armies to America, and very difficult and very costly to feed the soldiers when they were fighting in America.
In the second place, the Americans usually fought on the defensive and the country over which the armies fought was made for defense.
In the third place, the Americans had many great soldiers.
135. Disunion among the Americans.
In reality the well-to-do, the well-born, and the well-educated colonists were as a rule opposed to independence.
136. Siege of Boston ⛳.
It was most fortunate that the British army was at Boston when the war began, for Boston was about as bad a place for an army as could be found.
At almost the same moment Gage made up his mind to seize Dorchester, and the Americans determined to occupy the Charlestown hills.
The Americans moved first, and the first battle was fought for the Charlestown hills.
137. Bunker Hill 🗻.
1775.6.17
Gage sent three or four thousand men across the Charles River to Charlestown to drive the daring Americans away.
More soldiers came from Boston, and a third time a British line marched up the hill.
One-half of the British soldiers actually engaged in the assaults were killed or wounded.
The Americans were defeated.
138. 👦 Washington in Command.
1775.7
Washington took command of the army on Cambridge Common, July 3, 1775.
In the winter the army had to be made over.
In the spring of 1775 Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, with the help of the people of western Massachusetts and Connecticut, had captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
These forts were filled with cannon and stores left from the French campaigns.
Captain Manley, of the Massachusetts navy, captured a British brig loaded with powder.
Washington now could attack.
He seized and held Dorchester Heights.
The British could no longer stay in Boston.
139. Invasion of Canada.
1775-1776
Montgomery, with a small army, was sent to capture Montreal and then to march down the St. Lawrence to Quebec.
Benedict Arnold led another force through the Maine woods.
At night, amidst a terrible snowstorm, Montgomery and Arnold led their brave followers to the attack.
They were beaten back with cruel loss.
Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was severely wounded.
In the spring of 1776 the survivors of this little band of heroes were rescued--at the cost of the lives of five thousand American soldiers.
140. British Attack on Charleston ⛳.
1776
In June 1776 a British fleet and army made an attack on Charleston, South Carolina.
General Moultrie commanded at the fort and it was named in his honor, Fort Moultrie.
The British fleet sailed boldly in, but the balls from the ships' guns were stopped by the soft palmetto logs.
General Clinton ordered a retreat.
141. Long Island ⛳ and Brooklyn Heights ⛳.
1776
The very day that the British left Boston, Washington ordered five regiments to New York.
General Howe, the new British commander-in-chief, sailed first to Halifax and did not begin the campaign in New York until the end of August.
He then landed his soldiers on Long Island and prepared to drive the Americans away.
Marching in a round-about way, he cut the American army in two and captured one part of it.
This brought him to the foot of Brooklyn Heights.
142. From the Hudson ♒ to the Delaware ⛳.
1776
Washington sent one part of his army to secure the Highlands of the Hudson.
With the other part he retired across New Jersey to the southern side of the Delaware River.
In December, 1776, Congress gave the sole direction of the war to Washington and then left Philadelphia for a place of greater safety.
143. Trenton ⛳.
1776.12.26
On Christmas night, 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware with a division of his army.
When the Hessian garrison at Trenton looked about them next morning they saw that Washington and Greene held the roads leading inland from the town.
Stark and a few soldiers--among them James Monroe--held the bridge leading over the Assanpink to the next British post.
A few horsemen escaped before Stark could prevent them.
But all the foot soldiers were killed or captured.
144. Princeton ⛳.
1777.1
General Howe sent Lord Cornwallis with a strong force to destroy the Americans.
Washington with the main part of his army was now encamped on the southern side of the Assanpink.
Cornwallis was on the other bank at Trenton.
Leaving a few men to keep up the campfires, and to throw up a slight fort by the bridge over the stream, Washington led his army away by night toward Princeton.
There he found several regiments hastening to Cornwallis.
He drove them away and led his army to the highlands of New Jersey where he would be free from attack.
The British abandoned nearly all their posts in New Jersey and retired to New York.
15. The Great Declaration 📃 and the French Alliance 👥.
145. Growth of the Spirit of Independence.
The colonists determined to declare themselves to be independent.
Virginia led in this movement, and the chairman of the Virginia delegation moved a resolution of independence.
A committee was appointed to draw up a declaration.
146. The Declaration of Independence 📃.
1776.7.4
The most important members of this committee were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.
Congress examined the Declaration of Independence as reported by the committee.
The first paragraph of the Declaration contains a short, clear statement of the basis of the American system of government.
The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776.
On August 2, 1776, the Declaration was signed by the members of Congress.
147. The Loss of Philadelphia ⛳.
1777
In the summer of 1777, Howe set out to capture Philadelphia.
Cornwallis surprised the right wing of the American army, drove it back, and Washington was compelled to retreat.
Howe occupied Philadelphia and captured the forts below the city.
148. The Army at Valley Forge 🌅.
1777-1778
At Valley Forge the soldiers were drilled by Baron Steuben, a Prussian veteran.
The army took the field in 1778, weak in numbers and poorly clad.
But what soldiers there were were as good as any soldiers to be found anywhere in the world.
149. 👦 Burgoyne's March to Saratoga ⛳.
1777
While Howe was marching to Philadelphia, General Burgoyne was marching southward from Canada.
It had been intended that Burgoyne and Howe should seize the line of the Hudson and cut New England off from the other states.
General Schuyler had had trees cut down across its woodland paths and had done his work so well that it took Burgoyne about a day to march a mile and a half.
This gave the Americans time to gather from all quarters and bar his southward way.
150. Bennington ⛳.
1777
Burgoyne sent a force of dismounted dragoons to Bennington in southern Vermont to seize horses and food.
It happened, however, that General Stark, with soldiers from New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts, was nearer Bennington than Burgoyne supposed.
They killed or captured all the British soldiers.
They then drove back with great loss a second party which Burgoyne had sent to support the first one.
151. Oriskany ⛳.
1777
Meantime St. Leger, with a large body of Indians and Canadian frontiersmen, was marching to join Burgoyne by the way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk Valley.
St. Leger stopped to besiege the Fort Schuyler.
St. Leger marched back to Canada and left Burgoyne to his fate.
152. Saratoga ⛳.
1777
Marching southward, on the western side of the Hudson, Burgoyne and his army came upon the Americans in a forest clearing called Freeman's Farm.
Then, on October 7, the Americans attacked.
They captured a fort in the centre of the British line, and Burgoyne was obliged to retreat.
On October 17 Burgoyne surrendered.
153. The French Alliance 👥.
1778
Dr. Franklin, who was at Paris, was told that France would recognize the independence of the United States, would make treaties with the new nation, and give aid openly.
154. Monmouth ⛳.
1778
As Sir Henry Clinton, the new British commander, led his army across the Jerseys, Washington determined to strike it a blow.
The attack was a failure, owing to the treason of General Charles Lee, who led the advance.
155. 👦 Clark's Western Campaign ⚔.
1778-1779
The Virginians determined to conquer the British posts in the country northwest of the Ohio.
The command was given to George Rogers Clark.
Gathering a strong band of hardy frontiersmen he set out on his dangerous expedition.
They surprised the British garrison at Vincennes and forced it to surrender.
That was the end of the contest for the Northwest.
156. 👦 Arnold and 👦 André.
1780
Benedict Arnold secured the command of West Point and offered to surrender the post to the British.
Major André, of Clinton's staff, met Arnold to arrange the final details.
On his return journey to New York André was arrested and taken before Washington.
Arnold escaped to New York and became a general in the British army.
16. Independence.
157. Fall of Charleston ⛳.
1780
Savannah was easily seized (1778), and the French and Americans could not retake it (1779).
In the spring of 1780, Clinton, with a large army, landed on the coast between Savannah and Charleston.
He marched overland to Charleston and besieged it from the land side.
The Americans were finally forced to surrender.
Clinton then sailed back to New York, and left to Lord Cornwallis the further conquest of the Carolinas.
158. 👦 Gates's Defeat at Camden.
1780
One night both Gates and Cornwallis set out to attack the other's camp.
The two armies met at daybreak, the British having the best position.
But this really made little difference, for Gates's Virginia militiamen ran away before the British came within fighting distance.
Only the regulars from Maryland and Delaware were left.
They fought on like heroes until their leader, General John De Kalb, fell with seventeen wounds.
Then the survivors surrendered.
Gates himself had been carried far to the rear by the rush of the fleeing militia.
159. King's Mountain.
1780.10
Cornwallis sent an expedition to the settlements on the lower slopes of the Alleghany Mountains to get recruits, for there were many loyalists in that region.
Suddenly from the mountains and from the settlements in Tennessee rode a body of armed frontiersmen.
They found the British soldiers encamped on the top of King's Mountain.
In about an hour they had killed or captured every British soldier.
160. The Cowpens ⛳.
1781
General Greene was now sent to the South to take charge of the resistance to Cornwallis.
He gathered militia from all directions and marched toward Cornwallis.
Dividing his army into two parts, he sent General Daniel Morgan to threaten Cornwallis from one direction, while he threatened him from another direction.
Cornwallis at once became uneasy and sent Tarleton to drive Morgan away, but the hero of many hard-fought battles was not easily frightened.
He drew up his little force so skillfully that in a very few minutes the British were nearly all killed or captured.
161. The Guilford ⛳ Campaign.
1781
Greene found himself strong enough to cross he river Dan again to North Carolina.
He took up a very strong position near Guilford Court House.
Cornwallis attacked.
The Americans made a splendid defense before Greene ordered a retreat, and the British won the battle of Guilford.
Greene pursued him for some distance and then marched southward to Camden.
162. 👦 Greene's Later Campaigns ⚔.
In these wonderful campaigns with a few good soldiers Greene had forced the British from the Southern states.
He had lost every battle.
He had won every campaign
163. 👦 Cornwallis in Virginia ⛳.
1781
There were already two small armies in Virginia,--the British under Arnold, the Americans under Lafayette.
Cornwallis now marched northward from Wilmington and added the troops in Virginia to his own force; Arnold he sent to New York.
Finally Cornwallis fortified Yorktown, and Lafayette settled down at Williamsburg.
And there they still were in September, 1781.
164. Plans of the Allies.
In 1780 the French government had sent over a strong army under Rochambeau.
It was landed at Newport.
Another French fleet and another French army were in the West Indies.
In the summer of 1781 it became possible to unite all these French forces, and with the Americans to strike a crushing blow at the British.
165. Yorktown ⛳.
1781.9-1781.10
Rochambeau led his men to New York and joined the main American army.
The French West India fleet under De Grasse reached one end of the Chesapeake Bay at the same time the allies reached the other end.
The British fleet attacked it and was beaten off.
On October 17, 1781, four years to a day since the surrender of Burgoyne, a drummer boy appeared on the rampart of Yorktown and beat a parley.
Two days later the British soldiers marched out to the good old British tune of "The world turned upside down," and laid down their arms.
166. Treaty of Peace.
1783
This disaster put an end to British hopes of conquering America.
But it was not until September, 1783, that Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay brought the negotiations for peace to an end.
Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the United States.
The territory of the United States was defined as extending from the Great Lakes to the thirty-first parallel of latitude and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.
1783-1789
THE CRITICAL PERIOD
17. The Confederation 👥
1783-1787
167. Problems of Peace.
While the war lasted, a sense of danger bound together the people of the different states.
But as soon as this peril ceased, their old jealousies and self-seekings came back.
168. The Articles of Confederation.
1781
The Continental Congress began drawing up the Articles of Confederation in June, 1776.
But there were long delays, and each month's delay made it more impossible to form a strong government.
It fell out in this way that the Congress of the Confederation had no real power.
It could not make a state or an individual pay money or do anything at all.
169. A Time of Distress.
No gold and silver came to the United States from the West Indies while gold and silver constantly went out of the country to pay debts due to British merchants.
The real reason of all this trouble was the lack of a strong national government which could have compelled the British government to open its ports to American commerce.
But the people only saw that money was scarce and called upon the state legislatures to give them paper money.
170. Paper Money.
Most of the state legislatures did what they were asked to do.
They printed quantities of paper money.
They paid the public expenses with it, and sometimes lent it to individuals without much security for its repayment.
Before long this paper money began to grow less valuable.
171 Tender Laws.
The people then clamored for "tender laws.
These were laws which would make it lawful for them to tender, or offer, paper money in exchange for flour or other things.
In some cases it was made lawful to tender paper money in payments of debts which had been made when gold and silver were still in use.
172. Stay Laws.
Now the cry was for "stay laws.
These were laws to prevent those to whom money was due from enforcing their rights.
These laws promptly put an end to whatever business was left.
The only way that any business could be carried on was by barter.
173. 👦 Shays's Rebellion.
1786-1787
The people were angry with the judges for sending men to prison who did not pay their debts.
Crowds of armed men visited the judges and compelled them to close the courts.
The leader in this movement was Daniel Shays.
By this time Governor Bowdoin and General Lincoln also had gathered a small force of soldiers.
He drove Shays from place to place, captured his followers, and put down the rebellion.
174. Claims to Western Lands.
The Confederation seemed to be falling to pieces.
That it did not actually fall to pieces was largely due to the fact that all the states were interested in the settlement of the region northwest of the Ohio River.
175. The Land Cessions.
In 1784 Virginia gave up her claims to the land northwest of the Ohio River with the exception of certain large tracts which she reserved for her veteran soldiers.
Massachusetts ceded her claims in 1785.
The next year (1786) Connecticut gave up her claims.
But she reserved a large tract of land directly west of Pennsylvania.
This was called the Connecticut Reserve or, more often, the Western Reserve.
South Carolina and North Carolina ceded their lands in 1787 and 1790, and finally Georgia gave up her claims to western lands in 1802.
176. Passage of the Ordinance of 1787.
In 1785 Congress passed a law or an ordinance for the government of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio River.
There were many persons who wished to emigrate from the old states to the new region.
But they were unwilling to go unless they felt sure that they would not be treated by Congress as the British government had treated the people of the original states.
Dr. Cutler of Massachusetts laid these matters before Congress and did his work so well that Congress passed a new ordinance.
The ordinance is called the Ordinance of 1787.
177. The Ordinance of 1787.
At first it was to be governed by the persons appointed by Congress.
But it was further provided that when settlers should arrive in sufficient numbers they should enjoy self-government.
When fully settled the territory should be divided into five states.
These should be admitted to the Confederation on a footing of equality with the original states.
The settlers in the territory should enjoy full rights of citizenship.
Education should be encouraged.
Slavery should never be permitted.
This last provision is especially important as it saved the Northwest to freedom.
18. Making of the Constitution 🔖
1787-1789
178. Necessity for a New Government.
At this very moment a convention was making a constitution to put an end to the Confederation itself.
It was quite clear that something must be done or the states soon would be fighting one another.
It was while affairs were in this condition that the Federal Convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787.
179. 👦 James Madison.
Of all the members of the Convention, James Madison of Virginia best deserves the title of Father of the Constitution.
He drew up the Virginia plan which was adopted as the basis of the new Constitution.
With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay he wrote a series of papers which is called the Federalist and is still the best guide to the Constitution.
180. Other Fathers of the Constitution.
George Washington was chosen President of the Convention.
And the mere fact that he approved the Constitution had a tremendous influence throughout the country.
The oldest man in the Convention was Benjamin Franklin.
In fact, with the exception of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson, the strongest men in political life were in the Federal Convention.
181. Plans for a National Government.
On May 30 the Convention voted that a national government ought to be established, consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.
It next decided that the legislative department should consist of two houses.
182. Disagreement as to Representation.
The Virginia plan proposed that representation in one branch of the new Congress should be divided among the states according to the amount of money each state paid into the national treasury, or according to the number of the free inhabitants of each state.
The Delaware delegates at once said that they must withdraw.
In June Governor Patterson of New Jersey brought forward a plan which had been drawn up by the delegates from the smaller states.
It is always called, however, the New Jersey plan.
It proposed simply to amend the Articles of Confederation so as to give Congress more power.
After a long debate the New Jersey plan was rejected.
183. The Compromise as to Representation.
Benjamin Franklin and Roger Sherman proposed a compromise, was that members of the House of Representatives should be apportioned among the states according to their population and should be elected directly by the people.
In the Senate they proposed that each state, regardless of size, population, or wealth, should have two members.
The Senators, representing the states, would fittingly be chosen by the state legislatures.
184. Compromise as to Apportionment.
It was finally agreed that the slaves should be counted at three-fifths of their real number.
This rule was called the "federal ratio.“
185. Compromise as to the Slave-Trade.
Congress could not prohibit the slave-trade until 1808.
186. 👦 Franklin's Prophecy.
"I have often and often," said the old statesman, "looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.“
187. The Constitution.
It will be well now to note some of the points in which the new Constitution was unlike the old Articles of Confederation.
In the first place, the government of the Confederation had to do only with the states; the new government would deal directly with individuals.
In the second place the old government had almost no executive powers.
The new government would have a very strong executive in the person of the President of the United States.
188. The Supreme Court.
But the greatest difference of all was to be found in the Supreme Court of the United States provided in the Constitution.
The new Congress would have very large powers of making laws.
But the words defining these powers were very hard to understand.
It was the duty of the Supreme Court to say what these words meant.
Now the judges of the Supreme Court are very independent.
189. Objections to the Constitution.
The great strength of the Constitution alarmed many people.
Patrick Henry declared that the government under the new Constitution would be a national government and not a federal government at all.
Other persons objected to the Constitution because it took the control of affairs out of the hands of the people.
Others objected to the Constitution because there was no Bill of Rights attached to it.
Finally a great many people objected to the Constitution because there was no provision in it reserving to the states or to the people those powers that were not expressly given to the new government.
190. The First Ten Amendments.
It was suggested that the conventions should consent to the adoption of the Constitution, but should, at the same time, propose amendments which would do away with many of these objections.
The first Congress under the Constitution and the state legislatures adopted most of these amendments, and they became a part of the Constitution.
There were ten amendments in all, and they should be studied as carefully as the Constitution itself is studied.
191. The Constitution Adopted.
1787-1788
In June, 1788, New Hampshire and Virginia adopted the Constitution.
They were the ninth and tenth states to take this action.
The Constitution provided that it should go into effect when it should be adopted by nine states, that is, of course, it should go into effect only between those states.
Preparations were now made for the organization of the new government.
Washington was unanimously elected President, and was inaugurated in April, 1789.
By that time North Carolina and Rhode Island were the only states which had not adopted the Constitution and come under the "New Roof," as it was called.
In a year or two they adopted it also, and the Union of the thirteen original states was complete.
1789-1801
THE FEDERALIST SUPREMACY
19. Organization of the Government 🏛️.
192. Washington elected President.
First each state chose presidential electors usually by vote of its legislature.
Then the electors of each state came together and voted for two persons without saying which of the two should be President.
When all the electoral votes were counted, the person having the largest number, provided that was more than half of the whole number of electoral votes, was declared President.
The person having the next largest number became Vice-President.
193. Washington's Journey to New York ⛳.
At ten o'clock in the morning of April 14, 1789, Washington left Mt. Vernon and set out for New York.
A barge manned by thirteen pilots met him at the water's edge and bore him safely to New York.
194. The First Inauguration.
1789.4.30
"I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.“
195. The First Cabinet.
Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State.
The Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton.
For Secretary of War, Washington selected Henry Knox.
Edward Randolph became Attorney General.
196. Appointments to Office.
John Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and General Lincoln was appointed Collector of Customs at Boston.
197. The Question of Titles.
The House of Representatives had the first chance to address Washington and simply called him "Mr. President of the United States."
198. Ceremonies and Progresses.
Washington liked a good deal of ceremony and was stiff and aristocratic.
He soon gave receptions or "levees" as they were called.
To these only persons who had tickets were admitted.
199. First Tariff Act, 1789.
1789
The first important business that Congress took in hand was a bill for raising revenue, and a lively debate began.
And so it was as to nearly every duty that was proposed.
But duties must be laid, and the only thing that could be done was to compromise in every direction.
Each section got something that it wanted, gave up a great deal that it wanted, and agreed to something that it did not want at all.
And so it has been with every tariff act from that day to this.
200. The First Census.
1791
In 1791 the first census was taken.
It appeared that there were nearly four million people in the United States.
There were then about seven hundred thousand slaves in the country.
Of these only fifty thousand were in the states north of Maryland.
The country, therefore, was already divided into two sections: one where slavery was of little importance, and another where it was of great importance.
201. New States.
The first new state to be admitted to the Union was Vermont (1791).
The next year Kentucky came into the Union.
Kentucky was a slave state.
Vermont was a free state, and its constitution forbade slavery.
202. The National Debt.
During the war Congress had been too poor to pay gold and silver for what it needed to carry on the war.
So it had given promises to pay at some future time.
203. 👦 Hamilton's Financial Policy.
Alexander Hamilton was the ablest Secretary of the Treasury the United States has ever had.
To give people confidence in the new government, he proposed to redeem the old certificates and bonds, dollar for dollar, in new bonds.
204. Assumption of State Debts.
A further part of Hamilton's original scheme aroused even greater opposition.
During the Revolutionary War the states, too, had become heavily in debt.
These debts had been incurred for the benefit of the people as a whole.
Would it not then be fair for the people of the United States as a whole to pay them? Hamilton thought that it would.
It chanced, however, that the Northern states had much larger debts than had the Southern states.
One result of Hamilton's scheme would be to relieve the Northern states of a part of their burdens and to increase the burdens of the Southern states.
The Southerners, therefore, were strongly opposed to the plan.
The North Carolina representatives reached New York just in time to vote against it, and that part of Hamilton's plan was defeated.
205. The National Capital.
The Southerners were anxious to have the national capital as far south as possible.
They were also opposed to the assumption of the state debts by the national government.
Now it happened that the Northerners were in favor of the assumption of the debts and did not care very much where the national capital might be.
In the end Jefferson and Hamilton made "a deal," the first of its kind in our history.
Virginia and Maryland at once ceded enough land to form a "federal district."
This was called the District of Columbia.
Soon preparations were begun to build a capital city there--the city of Washington.
206. The First Bank of the United States.
The government in 1790 had no place in which to keep its money.
Instead of establishing government treasuries, Hamilton wanted a great national bank, controlled by the government.
This bank could establish branches in important cities.
After thinking the matter over, Washington signed the bill and it became a law.
20. Rise of Political Parties 👥.
207. The Federalists.
Hamilton had little confidence in the wisdom of the plain people.
He believed it would be safer to rely on the richer classes.
So he and his friends wished to give to the central government and to the richer classes the greatest possible amount of power.
Those who believed as Hamilton believed called themselves Federalists.
208. The Republicans.
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Albert Gallatin, and their friends entirely disagreed with the Federalists on all of these points.
They called themselves Republicans.
In the Great Declaration Jefferson had written that government rested on the consent of the governed.
He also thought that the common sense of the plain people was a safer guide than the wisdom of the richer classes.
He was indignant at the way in which Hamilton defined the meaning of phrases in the Constitution.
209. The French Revolution.
In 1789 the French people rose against their government.
In 1792 they imprisoned their king and queen.
In 1793 they beheaded them, and set up a republic.
The monarchs of Europe made common cause against this spirit of revolution.
They made war on the French Republic and began a conflict which soon spread to all parts of the world.
210. The French Revolution and American Politics.
Jefferson and his political friends rejoiced at the overthrow of the French monarchy and the setting up of the Republic.
It seemed as if American ideas had spread to Europe.
Soon Jefferson's followers began to ape the manners of the French revolutionists.
They called each other Citizen this and Citizen that.
211. Citizen 👦 Genet.
The new French government soon sent an agent or minister to the United States.
He was the Citizen Genet.
He landed at Charleston, South Carolina.
He even appealed to the people against Washington, and the people rallied to the defense of the President.
Soon another and wiser French minister came to the United States.
212. The Neutrality Proclamation.
1793
Washington issued a Proclamation of Neutrality.
In this proclamation he warned all citizens not to aid either of the fighting nations.
It was in this way that Washington began the policy of keeping the United States out of European conflicts.
213. The Whiskey Insurrection, 1794.
1794
The increasing expenses of the government made new taxes necessary.
Among the new taxes was an internal revenue tax on whiskey.
It happened that this tax bore heavily on the farmers of western Carolina and western Pennsylvania.
The new tax on whiskey would make it more difficult for these western farmers to earn a living and to support their families.
They refused to pay it.
The President then called out fifteen thousand militia-men and sent them to western Pennsylvania, under the command of Henry Lee, governor of Virginia.
The rebellious farmers yielded without fighting.
214. 👦 Jay's Treaty.
1794
Ever since 1783 there had been trouble with the British.
They had not surrendered the posts on the Great Lakes, as the treaty of 1783 required them to do.
Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate a new treaty.
He found the British government very hard to deal with.
At last he made a treaty.
215. Ratification of Jay's Treaty.
1795
After a long discussion the Senate voted to ratify the treaty without these two clauses.
In the House of Representatives there was a fierce debate.
At last the House voted the necessary money.
The British surrendered the posts on the Great Lakes, and the debts due to British subjects were paid.
216. The Spanish Treaty of 1795.
The Spaniards held posts on the Mississippi, within the limits of the United States and refused to give them up.
For a hundred miles the Mississippi flowed through Spanish territory.
In 1795, however, they agreed to abandon the posts and to permit American goods to be deposited at New Orleans while awaiting shipment by sea-going vessels.
217. 👦 Washington's Farewell Address.
In 1792 Washington had been reëlected President.
In 1796 there would be a new election, and Washington declined another nomination.
In declining a third term as President, Washington set an example which has ever since been followed.
21. The Last Federalist Administration 🏛️.
218. 👦 John Adams elected President.
1796
In 1796 John Adams was the Federalist candidate for President.
Jefferson was elected Vice-President.
219. More Trouble with France.
France was now (1796-97) governed by five chiefs of the Revolution, who called themselves "the Directory.“
They were very angry when they heard of Jay's Treaty, for they had hoped that the Americans would make war on the British.
Washington recalled Monroe, and sent in his stead General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina.
The Directory promptly refused to receive Pinckney, and ordered him to leave France.
220. The X.Y.Z. Affair.
1797-1798
Adams sent John Marshall, a Virginia Federalist, and Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts Republican, to France.
They were to join Pinckney and together were to negotiate with the French Directory.
When they reached Paris three men came to see them.
These men said that America (1) must apologize for the President's vigorous words, (2) must lend money to France, and (3) must bribe the Directory and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
These outrageous suggestions were emphatically put aside.
In sending the papers to Congress, the three men were called Mr. X., Mr. Y., and Mr. Z., so the incident is always known as the "X.Y.Z. Affair."
221. Indignation in America.
Federalists and Republicans joined in indignation.
"Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute," was the cry of the day.
Adams declared that he would not send another minister to France until he was assured that the representative of the United States would be received as "the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent state.“
222. War with France.
1797-1798
The organization of a provisional army was now at once begun.
Washington accepted the chief command on condition that Hamilton should have the second place.
For the American warships drove the privateers to the West Indies and pursued them as they fled southward.
Soon the American cruisers began to capture French men-of-war.
Captain Truxton, in the Constellation, captured the French frigate L'Insurgent.
Many other French vessels were captured, and preparations were made to carry on the naval war even more vigorously when a treaty with France was signed.
223. Treaty with France.
1800
It was finally agreed that the Americans should give up their claims for damages, and the French government should permit the treaty to be annulled.
224. Alien and Sedition Acts.
1798
The Federalists, even if they had been united, would probably have been defeated in the election of 1800.
For they had misused their power to pass several very foolish laws.
The first of these laws was the Naturalization Act.
Other laws, called the Alien Acts, were also aimed at the Republican immigrants.
The worst law of all was the Sedition Act.
Several trials were held under this law.
Every trial made hundreds of persons determined to vote for the Republican candidate at the next election.
225. Virginia ⛳ and Kentucky ⛳ Resolutions.
1798-1799
Any state could make null or nullify any Act of Congress that it saw fit to oppose.
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions called the voter's attention to the Federalist abuse of power and did much to form public opinion.
226. Death of 👦 Washington.
1799
Henry Lee spoke for the nation when he declared that Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.“
227. Election of 1800.
Indeed, the election of 1800 was fought with a vigor and violence unknown before, and scarcely exceeded since.
John Adams was the Federalist candidate, and he was defeated.
Jefferson and Burr, the Republican candidates, each received seventy-three electoral votes.
After a useless struggle the Federalists permitted Jefferson to be chosen, and he was inaugurated on March 4, 1801.
1801-1812
THE JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANS
22. The United States in 1800.
228. Area and Population.
1800
The area of the United States in 1800 was the same as at the close of the Revolutionary War.
But the population had begun to increase rapidly.
In 1791 there were nearly four million people in the United States.
By 1800 this number had risen to five and one-quarter millions.
229. Cities and Towns in 1800.
Philadelphia was the largest city in the United States.
It had a population of seventy thousand.
But New York was not far behind Philadelphia in population.
Except these two, no city in the whole United States had more than thirty thousand inhabitants.
The seat of government had been removed from Philadelphia to Washington.
230. Traveling in 1800.
The traveler in those days had a very hard time.
On the best roads of the north, in the best coach, and with the best weather one might cover as many as forty miles a day.
Whenever it was possible the traveler went by water.
231. The Steamboat.
Robert Fulton made the first successful steamboat.
She was named the Clermont and was launched in 1807.
Before a great while steamboats appeared in all parts of the country.
232. Making of the West.
In 1811 the first steamboat appeared on the Western rivers.
The whole problem of living in the West rapidly changed.
For the steamboat could go up stream as well as down stream.
Communication between the new settlements, and New Orleans and Pittsburg, was now much safer and very much easier.
233. Cotton Growing in the South.
Cotton had been grown in the South for many years.
It had been made on the plantations into a rough cloth.
In 1784 a few bags of cotton were sent to England.
In 1791 nearly two hundred thousand pounds of cotton were exported from the South.
Then came Whitney's great invention, which entirely changed the whole history of the country.
234. 👦 Whitney's Cotton Gin.
1793
Whitney's cotton gin made the growing of cotton profitable and so fastened slavery on the South.
With the exception of the steam locomotive and the reaper ,no invention has so tremendously influenced the history of the United States.
235. Colonial Manufactures.
Before the Revolutionary War there were very few mills or factories in the colonies.
There was no money to put into such undertakings and no operatives to work the mills if they had been built.
236. Growth of Manufactures.
1789-1800
While the Revolution had been going on in America, great improvements in the spinning of yarn and the weaving of cloth had been made in England.
Parliament made laws to prevent the export from England of machinery or patterns of machinery.
But it could not prevent Englishmen from coming to America.
Among the recent immigrants to the United States was Samuel Slater.
He soon built spinning machinery.
New cotton mills were now set up in several places.
But it was some time before the new weaving machinery was introduced into America.
23. 👦 Jefferson's Administrations 🏛️.
237. President 👦 Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson was a Republican.
He believed in the republican form of government.
He believed the wisdom of the people to be the best guide.
He wished the President to be simple and cordial in his relations with his fellow-citizens.
238. The Civil Service.
One of the first matters to take Jefferson's attention was the condition of the civil service.
There was not a Republican office-holder in the government service.
Washington, in the last years of his presidency, and Adams also had given office only to Federalists.
Jefferson thought it was absolutely necessary to have some officials upon whom he could rely.
So he removed a few Federalist officeholders and appointed Republicans to their places.
239. The Judiciary Act of 1801.
One of the last laws made by the Federalists was the Judiciary Act of 1801.
The Republican Congress now repealed this Judiciary Act and "legislated out of office" all the new judges.
For it must be remembered that the Constitution makes only the members of the Supreme Court sure of their offices.
Congress also got rid of many other Federalist officeholders by repealing the Internal Revenue Act.
240. Paying the National Debt.
Jefferson was especially anxious to cut down the expenses of the government and to pay as much as possible of the national debt.
Madison and Gallatin worked heartily with him to carry out this policy.
The expenses of the government were greatly lessened.
At the same time the revenue from the customs service increased.
The result was that in the eight years of Jefferson's administrations the national debt shrank from eighty-three million dollars to forty-five million dollars.
Yet in the same time the United States paid fifteen million dollars for Louisiana, and waged a series of successful and costly wars with the pirates of the northern coast of Africa.
241. Louisiana ⛳ again a French Colony.
Spanish territory now bounded the United States on the south and the west.
Suddenly, however, it was announced that France had got back Louisiana.
And almost at the same moment the Spanish governor of Louisiana said that Americans could no longer deposit their goods at New Orleans.
Jefferson determined to buy from France New Orleans and the land eastward from the mouth of the Mississippi.
242. The Louisiana ⛳ Purchase.
1803
When Napoleon got Louisiana from Spain, he had an idea of again founding a great French colony in America.
At the moment France and Great Britain were at peace.
But it soon looked as if war would begin again.
Napoleon knew that the British would at once seize Louisiana and he could not keep it anyway.
So one day, when the Americans and the French were talking about the purchase of New Orleans, the French minister suddenly asked if the United States would not like to buy the whole of Louisiana.
Monroe and Livingston, the American ministers, had no authority to buy Louisiana.
But the purchase of the whole colony would be a great benefit to the United States.
So they quickly agreed to pay fifteen million dollars for the whole of Louisiana.
243. The Treaty Ratified.
The Constitution nowhere delegated to the United States power to acquire territory.
But after thinking it over Jefferson felt sure that the people would approve of the purchase.
The treaty was ratified.
This purchase turned out to be a most fortunate thing.
It gave to the United States the whole western valley of the Mississippi.
It also gave to Americans the opportunity to explore and settle Oregon, which lay beyond the limits of Louisiana.
244. 👦 Lewis and 👦 Clark's Explorations.
Jefferson soon sent out several expeditions to explore the unknown portions of the continent.
The most important of these was the expedition led by two army officers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, brother of General George Rogers Clark.
They gained the sources of the Missouri, and came to a westward-flowing river.
They followed it until they came to the river's mouth.
They had traced the Columbia River from its upper course to the Pacific.
Captain Gray in the Boston ship Columbia had already entered the mouth of the river.
But Lewis and Clark were the first white men to reach it overland.
245. The Twelfth Amendment.
1804
Four presidential elections had now been held under the method provided by the Constitution.
And that method had not worked well.
It was now (1804) changed by the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment which is still in force.
The old machinery of presidential electors was kept.
But it was provided that in the future each elector should vote for President and for Vice-President on separate and distinct ballots.
The voters had no more part in the election under the new system than they had had under the old system.
The old method of apportioning electors among the states was also kept.
This gives to each state as many electors as it has Senators and Representatives in Congress.
No matter how small its territory, or how small its population, a state has at least two Senators and one Representative, and, therefore, three electors.
The result is that each voter in a small state has more influence in choosing the President than each voter in a large state.
Indeed, several Presidents have been elected by minorities of the voters of the country as a whole
246. Reëlection of Jefferson.
1804
Jefferson's first administration had been most successful.
The Republicans had repealed many unpopular laws.
By the purchase of Louisiana the area of the United States had been doubled and an end put to the dispute as to the navigation of the Mississippi.
The expenses of the national government had been cut down, and a portion of the national debt had been paid.
The people were prosperous and happy.
Under these circumstances Jefferson was triumphantly reëlected.
24. Causes of the War of 1812.
247. The North Africa Pirates.
Stretching along the northern shores of Africa from Egypt westward to the Atlantic were four states.
These states were named Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, and Morocco.
Their people were Mohammedans, and were ruled over by persons called Deys or Beys, or Pachas.
These rulers found it profitable and pleasant to attack and capture Christian • ships.
Jefferson decided to put an end to this tribute paying.
Jefferson sent a few ships to seize the pirates and shut up their harbors.
More and more vessels were sent, until at last the Deys and Beys and Pachas thought it would be cheaper to behave themselves properly.
So they agreed to release their American prisoners and not to capture any more American ships (1805).
248. America, Britain, and France.
In 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte made war on the British and their allies.
Soon he became supreme on the land, and the British became supreme on the water.
The British declared continental ports closed to commerce, and Napoleon declared all British commerce to be unlawful.
Of course under these circumstances British and Continental ships could not carry on trade, and American vessels rapidly took their places.
249. The Impressment Controversy.
British warships stopped American vessels and took away all their seamen who looked like Englishmen.
These they compelled to serve on British men-of-war.
This method of kidnaping was called impressment.
250. The Embargo.
1807-1809
In the old days, before the Revolutionary War, the colonists had more than once brought the British to terms by refusing to buy their goods.
Jefferson now thought that if the people of the United States should refuse to trade with the British and the French, the governments both of Great Britain and of France would be forced to treat American commerce properly.
Congress therefore passed an Embargo Act.
This forbade vessels to leave American ports after a certain day.
251. The Outrage on the Chesapeake ⛳.
1807
The frigate Chesapeake left the Norfolk navy yard for a cruise.
At once the British vessel Leopard sailed toward her and ordered her to stop.
As the Chesapeake did not stop, the Leopard fired on her.
The British came on board and seized four seamen, who they said were deserters from the British navy.
Jefferson ordered all British warships out of American waters and forbade the people to supply them with provisions, water, or wood.
The British offered to restore the imprisoned seamen and ordered out of American waters the admiral under whose direction the outrage had been done.
But they would not give up impressment.
252. 👦 Madison elected President.
1808
There is nothing in the Constitution to limit the number of times a man may be chosen President.
Many persons would gladly have voted a third time for Jefferson.
This would be very dangerous to the republican form of government.
So Jefferson followed Washington's example and declined a third term, Washington and Jefferson thus established a custom that has ever since been followed.
The Republicans voted for James Madison, and he was elected President (1808).
253. The Non-Intercourse Act.
1809
Madison suggested that the Embargo Act should be repealed, and a Non-Intercourse Act passed in its place.
Congress at once did as he suggested.
The Non-Intercourse Act prohibited commerce with Great Britain and with France and the countries controlled by France.
It permitted commerce with the rest of the world.
At all events, no sooner was the embargo removed than commerce revived.
Rates of freight were very high and the profits were very large, although the French and the British captured many American vessels.
254. Two British Ministers.
Soon after Madison's inauguration a new British minister came to Washington.
His name was Erskine, and he was very friendly.
The next British minister was a person named Jackson.
He accused Madison of cheating Erskine and repeated the accusation.
Thereupon Madison sent him back to London.
255. British and French Trickery.
In 1810 Congress set to work and produced a third plan.
This was to allow intercourse with both Great Britain and France.
But this was coupled with the promise that if one of the two nations stopped seizing American ships and the other did not, then intercourse with the unfriendly country should be prohibited.
Neither of them really did anything except to keep on capturing American vessels whenever they could get a chance.
256. Indian Troubles.
1810
Settlers were pressing into Indiana Territory west of the new state of Ohio.
At this time there were two able Indian leaders in the Northwest.
These were Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, and his brother, who was known as "the Prophet." These chiefs set on foot a great Indian confederation.
They said that no one Indian tribe should sell land to the United States without the consent of all the tribes of the Confederation.
257. Battle of Tippecanoe ⛳.
Governor William Henry Harrison of Indiana Territory gathered a small army of regular soldiers and volunteers from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
He marched to the Indian settlements.
The Indians attacked him at Tippecanoe.
He beat them off and, attacking in his turn, routed them.
258. The War Party in Congress.
The leaders of this war party were Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.
As with Clay so with Calhoun, they both felt the rising spirit of nationality.
They thought that the United States had been patient long enough.
They and their friends gained a majority in Congress and forced Madison to send a warlike message to Congress.
259. 👦 Madison's Reasons for War.
1812
(1) they impressed American seamen;
(2) they disturbed American commerce by stationing warships off the principal ports;
(3)they refused to permit trade between America and Europe;
(4) they stirred up the western Indians to attack the settlers;
(5) they were really making war on the United States while the United States was at peace with them.
1812-1829
WAR AND PEACE
25. The Second War of Independence.
1812-1815
260. Plan of Campaign.
1812
The American plan of campaign was that General Hull should invade Canada from Detroit.
He could then march eastward, north of Lake Erie, and meet another army which was to cross the Niagara River.
These two armies were to take up the eastward march and join a third army from New York.
The three armies then would capture Montreal and Quebec and generally all Canada.
261. 👦 Hull's Surrender of Detroit ⛳.
1812
To get his men and supplies to Detroit, Hull had first of all to cut a road through the forest.
The British learned of the actual declaration of war before Hull knew of it.
They dashed down on his scattered detachments and seized his provisions.
The British advanced on Detroit, and Hull surrendered.
262. 👦 Perry's Victory on Lake Erie.
1813
In the winter of 1812-13 Captain Oliver Hazard Perry built a fleet of warships on Lake Erie.
In September, 1813, Perry sailed in search of the British ships.
All the British ships surrendered.
The control of Lake Erie was now in American hands.
General Harrison occupied Detroit.
He then crossed into Canada and defeated a British army on the banks of the river Thames (October, 1813).
263. The Frigate Constitution.
One of the first vessels to get to sea was the Constitution, commanded by Isaac Hull.
She sailed from Chesapeake Bay for New York, where she was to serve as a guard-ship.
On the way she fell in with a British squadron.
The Constitution sailed on with the whole British fleet in pursuit.
The Constitution now began to gain on the British fleet.
Then a sudden squall burst on the ships.
Captain Hull saw it coming and made every preparation to take advantage of it.
When the rain cleared away, the Constitution was beyond fear of pursuit.
264. Constitution and Guerrière.
1812
For some time Hull cruised about in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
One day he sighted a British frigate--the Guerrière--one of the ships that had chased the Constitution.
But now that Hull found her alone, he steered straight for her.
In thirty minutes from the firing of the first gun the Guerrière was a ruinous wreck.
265. The Wasp and the Frolic.
1812
At almost the same time the American ship Wasp captured the British brig Frolic.
Soon after the conflict a British battleship came up and captured both the Wasp and her prize.
Before long the Constitution, now commanded by Captain Bainbridge, had captured the British frigate Java, and the frigate United States, Captain Decatur, had taken the British ship Macedonian.
On the other hand, the Chesapeake was captured by the Shannon.
266. 👦 Brown's Invasion of Canada.
1814
Brown crossed the Niagara River and fought two brilliant battles at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane.
The latter battle was especially glorious because the Americans captured British guns and held them against repeated attacks by British veterans.
In the end, however, Brown was obliged to retire.
267. McDonough's Victory at Plattsburg.
1814
Prevost attacked Macomb's army and was driven back.
The British fleet attacked McDonough's vessels and was destroyed.
That put an end to Prevost's invasion.
He retreated back to Canada as fast as he could go.
268. The British in the Chesapeake ⛳.
1814
Besides their operations on the Canadian frontier, the British tried to capture New Orleans and the cities on Chesapeake Bay.
The British landed below Washington.
They marched to the capital.
They entered Washington.
Later on the British attacked Baltimore and were beaten off with great loss.
This defeat closed the British operations on the Chesapeake.
269. The Creek War.
The Creeks fell upon the whites and murdered about four hundred.
General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee commanded the American army in the Southwest.
As soon as he knew that the Creeks were attacking the settlers, he gathered soldiers and followed the Indians to their stronghold.
He stormed their fort and killed most of the garrison.
270. 👦 Jackson's Defense of New Orleans ⛳.
1814-1815
Jackson had scarcely finished this work when he learned of the coming of a great British expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
He at once hastened to the defense of New Orleans.
The British rushed to the attack.
Most of their generals were killed or wounded, and the slaughter was terrible.
Later, they made another attack and were again beaten off.
271. The War on the Sea.
1814
It was only in the first year or so of the war that there was much fighting between American and British warships.
After that the American ships could not get to sea, for the British stationed whole fleets off the entrances to the principal harbors.
But a few American vessels ran the blockade and did good service.
For instance, Captain Charles Stewart in the Constitution captured two British ships at one time.
But most of the warships that got to sea were captured sooner or later.
272. The Privateers.
No British fleets could keep the privateers from leaving port.
They swarmed upon the ocean and captured hundreds of British merchantmen, some of them within sight of the shores of Great Britain.
In all, they captured more than twenty-five hundred British ships.
They even fought the smaller warships of the enemy.
273. Treaty of Ghent ⛳.
1814
The British were ready enough to make peace, and a treaty was signed at Ghent in December, 1814.
274. The Hartford ⛳ Convention.
1814
While the New commissioners were talking over the treaty of peace, other debaters were discussing the war, at Hartford, Connecticut.
These were leading New England Federalists.
They thought that the government at Washington had done many things that the Constitution of the United States did not permit it to do.
They drew up a set of resolutions.
Commissioners were actually at Washington to propose this division of the national revenue when news came of Jackson's victory at New Orleans and of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.
The commissioners hastened home and the Republican party regained its popularity with the voters
275. Gains of the War.
Americans no longer looked to France or to England as models to be followed.
They became Americans.
The getting of this feeling of independence and of nationality was a very great step forward.
It is right, therefore, to speak of this war as the Second War of Independence.
26. The Era of Good Feeling.
1815-1824
276. The Era as a Whole.
The years 1815-24 have been called the Era of Good Feeling, because there was no hard political fighting in all that time--at least not until the last year or two.
In 1816 Monroe was elected President without much opposition.
In 1820 he was reëlected President without any opposition whatever.
In these years the Federalist party disappeared, and the Republican party split into factions.
By 1824 the differences in the Republican party had become so great that there was a sudden ending to the Era of Good Feeling.
277. Western Emigration.
In the West the emigrants could buy land from the government at a very low rate, and by working hard could support themselves and their families.
This westward movement was at its height in 1817.
In the years 1816--19, four states were admitted to the Union.
These were Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), and Alabama (1819).
Some of the emigrants even crossed the Mississippi River and settled in Missouri and in Arkansas.
In 1819 they asked to be admitted to the Union as the state of Missouri, or given a territorial government under the name of Arkansas.
The people of Maine also asked Congress to admit them to the Union as the state of Maine.
278. Opposition to the Admission of Missouri ⛳.
Many people in the North opposed the admission of Missouri because the settlers of the proposed state were slaveholders.
Missouri would be a slave state, and these Northerners did not want any more slave states.
279. The Missouri Compromise.
1820
After a long struggle Maine and Missouri were both admitted--the one as a free state, the other as a slave state.
But it was also agreed that all of the Louisiana purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri, with the single exception of the state of Missouri, should be free soil forever.
This arrangement was called the Missouri Compromise.
It was the work of Henry Clay.
It was an event of great importance, because it put off for twenty-five years the inevitable conflict over slavery.
280. The Florida ⛳ Treaty.
1819
While this contest was going on, the United States bought of Spain a large tract of land admirably suited to negro slavery.
This was Florida.
The treaty was made in 1819, but it was not until 1821 that Jackson, as governor of Florida, took possession of the new territory.
281. The "Holy Alliance."
Most of the people of the other Spanish colonies were rebelling against Spain, and there was a rebellion in Spain itself.
There were rebellions in other European countries as well as in Spain.
In fact, there seemed to be a rebellious spirit nearly everywhere.
This alarmed the European emperors and kings.
With the exception of the British king, they joined together to put down rebellions.
They called their union the Holy Alliance.
282. The 👦 Monroe Doctrine 🗽.
1823
(1) America is closed to colonization by any European power;
(2) the United States have not interfered and will not interfere in European affairs;
(3) the United States regard the extension of the system of the Holy Alliance to America as dangerous to the United States;
(4) the United States would regard the interference of the Holy Alliance in American affairs as an "unfriendly act."
283. Meaning of the 👦 Monroe Doctrine.
What was new in Monroe's message was the statement that European interference in American affairs would be looked upon by the United States as an "unfriendly act," leading to war.
European kings might crush out liberty in Europe.
They might divide Asia and Africa among themselves.
They must not interfere in American affairs.
27. New Parties 👥 and New Policies.
1824-1829
284. End of the Era of Good Feeling.
The Era of Good Feeling came to a sudden ending in 1824.
Monroe's second term as President would end in 1825.
He refused to be a candidate for reëlection.
285. 👦 John Quincy Adams.
First and foremost was John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts.
He was Monroe's Secretary of State, and this office had been a kind of stepping-stone to the presidency.
He was nominated by the legislatures of Massachusetts and of the other New England states.
286. 👦 William H. Crawford.
Besides Adams, two other members of Monroe's cabinet wished to succeed their chief.
These were John C. Calhoun and William H. Crawford.
Calhoun soon withdrew from the contest to accept the nomination of all the factions to the place of Vice-President.
Crawford hit upon the plan of appointing officers for four years only.
Congress at once fell in with the idea and passed the Tenure of Office Act, limiting appointments to four years.
He was nominated for the presidency by a Congressional caucus and became the "regular" candidate.
287. 👦 Clay and 👦 Jackson.
Two men outside of the cabinet were also put forward for Monroe's high office.
These were Andrew Jackson of Tennessee and Henry Clay of Kentucky.
Clay and Calhoun had entered politics at about the same time.
They had then believed in the same policy.
Calhoun had abandoned his early ideas.
But Clay held fast to the policy of "nationalization.“
288. 👦 Adams chosen President.
1824
Jackson had more votes than any other candidate, next came Adams, then Crawford, and last of all Clay.
Clay and his friends believed in the same things that Adams and his friends believed in, and had slight sympathy with the views of Jackson or of Crawford.
So they joined the Adams men and chose Adams President.
289. Misfortunes of 👦 Adams's Administration.
Adams's first mistake was the appointment of Clay as Secretary of State.
It was a mistake, because it gave the Jackson men a chance to assert that there had been a "deal" between Adams and Clay.
The British government seized the opportunity of Adams's weak administration to close the West India ports to American shipping.
290. Early Tariffs.
With the return of peace in 1815, British merchants flooded the American markets with cheap goods (p.
The manufacturers appealed to Congress for more protection, and Congress promptly passed a new tariff act (1816).
In 1824 another law was drawn up.
It raised the duties still higher.
The Southerners opposed the passage of this last law.
But the Northerners and the Westerners were heartily in favor of the increased duties, and the law was passed.
291. The Tariff of Abominations.
1828
In 1828 another presidential election was to be held.
The manufacturers thought that this would be a good time to ask for even higher protective duties, because the politicians would not dare to oppose the passage of the law for fear of losing votes.
The Jackson men hit upon a plan by which they would seem to favor higher duties while at the same time they were really opposing them.
The Northern members of Congress voted for the bill, and it passed.
292. 👦 Jackson elected President.
1828
In the midst of all this discouragement as to foreign affairs and this contest over the tariff, the presidential campaign of 1828 was held.
Adams and Jackson were the only two candidates.
Jackson was chosen.
1829-1844
THE NATIONAL DEMOCRACY
28. The American People in 1830.
293. A New Race.
Everywhere now was bustle and hurry.
In 1800 the Federalists favored the British, and the Republicans favored the French.
Now no one seemed to care for either the British or the French.
At last the people had become Americans.
The Federalist party had disappeared.
Every one now was either a National Republican and voted for Adams, or a Democratic Republican and voted for Jackson.
294. Numbers and Area.
In 1800 the area of the United States was about eight hundred thousand square miles.
But Louisiana and Florida had been bought since then.
Now (1830) the area of the United States was about two million square miles.
In 1800 New York City held about sixty thousand people; it now held two hundred thousand people.
Since 1800 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri had all been admitted to the Union.
295. National Roads.
Steamboats were now running on the Great Lakes and on all the important rivers of the West.
Many persons therefore advised the building of a good wagon road to connect the Potomac with the Ohio.
It was begun at the national expense in 1811.
By 1820 the road was built as far as Wheeling on the Ohio River.
Then the coming of the railroad made further building unnecessary.
296. The Erie Canal.
The best way to connect one steamboat route with another was to dig a canal.
The most famous of all these canals was the one connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and called the Erie Canal.
It was begun in 1817 and was completed so that a boat could pass through it in 1825.
297. Early Railroads.
The best stone and gravel roads were always rough in places.
It occurred to some one that it would be better to lay down wooden rails, and then to place a rim or flange on the wagon wheels to keep them on the rails.
The first road of this kind in America was built at Boston in 1807.
The wooden rails soon wore out, so the next step was to nail strips of iron on top of them.
Long lines of railroads of this kind were soon built.
This was the condition of affairs when the steam locomotive was invented.
298. The Steam Locomotive.
The early railroad trains were rude affairs.
The cars were hardly more than stagecoaches with flanged wheels.
They were fastened together with chains, and when the engine started or stopped, there was a terrible bumping and jolting.
The smoke pipe of the engine was very tall and was hinged so that it could be let down when coming to a low bridge or a tunnel.
But these trains went faster than canal boats or steamboats.
Soon the railroad began to take the first place as a means of transport.
299. Other Inventions.
The coming of the steam locomotive hastened the changes which one saw on every side in 1830.
For some time men had known that there was plenty of hard coal or anthracite in Pennsylvania.
But it was so hard that it would not burn in the old-fashioned stoves and fireplaces.
Now a stove was invented that would burn anthracite, and the whole matter of house warming was completely changed.
Then means were found to make iron from ore with anthracite.
The whole iron industry awoke to new life.
300. Progress in Letters.
The school system was constantly improved.
High schools were founded, and soon normal schools were added to them.
Even the colleges awoke from their long sleep.
More students went to them, and the methods of teaching were improved.
Some slight attention, too, was given to teaching the sciences.
In short, Jackson's administration marks the time when American life began to take on its modern form.
29. The Reign of 👦 Andrew Jackson.
1829-1837
301. 👦 General Jackson.
Honest and sincere, Jackson believed in himself and believed in the American people.
As President he led the people in one of the stormiest periods in our history.
Able men gathered about him.
But he relied chiefly on the advice of a few friends who smoked their pipes with him and formed his "kitchen cabinet."
302. The Spoils System.
Among the able men who had fought the election for Jackson were Van Buren and Marcy of New York and Buchanan of Pennsylvania.
They had built up strong party machines in their states.
The Spoils System was now begun in the national government.
Those who had worked for Jackson rushed to Washington.
Before long Jackson removed nearly one thousand officeholders and appointed political partisans in their places.
303. The North and the South.
The United States was really split into two sections: one devoted to slavery and to a few great staples, as cotton; the other devoted to free white labor and to industries of many kinds.
304. The Political Situation.
1829
The South was growing richer all the time; but the North was growing richer a great deal faster than was the South.
Calhoun and other Southern men thought that this difference in the rate of progress was due to the protective system.
Calhoun wrote an "Exposition" of the constitutional doctrines in the case.
This paper was adopted by the legislature of South Carolina as giving its ideas.
In this paper Calhoun declared that the Constitution of the United States was a compact.
Each state was a sovereign state and could annul any law passed by Congress.
The protective system was unjust and unequal in operation.
It would bring "poverty and utter desolation to the South."
The tariff act should be annulled by South Carolina and by other Southern states.
305. 👦 Webster and 👦 Hayne.
1830
Calhoun was Vice-President and presided over the debates of the Senate.
So it fell to Senator Hayne of South Carolina to state Calhoun's ideas.
The Constitution, Webster declared, was "the people's constitution, the people's government; made by the people and answerable to the people. The people have declared that this constitution shall be the supreme law.“ The Supreme Court of the United States alone could declare a national law to be unconstitutional; no state could do that.
306. Nullification.
1832-1833
In 1832 Congress passed a new tariff act.
The South Carolinians decided to try Calhoun's weapon of nullification.
Jackson sent ships and soldiers to Charleston and ordered the collector of that port to collect the duties.
Congress passed the Force Bill, giving Jackson the power he asked for.
The South Carolinians, on their part, suspended the nullification ordinance.
307. The Compromise Tariff.
1833
The nullifiers really gained a part of the battle, for the tariff law of 1832 was repealed.
In its place Congress passed what was called the Compromise Tariff.
This compromise was the work of Henry Clay, the peacemaker.
Under it the duties were to be gradually lowered until, in 1842, they would be as low as they were by the Tariff Act of 1816
308. The Second United States Bank.
Nowadays any one with enough money can open a national bank under the protection of the government at Washington.
At this time, however, there was one great United States Bank.
Its headquarters were at Philadelphia and it had branches all over the country.
Jackson, like Jefferson, had very grave doubts as to the power of the national government to establish such a bank.
The United States Bank also interfered seriously with the operations of the state banks--some of which were managed by Jackson's friends.
The latter urged him on to destroy the United States Bank, and he determined to destroy it.
309. Struggle over the Bank Charter.
The charter of the bank would not come to an end until 1836, while the term for which Jackson had been elected in 1828 would come to an end in 1833.
But in his first message to Congress Jackson gave notice that he would not give his consent to a new charter.
The bank question, therefore, became one of the issues of the election of 1832.
Jackson was reflected by a large majority over Clay.
310. Removal of the Deposits.
In 1833 the United States Bank had in its vaults about nine million dollars belonging to the government.
Jackson directed that this money should be drawn out as required, to pay the government's expenses, and that no more government money should be deposited in the bank.
In the future it should be deposited in certain state banks.
The banks selected were controlled by Jackson's political friends and were called the "pet banks.“
311. 👦 Jackson's Specie Circular.
1836
At this time there was active speculation in Western lands.
Men who had a little spare money bought Western lands.
Those who had no money in hand, borrowed money from the banks and with it bought Western lands.
Jackson saw that unless something were done to restrain this speculation, disaster would surely come.
So he issued a circular to the United States land officers.
This circular was called the Specie Circular, because in it the President forbade the land officers to receive anything except gold and silver and certain certificates in payment for the public lands.
312. Payment of the Debt.
1837
The national debt had now all been paid.
The government was collecting more money than it could use for national purposes.
And it was compelled to keep on collecting more money than it could use, because the Compromise Tariff made it impossible to reduce duties any faster than a certain amount each year.
The government had more money in the "pet banks" than was really safe.
It could not deposit more with them.
313. Distribution of the Surplus.
1837
A curious plan was now hit upon.
It was to loan the surplus revenues to the states in proportion to their electoral votes.
Three payments were made to the states.
Then the Panic of 1837 came, and the government had to borrow money to pay its own necessary expenses.
30. Democrats 👥 and Whigs 👥.
1837-1844
314. The Panic of 1837.
The Panic was due directly to Jackson's interference with the banks, to his Specie Circular, and to the distribution of the surplus.
Prices of everything went down with a rush.
People felt so poor that they would not even buy new clothes.
The mills and mines were closed, and the banks suspended payments.
Thousands of working men and women were thrown out of work.
Terrible bread riots took place.
315. The Independent Treasury System.
Clay and his friends thought the best thing to do would be to establish a new United States Bank.
But Van Buren was opposed to that.
His plan, in short, was to build vaults for storing money in Washington and in the leading cities.
The main storehouse or Treasury was to be in Washington, subordinate storehouses or sub-treasuries were to be established in the other cities.
To these sub-treasuries the collectors of customs would pay the money collected by them.
In this way the government would become independent of the general business affairs of the country.
In 1840 Congress passed an act for putting this plan into effect.
316. Democrats and Whigs.
The Adams men and the Clay men began to act together and to call themselves National Republicans.
This they did because they wished to build up the nation's resources at the expense of the nation.
The Jackson men called themselves Democratic Republicans, because they upheld the rights of the people.
Before long they dropped the word "Republican" and called themselves simply Democrats.
The National Republicans dropped the whole of their name and took that of the great English liberal party--the Whigs.
317. Election of 1840.
Harrison and Tyler received nearly all the electoral votes and were chosen President and Vice-President.
318. Death of 👦 Harrison.
1841
The people's President was inaugurated on March 4, 1841.
One morning early, before the office-seekers were astir, Harrison went out for a walk.
He caught cold and died suddenly, just one month after his inauguration.
John Tyler at once became President.
319. 👦 Tyler and the Whigs.
President Tyler was not a Whig like Harrison or Clay, nor was he a Democrat like Jackson.
As President, he proved to be anything but a Whig.
He was willing to sign a bill to repeal the Independent Treasury Act, for that was a Democratic measure he had not liked; but he refused to sign a bill to establish a new Bank of the United States.
Tyler was willing to sign a new tariff act, and one was passed in 1842.
320. Treaty with Great Britain.
1842
Perhaps the most important event of Tyler's administration was the signing of the Treaty of 1842 with Great Britain.
Ever since the Treaty of Peace of 1783, there had been a dispute over the northeastern boundary of Maine.
It was now arranged that the United States should have a little piece of Canada north of Vermont and New York and should give up the extreme northeastern corner of Maine.
321. The Electric Telegraph.
Morse was the first to use electricity in a practical way.
Congress gave Morse enough money to build a line from Baltimore to Washington.
It was opened in 1844, and proved to be a success from the beginning.
Other lines were soon built, and the Morse system, greatly improved, is still in use.
The telegraph made it possible to operate long lines of railroad, as all the trains could be managed from one office so that they would not run into one another.
It also made it possible to communicate with people afar off and get an answer in an hour or so.
For both these reasons the telegraph was very important and with the railroads did much to unite the people of the different portions of the country.
322. The 👦 McCormick Reaper.
The success of wheat growing depended upon the ability quickly to harvest the crop.
Cyrus H. McCormick solved this problem for the wheat growers by inventing a horse reaper.
The invention was made in 1831, but it was not until 1845 that the reaper came into general use.
By 1855 the use of the horse reaper was adding every year fifty-five million dollars to the wealth of the country.
Each year its use moved the fringe of civilization fifty miles farther west.
1844-1859
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES
31. Beginning of the Antislavery Agitation.
323. Growth of Slavery in the South.
Washington, Jefferson, Henry, and other great Virginians were opposed to the slave system.
But they could find no way to end it, even in Virginia.
Then came Whitney's invention of the cotton gin.
That at once made slave labor vastly more profitable in the cotton states and put an end to all hopes of peaceful emancipation in the South.
324. Rise of the Abolitionists.
About 1830 a new movement in favor of the negroes began.
Some persons in the North, as, for example, William Ellery Channing, proposed that slaves should be set free, and their owners paid for their loss.
But nothing came of these suggestions.
Soon, however, William Lloyd Garrison began at Boston the publication of a paper called the Liberator.
He wished for complete abolition without payment.
325. Opposition to the Abolitionists.
Very few Northern men wished to have slavery reestablished in the North.
But very many Northern men objected to the antislavery agitation because they thought it would injure business.
Some persons even argued that the antislavery movement would bring about the destruction of the Union.
There were anti-abolitionist riots in New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.
In Boston the rioters seized Garrison and dragged him about the streets (1835).
326. Slave Rebellion in Virginia ⛳.
1831
At about the time that Garrison established the Liberator at Boston, a slave rebellion broke out in Virginia.
The rebels were led by a slave named Nat Turner, and the rebellion is often called "Nat Turner's Rebellion."
It was a small affair and was easily put down.
327. The Right of Petition.
One of the most sacred rights of freemen is the right to petition for redress of grievances.
In 1836 John Quincy Adams presented petition after petition, praying Congress to forbid slavery in the District of Columbia.
Southerners, like Calhoun, thought these petitions were insulting to Southern slaveholders.
Congress could not prevent the antislavery people petitioning.
They could prevent the petitions being read when presented.
This they did by passing "gag-resolutions.
328. Change in Northern Sentiment.
All these happenings brought about a great change of sentiment in the North.
Many people, who cared little about negro slaves, cared a great deal about the freedom of the press and the right of petition.
Many of these did not sympathize with the abolitionists, but they wished that some limit might be set to the extension of slavery.
32. The Mexican War.
329. The Republic of Texas ⛳.
War broke out between the Mexicans and the Texans.
Led by Samuel Houston, a settler from Tennessee, the Texans won the battle of San Jacinto and captured General Santa Anna, the president of the Mexican Republic.
The Texans then established the Republic of Texas (1836) and asked to be admitted to the Union as one of the United States.
330. The Southerners and Texas ⛳.
The application of Texas for admission to the Union came as a pleasant surprise to many Southerners.
The question of admitting Texas first came before Jackson.
He put the whole matter to one side and would have nothing to do with it.
Tyler acted very differently.
Under his direction a treaty was made with Texas.
This treaty provided for the admission of Texas to the Union.
But the Senate refused to ratify the treaty.
331. Election of 1844.
The result was that the opponents of slavery and of Texas formed a new party.
They called it the Liberty party and nominated a candidate for President.
The Liberty men did not gain many votes.
But they gained enough votes to make Clay's election impossible and Polk was chosen President.
332. Acquisition of Texas ⛳.
1845
Tyler now pressed the admission of Texas upon Congress.
The two houses passed a joint resolution.
This resolution provided for the admission of Texas, and for the formation from the territory included in Texas of four states, in addition to the state of Texas, and with the consent of that state.
Before Texas was actually admitted Tyler had ceased to be President.
But Polk carried out his policy, and on July 4, 1845, Texas became one of the United States.
333. Beginning of the Mexican War.
1846
The Mexicans had never acknowledged the independence of Texas.
As no agreement could be reached on this point, President Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to march to the Rio Grande and occupy the disputed territory.
Taylor did as he was ordered, and the Mexicans attacked him.
Polk reported these facts to Congress, and Congress authorized the President to push on the fighting on the ground that "war exists, and exists by the act of Mexico herself."
334. 👦 Taylor's Campaigns.
The Mexican War easily divides itself into three parts: (1) Taylor's forward movement across the Rio Grande; (2) Scott's campaign, which ended in the capture of the City of Mexico; and (3) the seizure of California.
In the winter many of Taylor's soldiers were withdrawn to take part in Scott's campaign.
This seemed to be the Mexicans' time.
This battle was fought at Buena Vista, February, 1847.
Taylor beat back the Mexicans with terrible slaughter.
This was the last battle of Taylor's campaign.
335. 👦 Scott's Invasion of Mexico.
The plan of Scott's campaign was that he should land at Vera Cruz, march to the city of Mexico,--two hundred miles away,--capture that city, and force the Mexicans to make peace.
Everything fell out precisely as it was planned.
With the help of the navy Scott captured Vera Cruz.
He overthrew them at Cerro Gordo, where the road to the City of Mexico crosses the coast mountains (April, 1847).
With the greatest care and skill he pressed on and at length came within sight of the City of Mexico.
August 20, 1847, Scott beat the Mexicans in three pitched battles, and on September 14 he entered the city with his army, now numbering only six thousand men fit for active service.
336. Seizure of California ⛳.
California was the name given to the Mexican possessions on the Pacific coast north of Mexico itself.
Hearing of the outbreak of the Mexican War, they Set up a republic of their own.
Commodore Stockton with a small fleet was on the Pacific coast.
He and John C. Frémont assisted the Bear Republicans until soldiers under Colonel Kearney reached them from the United States by way of Santa Fé.
337. Treaty of Peace.
1848
A treaty of peace was made in 1848.
Mexico agreed to abandon her claims to Texas, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.
This agreement was made in 1853 by James Gadsden for the United States, and the land bought is usually called the Gadsden Purchase.
338. The Oregon ⛳ Question.
It was not only in the Southwest that boundaries were disputed; in the Northwest also there was a long controversy which was settled while Polk was President.
Oregon was the name given to the whole region, between Spanish and Mexican California and the Russian Alaska.
The United States and Great Britain each claimed to have the best right to Oregon.
As they could not agree as to their claims, they decided to occupy the region jointly.
339. The Oregon ⛳ Treaty.
1846
The United States gave notice of the ending of the joint occupation.
The British government suggested that Oregon should be divided between the two nations.
The Mexican War was now coming on.
So the United States gave way and a treaty was signed in 1846.
Instead of "all Oregon," the United States received about one-half.
33. The Compromise of 1850.
340. The 👦 Wilmot Proviso.
1846
In 1846 David Wilmot of Pennsylvania moved to add to a bill giving the President money to purchase land from Mexico a proviso that none of the territory to be acquired at the national expense should be open to slavery.
This proviso was finally defeated.
But the matter was one on which people held very strong opinions, and the question became the most important issue in the election of 1848.
341. 👦 Taylor elected President.
1848
The Whig candidate was General Taylor, the victor of Buena Vista.
The Whigs had nominated Millard Fillmore of New York for Vice-President.
New York was carried for Taylor and Fillmore.
The Whig candidates were chosen.
342. California ⛳.
Before the treaty of peace with Mexico was ratified, even before it was signed, gold was discovered in California.
When President Polk said that gold had been found, people began to think that it must be true.
Soon hundreds of gold-seekers started for California.
These first comers were called the Forty-Niners, because most of them came in the year 1849.
343. California ⛳ seeks Admission to the Union.
There were eighty thousand white people in California, and they had almost no government of any kind.
So in November, 1849, they held a convention, drew up a constitution, and demanded admission the Union as a state.
They would not allow slave holders to work their mining claims with slave labor, for free white laborers had never been able to work alongside of negro slaves.
So they did not want slavery in California.
344. A Divided Country.
This action of the people of California at once brought the question of slavery before the people.
Many Southerners were eager to found a slave confederacy apart from the Union.
Many abolitionists were eager to found a free republic in the North.
Many Northerners, who loved the Union, thought that slavery should be confined to the states where it existed.
So strong was the feeling over these points that it seemed as if the Union would split into pieces
345. President 👦 Taylor's Policy.
General Taylor sent agents to California and to New Mexico to urge the people to demand admission to the Union at once.
When Congress met in 1850, he stated that California demanded admission as a free state.
346. 👦 Clay's Compromise Plan.
Henry Clay now stepped forward to bring about a "union of hearts."
His plan was to end all disputes between Northerners and Southerners by having the people of each section give way to the people of the other section.
347. The Fugitive Slave Act.
The Constitution provides that persons held to service in one state escaping into another state shall be delivered up upon claim of the person to whom such service may be due.
Congress, in 1793, had passed an act to carry out this provision of the Constitution.
The law of 1850 gave the enforcement of the act to United States officials.
348. "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
It was at this time that Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
In this story she set forth the pleasant side of slavery--the light-heartedness and kind-heartedness of the negroes.
In it she also set forth the unpleasant side of slavery--the whipping of human beings, the selling of human beings, the hunting of human beings.
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" and the Fugitive Slave Law convinced the people of the North that bounds must be set to the extension of slavery.
34. The Struggle for Kansas ⛳.
349. 👦 Pierce elected President.
1852
The Democrats and Whigs both said that they would stand by the Compromise of 1850.
But many voters thought that there would be less danger of excitement with a Democrat in the White House and voted for Pierce for that reason.
350. 👦 Douglas's Nebraska ⛳ Bill.
Westward from Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota was an immense region without any government of any kind.
It all lay north of the compromise line of 1820, and had been forever devoted to freedom by that compromise.
But Douglas said that the Compromise of 1820 had been repealed by the Compromise of 1850.
So he proposed that the settlers of Nebraska should say whether that territory should be free soil or slave soil, precisely as if the Compromise of 1820 had never been passed.
351. The Kansas-Nebraska ⛳ Act.
1854
Douglas now changed his bill so as to provide for the formation of two territories.
One of these he named Kansas.
It had nearly the same boundaries as the present state of Kansas, except that it extended westward to the Rocky Mountains.
The other territory was named Nebraska.
It included all the land north of Kansas and between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains.
Nevertheless, the bill passed Congress and was signed by President Pierce.
352. 👦 Abraham Lincoln.
Growing to manhood Abraham Lincoln became a lawyer and served one term in Congress.
The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act aroused his indignation as nothing had ever aroused it before.
He denied that any man had the right to govern another man, be he white or be he black, without that man's consent.
353. Settlement of Kansas.
An election was held.
Hundreds of men poured over the boundary of Missouri, outvoted the free-soil settlers in Kansas, and then went home.
The territorial legislature, chosen in this way, adopted the laws of Missouri, slave code and all, as the laws of Kansas.
It seemed as if Kansas were lost to freedom.
354. The Topeka ⛳ Convention.
The free-state men and the slave-state men each elected a Delegate to Congress.
The committee reported in favor of the free-state men, and the House voted to admit Kansas as a free state.
But the Senate would not consent to anything of the kind.
355. The Republican Party.
The most important result of the Kansas-Nebraska fight was the formation of the Republican party.
356. 👦 Buchanan elected President.
1856
The Democrats nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania for President and John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for Vice-President.
They declared their approval of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and favored a strict construction of the Constitution.
The Democrats won.
357. The 👦 Dred Scott Decision.
1857
Dred Scott had been born a slave.
The majority of the judges declared that a person once a slave could never become a citizen of the United States and bring suit in the United States courts.
They also declared that the Missouri Compromise was unlawful.
Slave owners had a clear right to carry their property, including slaves, into the territories, and Congress could not stop them.
358. The 👦 Lincoln and 👦 Douglas Debates.
1858
Abraham Lincoln challenged Douglas to debate the issues with him before the people, and Douglas accepted the challenge.
Lincoln forced Douglas to defend the doctrine of "popular sovereignty."
This Douglas did by declaring that the legislatures of the territories could make laws hostile to slavery.
This idea, of course, was opposed to the Dred Scott decision.
359. "Bleeding Kansas."
Meantime civil war had broken out in Kansas, Slavery men attacked Lawrence, killed a few free-state settlers, and burned several buildings.
Led by John Brown, an immigrant from New York, free-state men attacked a party of slave-state men and killed five of them.
It was not until 1861 that Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state.
360. 👦 John Brown's Raid.
1859
While in Kansas John Brown had conceived a bold plan.
It was to seize a strong place in the mountains of the South, and there protect any slaves who should run away from their masters.
With only nineteen men he seized Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, and secured the United States arsenal at that place.
But he and most of his men were immediately captured.
He was executed by the Virginian authorities as a traitor and murderer.
1860-1861
SECESSION
35. The United States in 1860.
361. Growth of the Country.
It contained over three million square miles of land.
About one-third of this great area was settled.
In 1860 there were over thirty-one million people within its borders.
362. Change of Political Power.
Texas (1845) was the last slave state to be admitted to the Union.
Two years later the admission of Wisconsin gave the free states as many votes in the Senate as the slave states had.
In 1850 the admission of California gave the free states a majority of two votes in the Senate.
This majority was increased to four by the admission of Minnesota in 1858, and to six by the admission of Oregon in 1859.
The control of Congress had slipped forever from the grasp of the slave states.
363. The Cities.
The tremendous increase in manufacturing, in farming, and in trading brought about a great increase in foreign commerce.
This in turn led to the building up of great cities in the North and the West.
Cincinnati and St. Louis, each with one hundred and sixty thousand, were still the largest cities of the West, and St. Louis was the largest city in any slave state
New Orleans, with nearly as many people as St. Louis, was the only large city in the South.
364. The States.
As it was with the cities so it was with the states--the North had grown beyond the South.
In 1860 Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts each had over forty-five inhabitants to the square mile, while not a single Southern state had as many as forty-five inhabitants to the square mile.
365. City Life.
In the first place the city could afford to have a great many things the smaller town could not pay for.
In the second place it must have certain things or its people would die of disease or be killed as they walked the streets.
For these reasons the streets of the Northern cities were paved and lighted and were guarded by policemen.
Then, too, great sewers carried away the refuse of the city, and enormous iron pipes brought fresh water to every one within its limits.
Horse-cars and omnibuses carried its inhabitants from one part of the city to another, and the railroads brought them food from the surrounding country.
366. Transportation.
Between 1849 and 1858 twenty-one thousand miles of railroad were built in the United States, In 1860 there were more than thirty thousand miles of railroad in actual operation.
Many more steamboats were used, especially on the Great Lakes and the Western rivers.
367. Education
The last thirty years had also been years of progress in learning.
Many colleges were founded, especially in the Northwest.
The newspapers also took on their modern form.
The New York Herald, founded in 1835, was the first real newspaper.
The magazines were now very much better than in former years, and America's foremost writers were doing some of their best work.
368. Progress of Invention.
The electric telegraph was now in common use.
Perhaps the invention that did as much as any one thing to make life easier was the sewing machine.
Elias Howe was the first man to make a really practicable sewing machine.
Agricultural machinery was now in common use.
Hundreds of homely articles, as friction matches and rubber shoes, came into use in these years.
In short, the thirty years from Jackson's inauguration to the secession of the Southern states were years of great progress.
But this progress was confined almost wholly to the North.
In the South, living in 1860 was about the same as it had been in 1830, or even in 1800.
36. Secession.
1860-1861
369. The Republican Nomination.
1860
Four names were especially mentioned in connection with the Republican nomination for President.
These were Seward, Chase, Cameron, and Lincoln.
The Republican platform stated that there was no intention to interfere with slavery in the states where it existed; but it declared the party's opposition to the extension of slavery.
The platform favored internal improvements at the national expense.
It also approved the protective system.
370. The Democratic Nominations.
In the end two candidates were named.
The Northerners nominated Douglas on a platform advocating "popular sovereignty."
The Southerners nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky.
In their platform they advocated states' rights, and the protection of slavery in the territories by the federal government.
371. The Constitutional Union Party.
Besides these three candidates, cautious and timid men of all parties united to form the Constitutional Union party.
They nominated Governor John Bell of Tennessee for President.
In their platform they declared for the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union, regardless of slavery.
372. 👦 Lincoln elected President.
1860
With four candidates in the field and the Democratic party hopelessly divided, there could be little doubt of Lincoln's election.
He received one hundred and eighty electoral notes.
But his opponents had received more popular votes than he had received.
He was therefore elected by a minority of the voters.
373. The North and the South.
Lincoln had said over and over again that Congress had no right to meddle with slavery in the states.
The Southern leaders knew all these things.
But they made up their minds that now the time had come to secede from the Union and to establish a Southern Confederacy.
374. Threats of Secession.
1860.11
In 1860 the South Carolina legislature did this duty and then remained in session to see which way the election would go.
When Lincoln's election was certain, it called a state convention to consider the question of seceding from the United States.
In other Southern states there was some opposition to secession.
Indeed, all the southernmost states followed the example of South Carolina and summoned conventions.
375. The 👦 Crittenden Compromise Plan.
The most hopeful plan was brought forward in Congress by Senator Crittenden of Kentucky.
He proposed that amendments to the Constitution should be adopted: (1) to carry out the principle of the Missouri Compromise;(2) to provide that states should be free or slave as their people should determine; and (3) to pay the slave owners the value of runaway slaves.
This plan was carefully considered by Congress, and was finally rejected only two days before Lincoln's inauguration.
376. Secession of Seven States.
1860-1861
The South Carolina convention met in Secession Hall, Charleston, on December 17, 1860.
Six other states soon joined South Carolina.
These were Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
377. The "Confederate States of America."
The next step was for these states to join together to form a confederation.
This work was done by a convention of delegates chosen by the conventions of the seven seceding states.
These delegates met at Montgomery, Alabama.
Their new constitution closely resembled the Constitution of the United States.
But great care was taken to make it perfectly clear that each member of the Confederacy was a sovereign state.
Exceeding care was also taken that slavery should be protected in every way.
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen provisional president, and Alexander H. Stephens provisional vice-president.
378. Views of 👦 Davis and 👦 Stephens.
Davis declared that Lincoln had "made a distinct declaration of war upon our (Southern) institutions.
For his part, Stephens said the new government's "foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man."
379. Hesitation in the North.
General Scott, commanding the army, suggested that the "erring sisters" should be allowed to "depart in peace," and Seward seemed to think the same way.
The Abolitionists welcomed the secession of the slave states.
President Buchanan thought that no state could constitutionally secede.
But if a state should secede, he saw no way to compel it to come back to the Union.
So he sat patiently by and did nothing.
1861-1865
THE WAR FOR THE UNION
37. The Rising of the Peoples.
1861
380. 👦 Lincoln's Inauguration.
On March 4, 1861, President Lincoln made his first inaugural address.
In it he declared: "The Union is much older than the Constitution. No state upon its own motion can lawfully get out of the Union. In view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken. I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states."
As to slavery, he had "no purpose. to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists."
He even saw no objection to adopt an amendment of the Constitution to prohibit the Federal government from interfering with slavery in the states.
But he was resolved to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
381. Fall of Fort Sumter.
1861.4
When South Carolina seceded, Major Anderson, commanding the United States forces at Charleston, withdrew from the land forts to Fort Sumter, built on a shoal in the harbor.
He had with him only eighty fighting men and was sorely in need of food and ammunition.
Buchanan sent a steamer, the Star of the West, to Charleston with supplies and soldiers.
But the Confederates fired on her, and she steamed away without landing the soldiers or the supplies.
On April 14 Anderson surrendered.
The next day President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers.
382. Rising of the North.
The question was now whether the Union should perish or should live.
Douglas at once came out for the Union and so did the former Presidents, Buchanan and Franklin Pierce.
In the Mississippi Valley hundreds of thousands of men either sympathized with the slaveholders or cared nothing about the slavery dispute.
But the moment the Confederates attacked the Union, they rose in defense of their country and their flag.
383. More Seceders.
The Southerners flocked to the standards of the Confederacy, and four more states joined the ranks of secession.
These were Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia.
In Virginia the people were sharply divided on the question of secession.
Finally Virginia seceded, but the western Virginians, in their turn, seceded from Virginia and two years later were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia.
Four "border states" had seceded; but four other "border states" were still within the Union.
These were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.
384. The Border States.
Lincoln's firm moderation and the patriotism of many wise leaders in Kentucky saved that state to the Union.
Maryland was so important to the defense of Washington that more energetic means had to be used.
In Missouri, a large and active party wished to join the Confederacy.
But two Union men, Frank P. Blair and Nathaniel Lyon, held the most important portions of the state for the Union.
It was not until a year later, however, that Missouri was safe on the Northern side.
385. To the Defense of Washington ⛳.
The first soldiers to arrive in Washington were from Pennsylvania; but they came unarmed.
Soon they were followed by the Sixth Massachusetts.
In passing through Baltimore this regiment was attacked.
Several men were killed, others were wounded.
This was on April 19, 1861,--the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord.
It was the first bloodshed of the war.
38. Bull Run ⛳ to Murfreesboro ⛳.
1861-1862
386. Nature of the Conflict.
The Alleghany Mountains cut the South into two great fields of war.
Deep and rapid rivers flowed from the mountains into the Atlantic or into the Mississippi.
Each of these rivers was a natural line of defense.
Good roads were rare, but there were many poor roads.
387. The Bull Run ⛳ Campaign.
1861.7
Northern soldiers crossed the Potomac into Virginia and found the Confederates posted at Bull Run near Manassas Junction.
Other Northern soldiers pressed into the Shenandoah Valley from Harper's Ferry.
They, too, found a Confederate army in front of them.
Patterson retreated and left the Confederate general, Johnston, free to go to the aid of the sorely pressed Confederates at Bull Run.
McDowell attacked vigorously and broke the Confederate line; but he could not maintain his position.
The Union troops at first retreated slowly.
The first campaign ended in disaster.
388. The Army of the Potomac.
While the Bull Run campaign was going on in eastern Virginia, Union soldiers had been winning victories in western Virginia.
These were led by General George B. McClellan.
He now came to Washington and took command of the troops operating in front of the capital.
During the autumn, winter, and spring he drilled his men with great skill and care.
In March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac left its camps a splendidly drilled body of soldiers.
389. The Army of Northern Virginia ⛳.
The capital of the Confederacy was now established at Richmond, on the James River, in Virginia.
The army defending this capital was called the Army of Northern Virginia.
It was commanded by Joseph E. Johnston; but its ablest officers were Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson).
390. Plan of the Peninsular Campaign.
McClellan planned to carry his troops by water to the peninsula between the James and the York and Pamunkey rivers.
He would then have a clear road to Richmond, with no great rivers to dispute with the enemy.
So the government kept seventy-five thousand of McClellan's men for the defense of the Federal capital.
391. The Monitor and the Merrimac.
On March 8 a queer-looking craft steamed out from Norfolk, Virginia, and attacked the Union fleet at anchor near Fortress Monroe.
This formidable vessel was the old frigate Merrimac.
But that night an even stranger-looking ship appeared at Fortress Monroe.
This was the Monitor, a floating fort, built of iron.
When the Merrimac came back to finish the destruction of the Minnesota, the Monitor steamed directly to her.
At last the Merrimac steamed away and never renewed the fight.
392. The Peninsular Campaign.
1862
By the end of May McClellan had gained a position within ten miles of Richmond.
Meantime, Jackson fought so vigorously in the Shenandoah Valley that the Washington government refused to send more men to McClellan, although Johnston had gone with his army to the defense of Richmond.
On May 31 the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia fought a hard battle at Fair Oaks.
Johnston was wounded, and Lee took the chief command.
He summoned Jackson from the Valley and attacked McClellan day after day, June 26 to July 2, 1862.
These terrible battles of the Seven Days forced McClellan to change his base to the James, where he would be near the fleet.
At Malvern Hill Lee and Jackson once more attacked him and were beaten off with fearful loss.
393. Second Bull Run ⛳ Campaign.
Suddenly, without any warning, Jackson appeared at Manassas Junction.
McClellan was at once ordered to transport his army by water to the Potomac, and place it under the orders of General John Pope, commanding the forces in front of Washington.
Before the Army of the Potomac was thoroughly in Pope's grasp, Lee attacked the Union forces near Bull Run.
He defeated them, drove them off the field and back into the forts defending Washington (August, 1862).
394. The Antietam Campaign.
1862
Lee now crossed the Potomac into Maryland.
But he found more resistance than he had looked for.
The Confederates drew back.
McClellan found them strongly posted near the Antietam and attacked them.
At all events, the Army of the Potomac lost more than twelve thousand men to less than ten thousand on the Confederate side, and Lee made good his retreat to Virginia.
McClellan was now removed from command, and Ambrose E. Burnside became chief of the Army of the Potomac.
395. Fredericksburg.
1862.12
Burnside found Lee strongly posted on Marye's Heights, which rise sharply behind the little town of Fredericksburg on the southern bank of the Rappahannock River.
Burnside attacked in front.
He lost thirteen thousand men to only four thousand of the Confederates.
"Fighting Joe" Hooker now succeeded Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac.
396. 👦 Grant and 👦 Thomas.
In Illinois there appeared a trained soldier of fierce energy and invincible will, Ulysses Simpson Grant.
In September, 1861, he seized Cairo at the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi.
In January, 1862, General George H.
Thomas defeated a Confederate force at Mill Springs, in the upper valley of the Cumberland River.
In this way Grant and Thomas secured the line of the Ohio and eastern Kentucky for the Union.
397. Forts Henry and Donelson.
1862.2
In February, 1862, General Grant and Commodore Foote attacked two forts which the Confederates had built to keep the Federal gunboats from penetrating the western part of the Confederacy.
Fort Henry yielded almost at once, but the Union forces besieged Fort Donelson for a longer time.
The lower Tennessee and the lower Cumberland were now open to the Union forces.
398. Importance of New Orleans ⛳.
New Orleans and the lower Mississippi were of great importance to both sides, for the possession of this region gave the Southerners access to Texas, and through Texas to Mexico.
For these reasons the Federal government determined to seize New Orleans and the lower Mississippi.
The command of the expedition was given to Farragut, who had passed his boyhood in Louisiana.
He was given as good a fleet as could be provided, and a force of soldiers was sent to help him.
399. New Orleans ⛳ captured.
1862.4
Farragut carried his fleet into the Mississippi, but found his way upstream barred by two forts on the river's bank.
At night he passed the forts amid a terrific cannonade.
It surrendered, and with the forts was soon occupied by the Union army.
The lower Mississippi was lost to the Confederacy.
400. Shiloh and Corinth.
1862.4-1862.5
General Halleck now directed the operations of the Union armies in the West.
He ordered Grant to take his men up the Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing and there await the arrival of Buell with a strong force overland from Nashville.
Grant encamped with his troops on the western bank of the Tennessee between Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing.
Albert Sidney Johnston, the Confederate commander in the West, attacked him suddenly and with great fury.
In the afternoon Buell's leading regiments reached the other side of the river.
In the night they were ferried across, and Grant's outlying commands were brought to the front.
The next morning Grant attacked in his turn and slowly but surely pushed the Confederates off the field.
Halleck then united Grant's, Buell's, and Pope's armies and captured Corinth.
401. 👦 Bragg in Tennessee ⛳ and Kentucky ⛳.
General Braxton Bragg now took a large part of the Confederate army, which had fought at Shiloh and Corinth, to Chattanooga.
He then marched rapidly across Tennessee and Kentucky to the neighborhood of Louisville on the Ohio River.
Buell was sent after him, and the two armies fought an indecisive battle at Perryville.
Then Bragg retreated to Chattanooga.
In a few months he was again on the march.
Rosecrans had now succeeded Buell.
He attacked Bragg at Murfreesboro'.
In the end, however, the Confederates were beaten and retired from the field.
39. The Emancipation Proclamation 📃.
402. The Blockade.
On the fall of Fort Sumter President Lincoln ordered a blockade of the Confederate seaports.
In a surprisingly short time the blockade was established.
The Union forces also began to occupy the Southern seacoast, and thus the region that had to be blockaded steadily grew less.
403. Effects of the Blockade.
As months and years went by, and the blockade became stricter and stricter, the sufferings of the Southern people became ever greater.
Toward the end of the war there were absolutely no medicines for the Southern soldiers, and guns were so scarce that it was proposed to arm one regiment with pikes.
Nothing did more to break down Southern resistance than the blockade.
404. The Confederacy, Great Britain, and France.
From the beginning of the contest the Confederate leaders believed that the British and the French would interfere to aid them.
For the British and French governments dreaded the growing power of the American republic and would gladly have seen it broken to pieces.
But events fell out far otherwise than the Southern leaders had calculated.
Before the supply of American cotton in England was used up, new supplies began to come in from India and from Egypt.
The Union armies occupied portions of the cotton belt early in 1862, and American cotton was again exported.
405. The Trent Affair.
1861
The Southerners sent two agents, Mason and Slidell, to Europe to ask the foreign governments to recognize the independence of the Confederate states.
Captain Wilkes of the United States ship San Jacinto took these agents from the British steamer Trent.
But Lincoln at once said that Wilkes had done to the British the very thing which we had fought the War of 1812 to prevent the British doing to us.
But the British government, without waiting to see what Lincoln would do, had gone actively to work to prepare for war.
406. 👦 Lincoln and Slavery.
As long as peace lasted the Federal government could not interfere with slavery in the states.
But when war broke out, the President, as commander-in-chief, could do anything to distress and weaken the enemy.
But Lincoln knew that public opinion in the North would not approve this action.
He would follow Northern sentiment in this matter, and not force it.
407. Contrabands of War.
One day a Confederate officer came to Fortress Monroe and demanded his runaway slaves under the Fugitive Slave Act.
General Butler refused to give them up on the ground that they were "contraband of war."
President Lincoln approved this decision of General Butler, and escaping slaves soon came to be called "Contrabands."
408. First Steps toward Emancipation.
1862
Lincoln and the Republican party thought that Congress could not interfere with slavery in the states.
It might, however, buy slaves and set them free or help the states to do this.
So Congress passed a law offering aid to any state which should abolish slavery within its borders.
Lincoln had gladly helped to make these laws.
Moreover, by August, 1862, Lincoln had made up his mind that to free the slaves in the seceded states would help "to save the Union" and would therefore be right as a "war measure."
For every negro taken away from forced labor would weaken the producing power of the South and so make the conquest of the South easier.
409. The Emancipation Proclamation.
1863
On September 23, 1862, Lincoln issued a proclamation stating that on the first day of the new year he would declare free all slaves in any portion of the United States then in rebellion.
On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
This proclamation could be enforced only in those portions of the seceded states which were held by the Union armies.
It did not free slaves in loyal states and did not abolish the institution of slavery anywhere.
Slavery was abolished by the states of West Virginia, Missouri, and Maryland between 1862 and 1864.
Finally, in 1865, it was abolished throughout the United States by the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment (p.
410. Northern Opposition to the War.
Many persons in the North thought that the Southerners had a perfect right to secede if they wished.
So Lincoln ordered many of them to be arrested and locked up.
411. The Draft Riots.
At the outset both armies were made up of volunteers; soon there were not enough volunteers.
Both governments then drafted men for their armies; that is, they picked out by lot certain men and compelled them to become soldiers.
The draft was bitterly resisted in some parts of the North, especially in New York City.
40. The Year 1863.
412. Position of the Armies ⚔.
1863.1
Potomac ⚔ Northern Virginia
Grant ⚔ Sherman
413. Beginnings of the Vicksburg Campaign.
1863.1
Vicksburg stood on the top of a high bluff directly on the river.
The best way to attack this formidable place was to proceed overland from Corinth.
This Grant tried to do.
But the Confederates forced him back.
414. Fall of Vicksburg.
Finally Grant marched his army down on the western side of the river, crossed the river below Vicksburg, and approached the fortress from the south and east.
On July 4, 1863, Pemberton surrendered the fortress and thirty-seven thousand men.
415. Opening of the Mississippi.
1863.7.4
On July 8 Port Hudson surrendered.
A few days later the freight steamer Imperial from St. Louis reached New Orleans.
The Confederacy was cut in twain.
416. 👦 Lee's Second Invasion.
Lee again crossed the Potomac and invaded the North.
This time he penetrated to the heart of Pennsylvania.
Hooker moved on parallel lines, always keeping between Lee and the city of Washington.
At length, in the midst of the campaign, Hooker asked to be relieved, and George G. Meade became the fifth and last chief of the Army of the Potomac.
417. Gettysburg.
1863.7.1
Meade now moved the Union army toward Lee's line of communication with Virginia.
Lee at once drew back.
Both armies moved toward Gettysburg, where the roads leading southward came together.
In this way the two armies came into contact on July i, 1863.
418. Gettysburg.
1863.7.2
On this day the Confederates gained a foothold on Culp's Hill.
419. Gettysburg.
1863.7.3
The battle of Gettysburg was won.
In this tremendous conflict the Confederates lost twenty-two thousand five hundred men killed and wounded and five thousand taken prisoners by the Northerners--a total loss of twenty-eight thousand out of eighty thousand in the battle.
The Union army numbered ninety-three thousand men and lost twenty-three thousand, killed and wounded.
Vicksburg and Gettysburg cost the South sixty-five thousand fighting men--a loss that could not be made good.
420. Chickamauga.
1863.9
Bragg turned on Rosecrans, and attacked him at Chickamauga Creek.
The third day Thomas and Bragg kept their positions, and then the Union soldiers retired unpursued to Chattanooga.
The command of the whole army at Chattanooga was now given to Thomas, and Grant was placed in control of all the Western armies.
421. Chattanooga ⛳.
1863.11
The Union soldiers at Chattanooga were in great danger.
For the Confederates were all about them and they could get no food.
Hooker, with fifteen thousand men from the Army of the Potomac, arrived and opened a road by which food could reach Chattanooga.
Then Grant came with Sherman's corps from Vicksburg.
Bragg retreated as well as he could.
Longstreet was besieging Knoxville.
He escaped through the mountains to Lee's army in Virginia.
41. The End of the War.
1864-1865
422. 👦 Grant in Command of all the Armies.
Now Grant was appointed Lieutenant General and placed in command of all the armies of the United States (March, 1864).
He decided to carry on the war in Virginia in person.
Western operations he intrusted to Sherman, with Thomas in command of the Army of the Cumberland.
Sheridan came with Grant to Virginia and led the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac.
423. The Atlanta ⛳ Campaign.
1864
From May to September Sherman lost twenty-two thousand men, but the Confederates lost thirty-five thousand men and Atlanta too.
424. Plans of Campaign.
Hood now led his army northward to Tennessee.
But Sherman, instead of following him, sent only Thomas and Schofield.
What would be the result of a grand march through Georgia to the seacoast, and then northward through the Carolinas to Virginia?
Grant agreed with Sherman and told him to carry out his plans.
425. 👦 Thomas and 👦 Hood.
1864
At last Hood attacked Schofield at Franklin on November 30, 1864.
Schofield retreated to Nashville, where Thomas was with the bulk of his army, and Hood followed.
At length, on December 15, he struck the blow, and in two days of fighting destroyed Hood's whole army.
This was the last great battle in the West.
426. Marching through Georgia ⛳.
Destroying the mills and factories of Atlanta, Sherman set out for the seashore.
He had sixty thousand men with him.
On December 10, 1864, Sherman reached the sea.
Ten days later he captured Savannah and presented it to the nation as a Christmas gift.
Sherman and Thomas between them had struck a fearful blow at the Confederacy.
427. 👦 Grant in Virginia ⛳.
1864
Grant's plan of campaign was to move by Lee's left from the Rappahannock southeastwardly.
He expected to push Lee southward and hoped to destroy his army.
Butler, on his part, was to move up the James.
.428. The Wilderness.
1864.5
On May 4 and 5 the Union army crossed the Rapidan and marched southward through the Wilderness.
On ground like this Lee attacked the Union army.
Everything was in favor of the attacker, for it was impossible to foresee his blows, or to get men quickly to any threatened spot.
Nevertheless Grant fought four days.
Then he skillfully removed the army and marched by his left to Spotsylvania Court House.
429. Spotsylvania ⛳.
1864.5
Lee reached Spotsylvania first and fortified his position.
For days fearful combats went on.
One point in the Confederate line, called the Salient, was taken and retaken over and over again.
The loss of life was awful, and Grant could not push Lee back.
So on May 20 he again set out on his march by the left and directed his army to the North Anna.
But Lee was again before him and held such a strong position that it was useless to attack him.
430. To the James.
1864.6
Grant again withdrew his army and resumed his southward march.
But when he reached Cold Harbor, Lee was again strongly fortified.
On June 15 the Union soldiers reached the banks of the James River below the junction of the Appomattox.
In these campaigns from the Rapidan to the James, Grant lost in killed, wounded, and missing sixty thousand men.
Lee's loss was much less--how much less is not known.
431. Petersburg ⛳.
1864.6-1864.12
Petersburg guarded the roads leading from Richmond to the South.
It was in reality a part of the defenses of Richmond.
For if these roads passed out of Confederate control, the Confederate capital would have to be abandoned.
It was necessary for Lee to keep Petersburg.
Two years before, when Richmond was threatened by McClellan, Lee had secured the removal of the Army of the Potomac by a sudden movement toward Washington.
He now detached Jubal Early with a formidable force and sent him through the Shenandoah Valley to Washington.
432. Sheridan's Valley Campaigns.
1864
Grant gave Sheridan forty thousand infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry, and sent him to the Valley with orders to drive Early out and to destroy all supplies in the Valley which could be used by another Southern army.
Splendidly Sheridan did his work.
Sheridan destroyed everything that could be of service to another invading army and rejoined Grant at Petersburg.
In the November following this great feat of arms, Lincoln was reëlected President.
433. The Blockade and the Cruisers.
1863-1864
The blockade had now become stricter than ever.
On the open sea, with England's aid a few vessels flew the Confederate flag.
The best known of these vessels was the Alabama.
On June 19, 1864, the United States ship Kearsarge sank her off Cherbourg, France.
434. 👦 Sherman's March through the Carolinas ⛳.
1865
Early in 1865 Sherman set out on the worst part of his great march.
Sherman reached Goldsboro' in North Carolina.
There he was joined by Terry from Wilmington and by Schofield from Tennessee.
He moved to Raleigh and completely cut Lee's communications with South Carolina and Georgia, April, 1865.
435. Appomattox ⛳.
1865.4
On April 1 Sheridan with his cavalry and an infantry corps seized Five Forks in the rear of Petersburg and could not be driven away.
Petersburg and Richmond were abandoned.
Lee tried to escape to the mountains.
But now the Union soldiers marched faster than the starving Southerners.
Sheridan, outstripping them, placed his men across their path at Appomattox Court House.
There was nothing left save surrender.
The soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, now only thirty-seven thousand strong, laid down their arms, April 9, 1865.
Soon Johnston surrendered, and the remaining small isolated bands of Confederates were run down and captured.
436. 👦 Lincoln murdered.
1865.4.14
On the night of April 14 President Lincoln was murdered by a sympathizer with slavery and secession.
No one old enough to remember the morning of April 15, 1865, will ever forget the horror aroused in the North by this unholy murder.
In the beginning Lincoln had been a party leader.
In the end the simple grandeur of his nature had won for him a place in the hearts of the American people that no other man has ever gained.
He was indeed the greatest because the most typical of Americans.
Vice-President Andrew Johnson, a war Democrat from Tennessee, became President.
The vanquished secessionists were soon to taste the bitter dregs of the cup of defeat.
1865-1889
RECONSTRUCTION AND REUNION
42. President Johnson and Reconstruction.
1865-1869
437. 👦 Lincoln's Reconstruction Policy.
In December, 1863, Lincoln had offered a pardon to all persons, with some exceptions, who should take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and should promise to support the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Whenever one-tenth of the voters in any of the Confederate states should do these things, and should set up a republican form of government, Lincoln promised to recognize that government as the state government.
But the admission to Congress of Senators and Representatives from such a reconstructed state would rest with Congress.
Several states were reconstructed on this plan.
438. President 👦 Johnson's Reconstruction Plan.
Although Johnson was a Southerner, he hated slavery and slave owners.
On the other hand, he had a Southerner's contempt for the negroes.
He practically adopted Lincoln's reconstruction policy and tried to bring about the reorganization of the seceded states by presidential action.
439. The Thirteenth Amendment.
1865
The Thirteenth Amendment was adopted, December, 1865.
This amendment declares that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
In this way slavery came to an end throughout the United States.
440. Congress and the President.
1865-1866
Congress now (February, 1866) passed a bill to continue the Bureau and to give it much more power.
Johnson promptly vetoed the bill.
In the following July Congress passed another bill to continue the Freedmen's Bureau.
In this bill the officers of the Bureau were given greatly enlarged powers, the education of the blacks was provided for, and the army might be used to compel obedience to the law.
Johnson vetoed this bill also.
441. The Fourteenth Amendment.
Congress drew up the Fourteenth Amendment.
This forbade the states to abridge the rights of the citizens, white or black.
It further provided that the representation of any state in Congress should be diminished whenever it denied the franchise to any one except for taking part in rebellion.
Finally it guaranteed the debt of the United States, and declared all debts incurred in support of rebellion null and void.
Every Southern state except Tennessee refused to accept this amendment.
442. The Reconstruction Acts.
1867
Congress met in December, 1866, and at once set to work to carry out this policy.
First of all it passed the Tenure of Office Act to prevent Johnson dismissing Republicans from office.
Then it passed the Reconstruction Act.
The Reconstruction Act was later amended and strengthened.
It will be well to describe here the process of reconstruction in its final form.
First of all the seceded states, with the exception of Tennessee, were formed into military districts.
Each district was ruled by a military officer who had soldiers to carry out his directions.
Tennessee was not included in this arrangement, because it had accepted the Fourteenth Amendment.
But all the other states, which had been reconstructed by Lincoln or by Johnson, were to be reconstructed over again.
The franchise was given to all men, white or black, who had lived in any state for one year--excepting criminals and persons who had taken part in rebellion.
This exception took the franchise away from the old rulers of the South.
These new voters could form a state constitution and elect a legislature which should ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
When all this had been done, Senators and Representatives from the reconstructed state might be admitted to Congress.
443. Impeachment of 👦 Johnson.
1868
The House impeached the President.
The Senate, presided over by Chief Justice Chase, heard the impeachment.
The Constitution requires the votes of two-thirds of the Senators to convict.
Seven Republicans voted with the Democrats against conviction, and the President was acquitted by one vote.
444. The French in Mexico.
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, seized the occasion of the Civil War to set the Monroe Doctrine at defiance and to refound a French colonial empire in America.
This failing, he began the establishment of an empire in Mexico with the Austrian prince, Maximilian, as Emperor.
French were withdrawn in 1868.
Maximilian insisted on staying.
He was captured by the Mexicans and shot.
The Mexican Republic was reestablished.
445. The Purchase of Alaska ⛳.
1867
In 1867 President Johnson sent to the Senate, for ratification, a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Russia's American possessions.
These were called Alaska, and included an immense tract of land in the extreme Northwest.
446. 👦 Grant elected President.
1868
As governor of New York during the war Horatio Seymour had refused to support the national government.
The Republicans nominated General Grant.
He received three hundred thousand more votes than Seymour.
Of the two hundred and ninety-four electoral votes, Grant received two hundred and fifteen.
43. From Grant ⛳ to Cleveland ⛳.
1869-1889
447. The Fifteenth Amendment 📘.
Neither the United States nor any state could abridge the rights of citizens of the United States on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
448. End of Reconstruction.
Three states only were still unreconstructed.
These were Virginia, Texas, and Mississippi.
In 1869 Congress added to the conditions on which they could be readmitted to the Union the acceptance of the Fifteenth Amendment.
Early in 1870 they all complied with the conditions and were readmitted.
The Union was now again complete.
449. The Southerners and the Negroes.
The first result of the Congressional plan of reconstruction was to give the control of the Southern states to the freedmen and their white allies.
Some of these white friends of the freedmen were men of character and ability, but most of them were adventurers who came from the North to make their fortunes.
The most famous was the Ku-Klux-Klan.
The object of these societies was to terrorize the freedmen and their white friends and to prevent their voting.
This led to the passage of the Force Acts.
450. The Alabama ⛳ Claims.
During the Civil War vessels built in British shipyards, or refitted and supplied with coal at British ports, had preyed upon American commerce.
The most famous of these vessels was the Alabama.
The claims for losses caused by these vessels which the United States presented to Great Britain were therefore called the "Alabama Claims.“
In 1871 the United States and Great Britain made an arrangement called the Treaty of Washington.
By this treaty all these points of dispute were referred to arbitration.
The Oregon boundary was decided in favor of the United States, but the fishery dispute was decided in favor of Great Britain.
The "Alabama Claims" were settled by five arbitrators who sat at Geneva in Switzerland.
They condemned her to pay fifteen and one-half million dollars damages to the United States.
451. The Chicago ⛳ Fire.
1871
Nearly two hundred million dollars' worth of property was destroyed.
The homes of nearly one hundred thousand persons were burned down.
In a surprisingly short time the burnt district was rebuilt, and Chicago grew more rapidly than ever before.
452. Corruption in Politics.
New York City had no two hundred million dollar fire.
But a "ring" of city officers stole more than one hundred and fifty million dollars of the city's money.
In other cities also there was great corruption.
453. Election of 1872.
In fact, this condition of the public service made many persons doubtful of the wisdom of reëlecting President Grant.
Reconstruction, too, did not seem to be restoring peace and prosperity to the South.
For these reasons many voters left the Republican party.
They called themselves Liberal Republicans and nominated Horace Greeley for President.
The Democrats could find no better candidate, so they, too, nominated Greeley.
But many Democrats could not bring themselves to vote for him.
They left their party for the moment and nominated a third candidate.
The result of all this confusion was the reëlection of Grant.
But the Democrats elected a majority of the House of Representatives.
454. The Cuban Rebellion.
1867-1877
When the other Spanish-American colonies won their independence, Cuba remained true to Spain.
But by 1867 the Cubans could no longer bear the hardships of Spanish rule.
In 1877 President Grant made up his mind that the war had lasted long enough.
He adopted a severe tone toward Spain.
The Spanish government made terms with the rebels, and the rebellion came to an end.
455. Scandals in Political Life.
In 1872 the House of Representatives made a searching inquiry into the charges of bribery in connection with the building of the Pacific railroads.
Fearing that Congress would pass laws that might hurt the enterprise, Ames gave stock in the company to members of Congress.
But nothing definite could be proved against any members, and the matter dropped.
Soon after the beginning of Grant's second term, many evil things came to light.
One of these was the Whiskey Ring, which defrauded the government of large sums of money with the aid of the government officials.
The worst case of all, perhaps, was that of W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War.
But he escaped punishment by resigning.
456. Anarchy in the South.
Meantime reconstruction was not working well in the South.
President Grant was greatly troubled.
"Let us have peace," was his heartfelt wish.
But he felt it necessary to keep Federal soldiers in the South, although he knew that public opinion in the North was turning against their employment.
It was under these circumstances that the election of 1876 was held.
457. Election of 1876.
When the electoral returns were brought in, there appeared two sets of returns from each of three Southern states, and the vote of Oregon was doubtful.
The Senate was Republican, and the House was Democratic.
As the two houses could not agree as to how these returns should be counted, they referred the whole matter to an electoral commission.
This commission was made up of five Senators, five Representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court.
They decided by eight seven that Hayes was elected, and he was inaugurated President on March 4, 1877.
458. Withdrawal of the Soldiers from the South.
President Hayes recalled the troops, and all the Southern states at once passed into the control of the Democrats.
459. Strikes and Riots.
1877
The extravagance and speculation of the Civil War, and the years following its close, ended in a great panic in 1873.
After the panic came the "hard times."
At last the riot came to an end, but not until millions of dollars' worth of property had been destroyed.
460. Election of 1880.
The campaign was very hotly contested.
In the end Garfield won.
461. 👦 Garfield murdered; Civil Service Reform.
President Garfield took the oath of office on March 4, 1881.
On July 2 he was shot in the back by a disappointed office-seeker.
At length, on September 19, the martyred President died.
Now at last the evils of the "Spoils System" were brought to the attention of the American people.
Vice-President Arthur became President and entered heartily into projects of reform.
Nevertheless the reform has made steady progress until now by far the greater part of the civil service is organized on the merit system.
462. Election of 1884.
The campaign of 1884 was conducted on lines of personal abuse that recall the campaigns of 1800 and of 1828.
Cleveland carried four large Northern states and the "solid South" and was elected.
463. 👦 Cleveland ⛳'s Administration.
1885-1889
The great contest of Cleveland's first term was a fierce struggle over the tariff.
In 1887 Cleveland laid the whole question before Congress.
But the opposition in Congress was very active and very strong.
It fell out, therefore, that nothing important was done.
The real significance of Cleveland's first administration lay in the fact that the Southerners were once again admitted to a share in the government of the nation.
1889-1900
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
44. Confusion in Politics.
464. 👦 Benjamin Harrison elected President.
1888
In 1888 the Democrats put forward Cleveland as their candidate for President.
The Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison of Indiana.
The result was the election of Harrison and of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
465. The 👦 McKinley Tariff.
1890
One set of reformers proposed to reform the tariff by doing away with as much of it as possible.
The other set of reformers proposed to readjust the tariff duties so as to make the protective system more consistent and more perfect.
Led by William McKinley, the Republicans set to work to reform the tariff in this latter sense.
This they did by generally raising the duties on protected goods.
The McKinley Tariff Act also offered reciprocity to countries which would favor American goods.
This offer was in effect to lower certain duties on goods imported from Argentina, for instance, if the Argentine government would admit certain American goods to Argentina on better terms than similar goods imported from other countries.
466. The 👦 Sherman Silver Law.
1890
In 1878 a small but earnest band of advocates of the free coinage of silver secured the passage of an act of Congress for the coinage of two million silver dollars each month.
The silver in each one of these dollars was only worth in gold from ninety to sixty cents.
In 1890, Senator John Sherman of Ohio brought in a bill to increase the coinage of these silver dollars which, in 1894, were worth only forty nine cents on the dollar in gold.
467. Election of 1892.
Harrison and Cleveland were again the Republican and Democratic candidates for the presidency.
As is always the case, the party in power was held to be responsible for the hard times.
Enough voters turned to Cleveland to elect him, and he was inaugurated President for the second time (March 4, 1893).
468. Silver and the Tariff.
In the summer of 1893 there was a great scarcity of money.
Thousands of people withdrew all the money they could from the banks and locked it up in places of security.
But Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Law and put an end to the compulsory purchase of silver and the coinage of silver dollars.
This tended to restore confidence.
The Democrats once more overhauled the tariff.
Under the lead of Representative Wilson of West Virginia they passed a tariff act, lowering some duties and placing many articles on the free list.
469. The Chicago ⛳ Exhibition.
1893
The four hundredth anniversary of the Columbian discovery of America occurred in October, 1892.
Preparations were made for holding a great commemorative exhibition at Chicago.
No more beautiful or successful exhibition has ever been held.
470. Election of 1896.
In 1896 the Republicans held their convention at St. Louis and nominated William McKinley of Ohio for President.
They declared in favor of the gold standard, unless some arrangement with other nations for a standard of gold and silver could be made.
They also declared for protection to home industries.
The Democrats held their convention at Chicago.
William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska was nominated for President on a platform advocating the free coinage of silver and many changes in the laws in the direction of socialism.
The Populists and the Silver Republicans also adopted Bryan as their candidate.
They responded by electing McKinley and a Republican House of Representatives.
471. The 👦 Dingley Tariff.
1897
Reformed the tariff in favor of high protection.
The reciprocity features of the McKinley tariff were restored.
45. The Spanish War.
472. The Cuban Rebellion.
1894-1898
The Cubans laid down their arms in 1877, because they relied on the promises of better government made by the Spaniards.
But these promises were never carried out.
In 1894 they again rebelled.
Constant disputes with Spain over the Cuban question naturally came up and gave rise to irritation in the United States and in Spain.
473. The Declaration of War.
1898
On January 5, 1898, the American battleship Maine anchored in Havana harbor.
On February 15 she was destroyed by an explosion and sank with two hundred and fifty-three of her crew.
On April 19, 1898, Congress recognized the independence of the Cuban people and demanded the withdrawal of the Spaniards from the island.
Congress also authorized the President to compel Spain's withdrawal and stated that the United States did not intend to annex Cuba, but to leave the government of the island to its inhabitants.
Before these terms could be formally laid before the Spanish government, it ordered the American minister to leave Spain.
474. The Destruction of the Spanish Pacific Fleet.
Admiral Dewey, commanding the American squadron on the Asiatic station, had concentrated all his vessels at Hong Kong, in the belief that war was at hand.
The Spanish fleet was in Manila Bay.
As soon as it was light Dewey opened fire on the Spaniards.
He then steamed in again and completed the destruction of the enemy's fleet.
This victory gave the Americans the control of the Pacific Ocean and the Asiatic waters, as far as Spain was concerned.
It relieved the Pacific seacoast of the United States of all fear of attack.
475. The Atlantic Seacoast and the Blockade.
The mouths of the principal harbors were blocked with mines and torpedoes.
The government bought merchant vessels of all kinds and established a patrol along the coast.
It also blockaded the more important Cuban seaports.
476. The Atlantic Fleets.
Before long a Spanish fleet of four new, fast armored cruisers and three large sea-going torpedo-boat destroyers appeared in the West Indies.
In the American navy there were only two fast armored cruisers, the New York and the Brooklyn.
These with five battleships--the Oregon, Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas--and a number of smaller vessels were placed under the command of Admiral Sampson and sent to Santiago.
Another fleet of sea-going monitors and unarmored cruisers maintained the Cuban blockade.
477. The Oregon's Great Voyage.
When the Maine was destroyed, the Oregon was at Puget Sound on the northwest coast.
She was at once ordered to sail to the Atlantic coast at her utmost speed.
Steadily the great battleship sped southward along the Pacific coast of North America, Central America, and South America.
She passed through Magellan Straits and made her way up the eastern coast of South America.
She reached Florida in splendid condition and at once joined Sampson's squadron.
478. The Blockade of the Spanish Fleet.
Lieutenant Hobson was ordered to take the collier Merrimac into the narrow entrance and sink her across the channel at the narrowest part.
He made the most careful preparations.
But the Merrimac was disabled and drifted by the narrowest part of the channel before she sank.
The Spanish admiral was so impressed by the heroism of this attempt that he sent a boat off to the American squadron to assure them that Hobson and his six brave companions were safe.
479. Destruction of the Spanish Fleet.
In a few hours the whole Spanish fleet was destroyed; hundreds of Spanish seamen were killed, wounded, or drowned, and sixteen hundred Spanish sailors captured.
The American loss was one man killed and two wounded.
The American ships were practically ready to destroy another Spanish fleet had one been within reach.
At Manila Bay and off Santiago the American fleets were superior to the enemy's fleets.
But the astounding results of their actions were due mainly to the splendid manner in which the American ships had been cared for and, above all, to the magnificent training and courage of the men behind the guns.
Years of peace had not in any way dimmed the splendid qualities of the American sea-fighters.
480. The American Army.
Meantime the American soldiers on shore at Santiago were doing their work under great discouragement, but with a valor and stubbornness that will always compel admiration.
While the navy was silently and efficiently increased to be a well-ordered force, the army was not so well managed at first.
When the Spanish fleet was shut up in Santiago harbor, a force of fifteen thousand soldiers under General Shafter was sent to capture Santiago itself and make the harbor unsafe for the ships.
481. The Santiago ⛳ Expedition.
On June 22 and 23 the expedition landed not far to the east of the entrance to Santiago harbor.
On July 3 the Spanish fleet sailed out of the harbor to meet its doom from the guns of the American warships.
Reinforcements were sent to Shafter, and heavy guns were dragged over the mountain roads and placed in positions commanding the enemy's lines.
The Spaniards surrendered, and on July 17 the Americans entered the captured city.
482. The Porto Rico ⛳ Campaign.
The only other important colony still remaining to Spain in America was Porto Rico. General Nelson A.
Miles led a strong force to its conquest.
Instead of landing on the northern coast near San Juan, the only strongly fortified position on the seacoast, General Miles landed his men on the southern coast near Ponce (Pon-tha).
This was on August 1.
The American army then set out to cross the island.
But before they had gone very far news came of the ending of the hostilities.
483. Fall of Manila.
General Wesley Merritt was given command of the land forces.
Meantime, for months Dewey with his fleet blockaded Manila from the water side, while Philippine insurgents blockaded it from the land side.
On August 17 Merritt felt strong enough to attack the city.
It was at once surrendered to him.
484. End of the War.
The fighting stopped in July, 1898.
The conditions
Abandon Cuba
Cede to the United States
Porto Rico
The Philippines
Some smaller islands
Receive from the United States twenty million dollars
485. Prosperity.
The years 1898-1900 have been a period of unbounded prosperity for the American people.
Foreign trade has increased enormously.
Rebellion in the Philippines.