 A Short History of the United States The aim of this little book is to tell in a simple and concise form the story of the founding and development of the United States. The study of the history of one's own country is a serious matter and should be entered upon by the textbook writer, the teacher, and by the pupil in a serious spirit, even to a greater extent than the study of language or of arithmetic. No effort has been made, therefore, to make out of this textbook a storybook. It is a textbook, pure and simple, and should be used as a textbook to be studied diligently by the pupil and expounded carefully by the teacher. Most of the pupils who use this book will never have another opportunity to study the history and institutions of their own country. It is highly desirable that they should use their time in studying the real history of the United States and not in learning by heart of a mass of antidotes, often of very slight importance and more often based on very insecure foundations. The author of this textbook, therefore, has boldly ventured to admit most of the traditional matter which is usually supposed to give life to a textbook and inspire a love of history, which too often means only a love for being amused. For instance, descriptions of the formation of the Constitution and the struggle over the extension of slavery here occupy the space usually given to the adventures of Captain John Smith and to accounts of the institutions of the Red Men. The small number of pages available for the period before 1760 has necessitated the emission of pictures of colonial life, which cannot be briefly and at the same time accurately described. These and similar matters can easily be studied by the pupils in their topical work in such books as Higginson's Young Folks History, Eggleston's United States and Its People, and McMaster's School History. References to these books and to a limited number of other works have been given in the margins of this textbook. These citations also mention a few of the more accessible sources which should be used solely for purposes of illustration. It is the custom in many schools to spread the study of American history over two years and to devote the first year to a detailed study of the period before 1760. This is a very bad arrangement. In the first place, it gives an undue emphasis to the colonial period. In the second place, as many pupils never return to school, they never have an opportunity to study the later period at all. In the third place, it prevents those pupils who complete this study from gaining an intelligent view of the development of the American people. And finally, most of the time, the second year is spent in the study of the Revolutionary War and of the War for the Union. A better way would be to go over the whole book the first year with some parallel reading and the second year to review the book and study with greater care important episodes as the making of the Constitution, the struggle for freedom in the territories, and the War of the Union. Attention may also be given that second year to a study of industrial history since 1790 and to the elements of civil government. It is the author's earnest hope that teachers will regard the early chapters as introductory. Miss Annie Bliss Chapman, for many years a successful teacher of history in grammar schools, has kindly provided a limited number of suggestive questions and has also made many excellent suggestions to teachers. These are all appended to the several divisions of the work. The author has added a few questions and a few suggestions of his own. He has also altered some of Miss Chapman's questions. Whatever there is commendable in this apparatus should be credited to Miss Chapman. Acknowledgements are also due to Miss Bula Marie Dix for many admirable suggestions as to language and form. The author will cordially welcome criticisms and suggestions from anyone, especially from teachers, and will be very glad to receive notice of any errors. Cambridge, March 29, 1900 Chapter 1 The European Discovery of America Leif Erickson discovers America in the year 1000. In our early childhood, many of us learned to repeat the lines, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. We thought he was the first European to visit America, but nearly 500 years before his time, Leif Erickson had discovered the new world. He was a Northman and the son of Erick the Red. Erick had already founded a colony in Greenland, and Leif sailed from Norway to make him a visit. This was the year 1000. Day after day, Leif and his men were tossed about on the sea until they reached an unknown land where they found many great vines. They called it Vinland, or wine land. They then sailed northward and reached Greenland in safety. Precisely where Vinland was is not known, but it certainly was part of North America. Leif Erickson, the Northman, was therefore the real discoverer of America. 2. Early European Travelers The people of Europe knew more of the lands of Asia than they knew of Vinland. For hundreds of years, missionaries, traders, and travelers visited the Far East. They brought back to Europe silks and spices and ornaments of gold and silver. They told marvelous tales of rich lands and great princes. One of these travelers was a Venetian named Marco Polo. He told of Cathay, or China, and of Sipongo, or Japan. This last country was an island. Its king was so rich that even the floors of his palaces were pure gold. Suddenly, the Turks conquered the lands between Europe and the Golden East. They put an end to this trading and traveling. New ways to India, China, and Japan must be found. 3. Early Portuguese Sailors One way to the east seemed to be around the southern end of Africa. If it should turn out that there was a southern end to that dark continent. In 1487, Portuguese semen sailed around the southern tip of Africa and, returning home, called that point the Cape of Storms. But the king of Portugal thought that now there was good hope of reaching India by sea. So he changed the name to Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later, a brave Portuguese sailor, Vasco de Gama, actually reached India by the Cape of Good Hope and returned safely to Portugal, 1497. 4. Columbus Meantime, Christopher Columbus, an Italian, had returned from an even more startling voyage. From what he had read, and from what other men had told him, he had come to believe that the earth was round. If this were really true, Cipango and Cathay were west of Europe, as well as east of Europe. Columbus also believed that the earth was very much smaller than it really is. And that Cipango was only 3,000 miles west of Spain. For a time, people laughed at the idea of sailing westward to Cipango and Cathay. But at length, Columbus secured enough money to fit out a little fleet. 5. The Voyage, 1492 Columbus left Spain in August 1492 and, refitting at the Canaries, sailed westward into the Sea of Darkness. At 10 o'clock in the evening of October 20th, 1492, looking out into the night, he saw a light in the distance. The fleet was soon stopped. When day broke, there, sure enough, was land. A boat was lowered, and Columbus, going ashore, took possession of the new land for Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Aragon and Castile. The natives came to see the discoverers. They were reddish in color and interested in Columbus. For were they not inhabitants of the Far East? So he called them Indians. 6. The Indians and the Indies These Indians were not at all like those wonderful people of Cathay and Cipango, whom Marco Polo had described. Instead of wearing clothes of silk and of gold embroidered satin, these people wore no clothes of any kind. But it was plain enough that the island they had found was not Cipango. It was probably some island off the coast of Cipango, so on Columbus sailed and discovered Cuba. He was certain that Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia, for the Indians kept saying Cubanaquan. Columbus thought that this was their way of pronouncing Kublai Khan, the name of a mighty eastern ruler, so he sent two messengers with a letter to that powerful monarch. Returning to Spain, Columbus was welcomed as a great admiral. He made three other voyages to America, but he never came within sight of the mainland of the United States. 7. John Cabot 1497 While Columbus explored the West Indies, another Italian sailed across the Sea of Darkness farther north. His name was John Cabot, and he sailed with a license from Henry VII of England, the first of the Tudor Kings. Setting boldly forth from Bristol, England, he crossed the North Atlantic and reached the coast of America, north of Nova Scotia. Like Columbus, he thought that he had found the country of the Great Khan. Upon his discovery, English kings based their claim to the right to colonize North America. 8. The Naming of America Many other explorers also visited the newfound lands. Among these was an Italian named America's Vespucci. Precisely where he went is not clear, but it is clear that he wrote accounts of his voyages, which were printed and read by many persons. In these accounts, he said that what we call South America was not a part of Asia, so he named it the New World. Columbus, all the time, was declaring that the lands he found were a part of Asia. It was natural, therefore, that people in thinking of the New World should think of America's Vespucci. Before long, someone even suggested that the New World should be named America in his honor. This was done, and when it became certain that the other lands were not parts of Asia, the name America was given to them also until the whole continent came to be called America. 9. Balboa in Magellan, 1513-1520 Balboa was a Spaniard who came to San Domingo to seek his fortune. He became a pauper and fled away from those to whom he owed money. After long wanderings, he found himself on a high mountain in the center of the Isthmus of Panama. To the southward sparkled the waters of a new sea. He called it the South Sea. Waiting into it wastes deep. He waved his sword in the air and took possession of it for his royal master, the king of Spain. This was in 1513. Seven years later, in 1520, Magellan, a Portuguese seaman in the service of the Spanish king, sailed through the Straits of Magellan and entered the same great ocean which he called the Pacific. Then, northward and westward, he sailed day after day, week after week, month after month, until he reached the Philippine Islands. The natives killed Magellan, but one of his vessels found her way back to Spain around the Cape of Good Hope. End of Chapter 1 Chapter 2 of A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing. Chapter 2 Spanish and French Pioneers in the United States 10. Stories of Golden Lands Wherever the Spaniards went, the Indians always told them stories of golden lands somewhere else. The Bahama Indians, for instance, told their cruel Spanish masters of a wonderful land 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. Among the fierce Spanish soldiers was Pons de Leon. He determined to see for himself if these stories were true. 11. Discovery of Florida, 1513 In the same year that Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean, Pons de Leon sailed northward and westward from the Bahamas. On Easter Sunday, 1513, he anchored off the shores of a new land. The Spanish name for Easter was La Pascua de Flores. So, de Leon called the new land Florida. For the Spaniards were a very religious people and usually named their lands and the settlements from saints or religious events. De Leon then sailed around the southern end of Florida and back to the West Indies. In 1521, he visited Florida again and was wounded by an Indian arrow and returned home to die. 12. Spanish Voyages and Conquests Spanish sailors and conquerors now appeared in quick succession on the northern and western shores of the Gulf of Mexico. One of them discovered the mouth of the Mississippi. Others of them stole Indians and carried them to the islands to work as slaves. The most famous of them all was Cortez. In 1519, he conquered Mexico after a thrilling campaign and found their great store of gold and silver. This discovery led to more expeditions and to the exploration of the southern half of the United States. 13. Coronado in the Southwest, 1540-1542 In 1540, Coronado set out from the Spanish towns on the Gulf of California to seek for more gold and silver. For 73 days, he journeyed northward until he came to the Pueblos of the Southwest. These Pueblos were huge buildings of stone and sun-dried clay. Some of them were large enough to shelter 300 Indian families. Pueblos are still to be seen in Arizona and New Mexico and the Indians living in them, even to this day, tells stories of Coronado's coming and of his cruelty. There was hardly any gold and silver in these cities, so a great grief fell upon Coronado and his comrades. 14. The Great Plains Soon, however, a new hope came to the Spaniards, for an Indian told them that far away in the north there really was a golden land. Onward rode Coronado and a body of picked men. They crossed fast plains where there were no mountains to guide them. For more than a thousand miles they rode on until they reached eastern Kansas. Everywhere they found great herds of buffaloes or wild cows, as they called them. They also met the Indians of the plains. Unlike the Indians of the Pueblos, these Indians lived in tents made of buffalo hides stretched upon poles. Everywhere there were plains, buffaloes and Indians. Nowhere was there gold or silver. Broken hearted, Coronado and his men rode southward to their old homes in Mexico. 15. De Soto in the Southeast 1539 to 1543 In 1539, a Spanish army landed at Tampa Bay on the western coast of Florida. The leader of this army was De Soto, one of the conquerors of Peru. He was very fond of the sport of killing Indians and was also greedy for gold and silver. From Tampa, he marched northward to South Carolina and then marched southwestward to Mobile Bay. There he had a dreadful time, for the Indians burned his camp and stores and killed many of his men. From Mobile, he wandered northwestward until he came to a great river. It was the Mississippi and it was so wide that a man standing on one bank could not see a man standing on the opposite bank. Some of De Soto's men penetrated westward nearly to the line of Coronado's march, but the two bands did not meet. De Soto died and was buried in the Mississippi. Those of his men who still lived built a few boats and managed to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico. 16. Other Spanish Expeditions Many other Spanish explorers visited the shores of the United States before 1550. Some sailed along the Pacific coast, others sailed along the Atlantic coast. The Spaniards also made several attempts to found settlements both on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico and on Chesapeake Bay. But all these early attempts ended in failure. In 1550, there were no Spaniards on the continent within the present limits of the United States, except possibly a few traders and missionaries in the southwest. 17. Early French Voyages 1524-1536 The first French expedition to America was led by an Italian named Verrazano, but he sailed in the service of Francis I, King of France. He made his voyage in 1524 and sailed along the coast from the Cape Fear River to Nova Scotia. He entered New York Harbor and spent two weeks in Newport Harbor. He reported that the country was as pleasant as it is possible to conceive. The next French expedition was led by a Frenchman named Cartier. In 1534, he visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1535, he sailed up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. But before he could get out of the river again, the ice formed about his ships. He and his crew had to pass the winter there. They suffered terribly, and 24 of them perished of cold and sickness. In the spring of 1536, the survivors returned to France. 18. The French in Carolina 1562 The French next explored the shores of the Carolinas. Rebal was the name of their commander. Sailing southward from Carolina, he discovered a beautiful river and called it the River of May. But we know it by its Spanish name of St. John's. He left a few men on the Carolina coast and returned to France. A year or more those men remained. Then, wearying of their life and the wilderness, they built a crazy boat with sails of shirts and sheets and steered for France. Soon, their water gave out and then their food. Finally, almost dead, they were rescued by an English ship. 19. The French in Florida 1564 to 65 While these Frenchmen were slowly drifting across the Atlantic, a great French expedition was sailing to Carolina. Finding Rebal's men gone, the new colony was planted on the banks of the River of May. Soon, the settlers ate up all the food they had brought with them. Then, they brought food from the Indians, giving them toys and old clothes in exchange. Some of the colonists rebelled. They seized a vessel and sailed away to plunder the Spaniards in the West Indies. They told the Spaniards of the colony on the River of May and the Spaniards resolved to destroy it. 20. The Spaniards in Florida 1565 For this purpose, the Spaniards sent out an expedition under Menendez. He sailed to the River of May and found Rebal there with a French fleet. So, he turned southward and, going ashore, founded St. Augustine. Rebal followed, but a terrible storm drove his whole fleet ashore south of St. Augustine. Menendez then marched over land to the French colony. He surprised the colonists and killed nearly all of them. Then, going back to St. Augustine, he found Rebal and his shipwrecked sailors and killed nearly all of them. In this way, ended the French attempts to found a colony in Carolina and Florida, but St. Augustine remained and is today the oldest town on the mainland of the United States. End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Pioneers of England 21. Sir John Hawkins For many years after Cabot's voyage, Englishmen were too busy at home to pay much attention to distant expeditions. But, in Queen Elizabeth's time, English seamen began to sail to America. The first of them to win a place in history was John Hawkins. He carried cargoes of Negro slaves from Africa to the West Indies and sold them to the Spanish planters. On his third voyage, he was basely attacked by the Spaniards and lost four of his five ships. Returning home, he became one of the leading men of Elizabeth's little navy and fought most gallantly for his country. 22. Sir Francis Drake A greater and more famous man was Hawkins' cousin, Francis Drake. He had been with Hawkins on his third voyage and had come to hate Spaniards most vigorously. In 1577, he made a famous voyage around the world. Steering through the Straits of Magellan, he plundered the Spanish towns on the western coasts of South America. At one place, his sailors went on shore and found a man sound asleep. Near him were four bars of silver. We took the silver and left the man, wrote the old historian of the voyage. Drake also captured vessels loaded with gold and silver and pearls. Sailing northward, he repaired his ship, the Pelican, on the coast of California and returned home by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. 23. Sir Walter Raleigh Still another famous Englishman of Elizabeth's time was Walter Raleigh. He never saw the coasts of the United States, but his name is rightly connected with our history because he tried again and again to found colonies on our shores. In 1584, he sent Amados and Barlow to explore the Atlantic seashore of North America. Their reports were so favorable that he sent a strong colony to settle on Roanoke Island in Virginia, as he named that region. But the settlers soon became unhappy because they found no gold. Then, too, their food began to fail and Drake, happening along, took them back to England. 24. The Lost Colony, 1587 Raleigh made still one more attempt to found a colony in Virginia, but the fate of this colony was most dreadful. For the settlers entirely disappeared, men, women, and children. Among the lost was little Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America. No one really knows what became of these people, but the Indians told the later settlers of Jamestown that they had been killed by the savages. 25. Destruction of the Spanish Armada, 1588 This activity of the English in America was very distressing to the king of Spain, for he claimed all America for himself and did not wish the Englishmen to go their thither. He determined to conquer England and thus put an end to these English voyages. But Hawkins, Drake, Raleigh, and the man behind the English guns were too strong even for the invincible Armada. Spain's sea power never recovered from this terrible blow. Englishmen could now found colonies with only slight fear of the Spaniards. When the Spanish king learned of the settlement of Jamestown, he ordered an expedition to go from St. Augustine to destroy the English colony. But the Spaniards never got farther than the mouth of the James River. For when they reached that point, they thought they saw the masts and spars of an English ship. They at once turned about and sailed back to Florida as fast as they could go. End of Chapter 3, Chapters 4 and 5 of a short history of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing. Part 2, Chapter 4. Colonization, 1600 to 1660. Chapter 4, French Colonists, Missionaries and Explorers. 26, The French in Acadia. For nearly 40 years after the destruction of the colony on the river of May, Frenchmen were too busy fighting one another at home to send any more colonists to America. At length 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. The most famous of these colonists was Champlain. He sailed along the coast southward and westward as far as Plymouth. As he passed by the mouth of Boston Harbor, a mist hung low over the water and he did not see the entrance. Had it been clear, he would have discovered Boston Harbor and Charles River and the French colonists might have settled there. In 1608, Champlain built a trading post at Quebec and lived there many years as governor or chief trader. He soon joined the St. Lawrence Indians in their war parties and explored large portions of the interior. In 1609, he went with the Indians to a beautiful lake. Far away to the east were mountains covered with snow. To the south were other mountains, but with no snow on their tops. To the lake, the explorer gave his own name and we still call it in his honor, Lake Champlain. While there, he drove away with his firearms a body of Iroquois Indians. A few years later, he went with another war party to western New York and again attacked the Iroquois. 28. The French on the Great Lakes Champlain was the first of many French discoverers. Some of these were missionaries who left home and friends to bring the blessings of Christianity to the red men of the western world. Others were fur traders, while still others were men who came to the wilderness in search of excitement. These French discoverers found Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. They even reached the headwaters of the Wisconsin River, a branch of the Mississippi. 29. The French missionaries The most active of the French missionaries were the Jesuits. The Jesuits built stations on the shores of the Great Lakes. They made long expeditions to unknown regions. Some of them were killed by those whom they tried to convert to Christianity. Others were robbed and left to starve. Others still were tortured and cruelly abused, but the prospect of starvation, torture and death only made them more eager to carry on their great work. 30. The Iroquois Strongest of all the Indian tribes were the nations that formed the League of Iroquois. Ever since Champlain fired upon them, they hated the sight of a Frenchman. On the other hand, they looked upon the Dutch and the English as their friends. French missionaries tried to convert them to Christianity as they had converted to St. Lawrence Indians. But the Iroquois saw in this only another attempt at French conquest. So they hung red hot stones about the missionaries' necks, or they burned them to death, or they cut them to pieces while yet living. For a century and a half, the Iroquois stood between the Dutch and the English settlers and their common enemies in Canada. New events in American history, therefore, have had such great consequences as Champlain's unprovoked attacks upon the Iroquois. End of Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Virginia and Maryland 31. The Virginia Company 1606 English people were now beginning to think in earnest of founding colonies. It was getting harder and harder to earn one's living in England, but it was very difficult to invest one's money in any useful way. It followed from this that there were many men who were glad to become colonists and many persons who were glad to provide money to pay for founding colonies. In 1606, the Virginia Company was formed and colonization began on a large scale. 32. Founding of Jamestown 1607 The first colonists sailed for Virginia in December 1606. They were months on the way and suffered terrible hardships. At last, they reached Chesapeake Bay in James River and settled on a peninsula on the James about 30 miles from its mouth. Across the little Isthmus which connected this peninsula with the mainland, they built a strong fence or stockade to keep the Indians away from their huts. Their settlement, they named Jamestown. The early colonists of Virginia were not very well fitted for such work. Some of them were gentlemen who had never labored with their hands. Others were poor, idle fellows whose only wish was to do nothing whatsoever. There were a few energetic men among them as Ratcliffe, Archer and Smith, but they spent most of their time in exploring the bay and the rivers and hunting for gold and in quarreling with one another. With the summer came fevers and soon 50 of the 105 original colonists were dead. Then followed a cold hard winter and many of those who had not died of fever in the summer now died of cold. The colonists brought little food with them. They were too lazy to plant much corn and they were able to get only small supplies from the Indians. Indeed, the early history of Virginia is given mainly to accounts of quote starving times. Of the first thousand colonists not 100 lived to tell the tale of those early days. 33. Sir Thomas Dale in Good Order In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale came out as ruler and he ruled with an iron hand. If a man refused to work, Dale made a slave of him for three years. If he did not work hard enough, Dale had him soundly whipped. But Sir Thomas Dale was not only a severe man, he was also a wise man. Hitherto, everything had been in common. Dale now tried the experiment of 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 European people were now beginning to use tobacco. Most of it came from the Spanish colonies. Tobacco grew wild in Virginia, but the colonists at first did not know how to dry it and make it fit for smoking. After a few years, they found out how to prepare it. They now worked with great eagerness and planted tobacco on every spot of cleared land. Men with money came over from England. They brought many working men with them and planted large pieces of ground. Soon tobacco became the money of the colony and the whole life of Virginia turned on its cultivation. 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 who were bound to service for terms of years. These were called servants. Some of them were poor persons who sold their labor to pay for their passage to Virginia. Others were unfortunate men and women and even children who were stolen from their families and sold to the colonists. Still others were criminals whom King James sent over to the colony because that was the cheapest thing to do with them. In 1619, the first Negro slaves were brought to Virginia by a Dutch vessel. The Virginians bought them all, only 20 in number. But the planters preferred white laborers. It was not until more than 25 years had passed away that the slaves really became numerous enough to make much difference in the life of the colony. 36. The First American Legislature, 1619 The men who first formed the Virginia Company had long since lost interest in it. Other men had taken their place. These latter were mostly Puritans or were the friends and workers with the Puritans. The best known of them was Sir Edward Sandys, the playmate of William Brewster, one of the Pilgrim Fathers. Sandys and his friends sent Sir George yearly to Virginia as governor. They ordered him to summon an assembly to be made up of representatives chosen by the freedom 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 The Virginians thought this was a very good way to be governed. But King James thought that the new rulers of the Virginia Company were much too late. The Virginians thought this was a very good way to be governed. But 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, for he could turn them out of office at any time. So when he told them to destroy the Virginia Charter, they took the very first opportunity to declare it 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. He left the Virginians to themselves for the most part. They liked this, but they did not like his giving 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. The Virginians feared lest they might come to Virginia and made severe laws against them. Puritan missionaries also came from New England and began to convert the Virginians to Puritanism. 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 Maryland included the most valuable portion of Virginia north of the Potomac. Besides being the owner of all this land, Lord Baltimore was also the ruler of the colony. He invited people to go over and settle in Maryland and offered to give them large tracts of land on payment of a small sum every year forever. Each man's payment was small, but all the payments taken together made quite a large amount, which went on growing larger and larger as Maryland was settled. The Baltimore's were broad-minded men. They 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. No priest of that faith was allowed to live in England and Roman Catholics who were not priests had to pay heavy fines simply because they were Roman Catholics. Lord Baltimore hoped that his fellow Catholics might find a place of shelter in Maryland and many of the leading colonists were Roman Catholics. But most of the laborers were Protestants. Soon came the Puritans from Virginia. They were kindly received in given land. 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. This was the first Toleration Act in the history of America. It was the first Toleration Act in the history of modern times. But the Puritan Roger Williams had already established religious freedom in Rhode Island. 41. Maryland Industries Tobacco was the most important crop in early Maryland, but grain was raised in many parts of the colony. In time also there grew up a large trading town. This was Baltimore. Its ship owners and merchants became rich and numerous while there were almost no ship owners or merchants in Virginia. There were also fewer slaves in Maryland than in Virginia. Nearly all the hard labor in the former colony was done by white servants. In most other ways, however, Virginia and Maryland were nearly alike. Chapter 6 Of a Short History of the United States This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia A Short History of the United States By Edward Channing Chapter 6 New England 42. The Puritans The New England colonies were founded by English Puritans who left England because they could not do as they wished in the homeland. All Puritans were agreed and wishing for a freer government than they had in England under the Stuart Kings. And, in state matters, were really the liberals of their time. In religious matters, however, they were not all of one mind. Some of them wished to make only a few changes in the church. These were called non-conformists. Others wished to make so many changes in religion that they could not stay in the English state church. These were called separatists. The settlers of Plymouth were separatists. The settlers of Boston and neighboring towns were non-conformists. 43. The Pilgrims Of all the groups of the separatists gathered over England, none became so famous as those who met at Elder Brewster's house at Scrooby. King James decided to make all Puritans conformed to the state church or to hunt them out of the land. These Scrooby people soon felt the weight of their persecution. After suffering great hardships and cruel treatment, they fled away to Holland. There, they found it very difficult to make a living. They suffered so terribly that many of their English friends preferred to go to prison in England rather than lead such a life of slavery in Holland. So, the Pilgrims determined to found a colony in America. They reasoned that they could not be worse off in America, because that would be impossible. At all events, their children would not grow up as Dutchmen, but would still be Englishmen. They had entire religious freedom in Holland, but they thought they would have the same in America. 44. The voyage across the Atlantic Brewster's old friend, Sir Edwin Sandys, was now at the head of the Virginia Company. He easily procured land for the Pilgrims in Northern Virginia near the Dutch settlements. Some London merchants lent them money, but they lent it on such harsh conditions that the Pilgrims' early life in America was nearly as hard as their life had been in Holland. They had a dreadful voyage across the Atlantic in the Mayflower. At one time, it seemed as if the ship would surely go down. But the Pilgrims helped the sailors to place a heavy piece of wood under one of the deck beams and saved the vessel from going to pieces. On November 19th, 1620, they sighted land off the coast of Cape Cod. They tried to sail around the Cape to the southward, but the storms drove them back and they anchored in Provincetown Harbor. 45. The Mayflower Compact, 1620 All the passengers on the Mayflower were not Pilgrims. Some of them were servants sent out by the London merchants to work for them. These men said that as they were outside of Virginia, the leaders of the expedition would have no power over them as soon as they got on land. This was true enough so 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. Finally, on December 21st, 1620, a boat party landed on the mainland inside of Plymouth Harbor. They decided to found their colony on the shore of that place. 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. It was in the midst of a cold New England winter. The work was hard and food and clothing were not well suited to the workers' needs. Before the Mayflower sailed away in the spring, one half of the little band was dead. 47. New Plymouth Colony Of all the Indians who once had lived near Plymouth, only one remained. His name was Squanto. He came to the Pilgrims in the spring. He taught them to grow corn and to dig clams and thus save them from starvation. The Pilgrims cared for him most kindly as long as he lived. Another and more important Indian also came to Plymouth. He was Massasoit, the chief of the strongest Indian tribe near Plymouth. With him, the Pilgrims made a treaty which both parties obeyed for more than 50 years. Before long, the Pilgrims' life became somewhat easier. They worked hard to raise food for themselves. They fished off the coasts and brought furs from the Indians. In these ways, they got together enough money to pay back the London merchants. Many of their friends joined them. Other towns were settled nearby and Plymouth became the capital of the colony of New Plymouth. But the colony was never very prosperous and in the end was added to Massachusetts. 48. The Founding of Massachusetts, 1629-30 Unlike the poor and humble Pilgrims were the founders of Massachusetts. They were men of wealth and social position as, for instance, John Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall. They left comfortable homes in England to found a Puritan state in America. They got a great tract of land extending from the Merrimack to the Charles and westward across the continent. Hundreds of colonists came over in the years 1629-1630. They settled Boston, Salem, and neighboring towns. In the next ten years, thousands more joined them. From the beginning, Massachusetts was strong and prosperous. Among so many people there were some who did not get on happily with the rulers of the colony. 49. Roger Williams and Religious Liberty Among the newcomers was Roger Williams, a Puritan minister. He disagreed with the Massachusetts leaders on several points. For instance, he thought that the Massachusetts people had no right to their lands and he insisted that the rulers had no power in religious matters as enforcing the laws as to Sunday. He insisted on these points so strongly that 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 everyone should be free to worship God as he or she saw fit. 50. The Rhode Island Towns Soon another band of exiles came from Massachusetts. These were Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers. 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. Naturally, they did not like this. Their friends were more numerous than were Mrs. Hutchinson's friends and the latter had to leave Massachusetts. They settled on the island of Rhode Island in 1637. 51. The Connecticut Colony Besides those Puritans whom the Massachusetts people drove from their colony, there were other settlers who left Massachusetts of their own free will. Among these were the founders of Connecticut. The Massachusetts people would gladly have had them remain, but they were discontented and insisted on going away. They settled the towns of Hartford, Windsor and Weathersfield on the Connecticut River. At about the same time, John Winthrop Jr. let a colony to save Brooke at the mouth of the Connecticut. Up to this time, the Dutch had seemed to have the best chance to settle the Connecticut Valley, but the control of that region was now definitely in the hands of the English. 52. The Pequot War, 1637 The Pequot Indians were not so ready as the Dutch to admit that resistance was hopeless. They attacked Weathersfield. They killed several colonists and carried others away into captivity. Captain John Mason of Connecticut and Captain John Underhill of Massachusetts went against them with about 100 men. They surprised the Indians in their fort. They set fire to the fort and shot down the Indians as they strove to escape from their burning wigwams. In a short time, the Pequot tribe was destroyed. 53. The First American Constitution, 1638-39 The Connecticut colonists had leisure now to settle the form of their government. Massachusetts had such a liberal charter that nothing more seemed to be necessary in that colony. The Mayflower Compact did well enough for the pilgrims. The Connecticut people had no charter, and they wanted something more definite than a vague compact. So, in the winter of 1638-1639, they met at Hartford and sat down on paper, a complete set of rules for their guidance. This was the first time in the history of the English race that any people had tried to do this. The Connecticut Constitution of 1638-39 is therefore looked upon as the first truly political written constitution in history. The government, thus established, was very much the same as that of Massachusetts, with the exception that in Connecticut there was no religious condition for the right to vote, as there was in Massachusetts. 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. But this colony was not well situated for commerce and was far too near the Dutch settlement. It was never as prosperous as Connecticut and was finally joined to that colony. 55. The New England Confederation, 1643 Besides the settlements that have already been described, there were colonists living in 1943, the Pilgrims. Of all the groups of the separatists gathered over England, for some of those towns were within her limits. In 1640, the Long Parliament met in England and in 1645, Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans destroyed the Royal Army in the Battle of Naysby. 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. There were the French on the north and the east and the Dutch on the west. The Indians too were living in their midst and might at any time turn on the whites and kill them. 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. The colonists living in Rhode Island and in Maine did not belong to the Confederation, but they enjoyed many of the benefits flowing from it. For it was quite certain that the Indians and the French and the Dutch would think twice before attacking any of the New England settlements. 56. Social Conditions The New England colonies were all settled on the town system for there were no industries which demanded large plantations as tobacco planting. The New Englanders were small farmers, mechanics, shipbuilders and fishermen. There were few servants in New England and almost no Negro slaves. Most of the laborers were free men and worked for wages as laborers now do. Above all, the New Englanders were very zealous in the matter of education. Harvard College was founded in 1636. A few years later, a law was passed compelling every town to provide schools for all the children in the town. End of Chapter 6. Chapter 7 of A Short History of the United States This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing. Chapter 7. New Netherland and New Sweden 57. The Dutch At this time, the Dutch were the greatest traders and shipowners in the world. They were especially interested in the commerce of the East Indies. Indeed, the Dutch India Company was the most successful trading company in existence. The way to the East Indies lay through seas carefully guarded by the Portuguese so the Dutch India Company hired Henry Hudson, an English sailor, to search for a new route to India. 58. Hudson's Voyage, 1609 He set forth in 1609 in the Half Moon, a staunch little ship. At first, he sailed northward, but I soon blocked his way. He then sailed southwestward to find a strait which was said to lead through America north of Chesapeake Bay. On August 3rd, 1609, he reached the entrance of what is now New York Harbor. Soon, the Half Moon entered the mouth of the river that still bears her captain's name. Up, up the river she sailed until finally she came to anchor near the present site of Albany. The ship's boat sailed even farther north. Everywhere the country was delightful. The Iroquois came off to the ship in their canoes. Hudson received them most kindly. Quite unlike the way Champlain treated the Iroquois Indians at about the same time on the shore of Lake Champlain. Then Hudson sailed down the river again and back to Europe. He made one later voyage to America, this time under the English flag. He was turned adrift by his men in Hudson's Bay and perished in the cold and ice. 59. The Dutch Fertrators Hudson's failure to find a new way to India made the Dutch India Company lose interest in American exploration. But many Dutch merchants were greatly interested in Hudson's account of the Great River of the Mountain. They thought 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 peopeling 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 400 colonists in New Netherland, but the colony did not grow rapidly. So the company tried to interest rich men in the scheme of colonization by giving them large tracts of land and large powers of government. These great landowners were called patroons. Most of them were not very successful. Indeed, the whole plan was given up before long and land was given to anyone who would come out and settle. 61. Kieft and the Indians 1643 to 44 The worst of the early Dutch governors was William Kieft. He was a bankrupt and a thief who was sent to New Netherland in the hope that he would reform. At first, he did well and put a stop to the smuggling and cheating which were common in the colony. Immigrants came over in large numbers and everything seemed to be going on well when Kieft's brutality brought on an Indian war that nearly destroyed the colony. The Indians living near New Amsterdam sought shelter from the Iroquois on the mainland opposite Manhattan Island. Kieft thought it would be a grand thing to kill all these Indian neighbors while they were collected together. He sent a party of soldiers across the river and killed many of them. The result was a fierce war with all the neighboring tribes. The Dutch colonists were driven from their farms. Even in New Amsterdam with its stockade was not safe. For the Indians sometimes came within the stockade and killed the people in the town. When there were less than 200 people left in New Amsterdam, Kieft was recalled and Peter Stuyvesant was sent as governor in his stead. 62. Stuyvesant's Rule Stuyvesant was a hot-tempered energetic soldier who had lost a leg in the company service. He ruled New Netherland for a long time from 1647 to 1664. And he ruled so sternly that the colonists were glad when the English came and conquered them. This unpopularity was not entirely Stuyvesant's fault. The Dutch West India Company was a failure. It had no money to spend for the defense of the colonists and Stuyvesant was obliged to lay heavy taxes on the people. 63. New Sweden When the French, the English and the Dutch were founding colonies in America, the Swedes also thought that they might as well have a colony there too. They had no claim to any land in America. But 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. As long as the European war went on, the Swedes were not interfered with. But when the European war came to an end, Stuyvesant was told to conquer them. This he did without much trouble, as he had about as many soldiers as there were Swedish colonists. In this way, 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 south of these settlements, there was the earlier Spanish colony of St. Augustine. The Spanish colonists were very few in number, but they gave Spain a claim to Florida. The Swedish colony had been absorbed by the stronger Dutch colony. We have also seen how very unlike were the two English groups of colonies. They were both settled by Englishmen, but there the likeness stops. For Virginia and Maryland were slave colonies. They produced large crops of tobacco. New England colonists, on the other hand, were practically all free. They lived in towns and engaged in all kinds of industries. 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. End of Chapter 7. Chapters 8 and 9 of A Short History of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing. Part 3. A Century of Colonial History. From 1660 to 1760. Chapter 8. The Colonies Under Charles II. 65. The Puritans and the Colonists. 1649 to 16. 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 the England's rulers. After some hesitation, the Virginians accepted the authority of Cromwell and the Puritans. In return, they were allowed to govern themselves. In Maryland, the Puritans overturned Baltimore's governor and ruled the province for some years. 66. Colonial Policy of Charles II. In 1660, Charles II became king of England or was restored to the throne, as people said at the time. Almost at once, there was a great revival of interest in colonization and the new government interfered vigorously in colonial affairs. In 1651, the Puritans had begun the system of giving the English trade only to English merchants and ship owners. This system was now extended and the more important colonial products could only be carried to English ports. 67. Attacks on Massachusetts. The new government was especially displeased by the independent spirit shown by Massachusetts. Only good Puritans could vote in that colony and members of the Church of England could not even worship as they wished. The Massachusetts people paid no heed whatever to the navigation laws and asserted that acts of parliament had no force in the colony. It chanced that at this time, Massachusetts had placed herself clearly in the wrong by hanging four persons for no other reason than that they were Quakers. The English government thought that now the time had come to assert its power. It ordered the Massachusetts rulers to send other 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 liberal charters to Connecticut and Rhode Island. Indeed, these charters were so liberal that they remained the constitutions of the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island until long after the American Revolution. 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 thumped up and down on his wooden leg, but he was almost the only man in New Amsterdam who wanted to fight. He 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. Little else was changed in the colony. The Dutch were allowed to live very nearly as they had lived before and soon became even happier and more contented than they had been under Dutch rule. Many English settlers now came in. The colony became rich and prosperous, but the people had little to do with their own government. 71. New Jersey. No sooner had James received New Netherland from his brother than he hastened to give some of the best portions of it to two faithful friends, Sir George Carteray and Lord Berkeley. Their territory extended from New York Harbor to the Delaware River and was named New Jersey in honor of Carteray's defense on the island of Jersey against the Puritans. Colonists at once began coming to the new province and settled at Elizabeth Town. 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 were always getting into disputes with one another, so they asked Queen Anne to take charge of the government of the province. This she did by telling the governor of New York to govern New Jersey also. This was not what the Jersey people had expected, but they had their own legislature. In time, they also 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 Jersey farms. The colonists were industrious and their soil was fertile. They were very religious and paid great attention to education. New Jersey became very prosperous and so continued until the Revolution. 73. The founding of Carolina. The planting of New Jersey was not the only colonial venture of Carter Ray in Berkeley. With Lord Chancellor Clarendon and other noblemen they 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 there were a few settlers living in the northern part of the colony. Other colonists came from outside mainly from the Barbados 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. South Carolina at once became prosperous. This was due to the fact that the soil and the climate of that region were well suited to the cultivation of rice. The rice swamps brought riches to the planters. They also compelled the employment of large numbers of Negro slaves. Before long indeed there were more Negroes than whites in South Carolina. In this way there grew up two distinct centers of colonial life in the province. 75. Bacon's Rebellion 1676. By this time the Virginians had become very discontented. There had been no election to the colonial assembly since 1660 and Governor Berkeley was very tyrannical. The Virginians also wanted more churches and more schools. To add to these causes of discontent the Indians now attacked the settlers and Berkeley seemed to take very little interest in protecting the Virginians. 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. Bacon returned and Berkeley fled. Bacon marched against the Indians again and Berkeley came back. And so the rebellion went on until Bacon died. Berkeley then captured the other leaders one after another and hanged them. But when he returned to England Charles II turned his back to him saying, The old fool has killed more men in Virginia than I for the murder of my father. 76. Virginia After Bacon's Rebellion The Virginians were now handed over to a set of greedy governors. Some of them came to America to make their fortunes. But some of them were governors whom the people of other colonies would not have. The only event of importance in the history of the colony during the next 25 years was the founding of William and Mary College 1691 at Williamsburg. It was the second oldest college in the English colonies. 77. King Philip's War 1675 to 76. It was not only in Virginia and Maryland that the Indians were restless at this time. In New England they also attacked the Whites. They were led by Massasoit's son, King Philip, an able and far-seeing man. He saw with dismay how rapidly the Whites were driving the Indians away from their hunting grounds. The Indians burned the English villages on the frontier and killed hundreds of the settlers. The strongest chief to join Philip was Cannon Chat of the near-against-its. The colonial soldiers stormed his fort and killed a thousand Indian warriors. Foralong, 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 was a Quaker and was also a friend of Charles II and James Duke of York. He wished to found a colony in which he and the Quakers could work out their ideas in religious and civil matters. It chanced that Charles owed Penn a large sum of money. As Charles seldom had any money, he was very glad to give Penn instead a large tract of land in America. In this way, Penn obtained Pennsylvania. James, for his part, gave him Delaware. 79. Founding of Pennsylvania, 1682. William Penn had a great reputation for honesty and fair dealing among the English Quakers and among the Quakers on the continent of Europe as well. As soon as it was known that he was to found a colony, great numbers of persons came to Pennsylvania from England and from Germany. 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 for the growth of grain. In the second place, Penn was very liberal to his colonists. He gave them a large share in the government of the province and he allowed no religious persecution. He also insisted on fair and honest dealing with the Indians. 80. Mason and Dixon's Line. In the 17th century, the geography of America was very little understood in Europe and the persons who drew up colonial charters understood at least of all. Charter lines frequently overlapped and were very often indistinct. This was particularly true of the Maryland and Pennsylvania boundaries. Penn and Baltimore tried to come to an agreement, but they never could agree. Years afterward, when they were both dead, their heirs agreed to have a line drawn without much regard to the charters. This line was finally 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 19th century, it separated the free states from the slave states. Mason and Dixon's Line, therefore, has been a famous line in the history of the United States. End of Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Colonial Development, 1688-1760. 81. The Stuart Tyranny. Instead of admiring the growth of the colonies and strength and liberty, Charles and James saw it with this May. The colonies were becoming too strong and too free. They determined to reduce all the colonies to royal provinces, like Virginia, with the exception of Pennsylvania, which belonged to their friend, William Penn. There was a good deal to be said in favor of this plan, for the colonists were so jealous of each other that they would not unite against the French or the Indians. If the governments were all in the hands of the king, the whole strength of the British colonies could be used against any enemy of England. 82. The Stuart Tyranny in New England. The Massachusetts Charter was now taken away, and Sir Edmund Andrus was sent over to govern the colony. He was ordered to make laws and to tax the people without asking their consent. He did as he was ordered to do. He set up the Church of England. He taxed the people. He even took their lands from them on the ground that the grants from the old Massachusetts government were of no value. When one man pointed to the magistrate's signature to his grant, Andrus told him that their names were worth no more than a scratch with a bear's paw. 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. By this time, Charles was dead, and James was king of England. The English people did not like James any better than the New Englanders like Andrus. In 1688, they 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 Andrus and his followers and shut them up in prison. April 18, 1689. The people of Connecticut and Rhode Island turned out Andrus' agents and set up their old governments. In New York, also, Andrus' 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. For a year or two, William was very busy in Ireland and on the continent. At length, he had time to attend to colonial affairs. He appointed royal governors for both Pennsylvania and Maryland. William Penn soon had his colony given back to him, but the Baltimore's had to wait many years before they recovered Maryland. In New York, there was a dreadful tragedy. For the new governor, Slaughter, was persuaded to order the execution of the leaders in the rising against Andrus. Massachusetts did not get her old charter back, but she 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 to 60. During these years, immigrants throngs to America, and the colonies became constantly stronger. Commerce everywhere developed, and many manufacturers were established. Throughout the colonies, the people everywhere gained power, and had it not been for the French and Indian wars, they would have been happy. Aside from these wars, the most important events of these years were the overthrow of the Carolina proprietors and the founding of Georgia. 86. North and South Carolina. The Carolina proprietors and their colonists had never got on well together. They now got on worse than ever. The greater part of the colonists were not members of the established church, but the proprietors tried to take away the right to vote from all persons who were not of that faith. They also interfered in elections and tried to prevent the formation of a true representative assembly. They could not protect the people against the pirates who blockaded Charleston for weeks at a time. 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. But there had always been two separate colonies in Carolina. 87. The founding of Georgia, 1732. In those days, it was the custom in England to send persons who could not pay their debts to prison. Of course, many of these poor debtors were really industrious persons whom misfortune or sickness had driven into debt. General Oglethorpe, a member of parliament, looked into the prison management. He was greatly affected by the sad fate of these poor debtors and determined to do something for them. 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. Parliament also gave money. For the government thought it was very desirable to have a colony between the rich plantations of Carolina and the Spanish settlements in Florida. 88. Georgia, 1733-52. Naturally, Oglethorpe had no difficulty in getting colonists. For the poor debtors and other oppressed persons were very glad to have a new start in life. Savannah was founded in 1733. The Spaniards, however, were not at all glad to have an English colony planted so near Florida. They attacked the Georgians and Oglethorpe spent years in fighting them. The Georgia colonists found it very difficult to compete with the Carolina planters. For the Carolinians had slaves to work for them and the proprietors of Georgia would not let the Georgians own slaves. Finally, they gave way and permitted the colonists to own slaves. But this so disheartened the Georgia proprietors that they gave up the enterprise and handed the colony over to the king. In this way, Georgia became a royal province. End of chapter 9. Chapter 10 of a Short History of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester at Athens, Georgia. A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing. Chapter 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 and it was easy enough to see that if William became King of England, he would be very much more powerful than he was when he was only Prince of Orange. So Louis took up the cause of James and 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. They greatly outnumbered the French. They were much more prosperous and well-to-do. But their settlements were scattered over a great extent of seacoast from Kennebec to the Savannah. Their governments were more or less free, but this very freedom weakened them for war. The French colonial government was dispositive, directed from France. Whatever resources the French had in America were certain to be well used. 91. King William's War. 1689 to 97. The Iroquois began this war by destroying Montreal. The next winter, the French invaded New York. They captured Schenectady and killed nearly all of its inhabitants. Other vans destroyed New England towns and killed or drove away their inhabitants. The English, on their part, seized Port Royale and 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 to 13. In 1701, the conflict began again. It lasted for 12 years until 1713. It was in this war that the Duke of Marlboro won the battle of Blenheim and made for himself a great reputation. In America, the French and Indians made long expeditions to New England. The English colonists again attacked Quebec and again failed. In one thing, however, they were successful. They again seized Port Royale. This time, the English kept Port Royale and all of Acadia. Port Royale, they called Annapolis, and the name of Acadia was changed to Nova Scotia. 93. King George's War. 1744 to 48. From 1713 to 1744, there was no war between the English and the French. But in 1744, fighting began again in earnest. The French and Indians attacked the New England frontier towns and killed many people. But the New Englanders, on their part, won a great success. After the French lost to Acadia, they built a strong fortress on the island of Cape Breton. To this, they gave the name of Louisburg. The New Englanders fitted out a great expedition and captured Louisburg without much help from the English. But at the close of the war, 1748, the fortress was given back to the French to the disgust of the New Englanders. 94. The French in the Mississippi Valley. The Spaniards had discovered the Mississippi and had explored its lower valley. But they had found no gold there and had abandoned the country. It was left for French explorers more than 100 years later to rediscover the Great River and to explore it from its upper waters to the Gulf of Mexico. The first Frenchman to sail down the river to its mouth was La Salle. In 1681, with three canoes, he floated down the Mississippi until he reached a place where the Great River divided into three large branches. He sent one canoe down each branch. Returning, they all reported they had reached the open sea. 95. Founding of Louisiana. La Salle named this immense region Louisiana in honor of the French king. He soon led an expedition to plant a colony on the banks of the Mississippi. Sailing into the Gulf of Mexico, he missed the mouth of the Mississippi and landed on the coast of Texas. Misfortune after misfortune now fell on the unhappy expedition. La Salle was murdered, the stores were destroyed, the Spaniards and Indians came and killed or captured nearly all the colonists. A few only gained the Mississippi and made their way to Canada. In 1699, another French expedition appeared in the Gulf of Mexico. This time, the mouth of the Mississippi was easily discovered, but 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. At the close of King George's War, the French set to work to connect the settlements in Louisiana with those on the St. Lawrence. In 1749, French explorers gained the Allegoni River from Lake Erie and went down the Ohio as far as 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. Governor Den Witte of Virginia learned that the French were building forts on the Ohio and sent them a letter protesting against their doing so. The bearer of this letter was George Washington, a young Virginia surveyor. 97. George Washington. Of an old Virginia family, George Washington grew up with the idea that he must earn his own living. His father was a well-to-do planter, but Augustine Washington was the eldest son and, as was the custom then in Virginia, he inherited most of the property. Augustine Washington was very kind to his younger brother and gave him a good practical education as a land surveyor. The younger man was a bold athlete and fond of studying military campaigns. He was full of courage, industrious, honest, and of great common sense. Before he was 20, he had surveyed large tracts of wilderness and had done his work well amidst great difficulties. When Den Witte 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. Fort Ducan. Instead of heeding Den Witte's warning, the French set to work to build Fort Ducan at the spot where Allegani in Monongalea joined to form the Ohio on the site of the present-day city of Pittsburgh. Den Witte, therefore, sent Washington with a small force of soldiers to drive them away, but the French were too strong for Washington. They besieged him in Fort Necessity and compelled him to surrender. July 4th, 1754. 99. Braddock's Defeat, 1755. The English government now sent General Braddock with a small army of regular soldiers to Virginia. Slowly and painfully, Braddock marched westward. Learning of his approach, the French and Indians left Fort Ducan to draw him into ambush, but the two forces came together before either party was prepared for battle. For some time, the contest was even. Then the regulars broke and fled. Braddock was fatally wounded. With great skill, Washington saved the survivors, but not until four shots had pierced his coat and only 30 of his three companies of Virginians were left alive. 100. The War to 1759. All the earlier French and Indian wars had begun in Europe and had spread to America. This war began in America and soon spread to Europe. At first, affairs were very ill, but in 1757, William Pitt became the British War Minister and the war began to be waged with vigor and success. The old generals were called home and new men placed in command. In 1758, Amherst and Wolfe captured Lewisburg and Forbes, greatly aided by Washington, seized Fort Ducan. Bradstreet captured Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. There was only one bad failure, that of Abercrombie at Taken, Daroga, but the next year, Amherst captured Taken, Daroga and crowned Point and opened the way to Canada by Lake Champlain. 101. Capture of Quebec, 1759. Of all the younger generals, James Wolfe was foremost. To him was given the task of capturing Quebec. Seated on a high bluff, Quebec could not be captured from the river. The only way to approach it was to gain the plains of Abraham in its rear and besiege it on the land side. Again and again, Wolfe sent his men to storm the bluffs below the town every time they failed. Wolfe felt that he must give up the task when he was told that a path led from the river to the top of the bluff above the town. Putting his men into boats, they gained the path in the darkness of night. There was a guard at the top of the bluff, but the officer in command was a coward and ran away. In the morning, the British army was drawn up on the plains of Abraham. The French now attacked the British and a fierce battle took place. The result was doubtful when Wolfe led a charge at the head of the Louisbourg Grenadiers. He was killed, but the French were beaten. Five days later, 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. There were now practically only two powers in America, the British in the eastern part of the continent and the Spaniards west of the Mississippi. The Spaniards also owned the island of New Orleans and controlled both sides of the river for more than 100 miles from its mouth. But the treaty gave the British the free navigation of the Mississippi throughout its length.