A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing

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[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.]

"Our children shall behold his fame,
The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man,
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,
New birth of our new soil, the first American."

--LOWELL.

A SHORT HISTORY

OF

THE UNITED STATES

_FOR SCHOOL USE_

BY

EDWARD CHANNING

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR OF "A STUDENTS' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," ETC.

_WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS_

1908

PREFACE

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 text-book writer, by 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 text-book a story book. It is a text-book pure and simple, and
should be used as a text-book, 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 a mass of
anecdotes,--often of very slight importance, and more often based on
very insecure foundations. The author of this text-book, therefore, has
boldly ventured to omit most of the traditional matter which is usually
supposed to give life to a text-book and to inspire a "love of
history,"--which too often means only a love of being amused. For
instance, descriptions of the formation of the Constitution and of 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 omission 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 text-book. 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 for the Union. Attention may also be given the 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. Acknowledgments
are also due to Miss Beulah Marie Dix for very many admirable
suggestions as to language and form. The author will cordially welcome
criticisms and suggestions from any one, especially from teachers, and
will be very glad to receive notice of any errors.

CAMBRIDGE,

March 29, 1900.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 1000-1600.

1. The European Discovery of America.
2. Spanish and French Pioneers in the United States.
3. Pioneers of England.

II

COLONIZATION, 1600-1660.

4. French Colonists, Missionaries, and Explorers.
5. Virginia and Maryland.
6. New England.
7. New Netherland and New Sweden.

III

A CENTURY OF COLONIAL HISTORY, 1660-1760.

8. The Colonies under Charles II.
9. Colonial Development, 1688-1760.
10. Expulsion of the French.

IV

COLONIAL UNION, 1760-1774.

11. Britain's Colonial System.
12. Taxation without Representation.
13. Revolution impending.

V

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1775-1783.

14. Bunker Hill to Trenton.
15. The Great Declaration and the French Alliance.
16. Independence.

VI

THE CRITICAL PERIOD, 1783-1789.

17. The Confederation, 1783-1787.
18. Making of the Constitution, 1787-1789.

VII

THE FEDERALIST SUPREMACY, 1789-1801.

19. Organization of the Government.
20. Rise of Political Parties.
21. The Last Federalist Administration.

VIII

THE JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANS, 1801-1812.

22. The United States in 1800.
23. Jefferson's Administrations.
24. Causes of the War of 1812.

IX

WAR AND PEACE, 1812-1829.

25. The Second War of Independence, 1812-1815.
26. The Era of Good Feeling, 1815-1824.
27. New Parties and New Policies, 1824-1829.

X

THE NATIONAL DEMOCRACY, 1829-1844.

28. The American People in 1830.
29. The Reign of Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837.
30. Democrats and Whigs, 1837-1844.

XI

SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES, 1844-1859.

31. Beginning of the Antislavery Agitation.
32. The Mexican War.
33. The Compromise of 1850.
34. The Struggle for Kansas.

XII

SECESSION, 1860-1861.

35. The United States in 1860.
36. Secession, 1860-1861.

XIII

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861-1865.

37. The Rising of the Peoples, 1861.
38. Bull Run to Murfreesboro', 1861-1862.
39. The Emancipation Proclamation.
40. The Year 1863.
41. The End of the War, 1864-1865.

XIV

RECONSTRUCTION AND REUNION, 1865-1869.

42. President Johnson and Reconstruction, 1865-1869.
43. From Grant to Cleveland, 1869-1889.

XV

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1889-1900.

44. Confusion in Politics.
45. The Spanish War.

MAPS.

UNITED STATES, SHOWING FORMS OF LAND.
BRITISH DOMINIONS IN NORTH AMERICA.
UNITED STATES IN 1783.
CLAIMS AND CESSIONS.
TERRITORIAL ACQUISITIONS.
UNITED STATES IN 1800.
UNITED STATES IN 1803.
UNITED STATES IN 1819.
UNITED STATES IN 1830.
UNITED STATES IN 1850.
UNITED STATES IN 1860.
SLAVERY AND SECESSION.
UNITED STATES IN 1900.
DEPENDENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE WORLD, ETC..

_Table of Dates_

1815-1824. Era of Good Feeling.
1819. The Florida Treaty.
1820. Missouri Compromise.
1823. The Monroe Doctrine.
1825. The Erie Canal.
1828. Election of Jackson.
1830. The Locomotive.
1832. The Nullification Episode.
1840. Election of William H. Harrison.
1844. The Electric Telegraph.
1845. The Horse Reaper.
1845. Annexation of Texas.
1846. The Oregon Treaty.
1846-1848. The Mexican War (Acquisition of California, New Mexico, etc.)
1849. California (Discovery of Gold).
1850. Compromise of 1850.
1854. Kansas-Nebraska Act.
1857. The Dred Scott Case.
1861-1865. The War for the Union.
1863. Emancipation Proclamation, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg.
1867. Purchase of Alaska.
1867. Reconstruction Acts.
1868. Impeachment of Johnson.
1876. The Electoral Commission.
1881-1883. Civil Service Reform.
1890. Sherman Silver Law (Repealed, 1893).
1898. The War with Spain.

TO THE TEACHER

The lists of "Books for Study and Reading" contain such titles only as
are suited to the pupil's needs. The teacher will find abundant
references in Channing's _Students' History of the United States_ (N.Y.,
Macmillan). The larger work also contains the reasons for many
statements which are here given as facts without qualification.
Reference to the _Students' History_ is made easy by the fact that the
divisions or parts (here marked by Roman numerals) cover the same
periods in time as the chapters of the larger work. On the margins of
the present volume will be found specific references to three text-books
radically unlike this text-book either in proportion or in point of
view. There are also references to easily accessible sources and to a
few of the larger works. It is not suggested that any one pupil, or even
one class, shall study or read all of these references. But every pupil
may well read some of them under each division. They are also suited to
topical work. Under the head of "Home Readings" great care has been
taken to mention such books only as are likely to be found interesting.

The books most frequently cited in the margins are Higginson's _Young
Folks' History_ (N.Y., Longmans), cited as "_Higginson_"; Eggleston's
_United States and its People_ (N.Y., Appleton), cited as "_Eggleston_",
McMaster's _School History of the United States_ (N.Y., American Book
Co.), cited as "_McMaster_"; Higginson's _Book of American Explorers_
(N.Y., Longmans), cited as "_Explorers_"; Lodge and Roosevelt, _Hero
Tales from American History_, cited as "_Hero Tales_"; and Hart's
_Source-Book of American History_ (N.Y., Macmillan), cited as
"_Source-Book_."

THE UNITED STATES

I

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION,
1000-1600

Books for Study and Reading

References.--Parkman's _Pioneers of France_ (edition of 1887 or a
later edition); Irving's _Columbus_ (abridged edition).

Home Readings.--Higginson's _Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the
Atlantic_; Mackie's _With the Admiral of the Ocean Sea_ (Columbus);
Lummis's _Spanish Pioneers_; King's _De Soto in the Land of Florida_;
Wright's _Children's Stories in American History_; Barnes's _Drake and
his Yeomen_.

CHAPTER I

THE EUROPEAN DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

[Sidenote: Leif Ericson.]

1. Leif Ericson discovers America, 1000.--In our early childhood
many of us learned to repeat the lines:--

Columbus sailed the ocean blue
In fourteen hundred, ninety-two.

[Sidenote: Leif discovers America, 1000. _Higginson_, 25-30; _American
History Leaflets_, No. 3.]

We thought that he was the first European to visit America. But nearly
five hundred years before his time Leif Ericson had discovered the New
World. He was a Northman and the son of Eric the Red. Eric had already
founded a colony in Greenland, and Leif sailed from Norway to make him a
visit. This was in 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 grape-vines. They called it Vinland or Wineland. 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 Ericson, the Northman, was therefore the real discoverer
of America.

[Illustration: EUROPE, ICELAND, GREENLAND, AND NORTH AMERICA.]

[Sidenote: Marco Polo, Cathay, and Cipango.]

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 of 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 Cipango or Japan. This last country was an island. Its king was
so rich that even the floors of his palaces were of 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.

[Sidenote: Portuguese seamen.]

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 seamen sailed
around the southern end 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 da Gama,
actually reached India by the Cape of Good Hope, and returned safely to
Portugal (1497).

[Sidenote: Columbus and his beliefs. _Higginson, 31-35; Eggleston, 1-3;
American History Leaflets_, No. 1.]

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 three
thousand 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.

[Sidenote: Columbus reaches America, 1492. _Higginson, 35-37; Eggleston,
3-5_.]

5. The Voyage, 1492.--Columbus left Spain in August, 1492, and,
refitting at the Canaries, sailed westward into the Sea of Darkness. At
ten o'clock in the evening of October 20, 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
Columbus--for were they not inhabitants of the Far East? So he called
them Indians.

[Illustration: SHIPS, SEA-MONSTERS, AND INDIANS. From an early Spanish
book on America.]

[Sidenote: The Indians, _Higginson, 13-24; Eggleston, 71-76_.]

[Sidenote: Columbus discovers Cuba.]

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.

[Sidenote: John Cabot visits North America, 1497. _Higginson, 40-42;
Eggleston, 8-10; American History Leaflets_, No. 9.]

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 Grand Khan. Upon his discovery English kings
based their claim to the right to colonize North America.

[Sidenote: Americus Vespucius, his voyages and books. _Higginson_,
37-38; _Eggleston_, 7-8.]

[Sidenote: The New World named America.]

8. The Naming of America.--Many other explorers also visited the
new-found lands. Among these was an Italian named Americus Vespucius.
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 had found were a part of Asia. It was natural,
therefore, that people in thinking of the New World should think of
Americus Vespucius. Before long some one 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.

[Illustration: AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.]

[Sidenote: Balboa sees the Pacific, 1513.]

[Sidenote: Magellan's great voyage, 1520. _Eggleston_, 10-11.]

9. Balboa and 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. Wading into it waist 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. Thence
northward and westward he sailed day after day, week after week, and
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.

CHAPTER 2

SPANISH AND FRENCH PIONEERS IN THE UNITED STATES

[Sidenote: Indian traditions.]

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 Ponce de Leon (Pon'tha da
la-on'). He determined to see for himself if these stories were true.

[Sidenote: De Leon visits Florida, 1513. _Higginson_, 42.]

[Sidenote: De Leon's death.]

11. Discovery of Florida, 1513.--In the same year that Balboa
discovered the Pacific Ocean, Ponce 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 los
Flores. So De Leon called the new land Florida. For the Spaniards were a
very religious people and usually named their lands and 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 again visited
Florida, was wounded by an Indian arrow, and returned home to die.

[Sidenote: Discovery of the Mississippi.]

[Sidenote: Conquest of Mexico.]

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 there great store of gold
and silver. This discovery led to more expeditions and to the
exploration of the southern half of the United States.

[Sidenote: Coronado sets out from Mexico, 1540.]

[Sidenote: The pueblo Indians. _Source Book_, 6.]

13. Coronado in the Southwest, 1540-42.--In 1540 Coronado set out
from the Spanish towns on the Gulf of California to seek for more gold
and silver. For seventy-three days he journeyed northward until he came
to the pueblos (pweb'-lo) of the Southwest. These pueblos were huge
buildings of stone and sun-dried clay. Some of them were large enough
to shelter three hundred Indian families. Pueblos are still to be seen
in Arizona and New Mexico, and the Indians living in them even to this
day tell 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.

[Illustration: _By permission of the Bureau of Ethnology._ THE PUEBLO OF
ZUNI (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH).]

[Sidenote: Coronado finds the Great Plains.]

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
vast 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.

[Sidenote: De Soto in Florida, 1539. _Explorers_, 119-138.]

[Sidenote: De Soto crosses the Mississippi.]

15. De Soto in the Southeast, 1539-43.--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 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.

[Sidenote: Other Spanish explorers.]

[Sidenote: Attempts at settlement.]

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.

[Sidenote: Verrazano's voyages, 1524. _Higginson_, 44-45; _Explorers_,
60-69.]

[Sidenote: Cartier in the St. Lawrence, 1534-36. _Explorers_ 99-117.]

17. Early French Voyages, 1524-36.--The first French expedition to
America was led by an Italian named Verrazano (Ver-rae-tsae'-no), 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 (Kar'-tya'). 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
twenty-four of them perished of cold and sickness. In the spring of 1536
the survivors returned to France.

[Sidenote: Ribault explores the Carolina coasts, 1562.]

[Sidenote: French colonists in Carolina. _Explorers_, 149-156.]

18. The French in Carolina, 1562.--The French next explored the
shores of the Carolinas. Ribault (Re'-bo') 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. Johns. He left a few men on the Carolina coast and returned to
France. A year or more these men remained. Then wearying of their life
in 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.

[Sidenote: French colonists in Florida.]

19. The French in Florida, 1564-65.--While these Frenchmen were
slowly drifting across the Atlantic, a great French expedition was
sailing to Carolina. Finding Ribault'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 bought 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.

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