A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing

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_b_. How and why had the center of population changed since 1791? Where
is it now?

_c_. Why did so many people live near tide water? Do the same reasons
exist to-day?

Sec.Sec. 230-232.--_a_. What were the "best roads" in 1800?

_b_. Describe the dangers and discomforts of traveling in 1800.

_c_. What were the early steamboats like?

Sec.Sec. 233, 234.--_a_. What fact hindered the growth of cotton on a large
scale in colonial times?

_b_. How did Whitney's cotton gin change these conditions?

Sec.Sec. 235, 236.--_a_. Why had manufacturing received so little attention
before the Revolution?

_b_. How did the new government encourage manufacturing?

CHAPTER 23

Sec. 237.--_a_. How did Jefferson's inauguration illustrate his political
ideas?

_b_. Compare his method of opening Congress with that employed by
Washington and Adams. Which method is followed to-day?

Sec.Sec. 238.--_a_. What is the Civil Service? How had Washington and Adams
filled offices? Was their action wise?

Sec.Sec. 239.--_a_. Explain the Judiciary Act of 1801.

_b_. What power has Congress over the Judiciary? (Constitution, Art.
III).

Sec.Sec. 240.--_a_. What was Jefferson's policy toward expenses? How did he
carry it out? What was the result of these economies?

_b_. Was the reduction of the navy wise? What conditions make a large
navy necessary?

Sec.Sec. 241-244.--_a_. When and how had Louisiana changed hands since its
settlement? Why were the Spaniards poor neighbors?

_b_. How did the United States acquire Louisiana?

_c_. Trace on a map the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase. Compare
its value to-day with the price paid.

_d_. What important discoveries did Lewis and Clark make?

Sec.Sec. 245, 246.--_a_. Give instances which illustrate the disadvantages of
the old way of electing the President and Vice-President.

_b_. Explain carefully the changes made by the Twelfth Amendment, and
show how a President may be elected by a minority of the voters.

CHAPTER 24

Sec.Sec. 247.--_a_. Describe the doings of the African pirates. Why had
Washington and Adams paid them?

_b_. Describe Jefferson's action and state the results.

Sec.Sec. 248, 249.--_a_. Compare the power of France and Great Britain at this
time.

_b_. How did they try to injure one another? How did they treat American
ships?

_c_. Explain the impressment of sailors by the British.

Sec.Sec. 250, 251.--_a_. Describe the difficulties of Jefferson's position.

_b_. Give instances of refusal to buy British goods and the results.

_c_. Explain the Embargo Act. Why was it a failure?

_d_. Describe the outrage on the _Chesapeake_. Was the offer of the
British government enough? What more should have been promised?

Sec.Sec. 252, 253.--_a_. What were Jefferson's objections to a third term?
What custom was established by these early Presidents?

_b_. Where have we found Madison prominent before?

_c_. Explain the difference between the Embargo Act and the
Non-Intercourse Act.

Sec.Sec. 254, 255.--_a_. Describe the attempt to renew friendly intercourse
with Great Britain.

_b_. What do you think of Napoleon's treatment of the United States?

Sec.Sec. 256.--_a_. What caused the trouble with the Indians?

_b_. Describe Harrison's action. How were the British connected with
this Indian trouble?

Sec.Sec. 257-259.--_a_. How did all these affairs affect the relations between
the United States and Great Britain?

_b_. Explain the attitude of Clay and Calhoun.

_c_. What is meant by the "rising spirit of nationality"?

_d_. Illustrate, by facts already studied, the reasons given in
Madison's message.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

_a_. How has machinery influenced the history of the United States?

_b_. Draw a map showing the extent of the United States in 1802 and
1804.

_c_. What were the four most important things in Jefferson's
administrations? Why do you select these?

TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK

_a_. Robert Fulton or Eli Whitney.

_b_. Exploration of the Northwest.

_c_. War with the African pirates.

_d_. Life and manners in 1800.

SUGGESTIONS

The purchase of Louisiana and the early development of the West are
leading points in this period. With the latter must be coupled the
important inventions which made such development possible. Commercial
questions should receive adequate attention and should be illustrated by
present conditions.

Jefferson's attitude toward both the Louisiana Purchase and the
enforcement of the Embargo Act is an illustration of the effect which
power and responsibility have on those placed at the head of the
government. This can also be illustrated by events in our own time.

IX

WAR AND PEACE, 1812-1829

Books for Study and Reading

References.--Higginson's _Larger History, _365-442; Scribner's
_Popular History, _IV; Lossing's _Field-Book of the War of 1812;
_Coffin's _Building the Nation, _149-231.

Home Readings.--Barnes's _Yankee Ships; _Roosevelt's _Naval War of
1812; _Seawell's _Midshipman Paulding; _Holmes's _Old Ironsides;
_Goodwin's _Dolly Madison._

CHAPTER 25

THE SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1812 1815

[Sidenote: American plan of campaign, 1812.]

[Sidenote: Objections to it.]

260. Plan of Campaign, 1812.--The American plan of campaign was
that General Hull should invade Canada from Detroit. He could then march
eastward, north of Lake Erie, and meet another army which was to cross
the Niagara River. These two armies were to take up the eastward march
and join a third army from New York. The three armies then would capture
Montreal and Quebec and generally all Canada. It was a splendid plan.
But there were three things in the way of carrying it out: (i) there was
no trained American army; (2) there were no supplies for an army when
gathered and trained; and (3) there was a small, well-trained and
well-supplied army in Canada.

[Illustration: DETROIT, ABOUT 1815.]

[Sidenote: Hull's march to Detroit.]

[Sidenote: His misfortunes.]

[Sidenote: He surrenders Detroit, 1812.]

261. Hull's Surrender of Detroit, 1812.--In those days Detroit was
separated from the settled parts of Ohio by two hundred miles of
wilderness. To get his men and supplies to Detroit, Hull had first of
all to cut a road through the forest. The British learned of the actual
declaration of war before Hull knew of it. They dashed down on his
scattered detachments and seized his provisions. Hull sent out
expedition after expedition to gather supplies and bring in the
scattered settlers. Tecumthe and the other Indian allies of the British
captured one expedition after another. The British advanced on Detroit,
and Hull surrendered. By this disaster the British got control of the
upper lakes. They even invaded Ohio.

[Illustration: PERRY'S BATTLE FLAG.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Lake Erie 1813. McMaster, 234-235.]

[Sidenote: Battle of the Thames, 1813.]

262. Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, 1813.--But the British triumph
did not last long. In the winter of 1812-13 Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
built a fleet of warships on Lake Erie. They were built of green timber
cut for the purpose. They were poor vessels, but were as good as the
British vessels. In September, 1813, Perry sailed in search of the
British ships. Coming up with them, he hoisted at his masthead a large
blue flag with Lawrence's immortal words, "Don't give up the ship" (p.
212), worked upon it. The battle was fiercely fought. Soon Perry's
flagship, the _Lawrence_, was disabled and only nine of her crew were
uninjured. Rowing to another ship, Perry continued the fight. In fifteen
minutes more all the British ships surrendered. The control of Lake Erie
was now in American hands. The British retreated from the southern side
of the lake. General Harrison occupied Detroit. He then crossed into
Canada and defeated a British army on the banks of the river Thames
(October, 1813).

[Illustration: THE "CONSTITUTION." From an early painting of the escape
of the _Constitution_ from the British fleet. The men in the boat are
preparing to carry out a small anchor.]

[Sidenote: The _Constitution_.]

[Sidenote: Chased by a British fleet, 1812.]

[Sidenote: She escapes.]

263. The Frigate _Constitution_.--One of the first vessels to get
to sea was the _Constitution_, commanded by Isaac Hull. She sailed from
Chesapeake Bay for New York, where she was to serve as a guard-ship. On
the way she fell in with a British squadron. The _Constitution_ sailed
on with the whole British fleet in pursuit. Soon the wind began to die
away. The _Constitution's_ sails were soaked with water to make them
hold the wind better. Then the wind gave out altogether, Captain Hull
lowered his boats and the men began to tow the ship. But the British
lowered their boats also. They set a great many boats to towing their
fastest ship, and she began to gain on the _Constitution_. Then Captain
Hull found that he was sailing over shoal water, although out of sight
of land, so he sent a small anchor ahead in a boat. The anchor was
dropped and men on the ship pulled in the anchor line. This was done
again and again. The _Constitution _now began to gain on the British
fleet. Then a sudden squall burst on the ships. Captain Hull saw it
coming and made every preparation to take advantage of it. When the rain
cleared away, the _Constitution_ was beyond fear of pursuit. But she
could not go to New York, so Captain Hull took her to Boston. The
government at once ordered him to stay where he was; but, before the
orders reached Boston, the _Constitution_ was far away.

[Sidenote: _Constitution_ and _Guerriere_, 1812.]

[Sidenote: Reasons for the victory.]

264. _Constitution_ and _Guerriere_, 1812.--For some time Hull
cruised about in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One day he sighted a British
frigate--the _Guerriere_--one of the ships that had chased the
_Constitution_. But now that Hull found her alone, he steered straight
for her. In thirty minutes from the firing of the first gun the
_Guerriere_ was a ruinous wreck. All of her masts and spars were shot
away and most of her crew were killed or wounded. The _Constitution_ was
only slightly injured, and was soon ready to fight another British
frigate, had there been one to fight. Indeed, the surgeons of the
_Constitution_ went on board of the _Guerriere_ to help dress the wounds
of the British seamen. The _Guerriere_ was a little smaller than the
_Constitution_ and had smaller guns. But the real reason for this great
victory was that the American ship and the American guns were very much
better handled than were the British ship and the British guns.

[Sidenote: _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_]

[Sidenote: Effect of these victories.]

265. The _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_, 1812.--At almost the same time
the American ship _Wasp_ captured the British brig _Frolic_. The _Wasp_
had three masts, and the _Frolic_ had only two masts. But the two
vessels were really of about the same size, as the American ship was
only five feet longer than her enemy, and had the lighter guns. In a few
minutes after the beginning of the fight the _Frolic_ was a shattered
hulk, with only one sound man on her deck. Soon after the conflict a
British battleship came up and captured both the _Wasp_ and her prize.
The effect of these victories of the _Constitution_ and the _Wasp_ was
tremendous. Before the war British naval officers had called the
_Constitution_ "a bundle of sticks." Now it was thought to be no longer
safe for British frigates to sail the seas alone. They must go in pairs
to protect each other from "Old Ironsides." Before long the
_Constitution_, now commanded by Captain Bainbridge, had captured the
British frigate _Java_, and the frigate _United States_, Captain
Decatur, had taken the British ship _Macedonian_. On the other hand, the
_Chesapeake_ was captured by the _Shannon_. This victory gave great
satisfaction to the British. But Captain Lawrence's last words, "Don't
give up the ship," have always been a glorious inspiration to
American sailors.

[Sidenote: Plan of campaign, 1814.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Lundy's Lane, 1814.]

266. Brown's Invasion of Canada, 1814.--In the first two years of
the war the American armies in New York had done nothing. But abler men
were now in command. Of these, General Jacob Brown, General Macomb,
Colonel Winfield Scott, and Colonel Ripley deserve to be remembered.
The American plan of campaign was that Brown, with Scott and Ripley,
should cross the Niagara River and invade Canada. General Macomb, with a
naval force under McDonough, was to hold the line of Lake Champlain. The
British plan was to invade New York by way of Lake Champlain. Brown
crossed the Niagara River and fought two brilliant battles at Chippewa
and Lundy's Lane. The latter battle was especially glorious because the
Americans captured British guns and held them against repeated attacks
by British veterans. In the end, however, Brown was obliged to retire.

[Sidenote: Invasion of New York.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Plattsburg, 1814.]

267. McDonough's Victory at Plattsburg, 1814.--General Prevost,
with a fine army of veterans, marched southward from Canada, while a
fleet sailed up Lake Champlain. At Plattsburg, on the western side of
the lake, was General Macomb with a force of American soldiers. Anchored
before the town was McDonough's fleet. Prevost attacked Macomb's army
and was driven back. The British fleet attacked McDonough's vessels and
was destroyed. That put an end to Prevost's invasion. He retreated back
to Canada as fast as he could go.

[Illustration: FORT McHENRY.]

[Sidenote: Burning of Washington, 1814.]

[Sidenote: "The Star-Spangled Banner."]

268. The British in the Chesapeake, 1814.--Besides their operations
on the Canadian frontier, the British tried to capture New Orleans and
the cities on Chesapeake Bay. The British landed below Washington. They
marched to the capital. They entered Washington. They burned the
Capitol, the White House, and several other public buildings. They then
hurried away, leaving their wounded behind them. Later on the British
attacked Baltimore and were beaten off with great loss. It was at this
time that Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." He was
detained on board one of the British warships during the fight. Eagerly
he watched through the smoke for a glimpse of the flag over Fort McHenry
at the harbor's mouth. In the morning the flag was still there. This
defeat closed the British operations on the Chesapeake.

[Illustration: FLAG OF FORT McHENRY. Fifteen stars and fifteen
stripes--one of each for each state.]

[Sidenote: Jackson's Creek campaign, 1814.]

269. The Creek War.--The Creek Indians lived in Alabama. They saw
with dismay the spreading settlements of the whites. The Americans were
now at war. It would be a good chance to destroy them. So the Creeks
fell upon the whites and murdered about four hundred. General Andrew
Jackson of Tennessee commanded the American army in the Southwest. As
soon as he knew that the Creeks were attacking the settlers, he gathered
soldiers and followed the Indians to their stronghold. He stormed their
fort and killed most of the garrison.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. From a sketch by one of Jackson's
staff.]

[Sidenote: Battle of New Orleans, 1815.]

[Sidenote: _Hero Tales_, 139-147.]

270. Jackson's Defense of New Orleans, 1814-15.--Jackson had
scarcely finished this work when he learned of the coming of a great
British expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi River. He at once
hastened to the defense of New Orleans. Below the city the country
greatly favored the defender. For there was very little solid ground
except along the river's bank. Picking out an especially narrow place,
Jackson built a breastwork of cotton bales and rubbish. In front of the
breastwork he dug a deep ditch. The British rushed to the attack. Most
of their generals were killed or wounded, and the slaughter was
terrible. Later, they made another attack and were again beaten off.

[Sidenote: Naval combats, 1814.]

271. The War on the Sea, 1814.--It was only in the first year or so
of the war that there was much fighting between American and British
warships. After that the American ships could not get to sea, for the
British stationed whole fleets off the entrances to the principal
harbors. But a few American vessels ran the blockade and did good
service. For instance, Captain Charles Stewart in the _Constitution_
captured two British ships at one time. But most of the warships that
got to sea were captured sooner or later.

[Sidenote: The privateers. _Hero Tales_, 129-136.]

272. The Privateers.--No British fleets could keep the privateers
from leaving port. They swarmed upon the ocean and captured hundreds of
British merchantmen, some of them within sight of the shores of Great
Britain. In all, they captured more than twenty-five hundred British
ships. They even fought the smaller warships of the enemy.

[Sidenote: Treaty of peace, 1814.]

273. Treaty of Ghent, 1814.--The war had hardly begun before
commissioners to treat for peace were appointed by both the United
States and Great Britain. But they did nothing until the failure of the
1814 campaign showed the British government that there was no hope of
conquering any portion of the United States. Then the British were ready
enough to make peace, and a treaty was signed at Ghent in December,
1814. This was two weeks before the British disaster at New Orleans
occurred, and months before the news of it reached Europe. None of the
things about which the war was fought were even mentioned in the treaty.
But this did not really make much difference. For the British had
repealed their orders as to American ships before the news of the
declaration of war reached London. As for impressment, the guns of the
_Constitution_ had put an end to that.

[Illustration: THE OLD STATE HOUSE. Where the Hartford Convention met.]

[Sidenote: New England Federalists.]

[Sidenote: Hartford Convention, 1814.]

274. The Hartford Convention, 1814.--While the New commissioners
were talking over the treaty of peace, other debaters were discussing
the war, at Hartford, Connecticut. These were leading New England
Federalists. They thought that the government at Washington had done
many things that the Constitution of the United States did not permit it
to do. They drew up a set of resolutions. Some of these read like those
other resolutions drawn up by Jefferson and Madison in 1798 (p. 175).
The Hartford debaters also thought that the national government had not
done enough to protect the coasts of New England from British attacks.
They proposed, therefore, that the taxes collected by the national
government in New England should be handed over to the New England
states to use for their defense. Commissioners were actually at
Washington to propose this division of the national revenue when news
came of Jackson's victory at New Orleans and of the signing of the
Treaty of Ghent. The commissioners hastened home and the Republican
party regained its popularity with the voters.

[Illustration: A REPUBLICAN SQUIB ON THE HARTFORD CONVENTION.]

[Sidenote: Gains of the war.]

[Sidenote: The American nation.]

275. Gains of the War.--The United States gained no territory after
all this fighting on sea and land. It did not even gain the abolition of
impressment in so many words. But what was of far greater importance,
the American people began to think of itself as a nation. Americans no
longer looked to France or to England as models to be followed. They
became Americans. The getting of this feeling of independence and of
nationality was a very great step forward. It is right, therefore, to
speak of this war as the Second War of Independence.

[Illustration: JAMES MONROE.]

CHAPTER 26

THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING, 1815-1824

[Sidenote: Monroe elected President, 1816, 1820.]

[Sidenote: Characteristics of the Era of Good Feeling. _McMaster_, 260.]

276. The Era as a Whole.--The years 1815-24 have been called the
Era of Good Feeling, because there was no hard political fighting in all
that time--at least not until the last year or two. In 1816 Monroe was
elected President without much opposition. In 1820 he was reelected
President without any opposition whatever. Instead of fighting over
politics, the people were busily employed in bringing vast regions of
the West under cultivation and in founding great manufacturing
industries in the East. They were also making roads and canals to
connect the Western farms with the Eastern cities and factories. The
later part of the era was a time of unbounded prosperity. Every now and
then some hard question would come up for discussion. Its settlement
would be put off, or the matter would be compromised. In these years the
Federalist party disappeared, and the Republican party split into
factions. By 1824 the differences in the Republican party had become so
great that there was a sudden ending to the Era of Good Feeling.

[Sidenote: Hard times, 1816-18.]

[Sidenote: Emigration to the West, 1816-18. _McMaster_, 241, 266-273.]

[Sidenote: Four states admitted, 1816-1819]

[Sidenote: Maine and Missouri apply for admission.]

277. Western Emigration.--During the first few years of this period
the people of the older states on the seacoast felt very poor. The
shipowners could no longer make great profits. For there was now peace
in Europe, and European vessels competed with American vessels. Great
quantities of British goods were sent to the United States and were sold
at very low prices. The demand for American goods fell off. Mill owners
closed their mills. Working men and women could find no work to do. The
result was a great rush of emigrants from the older states on the
seaboard to the new settlements in the West. In the West the emigrants
could buy land from the government at a very low rate, and by working
hard could support themselves and their families. This westward movement
was at its height in 1817. In the years 1816--19, four states were
admitted to the Union. These were Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817),
Illinois (1818), and Alabama (1819). Some of the emigrants even crossed
the Mississippi River and settled in Missouri and in Arkansas. In 1819
they asked to be admitted to the Union as the state of Missouri, or
given a territorial government under the name of Arkansas. The people of
Maine also asked Congress to admit them to the Union as the state
of Maine.

[Sidenote: Objections to the admission of Missouri.]

278. Opposition to the Admission of Missouri.--Many people in the
North opposed the admission of Missouri because the settlers of the
proposed state were slaveholders. Missouri would be a slave state, and
these Northerners did not want any more slave states. Originally slavery
had existed in all the old thirteen states. But every state north of
Maryland had before 1819 either put an end to slavery or had
adopted some plan by which slavery would gradually come to an end.
Slavery had been excluded from the Northwest by the famous Ordinance of
1787 (p. 135). In these ways slavery had ceased to be a vital
institution north of Maryland and Kentucky. Why should slavery be
allowed west of the Mississippi River? Louisiana had been admitted as a
slave state (1812). But the admission of Louisiana had been provided for
in the treaty for the purchase of Louisiana from France. The Southerners
felt as strongly on the other side. They said that their slaves were
their property, and that they had a perfect right to take their
property and settle on the land belonging to the nation. Having founded
a slave state, it was only right that the state should be admitted to
the Union.

[Illustration: (Map) Missouri Compromise of 1820]

[Sidenote: This Missouri Compromise, 1820. _Higginson_, 254-256;
_Eggleston_, 258-261.]

[Sidenote: Both states admitted, 1820. _McMaster_,274-276.]

279. The Missouri Compromise, 1820.--When the question of the
admission of Maine and Missouri came before Congress, the Senate was
equally divided between the slave states and the free states. But the
majority of the House of Representatives was from the free states. The
free states were growing faster than were the slave states and would
probably keep on growing faster. The majority from the free states in
the House, therefore, would probably keep on increasing. If the free
states obtained a majority in the Senate also, the Southerners would
lose all control of the government. For these reasons the Southerners
would not consent to the admission of Maine as a free state unless at
the same time Missouri was admitted as a slave state. After a long
struggle Maine and Missouri were both admitted--the one as a free state,
the other as a slave state. But it was also agreed that all of the
Louisiana purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri, with the
single exception of the state of Missouri, should be free soil
forever. This arrangement was called the Missouri Compromise. It was the
work of Henry Clay. It was an event of great importance, because it put
off for twenty-five years the inevitable conflict over slavery.

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