A Short History of the United States by Channing Read online

  Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Keren Vergon, Charlie Kirschner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

  [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.]