A Short History of the United States
by
Edward Channing
Part 1 out of 7
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.]
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.
[Sidenote: Spaniards and Frenchmen.]
[Sidenote: End of the French settlement, 1565. _Explorers_, 159-166.]
20. The Spaniards in Florida, 1565.--For this purpose the Spaniards
sent out an expedition under Menendez (Ma-nen'-deth). He sailed to the
River of May and found Ribault there with a French fleet. So he turned
southward, and going ashore founded St. Augustine. Ribault 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 Ribault 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
to-day the oldest town on the mainland of the United States.
CHAPTER 3
PIONEERS OF ENGLAND
[Sidenote: Hawkins's voyages, 1562-67.]
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.
[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.]
[Sidenote: Drake on the California coast, 1577-78. _Source-Book_, 9.]
22. Sir Francis Drake.--A greater and a more famous man was
Hawkins's 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 round 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.
[Sidenote: Ralegh and his colonies. _Eggleston_, 13-17; _Explorers_,
177-189.]
23. Sir Walter Ralegh.--Still another famous Englishman of
Elizabeth's time was Walter Ralegh. 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 Amadas and Barlowe 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.
[Sidenote: Ralegh's last attempt, 1587. _Explorers_, 189-200.]
24. The "Lost Colony," 1587.--Ralegh 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.
[Sidenote: Ruin of Spain's sea-power. _English History for Americans_,
131-135.]
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 Englishmen to go
thither. He determined to conquer England and thus put an end to these
English voyages. But Hawkins, Drake, Ralegh, and the men behind the
English guns were too strong even for the Invincible Armada. Spain's
sea-power never recovered from this terrible blow. Englishmen could now
found colonies with 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.
* * * * *
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 1
Sec.Sec. 1-3.--a. To how much honor are the Northmen entitled as the
discoverers of America?
b. Draw from memory a map showing the relative positions of Norway,
Iceland, Greenland, and North America.
c. What portions of the world were known to Europeans in 1490? Explain
by drawing a map.
Sec.Sec. 4-6.--a. State Columbus's beliefs about the shape and size of the
earth.
b. What land did Columbus think that he had reached?
c. What is meant by the statement that "he took possession" of the new
land?
d. Describe the appearance of the Indians, their food, and their
weapons.
Sec.Sec. 7-9.--a. What other Italians sailed across the Atlantic before 1500?
Why was Cabot's voyage important?
b. Why was the New World called America and not Columbia?
c. Describe the discovery of the Pacific Ocean. Why was this discovery
of importance?
CHAPTER 2
Sec.Sec. 10-12.--a. What was the chief wish of the Spanish explorers?
b. How did they treat the Indians?
Sec.Sec. 13-16.--a. Describe a pueblo. What do the existing pueblos teach us
about the Indians of Coronado's time?
b. Describe Coronado's march.
c. What other band of Spaniards nearly approached Coronado's men?
Describe their march.
d. What other places were explored by the Spaniards?
Sec.Sec. 17-20.--a. Why did Verrazano explore the northeastern coasts?
b. Describe Cartier's experiences in the St. Lawrence.
c. Describe the French expeditions to Carolina and Florida.
d. What reason had the Spaniards for attacking the French?
CHAPTER 3
Sec.Sec. 21, 22.--a. Look up something about the early voyages of Francis
Drake.
b. Compare Drake's route around the world with that of Magellan.
Sec.Sec. 23-25.--a. Explain carefully Ralegh's connection with our history.
b. Was the territory Ralegh named Virginia just what is now the state of
Virginia?
c. What is sea-power?
d. What effect did the defeat of Spain have upon _our_ history?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
a. Draw upon an Outline Map the routes of all the explorers mentioned.
Place names and dates in their proper places.
b. Arrange a table of the various explorers as follows, stating in two
or three words what each accomplished:--
================================================
DATE. | SPANISH. | FRENCH. | ENGLISH.
-------+-----------+----------+-----------------
1492 | Columbus | |
1497 | | | Cabot.
================================================
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK
a. Columbus's first voyage, Irving (abridged edition).
b. Coronado's expedition, Lummis's _Spanish Pioneers_.
c. Verrazano and Cartier, Higginson's _Explorers_.
d. The "Lost Colony," Higginson's _Explorers_.
e. The England of Elizabeth (a study of any small history of England
will suffice for this topic).
SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER
The teacher is recommended to study sources in preparing her work,
making selections where possible, for the pupil's use. Some knowledge of
European history (English especially) is essential for understanding our
early history, and definite work of this nature on the teacher's part,
at least, is earnestly advised.
Encourage outside reading by assigning subjects for individual
preparation, the results to be given to the class. Let the children keep
note books for entering the important points thus given.
Map study and map drawing should be constant, but demand correct
relations rather than finished drawings. Geographical environment should
be emphasized as well as the influence of natural resources and
productions in developing the country and in determining its history.
In laying out the work on this period the teacher should remember that
this part is in the nature of an introduction.
II
COLONIZATION, 1600-1660
Books for Study and Reading
References.--Fiske's _United States for Schools_, 59-133;
Eggleston's _United States and its People_, 91-113 (for colonial life);
Parkman's _Pioneers_ (for French colonies); Bradford's _Plymouth
Plantation_ (extracts in "American History Leaflets," No. 29).
Home Readings.--Drake's _Making of New England_; Drake's _Making of
Virginia and the Middle States_; Eggleston's _Pocahontas and Powhatan_;
Dix's _Soldier Rigdale_ (Pilgrim children); Irving's _Knickerbocker
History_; Webster's _Plymouth Oration_; Longfellow's _Myles Standish_;
Moore's _Pilgrims and Puritans_.
CHAPTER 4
FRENCH COLONISTS, MISSIONARIES, AND EXPLORERS
[Sidenote: Settlement of Acadia, 1604.]
[Sidenote: Port Royal.]
26. The French in Acadia.--For nearly forty 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.
[Sidenote: Champlain at Plymouth.]
[Sidenote: Quebec founded, 1608.]
[Sidenote: Champlain on Lake Champlain, 1609.]
[Sidenote: He attacks the Iroquois. _Explorers_, 269-278.]
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 French
colonists might have settled there. In 1608 Champlain built a
trading-post at Quebec and lived there for 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.
[Sidenote: French missionaries and traders.]
[Sidenote: They visit Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.]
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.
[Sidenote: The Jesuits and their work.]
29. The French Missionaries.--The most active of the French
missionaries were 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.
[Illustration: CHAMPLAIN'S ATTACK ON AN IROQUOIS FORT.]
[Sidenote: The League of the Iroquois.]
[Sidenote: Their hatred of the French. Its importance.]
[Sidenote: The missionaries and the Iroquois.]
30. The Iroquois.--The strongest of all the Indian tribes were the
nations who formed the League of the 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
the 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 English settlers and their common enemies in
Canada. Few events, in American history, therefore, have had such great
consequences as Champlain's unprovoked attacks upon the Iroquois.
CHAPTER 5
VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND
[Sidenote: New conditions of living in England.]
[Sidenote: The Virginia Company.]
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, and 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.
[Sidenote: The Virginia colonists at Jamestown, 1607. _Higginson_,
52, 110-117; _Eggleston_, 19-28; _Explorers_ 231-269.]
[Sidenote: Sickness and death.]
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 and James River
and settled on a peninsula on the James, about thirty 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 a 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 whatever. There
were a few energetic men among them as Ratcliffe, Archer, and Smith. But
these spent most of their time in exploring the bay and the rivers, in
hunting for gold, and in quarreling with one another. With the summer
came fevers, and soon fifty of the one hundred and five 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 "starving times." Of the first thousand colonists not one
hundred lived to tell the tale of those early days.
[Sidenote: Sir Thomas Dale.]
[Sidenote: His wise action.]
33. Sir Thomas Dale and 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.
[Sidenote: Tobacco.]
[Sidenote: Prosperity.]
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 workingmen 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.
[Sidenote: White servants.]
[Sidenote: Criminals.]
[Sidenote: Negro slaves, 1619.]
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 twenty in number. But the planters
preferred white laborers. It was not until more that twenty-five years
had passed away that the slaves really became numerous enough to make
much difference in the life of the colony.
[Sidenote: Sir Edwin Sandys.]
[Sidenote: The first American legislature, 1619.]
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 places. These latter were mostly Puritans (p. 29) or were
the friends and workers with the Puritans. The best known of them was
Sir Edwin Sandys, the playmate of William Brewster--one of the Pilgrim
Fathers (p. 29). Sandys and his friends sent Sir George Yeardley to
Virginia as governor. They ordered him to summon an assembly to be made
up of representatives chosen by the freemen of the colony. These
representatives soon did away with Dale's ferocious regulations, and
made other and much milder laws.
[Sidenote: End of the Virginia Company, 1624.]
[Sidenote: Virginia a royal province.]
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 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.
[Sidenote: Intolerance in Virginia.]
[Sidenote: Persecution of the Puritans.]
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.
[Sidenote: Maryland given to Baltimore, 1632.]
[Sidenote: Settlement of Maryland. _Higginson_, 121-123; _Eggleston_,
50-53; _Source-book_, 48-51.]
39. Settlement of Maryland.--Maryland included the most valuable
portion of Virginia north of the Potomac. Beside 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 the 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 Baltimores 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.
[Sidenote: Roman Catholics in England.]
[Sidenote: Roman Catholics and Puritans in Maryland.]
[Sidenote: The Toleration Act, 1649.]
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 and 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 (p. 33).
[Sidenote: Tobacco and grain.]
[Sidenote: Commerce.]
[Sidenote: Servants and slaves.]
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
shipowners and merchants became rich and numerous, while there were
almost no shipowners 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
NEW ENGLAND
[Sidenote: The English Puritans.]
[Sidenote: Non-Conformists.]
[Sidenote: Separatists.]
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 home land. All Puritans were agreed in 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.
[Sidenote: The Scrooby Puritans. _Higginson, 55-56; Eggleston_, 34.]
[Sidenote: They flee to Holland.]
[Sidenote: They decide to emigrate to America.]
43. The Pilgrims.--Of all the groups of Separatists scattered over
England none became so famous as those who met at Elder Brewster's house
at Scrooby. King James decided to make all Puritans conform to the State
Church or to hunt them out of the land. The Scrooby people soon felt the
weight of persecution. After suffering great hardships and cruel
treatment they fled away to Holland. But 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.
[Illustration: BREWSTER'S HOUSE AT SCROOBY. The Pilgrims held their
services in the building on the left, now used as a cow-house.]
[Sidenote: The voyage of the _Mayflower_, 1620.]
[Sidenote: The _Mayflower_ at Cape Cod.]
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 (p. 41). 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 19, 1620, they
sighted land off the coast of Cape Cod. They tried to sail around the
cape to the southward, but storms drove them back, and they anchored in
Provincetown harbor.
[Sidenote: The Pilgrims Compact, 1620.]
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.
[Illustration: map]
[Sidenote: The Pilgrims explore the coast. _Explorers_, 319-328.]
[Sidenote: Plymouth settled. _Higginson_,58-60; _Eggleston_, 35-38;
_Source-Book_, 39-41.]
[Sidenote: Sickness and death.]
46. The First Winter at Plymouth.--For nearly a month the Pilgrims
explored the shores of Cape Cod Bay. Finally, on December 21, 1620, a
boat party landed on the mainland inside of Plymouth harbor. They
decided to found their colony on the shore at 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 worker's
needs. Before the _Mayflower_ sailed away in the spring one-half of the
little band was dead.
[Sidenote: The Pilgrims and the Indians. _Explorers_, 333-337.]
[Sidenote: Success of the colony.]
[Sidenote: New Plymouth colony.]
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 saved 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, chief of the strongest Indian tribe near
Plymouth. With him the Pilgrims made a treaty which both parties obeyed
for more than fifty years. Before long the Pilgrims' life became
somewhat easier. They worked hard to raise food for themselves, they
fished off the coasts, and bought 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 near by, 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.
[Sidenote: Founders of Massachusetts.]
[Sidenote: _Explorers_ 341-361; _Source-book_ 45-48, 74-76.]
[Sidenote: Settlement of Massachusetts, 1630. _Higginson_, 60-64;
_Eggleston_, 39-41.]
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 Merrimac to the Charles, and westward across the continent. Hundreds
of colonists came over in the years 1629-30. 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.
[Sidenote: Roger Williams expelled from Massachusetts. _Higginson_,
68-70.]
[Sidenote: He founds Providence, 1636. _Source-book_, 52-54.]
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 every one should be free to worship God as he or she
saw fit.
[Sidenote: Mrs. Hutchinson and her friends.]
[Sidenote: They settle Rhode Island, 1637.]
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 (1637).
[Sidenote: The Connecticut colonists.]
[Sidenote: Founding of Connecticut, 1635-36. _Higginson_, 71-72.]
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., led a
colony to Saybrook, 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.
[Sidenote: Destruction of the Pequods, 1637.]
52. The Pequod War, 1637.--The Pequod Indians were not so ready as
the Dutch to admit that resistance was hopeless. They attacked
Wethersfield. 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 one hundred 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 Pequod tribe was destroyed.
[Illustration: JOHN WINTHROP, JR.]
[Sidenote: The Connecticut Orders of 1638-39.]
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
1638-39 they met at Hartford and set 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.
[Sidenote: The New Haven settlers.]
[Sidenote: New Haven founded, 1638. _Higginson_, 72-73.]
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 too
near the Dutch settlements (p. 41). It was never as prosperous as
Connecticut and was finally joined to that colony.
[Sidenote: Reasons for union.]
[Sidenote: Articles of Confederation, 1643.]
[Sidenote: New England towns. _Higginson_, 47-79.]
55. The New England Confederation, 1643.--Besides the settlements
that have already been described there were colonists living in New
Hampshire and in Maine. Massachusetts included the New Hampshire towns
within her government, 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 Naseby. In
these troubled times England could do little to protect the New England
colonists, and could do nothing to punish them for acting independently.
The New England colonists were surrounded by foreigners. 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.
[Illustration: A CHILD'S HIGH CHAIR, ABOUT 1650.]
[Sidenote: Education.]
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, ship-builders, 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.
CHAPTER 7
NEW NETHERLAND AND NEW SWEDEN
[Sidenote: The Dutch East India Company.]
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.
[Sidenote: Henry Hudson.]
[Sidenote: He discovers Hudson's River, 1609. _Higginson_, 88-90;
_Explorers_, 281-296.]
[Sidenote: His death. _Explorers_ 296-302.]
58. Hudson's Voyage, 1609.--He set forth in 1609 in the
_Half-Moon_, a stanch little ship. At first he sailed northward, but ice
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 3, 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 boats 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 other Iroquois Indians at about the
same time, on the shore of Lake Champlain (p. 20). 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.
[Sidenote: The Dutch fur-traders.]
[Sidenote: Settle on Manhattan Island.]
[Sidenote: New Netherland.]
59. The Dutch Fur-Traders.--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
that they could make money from trading for furs with the Indians. They
sent many expeditions to Hudson's River, and made a great deal of money.
Some of their captains explored the coast northward and southward as far
as Boston harbor and Delaware Bay. Their principal trading-posts were on
Manhattan Island, and near the site of Albany. In 1614 some of the
leading traders obtained from the Dutch government the sole right to
trade between New France and Virginia. They called this region New
Netherland.
[Sidenote: The Dutch West India Company, 1621. _Higginson_, 90-96;
_Explorers_, 303-307; _Source-book_, 42-44.]
[Sidenote: The patroons, 1628.]
60. The Founding of New Netherland.--In 1621 the Dutch West India
Company was founded. Its first object was trade, but it also was
directed "to advance the peopling" of the American lands claimed by the
Dutch. Colonists now came over; they settled at New Amsterdam, on the
southern end of Manhattan Island, and also on the western end of Long
Island. By 1628 there were four hundred colonists in New Netherland. 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 land owners were called
patroons. Most of them were not very successful. Indeed, the whole plan
was given up before long, and land was given to any one who would come
out and settle.
[Illustration: THE DUTCH COLONY OF NEW AMSTERDAM.]
[Sidenote: Governor Kieft.]
[Sidenote: Kieft orders the Indians to be killed.]
[Sidenote: Results of the massacre.]
61. Kieft and the Indians, 1643-44.--The worst of the early Dutch
governors was William Kieft (Keeft). 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. Emigrants 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 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 two hundred people
left in New Amsterdam, Kieft was recalled, and Peter Stuyvesant was sent
as governor in his stead.
[Sidenote: Peter Stuyvesant. _Higginson_, 97.]
62. Stuyvesant's Rule.--Stuyvesant was a hot-tempered, energetic
soldier who had lost a leg in the Company's 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 defence of
the colonists, and Stuyvesant was obliged to lay heavy taxes on
the people.
[Sidenote: The Swedes on the Delaware. _Higginson_, 106-108.]
[Sidenote: Stuyvesant conquers them.]
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.
[Sidenote: Summary.]
[Sidenote: The Chesapeake Colonies.]
[Sidenote: The New England Colonies.]
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. South of these settlements there was the
earlier Spanish colony at 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. The
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.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 4
Sec.Sec. 26, 27.--_a_. Mark on a map all the places mentioned in these
sections.
_b_. Describe Champlain's attacks on the Iroquois.
Sec.Sec. 28-30.--_a_. Compare the reasons for the coming of the French and the
Spaniards.
_b_. What work did the Jesuits do for the Indians?
_c_. Explain carefully why the hostility of the Iroquois to the French
was so important.
CHAPTER 5
Sec.Sec. 31, 32.--_a_. Give two reasons for the revival of English colonial
enterprises.
_b_. Describe the voyage and early experiences of the Virginia
colonists.
_c_. Give three reasons for the sufferings of the Virginia colonists.
Sec.Sec. 33-35.--_a_. What do you think of Sir Thomas Dale?
_b_. To what was the prosperity of Virginia due? Why?
_c_. What classes of people were there in Virginia?
Sec.Sec. 36-38.--_a_. What is the meaning of the word "Puritan" (see Sec. 43)?
Why is Sir Edwin Sandys regarded as the founder of free government in
the English colonies?
_b_. Describe the laws of Virginia as to Roman Catholics and Puritans.
Sec.Sec. 39-41.--_a_. Describe Lord Baltimore's treatment of his settlers.
What do you think of the wisdom of his actions?
_b_. How were Roman Catholics treated in England?
_c_. What is meant by toleration? Who would be excluded by the Maryland
Toleration Act?
_d_. Describe the likenesses and the differences between Virginia and
Maryland.
CHAPTER 6
Sec.Sec. 42-47.--_a_. Describe the voyage of the _Mayflower_.
_b_. What was the object of the Mayflower Compact?
_c_. Describe the Pilgrims' search for a place of settlement.
_d_. Read Bradford's account of the first winter at Plymouth.
_e_. What did Squanto do for the Pilgrims?
Sec.Sec. 48-50.--_a_. What advantages did the founders of Massachusetts have
over those of New Plymouth?
_b_. Look up the history of England, 1630-40, and say why so many
colonists came to New England in those years.
_c_. On what matters did Roger Williams disagree with the rulers of
Massachusetts?
_d_. How are Williams's ideas as to religious freedom regarded now?
_e_. Why was Mrs. Hutchinson expelled from Massachusetts?
Sec.Sec. 51-54.--_a_. How did the Pequod War affect the colonists on the
Connecticut?
_b_. What is a constitution? Why did the Connecticut people feel the
need of one? Why is the Connecticut constitution famous?
_c_. Why did the New Haven settlers found a separate colony?
Sec.Sec. 55, 56.--_a_. What two parties were fighting in England?
_b_. Give all the reasons for the formation of the New England
Confederation. What were the effects of this union?
_c_. Compare the industries of New England with those of Virginia.
CHAPTER 7
Sec.Sec. 57-59.--_a_. Why did the Dutch East India Company wish a northern
route to India?
_b_. Describe Hudson's and Champlain's expeditions, and compare their
treatment of the Iroquois.
_c_. What attracted the Dutch to the region discovered by Hudson?
Sec.Sec. 60-62.--_a_. What was the object of the Dutch West India Company?
What privileges did the patroons have?
_b_. Describe the career of Kieft. What were the results of his
treatment of the Indians?
_c_. What kind of a governor was Stuyvesant? Why was he unpopular?
Sec. 63.--_a_. In what European war were the Swedes and the Dutch engaged?
_b_. On what land did the Swedes settle?
_c_. Describe how New Sweden was joined to New Netherland.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
_a_. Mark on a map in colors the lands settled by the different European
nations.
_b_. Note the position of the Dutch with reference to the English, and
explain the importance of such position.
_c_. Give one fact about each of the colonies, and state why you think
it important.
_d_. Give one fact which especially interests you in connection with
each colony, and explain your interest.
_e_. In which colony would you have liked to live, and why?
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK
_a_. Champlain's place in American history (Parkman's _Pioneers_).
_b_. The First American Legislature and its work (Hart's
_Contemporaries_, I., No. 65).
_c_. Why did the Pilgrims come to America? (Bradford's _Plymouth_).
_d_. Arrange a table of the several settlements similar to that
described on page 18.
_e_. Write a composition on life in early colonial days (Eggleston's
_United States_, 91-113).
SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER
In treating this chapter aim to make clear the reasons for and
conditions of the settlement of each colony. Vividness can best be
obtained by a study of the writings of the time, especially of
Bradford's _History of Plymouth_. Use pictures in every possible way and
molding board as well.
Emphasize the lack of true liberty of thought, and lead the children to
understand that persecution was a characteristic of the time and not a
failing of any particular colony or set of colonists.
III
A CENTURY OF COLONIAL
HISTORY, 1660-1760
Books for Study and Reading
References.--Fiske's _United States for Schools_ 133-180;
McMaster's _School History_, 93-108 (life in 1763); _Source-Book_, ch.
vii; Fisher's _Colonial Era_; Earle's _Child Life_.
Home Readings.--Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_; Franklin's
_Autobiography_; Brooks's _In Leisler's Times_; Coffin's _Old Times in
the Colonies_; Cooper's _Last of the Mohicans_; Scudder's _Men and
Manners One Hundred Years Ago_.
CHAPTER 8
THE COLONIES UNDER CHARLES II
[Sidenote: The Puritan in England. Higginson and Channing, _English
History for Americans_, 182-195.]
[Sidenote: The Colonies, 1649-60.]
65. The Puritans and the Colonists, 1649-60.--In 1649 Charles I was
executed, and for eleven years the Puritans were supreme in England.
During this time the New England colonists governed themselves, and paid
little heed to the wishes and orders of England's rulers. 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.
[Sidenote: The Restoration, 1660. _English History for Americans_, 196.]
[Sidenote: The Navigation Laws.]
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 shipowners. This system was now extended, and
the more important colonial products could be carried only to
English ports.
[Sidenote: Charles II and Massachusetts.]
[Sidenote: Massachusetts and the Quakers. _Higginson_, 80-81.]
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.
[Sidenote: Charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 1662-63.]
[Sidenote: New Haven absorbed by Connecticut.]
68. Connecticut and Rhode Island.--While the English government was
attacking Massachusetts it was giving most liberal charters to
Connecticut and to 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.
[Illustration: THE OLDEST CHURCH SOUTH OF THE POTOMAC.]
[Sidenote: The English conquest of New Netherland, 1664. _Higginson_.
97-98.]
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.
[Sidenote: New Netherland given to the Duke of York and Albany.]
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.
[Sidenote: Origin of New Jersey, 1664.]
[Sidenote: Settlement of New Jersey.]
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 Carteret and Lord Berkeley. Their
territory extended from New York harbor to the Delaware River, and was
named New Jersey in honor of Carteret's defense of the island of Jersey
against the Puritans. Colonists at once began coming to the new province
and settled at Elizabethtown.
[Sidenote: East and West Jersey.]
[Sidenote: Prosperity.]
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 also they
secured a governor all to themselves and became a royal province
entirely separate from New York. Pennsylvania and New York protected the
Jersey people from the French and the Indians, and provided markets for
the products of the Jersey farms. 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.
[Sidenote: Founding of Carolina, 1663. _Higginson_, 124-127.]
73. The Founding of Carolina.--The planting of New Jersey was not
the only colonial venture of Carteret and 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.
[Sidenote: Northern Carolina.]
[Sidenote: Southern 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 Barbadoes and
settled on the Cape Fear River. In this way was formed a colony in
northern Carolina. But the most important settlement was in the southern
part of the province at Charleston. Southern Carolina at once became
prosperous. This was due to the fact that the soil and 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 southern Carolina. In this way there grew up two
distinct centers of colonial life in the province.
[Illustration: Southern Carolina.]
[Sidenote: Indian war.]
[Sidenote: Bacon's Rebellion, 1676.]
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."
[Illustration: THE HOUSE IN WHICH NATHANIEL BACON DIED. From an original
sketch.]
[Sidenote: Greedy Governors.]
[Sidenote: Founding of William and Mary College, 1691.]
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 twenty-five years was the founding
of William and Mary College (1691) at Williamsburg. It was the second
oldest college in the English colonies.
[Illustration: THE OPENING LINES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CHARTER SHOWING
ORNAMENTAL BORDER AND PORTRAIT OF CHARLES II.]
[Sidenote: King Philip's War, 1675-76. _Higginson_, 137-138;
_Eggleston_, 81-89.]
77. King Philip's War, 1675-76.--It was not only in Virginia and
Maryland that the Indians were restless at this time. In New England
also they 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 Canonchet of
the Narragansetts. The colonial soldiers stormed his fort and killed a
thousand Indian warriors. Before long King Philip himself was killed,
and the war slowly came to an end.
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