A Short History of the United States
by
Edward Channing
Part 2 out of 7
[Sidenote: William Penn.]
[Sidenote: The Pennsylvania Charter, 1681.]
78. William Penn.--Among the greatest Englishmen of that time was
William Penn. He was a Quaker and was also a friend of Charles II and
James, Duke of York. He wished to found a colony in which he and the
Quakers could work out their ideas in religious and civil matters. It
chanced that Charles owed Penn a large sum of money. As Charles seldom
had any money, he was very glad to give Penn instead a large tract of
land in America. In this way Penn obtained Pennsylvania. James, for his
part, gave him Delaware.
[Sidenote: Settlement of Pennsylvania, 1682. _Higginson_, 101-105;
_Eggleston_, 57-60; _Source-Book_, 67-69.]
79. Founding of Pennsylvania, 1682.--William Penn had a great
reputation for honesty and fair dealing among the English Quakers and
among the Quakers on the continent of Europe as well. As soon as it was
known that he was to found a colony, great numbers of persons came to
Pennsylvania from England and from Germany. In a very short time the
colony became strong and prosperous. In the first place, the soil of
Pennsylvania was rich and productive while its climate was well suited
to the growth of grain. In the second place, Penn was very liberal to
his colonists. He gave them a large share in the government of the
province and he allowed no religious persecution. He also insisted on
fair and honest dealing with the Indians.
[Sidenote: Mason and Dixon's line.]
[Sidenote: Its importance in history.]
80. Mason and Dixon's Line.--In the seventeenth century the
geography of America was very little understood in Europe--and the
persons who drew up colonial charters understood it least of all.
Charter lines frequently overlapped and were often very indistinct. This
was particularly true of the Maryland and Pennsylvania boundaries. Penn
and Baltimore tried to come to an agreement; but they never could agree.
Years afterward, when they were both dead, their heirs agreed to have a
line drawn without much regard to the charters. This line was finally
surveyed by two English engineers, Mason and Dixon, and is always
called after their names. It is the present boundary line between
Pennsylvania and Maryland. In colonial days it separated the colonies
where slavery was the rule from those where labor was generally free. In
the first half of the nineteenth century it separated the free states
from the slave states. Mason and Dixon's line, therefore, has been a
famous line in the history of the United States.
CHAPTER 9
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT, 1688-1760
[Sidenote: New policy of the Stuarts.]
[Sidenote: Reasons for the new policy.]
81. The Stuart Tyranny.--Instead of admiring the growth of the
colonies in strength and in liberty, Charles and James saw it with
dismay. The colonies were becoming too strong and too free. They
determined to reduce all the colonies to royal provinces, like
Virginia--with the exception of Pennsylvania which belonged to their
friend, William Penn. There was a good deal to be said in favor of this
plan, for the colonists were so jealous of each other that they would
not unite against the French or the Indians. If the governments were all
in the hands of the king, the whole strength of the British colonies
could be used against any enemy of England.
[Sidenote: End of the Massachusetts Company, 1684.]
[Sidenote: Governor Andros of New England, 1688.]
82. The Stuart Tyranny in New England.--The Massachusetts charter
was now taken away, and Sir Edmund Andros was sent over to govern the
colony. He was ordered to make laws and to tax the people without asking
their consent. He did as he was ordered to do. He set up the Church of
England. He taxed the people. He even took their lands from them, on the
ground that the grants from the old Massachusetts government were of no
value. When one man pointed to the magistrates' signatures to his grant,
Andros told him that their names were worth no more than a scratch with
a bear's paw. He also enforced the navigation laws and took possession
of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Plymouth. At the same time he was
also governor of New Hampshire and of New York.
[Illustration: A PROCLAMATION OF 1690 FORBIDDING THE PRINTING OF
NEWSPAPERS WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
[Sidenote: Flight of James II.]
[Sidenote: Rebellion against Andros, 1689.]
83. The "Glorious Revolution" in America, 1689.--By this time
Charles was dead, and James was King of England. The English people did
not like James any better than the New Englanders liked Andros. In 1688
they rebelled and made William of Orange and his wife Mary, James's
eldest daughter, King and Queen of England. On their part, the
Massachusetts colonists seized Andros and his followers and shut them up
in prison (April 18, 1689). The people of Connecticut and Rhode Island
turned out Andros's agents and set up their old governments. In New
York also Andros's deputy governor was expelled, and the people took
control of affairs until the king and queen should send out a governor.
Indeed, all the colonies, except Maryland, declared for William
and Mary.
[Sidenote: Policy of William and Mary.]
[Sidenote: The Massachusetts Province charter, 1691.]
84. The New Arrangements.--For a year or two William was very busy
in Ireland and on the continent. At length he had time to attend to
colonial affairs. He appointed royal governors for both Pennsylvania and
Maryland. William Penn soon had his colony given back to him; but the
Baltimores had to wait many years before they recovered Maryland. In New
York there was a dreadful tragedy. For the new governor, Slaughter, was
persuaded to order the execution of the leaders in the rising against
Andros. Massachusetts did not get her old charter back, but she got
another charter. This provided that the king should appoint the
governor, but the people should elect a House of Representatives. The
most important result of this new arrangement was a series of disputes
between the king's governor and the people's representatives. Maine and
New Plymouth were included in Massachusetts under the new charter. But
New Hampshire remained a royal province.
[Sidenote: Prosperity of the colonies, 1700-60.]
85. The Colonies, 1700-60.--During these years immigrants thronged
to America, and the colonies became constantly stronger. Commerce
everywhere developed, and many manufactures were established.
Throughout the colonies the people everywhere gained power, and had it
not been for the French and Indian wars they would have been happy.
Aside from these wars the most important events of these years were the
overthrow of the Carolina proprietors and the founding of Georgia.
[Illustration: Carolina Rice Fields.]
[Sidenote: Bad government of the Carolina proprietors.]
[Sidenote: Rebellion in Carolina, 1719.]
[Sidenote: North and South Carolina.]
86. North and South Carolina.--The Carolina proprietors and their
colonists had never got on well together. They now got on worse than
ever. The greater part of the colonists were not members of the
Established Church; but the proprietors tried to take away the right to
vote from all persons who were not of that faith. They also interfered
in elections, and tried to prevent the formation of a true
representative assembly. They could not protect the people against the
pirates who blockaded Charleston for weeks at a time. In 1719 the people
of Charleston rebelled. The king then interfered, and appointed a royal
governor. Later he bought out the rights of the proprietors. In this way
Carolina became a royal province. It was soon divided into two
provinces, North Carolina and South Carolina. But there had always been
two separate colonies in Carolina (p. 52).
[Sidenote: General Oglethorpe.]
[Sidenote: Grant of Georgia, 1732.]
87. Founding of Georgia, 1732.--In those days it was the custom in
England to send persons who could not pay their debts to prison. Of
course many of these poor debtors were really industrious persons whom
misfortune or sickness had driven into debt. General Oglethorpe, a
member of Parliament, looked into the prison management. He was greatly
affected by the sad fate of these poor debtors, and determined to do
something for them. With a number of charitable persons he obtained a
part of South Carolina for a colony, and named it Georgia for George II,
who gave the land. Parliament also gave money. For the government
thought it very desirable to have a colony between the rich plantations
of Carolina and the Spanish settlements in Florida.
[Sidenote: Settlement of Georgia, 1733. _Higginson_, 127-130;
_Eggleston_, 62-65; _Source-Book_, 71-73.]
[Sidenote: Progress of the colony.]
88. Georgia, 1733-52.--Naturally Oglethorpe had no difficulty in
getting colonists. For the poor debtors and other oppressed persons were
very glad to have a new start in life. Savannah was founded in 1733. The
Spaniards, however, were not at all glad to have an English colony
planted so near Florida. They attacked the Georgians, and Oglethorpe
spent years in fighting them. The Georgia colonists found it very
difficult to compete with the Carolina planters. For the Carolinians had
slaves to work for them, and the proprietors of Georgia would not let
the Georgians own slaves. Finally they gave way and permitted the
colonists to own slaves. But this so disheartened the Georgia
proprietors that they gave up the enterprise and handed the colony over
to the king. In this way Georgia became a royal province.
CHAPTER 10
EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH
[Sidenote: Louis of France and William of Orange.]
89. Causes of the French Wars.--At the time of the "Glorious
Revolution" (p. 58) James II found refuge with Louis XIV, King of
France. William and Louis had already been fighting, and it was easy
enough to see that if William became King of England he would be very
much more powerful than he was when he was only Prince of Orange. So
Louis took up the cause of James and made war on the English and the
Dutch. The conflict soon spread across the Atlantic.
[Sidenote: Disadvantages of the English colonists.]
[Sidenote: Advantages of the French colonists.]
90. Strength of the Combatants.--At first sight it might seem as if
the English colonists were much stronger than the French colonists. They
greatly outnumbered the French. They were much more prosperous and
well-to-do. But their settlements were scattered over a great extent of
seacoast from the Kennebec to the Savannah. Their governments were more
or less free. But this very freedom weakened them for war. The French
colonial government was a despotism directed from France. Whatever
resources the French had in America were certain to be well used.
[Illustration: A "GARRISON HOUSE" AT YORK, MAINE, BUILT IN 1676.]
[Sidenote: King William's War, 1689-97. _Eggleston_, 122-123.]
91. King William's War, 1689-97.--The Iroquois began this war by
destroying Montreal. The next winter the French invaded New York. They
captured Schenectady and killed nearly all the inhabitants. Other bands
destroyed New England towns and killed or drove away their inhabitants.
The English, on their part, seized Port Royal in Acadia, but they failed
in an attempt against Quebec. In 1697 this war came to an end. Acadia
was given back to the French, and nothing was gained by all the
bloodshed and suffering.
[Sidenote: Queen Anne's War, 1701-13. _Higginson_, 143-147;
_Source-Book_, 98-100.]
92. Queen Anne's War, 1701-13.--In 1701 the conflict began again.
It lasted for twelve years, until 1713. It was in this war that the Duke
of Marlborough won the battle of Blenheim and made for himself a great
reputation. In America the French and Indians made long expeditions to
New England. The English colonists again attacked Quebec and again
failed. In one thing, however, they were successful. They again seized
Port Royal. This time the English kept Port Royal and all Acadia. Port
Royal they called Annapolis, and the name of Acadia was changed to
Nova Scotia.
[Sidenote: King George's War, 1744-48.]
93. King George's War, 1744-48.--From 1713 until 1744 there was no
war between the English and the French. But in 1744 fighting began again
in earnest. The French and Indians attacked the New England frontier
towns and killed many people. But the New Englanders, on their part, won
a great success. After the French lost Acadia they built a strong
fortress on the island of Cape Breton. To this they gave the name of
Louisburg. The New Englanders fitted out a great expedition and captured
Louisburg without much help from the English. But at the close of the
war (1748) the fortress was given back to the French, to the disgust of
the New Englanders.
[Sidenote: La Salle on the Mississippi, 1681.]
[Sidenote: _McMaster_, 62-65; _Source-book_, 96-98.]
94. The French in the Mississippi Valley.--The Spaniards had
discovered the Mississippi and had explored its lower valley. But they
had found no gold there and had abandoned the country. It was left for
French explorers more than one hundred years later to rediscover the
great river and to explore it from its upper waters to the Gulf of
Mexico. The first Frenchman to sail down the river to its mouth was La
Salle. In 1681, with three canoes, he floated down the Mississippi,
until he reached a place where the great river divided into three large
branches. He sent one canoe down each branch. Returning, they all
reported that they had reached the open sea.
[Sidenote: La Salle attempts to found a colony. _McMaster_, 79-80.]
[Sidenote: Louisiana settled, 1699.]
95. Founding of Louisiana.--La Salle named this immense region
Louisiana in honor of the French king. He soon led an expedition to
plant a colony on the banks of the Mississippi. Sailing into the Gulf of
Mexico, he missed the mouth of the Mississippi and landed on the coast
of Texas. Misfortune after misfortune now fell on the unhappy
expedition. La Salle was murdered, the stores were destroyed, the
Spaniards and Indians came and killed or captured nearly all the
colonists. A few only gained the Mississippi and made their way to
Canada. In 1699, another French expedition appeared in the Gulf of
Mexico. This time the mouth of the Mississippi was easily discovered.
But the colonists settled on the shores of Mobile Bay. It was not until
1718 that New Orleans was founded.
[Sidenote: The French on the Ohio, 1749. _McMaster_, 82-86.]
[Sidenote: The English Ohio Company, 1750.]
96. Struggle for the Ohio Valley.--At the close of King George's
War the French set to work to connect the settlements in Louisiana with
those on the St. Lawrence. In 1749 French explorers gained the Alleghany
River from Lake Erie and went down the Ohio as far as the Miami. The
next year (1750) King George gave a great tract of land on the Ohio
River to an association of Virginians, who formed the Ohio Company. The
struggle for the Ohio Valley had fairly begun. Governor Dinwiddie of
Virginia learned that the French were building forts on the Ohio, and
sent them a letter protesting against their so doing. The bearer of this
letter was George Washington, a young Virginia surveyor.
[Sidenote: George Washington. Scudder's _Washington; Hero Tales_ 1-15.]
[Sidenote: He warns the French to leave the Ohio.]
97. George Washington.--Of an old Virginia family, George
Washington grew up with the idea that he must earn his own living. His
father was a well-to-do planter. But Augustine Washington was the eldest
son, and, as was the custom then in Virginia, he inherited most of the
property. Augustine Washington was very kind to his younger brother, and
gave him a good practical education as a land surveyor. The younger man
was a bold athlete and fond of studying military campaigns. He was full
of courage, industrious, honest, and of great common sense. Before he
was twenty he had surveyed large tracts of wilderness, and had done his
work well amidst great difficulties. When Dinwiddie wanted a messenger
to take his letter to the French commander on the Ohio, George
Washington's employer at once suggested him as the best person to send
on the dangerous journey.
[Sidenote: The French build Fort Duquesne.]
[Sidenote: Washington's first military expedition, 1754.]
98. Fort Duquesne.--Instead of heeding Dinwiddie's warning, the
French set to work to build Fort Duquesne (Due-kan') at the spot where
the Alleghany and Monongahela join to form the Ohio,--on the site of
the present city of Pittsburg. Dinwiddie therefore sent Washington with
a small force of soldiers to drive them away. But the French were too
strong for Washington. They besieged him in Fort Necessity and compelled
him to surrender (July 4, 1754).
[Illustration: BRADDOCK'S CAMPAIGN.]
[Sidenote: Braddock's expedition, 1755. _Higginson_, 152-154;
_Eggleston_, 129-131; _Source-book_, 103-105.]
99. Braddock's Defeat, 1755.--The English government now sent
General Braddock with a small army of regular soldiers to Virginia.
Slowly and painfully Braddock marched westward. Learning of his
approach, the French and Indians left Fort Duquesne to draw him into
ambush. But the two forces came together before either party was
prepared for battle. For some time the contest was even, then the
regulars broke and fled. Braddock was fatally wounded. With great skill,
Washington saved the survivors,--but not until four shots had pierced
his coat and only thirty of his three companies of Virginians were
left alive.
[Sidenote: The French and Indian War.]
[Sidenote: William Pitt, war minister, 1757.]
100. The War to 1759.--All the earlier French and Indian wars had
begun in Europe and had spread to America. This war began in America and
soon spread to Europe. At first affairs went very ill. But in 1757
William Pitt became the British war minister, and the war began to be
waged with vigor and success. The old generals were called home, and new
men placed in command. In 1758 Amherst and Wolfe captured Louisburg, and
Forbes, greatly aided by Washington, seized Fort Duquesne. Bradstreet
captured Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario. There was only one bad
failure, that of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga. But the next year Amherst
captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point and opened the way to Canada by
Lake Champlain.
[Illustration: WOLFE'S RAVINE. This shows the gradual ascent of the path
from the river to the top of the bluff.]
[Sidenote: Capture of Quebec, 1759. _Higginson_, 154-156; _Eggleston_,
137-139; _Source-Book_, 105-107.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Quebec.]
101. Capture of Quebec, 1759.--Of all the younger generals James
Wolfe was foremost. To him was given the task of capturing Quebec.
Seated on a high bluff, Quebec could not be captured from the river. The
only way to approach it was to gain the Plains of Abraham in its rear
and besiege it on the land side. Again and again Wolfe sent his men to
storm the bluffs below the town. Every time they failed. Wolfe felt that
he must give up the task, when he was told that a path led from the
river to the top of the bluff above the town. Putting his men into
boats, they gained the path in the darkness of night. There was a guard
at the top of the bluff, but the officer in command was a coward and ran
away. In the morning the British army was drawn up on the Plains of
Abraham. The French now attacked the British, and a fierce battle took
place. The result was doubtful when Wolfe led a charge at the head of
the Louisburg Grenadiers. He was killed, but the French were beaten.
Five days later Quebec surrendered. Montreal was captured in 1760, and
in 1763 the war came to an end.
[Sidenote: Peace of Paris, 1763.]
102. Peace of Paris, 1763.--By this great treaty, or set of
treaties, the French withdrew from the continent of North America. To
Spain, who had lost Florida, the French gave the island of New Orleans
and all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. To Great Britain the
French gave up all the rest of their American possessions except two
small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Spain, on her part, gave up
Florida to the British. There were now practically only two powers in
America,--the British in the eastern part of the continent, and the
Spaniards west of the Mississippi. The Spaniards also owned the island
of New Orleans and controlled both sides of the river for more than a
hundred miles from its mouth. But the treaty gave the British the free
navigation of the Mississippi throughout its length.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 8
Sec.Sec. 65, 66.--_a_. What government did England have after the execution of
Charles I? Give three facts about Cromwell.
_b_. How did the accession of Charles II affect the colonies?
_c_. What laws were made about the commerce of the colonies?
Sec. 67.--_a_. How did the new government of England regard Massachusetts?
Why?
_b_. Describe the treatment of the Quakers in Massachusetts.
Sec. 68.--_a_. Describe the charters given to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Why did Connecticut need a charter when she already had a constitution?
_b_. What other colony was united with Connecticut?
Sec.Sec. 69,70.--_a_. Why did England wish to conquer New Netherland? Why did
not the people of New Amsterdam wish to fight the English?
_b_. To whom did Charles give this territory?
Sec.Sec. 71, 72.--_a_. Mark on a map the position of New Jersey.
_b_. Describe the division of New Jersey and its sale to the Quakers.
_c_. Why was the colony prosperous?
Sec.Sec. 73, 74.--_a_. Describe the founding of Carolina.
_b_. Describe northern and southern Carolina, and note the differences
between them.
Sec.Sec. 75, 76.--_a_. What complaints did the people of Virginia make? Was
Bacon a rebel?
_b_. Describe the later government of Virginia.
_c_. Why was the founding of William and Mary College important?
Sec. 77.--_a_. What was the cause of King Philip's War?
_b_. What were the results of the war?
Sec.Sec. 78-80.--_a_. Find out three facts about the early life of William
Penn. Why did colonists come to Pennsylvania?
_b_. What trouble arose with Maryland about the boundary line?
_c_. How was Mason and Dixon's line famous later?
CHAPTER 9
Sec.Sec. 81-84.--_a_. Why did Charles and James dislike the growing liberty of
the colonies?
_b_. What changes did Andros make in New England?
_c_. Describe the "Glorious Revolution" in America.
_d_. What changes did William and Mary make in the colonial governments?
Sec.Sec. 85-88.--_a_. How did the Carolina proprietors treat their colonists?
What was the result of their actions?
_b_. Explain the reasons for the founding of Georgia.
CHAPTER 10
Sec.Sec. 89,90.--_a_. Compare the strength of the English and French colonies.
What is a "despotism"?
_b_. Draw a map showing the position of the English and French colonies.
Sec.Sec. 91-93.--_a_. Mark on a map all the places mentioned in the text.
_b_. Describe the expedition against Louisburg.
_c_. What was the result of these wars?
Sec.Sec. 94-97.--_a_. Which country, England, France, or Spain, had the best
claim to the Mississippi valley? Why?
_b_. Follow route of La Salle on a map, marking each place mentioned.
Describe the settlement of Louisiana.
_c_. Why did the struggle between England and France begin in the Ohio
valley?
_d_. Describe Washington's early training.
Sec.Sec. 98-101.--_a_. Where was Fort Duquesne? Why was its position
important? Describe Braddock's expedition and trace his route.
_b_. Mark on a map the important routes to Canada.
_c_. Describe the capture of Quebec. Why was it important?
Sec. 102.--_a_. What territory did England gain in 1763? What did Spain
gain? What did France lose?
_b_. What was the great question settled by this war?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
_a_. Were the New England colonies difficult to govern? Why?
_b_. In what respects were the colonial governments alike? In what
respects were they unlike?
_c_. What events in any colony have shown that its people desired more
liberty?
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK
_a_. The Revolution of 1688 in England and America.
_b_. Write an account of the life of a boy or girl in any colony; tell
about the house, furniture, dress, school, and if a journey to another
colony is made, how it is made and what is seen on the way.
_c_. Arrange a table similar to that described on p. 18.
SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER
In this period the growing difficulties between England and the colonies
can be traced--especially in commercial affairs and in governmental
institutions. Thus many of the causes of the Revolution may be brought
out as well as the difficulties in the way of colonial union. This may
be emphasized by noting the difference between the English and
French colonies.
[Illustration: A MAP OF THE BRITISH DOMINIONS IN NORTH AMERICA.,
ACCORDING TO THE TREATY IN 1763, By Peter Bell, Geographer, 1772.]
IV
COLONIAL UNION, 1760-1774
Books for Study and Reading
References.--Fiske's _War of Independence_, 39-86; Scudder's
_George Washington_; Lossing's _Field-Book of the Revolution; English
History for Americans_, 244-284 (English political history).
Home Readings.--Irving's _Washington_ (abridged edition); Cooke's
_Stories of the Old Dominion_; Cooper's _Lionel Lincoln_; Longfellow's
_Paul Revere's Ride_.
CHAPTER 11
BRITAIN'S COLONIAL SYSTEM
[Sidenote: England's early liberal colonial policy.]
[Sidenote: England's changed colonial policy.]
103. Early Colonial Policy.--At the outset, England's rulers had
been very kind to Englishmen who founded colonies. They gave them great
grants of land. They gave them rights of self-government greater than
any Englishmen living in England enjoyed. They allowed them to manage
their own trade and industries as they saw fit. They even permitted them
to worship God as their consciences told them to worship him. But, as
the colonists grew in strength and in riches, Britain's rulers tried to
make their trade profitable to British merchants and interfered in
their government. On their part the colonists disobeyed the navigation
laws and disputed with the royal officials. For years Britain's rulers
allowed this to go on. But, at length, near the close of the last French
war Mr. Pitt ordered the laws to be enforced.
[Sidenote: Difficulties in enforcing the navigation laws.]
[Sidenote: James Otis. _Eggleston_, 163. His speech against writs of
assistance, 1761.]
104. Writs of Assistance, 1761.--It was a good deal easier to order
the laws to be carried out than it was to carry them out. It was almost
impossible for the customs officers to prevent goods being landed
contrary to law. When the goods were once on shore, it was difficult to
seize them. So the officers asked the judges to give them writs of
assistance. Among the leading lawyers of Boston was James Otis. He was
the king's law officer in the province. But he resigned his office and
opposed the granting of the writs. He objected to the use of writs of
assistance because they enabled a customs officer to become a tyrant.
Armed with one of them he could go to the house of a man he did not like
and search it from attic to cellar, turn everything upside down and
break open doors and trunks. It made no difference, said Otis, whether
Parliament had said that the writs were legal. For Parliament could not
make an act of tyranny legal. To do that was beyond the power even of
Parliament.
[Sidenote: Patrick Henry. _Eggleston_, 162.]
[Sidenote: His speech in the Parson's Cause, 1763.]
105. The Parson's Cause, 1763.--The next important case arose in
Virginia and came about in this way. The Virginians made a law
regulating the salaries of clergymen in the colony. The king vetoed the
law. The Virginians paid no heed to the veto. The clergy men appealed to
the courts and the case of one of them was selected for trial. Patrick
Henry, a prosperous young lawyer, stated the opinions of the Virginians
in a speech which made his reputation. The king, he said, had no right
to veto a Virginia law that was for the good of the people. To do so was
an act of tyranny, and the people owed no obedience to a tyrant. The
case was decided for the clergyman. For the law was clearly on his side.
But the jurymen agreed with Henry. They gave the clergyman only one
farthing damages, and no more clergymen brought cases into the court.
The king's veto was openly disobeyed.
[Sidenote: Proclamation of 1763. _McMaster_, 110.]
106. The King's Proclamation of 1763.--In the same year that the
Parson's Cause was decided the king issued a proclamation which greatly
lessened the rights of Virginia and several other colonies to western
lands. Some of the old charter lines, as those of Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Virginia, and the Carolinas had extended to the Pacific
Ocean. By the treaty of 1763 (p. 69) the king, for himself and his
subjects, abandoned all claim to lands west of Mississippi River. Now in
the Proclamation of 1763 he forbade the colonial governors to grant any
lands west of the Alleghany Mountains. The western limit of Virginia and
the Carolinas was fixed. Their pioneers could not pass the mountains and
settle in the fertile valleys of the Ohio and its branches.
CHAPTER 12
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
[Sidenote: George III.]
[Sidenote: George Grenville.]
[Sidenote: The British Parliament.]
107. George III and George Grenville.--George III became king in
1760. He was a narrow, stupid, well-meaning, ignorant young man of
twenty-one. He soon found in George Grenville a narrow, dull,
well-meaning lawyer, a man who would do what he was told. So George
Grenville became the head of the government. To him the law was the law.
If he wished to do a thing and could find the law for it, he asked for
nothing more. His military advisers told him that an army must be kept
in America for years. It was Grenville's business to find the money to
support this army. Great Britain was burdened with a national debt. The
army was to be maintained, partly, at least, for the protection of the
colonists. Why should they not pay a part of the cost of maintaining it?
Parliament was the supreme power in the British Empire. It controlled
the king, the church, the army, and the navy. Surely a Parliament that
had all this power could tax the colonists. At all events, Grenville
thought it could, and Parliament passed the Stamp Act to tax them.
[Sidenote: Taxation and representation.]
[Sidenote: Henry's resolutions, 1765. _Higginson_, 161-164; _McMaster_,
112-114.]
108. Henry's Resolutions, 1765.--The colonists, however, with one
voice, declared that Parliament had no power to tax them. Taxes, they
said, could be voted only by themselves or their representatives. They
were represented in their own colonial assemblies, and nowhere else.
Patrick Henry was now a member of the Virginia assembly. He had just
been elected for the first time. But as none of the older members of the
assembly proposed any action, Henry tore a leaf from an old law-book and
wrote on it a set of resolutions. These he presented in a burning
speech, upholding the rights of the Virginians. He said that to tax them
by act of Parliament was tyranny. "Caesar and Tarquin had each his
Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell, and George III"--"Treason, treason,"
shouted the speaker. "May profit by their example," slowly Henry went
on. "If that be treason, make the most of it." The resolutions were
voted. In them the Virginians declared that they were not subject to
Acts of Parliament laying taxes or interfering in the internal affairs
of Virginia.
[Illustration: HENRY'S FIRST AND LAST RESOLUTIONS (FACSIMILE OF THE
ORIGINAL DRAFT)]
[Sidenote: Opposition to the Stamp Act, 1765. _Higginson_, 164-165;
_McMaster_, 116.]
109. Stamp Act Riots, 1765.--Until the summer of 1765 the colonists
contented themselves with passing resolutions. There was little else
that they could do. They could not refuse to obey the law because it
would not go into effect until November. They could not mob the stamp
distributers because no one knew their names. In August the names of the
stamp distributers were published. Now at last it was possible to do
something besides passing resolutions. In every colony the people
visited the stamp officers and told them to resign. If they refused,
they were mobbed until they resigned. In Boston the rioters were
especially active. They detested Thomas Hutchinson. He was
lieutenant-governor and chief justice and had been active in enforcing
the navigation acts. The rioters attacked his house. They broke his
furniture, destroyed his clothing, and made a bonfire of his books
and papers.
[Sidenote: Colonial congresses.]
[Sidenote: Albany Congress, 1754.]
[Sidenote: Stamp Act Congress, 1765.]
110. The Stamp Act Congress, 1765.--Colonial congresses were no new
thing. There had been many meetings of governors and delegates from
colonial assemblies. The most important of the early congresses was the
Albany Congress of 1754. It was important because it proposed a plan of
union. The plan was drawn up by Benjamin Franklin. But neither the
king nor the colonists liked it, and it was not adopted. All these
earlier congresses had been summoned by the king's officers to arrange
expeditions against the French or to make treaties with the Indians. The
Stamp Act Congress was summoned by the colonists to protest against the
doings of king and Parliament.
[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY "I am not a Virginian, but an American."]
[Sidenote: Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists,
1765. _McMaster_, 115.]
111. Work of the Stamp Act Congress.--Delegates from nine colonies
met at New York in October, 1765. They drew up a "Declaration of the
Rights and Grievances of the Colonists." In this paper they declared
that the colonists, as subjects of the British king, had the same rights
as British subjects living in Britain, and were free from taxes except
those to which they had given their consent. They claimed for themselves
the right of trial by jury--which might be denied under the Stamp Act.
But the most important thing about the congress was the fact that nine
colonies had put aside their local jealousies and had joined in
holding it.
[Sidenote: Benjamin Franklin.]
[Sidenote: Examined by the House of Commons.]
112. Franklin's Examination.--Born in Boston, Benjamin Franklin ran
away from home and settled at Philadelphia. By great exertion and
wonderful shrewdness he rose from poverty to be one of the most
important men in the city and colony. He was a printer, a newspaper
editor, a writer, and a student of science. With kite and string he drew
down the lightning from the clouds and showed that lightning was a
discharge of electricity. He was now in London as agent for Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts. His scientific and literary reputation gave him great
influence. He was examined at the bar of the House of Commons. Many
questions and answers were arranged beforehand between Franklin and his
friends in the House. But many questions were answered on the spur of
the moment. Before the passage of the Stamp Act the feeling of the
colonists toward Britain had been "the best in the world." So Franklin
declared. But now, he said, it was greatly altered. Still an army sent
to America would find no rebellion there. It might, indeed, make one. In
conclusion, he said the repeal of the act would not make the colonists
any more willing to pay taxes.
[Sidenote: Fall of Grenville.]
[Sidenote: Repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766.]
[Sidenote: The Declaratory Act, 1766.]
113. Repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766.--It chanced that at this moment
George III and George Grenville fell out. The king dismissed the
minister, and gave the Marquis of Rockingham the headship of a new set
of ministers. Now Rockingham and his friends needed aid from somebody to
give them the strength to outvote Grenville and the Tories. So when the
question of what should be done about the Stamp Act came up, they
listened most attentively to what Mr. Pitt had to say. That great man
said that the Stamp Act should be repealed wholly and at once. At the
same time another law should be passed declaring that Parliament had
power to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever. The
Rockinghams at once did as Mr. Pitt suggested. The Stamp Act was
repealed. The Declaratory Act was passed. In the colonies Pitt was
praised as a deliverer. Statues of him were placed in the streets,
pictures of him were hung in public halls. But, in reality, the passage
of the Declaratory Act was the beginning of more trouble.
[Sidenote: The Chatham Ministry.]
[Sidenote: The Townshend Acts, 1767. _McMaster_, 117-118.]
114. The Townshend Acts, 1767.--The Rockingham ministers did what
Mr. Pitt advised them to do. He then turned them out and made a ministry
of his own. He was now Earl of Chatham, and his ministry was the Chatham
Ministry. The most active of the Chatham ministers was Charles
Townshend. He had the management of the finances and found them very
hard to manage. So he hit upon a scheme of laying duties on wine, oil,
glass, lead, painter's colors, and tea imported into the colonies. Mr.
Pitt had said that Parliament could regulate colonial trade. The best
way to regulate trade was to tax it. At the same time that Townshend
brought in this bill, he brought in others to reorganize the colonial
customs service and make it possible to collect the duties. He even
provided that offences against the revenue laws should be tried by
judges appointed directly by the king, without being submitted to a jury
of any kind.
[Sidenote: The Sugar Act.]
[Sidenote: Enforcement of the Navigation Acts.]
115. Colonial Opposition, 1768.--Many years before this, Parliament
had made a law taxing all sugar brought into the continental colonies,
except sugar that had been made in the British West Indies. Had this law
been carried out, the trade of Massachusetts and other New England
colonies would have been ruined. But the law was not enforced. No one
tried to enforce it, except during the few months of vigor at the time
of the arguments about writs of assistance. As the taxes were not
collected, no one cared whether they were legal or not. Now it was plain
that this tax and the Townshend duties were to be collected. The
Massachusetts House of Representatives drew up a circular letter to the
other colonial assemblies asking them to join in opposing the new taxes.
The British government ordered the House to recall the letter. It
refused and was dissolved. The other colonial assemblies were directed
to take no notice of the circular letter. They replied at the first
possible moment and were dissolved.
[Sidenote: Seizure of the sloop _Liberty_, 1768.]
116. The New Customs Officers at Boston, 1768.--The chief office of
the new customs organization was fixed at Boston. Soon John Hancock's
sloop, _Liberty_, sailed into the harbor with a cargo of Madeira wine.
As Hancock had no idea of paying the duty, the customs officers seized
the sloop and towed her under the guns of a warship which was in the
harbor. Crowds of people now collected. They could not recapture the
_Liberty_. They seized one of the war-ship's boats, carried it to the
Common, and had a famous bonfire. All this confusion frightened the
chief customs officers. They fled to the castle in the harbor and wrote
to the government for soldiers to protect them.
[Illustration: ONE OF JOHN HANCOCK'S BILL-HEADS.]
[Sidenote: Virginia Resolves, 1769.]
117. The Virginia Resolves of 1769.--Parliament now asked the king
to have colonists, accused of certain crimes, brought to England for
trial. This aroused the Virginians. They passed a set of resolutions,
known as the Virginia Resolves of 1769. These resolves asserted: (1)
that the colonists only had the right to tax the colonists; (2) that the
colonists had the right to petition either by themselves or with the
people of other colonies; and (3) that no colonist ought to be sent to
England for trial.
[Sidenote: Non-Importation Agreements, 1769.]
[Sidenote: Partial repeal of the Townshend Acts, 1770.]
118. Non-Importation Agreements, 1769.--When he learned what was
going on, the governor of Virginia dissolved the assembly. But the
members met in the Raleigh tavern near by. There George Washington laid
before them a written agreement to use no British goods upon which
duties had been paid. They all signed this agreement. Soon the other
colonies joined Virginia in the Non-Importation Agreement. English
merchants found their trade growing smaller and smaller. They could not
even collect their debts, for the colonial merchants said that trade in
the colonies was so upset by the Townshend Acts that they could not sell
their goods, or collect the money owing to them. The British merchants
petitioned Parliament to repeal the duties, and Parliament answered them
by repealing all the duties except the tax on tea.
[Illustration: THE "RALEIGH TAVERN"]
CHAPTER 13
REVOLUTION IMPENDING
[Sidenote: The British soldiers at New York.]
[Sidenote: Soldiers sent to Boston, 1768.]
119. The Soldiers at New York and Boston.--Soldiers had been
stationed at New York ever since the end of the French war because that
was the most central point on the coast. The New Yorkers did not like to
have the soldiers there very well, because Parliament expected them to
supply the troops with certain things without getting any money in
return. The New York Assembly refused to supply them, and Parliament
suspended the Assembly's sittings. In 1768 two regiments came from New
York to Boston to protect the customs officers.
[Sidenote: The Boston Massacre, 1770. _Higginson_, 166-169; _McMaster_,
118.]
120. The Boston Massacre, 1770.--There were not enough soldiers at
Boston to protect the customs officers--if the colonists really wished
to hurt them. There were quite enough soldiers at Boston to get
themselves and the colonists into trouble. On March 5, 1770, a crowd
gathered around the soldiers stationed on King's Street, now State
Street. There was snow on the ground, and the boys began to throw snow
and mud at the soldiers. The crowd grew bolder. Suddenly the soldiers
fired on the people. They killed four colonists and wounded several
more. Led by Samuel Adams, the people demanded the removal of the
soldiers to the fort in the harbor. Hutchinson was now governor. He
offered to send one regiment out of the town. "All or none," said Adams,
and all were sent away.
[Sidenote: Town Committees of Correspondence.]
[Sidenote: Colonial Committees of Correspondence, 1769.]
121. Committees of Correspondence.--Up to this time the resistance
of the colonists had been carried on in a haphazard sort of way. Now
Committees of Correspondence began to be appointed. These committees
were of two kinds. First there were town Committees of Correspondence.
These were invented by Samuel Adams and were first appointed in
Massachusetts. But more important were the colonial Committees of
Correspondence. The first of these was appointed by Virginia in 1769. At
first few colonies followed Massachusetts and Virginia in appointing
committees. But as one act of tyranny succeeded another, other colonies
fell into line. By 1775 all the colonies were united by a complete
system of Committees of Correspondence.
[Sidenote: The tax on tea. _McMaster_, 119.]
122. The Tea Tax.--Of all the Townshend duties only the tax on tea
was left. It happened that the British East India Company had tons of
tea in its London storehouses and was greatly in need of money. The
government told the company that it might send tea to America without
paying any taxes in England, but the three-penny colonial tax would have
to be paid in the colonies. In this way the colonists would get their
tea cheaper than the people of England. But the colonists were not to be
bribed into paying the tax in any such way. The East India Company sent
over ship-loads of tea. The tea ships were either sent back again or the
tea was stored in some safe place where no one could get it.
[Sidenote: Boston Tea Party, 1773. _Higginson_, 171-173; _Eggleston_,
165; _Source-Book_, 137.]
123. The Boston Tea Party, 1773.--In Boston things did not go so
smoothly. The agents of the East India Company refused to resign. The
collector of the customs refused to give the ships permission to sail
away before the tea was landed. Governor Hutchinson refused to give the
ship captains a pass to sail by the fort until the collector gave his
permission. The commander at the fort refused to allow the ships to sail
out of the harbor until they had the necessary papers. The only way to
get rid of the tea was to destroy it. A party of patriots, dressed as
Indians, went on board of the ships as they lay at the wharf, broke open
the tea boxes, and threw the tea into the harbor.
[Sidenote: Repressive acts, 1774. _McMaster_, 120.]
124. Punishment of Massachusetts, 1774.--The British king, the
British government, and the mass of the British people were furious when
they found that the Boston people had made "tea with salt water."
Parliament at once went to work passing acts to punish the colonists.
One act put an end to the constitution of Massachusetts. Another act
closed the port of Boston so tightly that the people could not bring hay
from Charlestown to give to their starving horses. A third act provided
that soldiers who fired on the people should be tried in England. And a
fourth act compelled the colonists to feed and shelter the soldiers
employed to punish them.
[Sidenote: The colonists aid Massachusetts. _Higginson_, 174-177.]
[Sidenote: George Washington.]
125. Sympathy with the Bostonians.--King George thought he could
punish the Massachusetts people as much as he wished without the people
of the other colonies objecting. It soon appeared that the people of the
other colonies sympathized most heartily with the Bostonians. They sent
them sheep and rice. They sent them clothes. George Washington was now a
rich man. He offered to raise a thousand men with his own money, march
with them to Boston, and rescue the oppressed people from their
oppressors. But the time for war had not yet come although it was
not far off.
[Sidenote: The Quebec Act, 1774.]
126. The Quebec Act, 1774.--In the same year that Parliament passed
the four acts to punish Massachusetts, it passed another act which
affected the people of other colonies as well as those of Massachusetts.
This was the Quebec Act. It provided that the land between the Ohio, the
Mississippi, and the Great Lakes should be added to the Province of
Quebec. Now this land was claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New
York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These colonies were to be deprived of
their rights to land in that region. The Quebec Act also provided for
the establishment of a very strong government in that province. This
seemed to be an attack on free institutions. All these things drove the
colonists to unite. They resolved to hold a congress where the leaders
of the several continental colonies might talk over matters and decide
what should be done.
[Sidenote: The First Continental Congress, 1774.]
127. The First Continental Congress, 1774.--The members of the
Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, in
September, 1774. Never, except in the Federal Convention (p. 137), have
so many great men met together. The greatest delegation was that from
Virginia. It included George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard
Henry Lee. From Massachusetts came the two Adamses, John and Samuel.
From New York came John Jay. From Pennsylvania came John Dickinson. Of
all the greatest Americans only Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin
were absent.
[Illustration: CARPENTER'S HALL, PHILADELPHIA.]
[Sidenote: The American Association, 1774.]
128. The American Association, 1774.--It soon became clear that the
members of the Congress were opposed to any hasty action. They were not
willing to begin war with Great Britain. Instead of so doing they
adopted a Declaration of Rights and formed the American Association. The
Declaration of Rights was of slight importance. But the Association was
of great importance, as the colonies joining it agreed to buy no more
British goods. This policy was to be carried out by the Committees of
Correspondence. Any colony refusing to join the Association should be
looked upon as hostile "to the liberties of this country," and treated
as an enemy. The American Association was the real beginning of the
American Union.
[Sidenote: Resistance throughout the colonies 1774-75.]
129. The Association carried out, 1774-75.--It was soon evident
that Congress in forming the Association had done precisely what the
people wished to have done. For instance, in Virginia committees were
chosen in every county. They examined the merchants' books. They
summoned before them persons suspected of disobeying "the laws of
Congress." Military companies were formed in every county and carried
out the orders of the committees. The ordinary courts were entirely
disregarded. In fact, the royal government had come to an end in the
Old Dominion.
[Sidenote: Parliament punishes Massachusetts, 1774-75.]
130. More Punishment for Massachusetts, 1774-75.--George III and
his ministers refused to see that the colonies were practically united.
On the contrary, they determined to punish the people of Massachusetts
still further. Parliament passed acts forbidding the Massachusetts
fishermen to catch fish and forbidding the Massachusetts traders to
trade with the people of Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and all
foreign countries. The Massachusetts colonists were rebels, they should
be treated as rebels. General Gage was given more soldiers and ordered
to crush the rebellion.
[Sidenote: General Gage.]
[Sidenote: Opposed by the Massachusetts people.]
131. Gage in Massachusetts, 1774-75.--General Gage found he had a
good deal to do before he could begin to crush the rebellion. He had to
find shelter for his soldiers. He also had to find food for them. The
Boston carpenters would not work for him. He had to bring carpenters
from Halifax and New York to do his work. The farmers of eastern
Massachusetts were as firm as the Boston carpenters. They would not sell
food to General Gage. So he had to bring food from England and from
Halifax. He managed to buy or seize wood to warm the soldiers and hay to
feed his horses. But the boats bringing these supplies to Boston were
constantly upset in a most unlooked-for way. The colonists, on their
part, elected a Provincial Congress to take the place of the regular
government. The militia was reorganized, and military stores
gathered together.
[Illustration: APRIL 19, 1775, DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY TWO MEN WHO TOOK
PART IN THE ACTION. Reproduced through the courtesy of Rev. E.
G. Porter.]
[Sidenote: Lexington and Concord, 1775. _Higginson_, 178-183;
_McMaster_, 126-128; _Source-Book_, 144-146.]
132. Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775.--Gage had said that
with ten thousand men he could march all over Massachusetts. In April,
1775, he began to crush the rebellion by sending a strong force to
Concord to destroy stores which his spies told him had been collected
there. The soldiers began their march in the middle of the night. But
Paul Revere and William Dawes were before them. "The regulars are
coming," was the cry. At Lexington, the British found a few militiamen
drawn up on the village green. Some one fired and a few Americans were
killed. On the British marched to Concord. By this time the militiamen
had gathered in large numbers. It was a hot day. The regulars were
tired. They stopped to rest. Some of the militiamen attacked the
regulars at Concord, and when the British started on their homeward
march, the fighting began in earnest. Behind every wall and bit of
rising ground were militiamen. One soldier after another was shot down
and left behind. At Lexington the British met reinforcements, or they
would all have been killed or captured. Soon they started again. Again
the fighting began. It continued until the survivors reached a place of
safety under the guns of the warships anchored off Charlestown. The
Americans camped for the night at Cambridge and began the siege
of Boston.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 11
Sec. 103.--_a_. Name some instances which illustrate England's early policy
toward its colonies.
_b_. Explain the later change of policy, giving reasons for it.
Sec.Sec. 104, 105.--_a_. What reasons did Otis give for his opposition to the
writs of assistance? Why are such writs prohibited by the Constitution
of the United States?
_b_. What is a veto? What right had the King of Great Britain to veto a
Virginia law? Which side really won in the Parson's Cause?
Sec. 106.--What colonies claimed land west of the Alleghany Mountains? How
did the king interfere with these claims?
CHAPTER 12
Sec.Sec. 107-109.--_a_. What reasons were given for keeping an army in
America?
_b_. What is meant by saying that Parliament was "the supreme power in
the British Empire"?
_c_. Is a stamp tax a good kind of tax?
_d_. Explain carefully the colonists' objections to the Stamp Act of
1765. Do the same objections hold against the present Stamp tax?
Sec.Sec. 110-113.--_a_. Explain the difference between the Stamp Act Congress
and the earlier Congress.
_b_. What did the Stamp Act Congress do?
_c_. Give an account of Franklin. What did Franklin say about the
feeling in the colonies?
_d_. Explain carefully the causes which led to the repeal of the Stamp
Act.
_e_. Can the taxing power and the legislative power be separated? What
is the case to-day in your own state? In the United States?
Sec.Sec. 114-116.--_a_. How did Townshend try to raise money? How did this
plan differ from the Stamp tax?
_b_. What was the Massachusetts Circular Letter? Why was it important?
_c_. What was the result of the seizure of the _Liberty_?
Sec.Sec. 117, 118.--_a_. What were the Virginia Resolves of 1769? Why were
they passed?
_b_. What were the Non-importation agreements?
_c_. What action did the British merchants take? What results followed?
CHAPTER 13
Sec.Sec. 119, 120.--_a_. Why were the soldiers stationed at New York? At
Boston?
_b_. Describe the trouble at Boston. Why is it called a massacre?
Sec.Sec. 121-123.--_a_. What was the work of a Committee of Correspondence?
_b_. What did the British government hope to accomplish in the tea
business? Why did the colonists refuse to buy the tea?
_c_. Why was the destruction of the tea at Boston necessary?
Sec.Sec. 124-126.--_a_. How did Parliament punish the colonists of
Massachusetts and Boston? Which of these acts was most severe? Why?
_b_. What effect did these laws have on Massachusetts? On the other
colonies?
_c_. Explain the provisions of the Quebec Act.
_d_. How would this act affect the growth of the colonies?
Sec.Sec. 127-129.--_a_. What was the object of the Continental Congress?
_b_. Why was the Association so important?
_c_. How was the idea of the Association carried out?
_d_. What government did the colonies really have?
Sec.Sec. 130-132.--_a_. What is a rebel? Were the Massachusetts colonists
rebels?
_b_. Describe General Gage's difficulties.
_c_. What was the result of Gage's attempt to seize the arms at
Concord?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
_a_. Arrange, with dates, all the acts of the British government which
offended the colonists.
_b_. Arrange, with dates, all the important steps which led toward
union. Why are these steps important?
_c_. Give the chief causes of the Revolution and explain why you select
these.
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK
_a_. The early life of Benjamin Franklin _(Franklin's Autobiography)._
_b_. The early life of George Washington (Scudder's _Washington)._
_c_. The Boston Tea Party (Fiske's _War of Independence)._
_d_. The Nineteenth of April, 1775 (Fiske's _War of Independence;_
Lossing's _Field-Book)._
SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER
This section is not only the most important but the most difficult of
any so far considered. Its successful teaching requires more preparation
than any earlier section. The teacher is advised carefully to peruse
Channing's _Students' History_, ch. iv, and to state in simple, clear
language, the difference between the ideas on representation which
prevailed in England and in the colonies. Another point to make clear is
the legal supremacy of Parliament. The outbreak was hastened by the
stupid use of legal rights which the supremacy of Parliament placed in
the hands of Britain's rulers, who acted often in defiance of the real
public opinion of the mass of the inhabitants of Great Britain.
V
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE,
1775-1783
Books for Study and Reading
References.--Fiske's _War of Independence;_ Higginson's _Larger
History_, 249-293; McMaster's _With the Fathers._
Home Readings.--Scudder's _Washington_; Holmes's _Grandmother's Story of
Bunker Hill;_ Cooper's _Lionel Lincoln_ (Bunker Hill); Cooper's _Spy_
(campaigns around New York); Cooper's _Pilot_ (the war on the sea);
Drake's _Burgoyne's Invasion; _Coffin's _Boys of '76_; Abbot's _Blue
Jackets of '76_; Abbot's _Paul Jones_, Lossing's _Two Spies._
CHAPTER 14
BUNKER HILL TO TRENTON
[Sidenote: Advantages of the British.]
133. Advantages of the British.--At first sight it seems as if the
Americans were very foolish to fight the British. There were five or six
times as many people in the British Isles as there were in the
continental colonies. The British government had a great standing army.
The Americans had no regular army. The British government had a great
navy. The Americans had no navy. The British government had quantities
of powder, guns, and clothing, while the Americans had scarcely any
military stores of any kind. Indeed, there were so few guns in the
colonies that one British officer thought if the few colonial gunsmiths
could be bribed to go away, the Americans would have no guns to fight
with after a few months of warfare.
[Illustration: GRAND UNION FLAG. Hoisted at Cambridge, January, 1776.
The British Union and thirteen stripes,]
[Sidenote: Advantages of the Americans.]
134. Advantages of the Americans.--All these things were clearly
against the Americans. But they had some advantages on their side. In
the first place, America was a long way off from Europe. It was very
difficult and very costly to send armies to America, and very difficult
and very costly to feed the soldiers when they were fighting in America.
In the second place, the Americans usually fought on the defensive and
the country over which the armies fought was made for defense. In New
England hill succeeded hill. In the Middle states river succeeded river.
In the South wilderness succeeded wilderness. In the third place, the
Americans had many great soldiers. Washington, Greene, Arnold, Morgan,
and Wayne were better soldiers than any in the British army.
[Sidenote: The Loyalists.]
135. Disunion among the Americans.--We are apt to think of the
colonists as united in the contest with the British. In reality the
well-to-do, the well-born, and the well-educated colonists were as a
rule opposed to independence. The opponents of the Revolution were
strongest in the Carolinas, and were weakest in New England.
[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF BOSTON.]
[Sidenote: Boston and neighborhood, 1775-76.]
[Sidenote: Importance of Dorchester and Charlestown.]
136. Siege of Boston.--It was most fortunate that the British army
was at Boston when the war began, for Boston was about as bad a place
for an army as could be found. In those days Boston was hardly more than
an island connected with the mainland by a strip of gravel. Gage built a
fort across this strip of ground. The Americans could not get in. But
they built a fort at the landward end, and the British could not get
out. On either side of Boston was a similar peninsula. One of these was
called Dorchester Heights; the other was called Charlestown. Both
overlooked Boston. To hold that town, Gage must possess both Dorchester
and Charlestown. If the Americans could occupy only one of these, the
British would have to abandon Boston. At almost the same moment Gage
made up his mind to seize Dorchester, and the Americans determined to
occupy the Charlestown hills. The Americans moved first, and the first
battle was fought for the Charlestown hills.
[Illustration: A POWDER-HORN USED AT BUNKER HILL.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775. _Higginson_, 183-188;
_McMaster_, 129-130.]
137. Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.--When the seamen on the British
men-of-war waked up on the morning of June 17, the first thing they saw
was a redoubt on the top of one of the Charlestown hills. The ships
opened fire. But in spite of the balls Colonel Prescott walked on the
top of the breastwork while his men went on digging. Gage sent three or
four thousand men across the Charles River to Charlestown to drive the
daring Americans away. It took the whole morning to get them to
Charlestown, and then they had to eat their dinner. This delay gave the
Americans time to send aid to Prescott. Especially went Stark and his
New Hampshire men, who posted themselves behind a breastwork of fence
rails and hay. At last the British soldiers marched to the attack. When
they came within good shooting distance, Prescott gave the word to fire.
The British line stopped, hesitated, broke, and swept back. Again the
soldiers marched to the attack, and again they were beaten back. More
soldiers came from Boston, and a third time a British line marched up
the hill. This time it could not be stopped, for the Americans had no
more powder. They had to give up the hill and escape as well as they
could. One-half of the British soldiers actually engaged in the assaults
were killed or wounded. The Americans were defeated. But they were
encouraged and were willing to sell Gage as many hills as he wanted at
the same price.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A REVOLUTIONARY POSTER.]
[Sidenote: Washington takes command of the army, 1775. _Higginson_,
188-193.]
[Sidenote: Seizure of Ticonderoga and Crown Point.]
[Sidenote: Evacuation of Boston, 1776.]
138. Washington in Command, July, 1775.--The Continental Congress
was again sitting at Philadelphia. It took charge of the defense of the
colonies. John Adams named Washington for commander-in-chief, and he was
elected. Washington took command of the army on Cambridge Common, July
3, 1775. He found everything in confusion. The soldiers of one colony
were jealous of the soldiers of other colonies. Officers who had not
been promoted were jealous of those who had been promoted. In the winter
the army had to be made over. During all this time the people expected
Washington to fight. But he had not powder enough for half a battle. At
last he got supplies in the following way. In the spring of 1775 Ethan
Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, with the help of the people of
western Massachusetts and Connecticut, had captured Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. These forts were filled with cannon and stores left from
the French campaigns. Some of the cannon were now dragged by oxen over
the snow and placed in the forts around Boston. Captain Manley, of the
Massachusetts navy, captured a British brig loaded with powder.
Washington now could attack. He seized and held Dorchester Heights. The
British could no longer stay in Boston. They went on board their ships
and sailed away (March, 1776).
[Illustration: SITE OF TICONDEROGA.]
[Sidenote: The Canada expedition, 1775-76.]
[Sidenote: Assault on Quebec.]
139. Invasion of Canada, 1775-76.--While the siege of Boston was
going on, the Americans undertook the invasion of Canada. There were
very few regular soldiers in Canada in 1775, and the Canadians were not
likely to fight very hard for their British masters. So the leaders in
Congress thought that if an American force should suddenly appear
before Quebec, the town might surrender. Montgomery, with a small army,
was sent to capture Montreal and then to march down the St. Lawrence to
Quebec. Benedict Arnold led another force through the Maine woods. After
tremendous exertions and terrible sufferings he reached Quebec. But the
garrison had been warned of his coming. He blockaded the town and waited
for Montgomery. The garrison was constantly increased, for Arnold was
not strong enough fully to blockade the town. At last Montgomery
arrived. At night, amidst a terrible snowstorm, Montgomery and Arnold
led their brave followers to the attack. They were beaten back with
cruel loss. Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was severely wounded. In
the spring of 1776 the survivors of this little band of heroes were
rescued--at the cost of the lives of five thousand American soldiers.
[Illustration: ARNOLD'S MARCH.]
[Sidenote: Strength of Charleston.]
[Sidenote: Fort Moultrie.]
[Sidenote: Attack on Fort Moultrie, 1776.]
[Sidenote: Success of the defense]
140. British Attack on Charleston, 1776.--In June 1776 a British
fleet and army made an attack on Charleston, South Carolina. This town
has never been taken by attack from the sea. Sand bars guard the
entrance of the harbor and the channels through these shoals lead
directly to the end of Sullivan's Island. At that point the Americans
built a fort of palmetto logs and sand. General Moultrie commanded at
the fort and it was named in his honor, Fort Moultrie. The British fleet
sailed boldly in, but the balls from the ships' guns were stopped by the
soft palmetto logs. At one time the flag was shot away and fell down
outside the fort. But Sergeant Jasper rushed out, seized the broken
staff, and again set it up on the rampart. Meantime, General Clinton had
landed on an island and was trying to cross with his soldiers to the
further end of Sullivan's Island. But the water was at first too shoal
for the boats. The soldiers jumped overboard to wade. Suddenly the water
deepened, and they had to jump aboard to save themselves from drowning.
All this time Americans were firing at them from the beach. General
Clinton ordered a retreat. The fleet also sailed out--all that could
get away--and the whole expedition was abandoned.
[Illustration: GENERAL MOULTRIE.]
[Sidenote: Defense of New York, 1776.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Long Island, 1776.]
[Sidenote: Escape of the Americans.]
141. Long Island and Brooklyn Heights, 1776.--The very day that the
British left Boston, Washington ordered five regiments to New York. For
he well knew that city would be the next point of attack. But he need
not have been in such a hurry. General Howe, the new British
commander-in-chief, sailed first to Halifax and did not begin the
campaign in New York until the end of August. He then landed his
soldiers on Long Island and prepared to drive the Americans away.
Marching in a round-about way, he cut the American army in two and
captured one part of it. This brought him to the foot of Brooklyn
Heights. On the top was a fort. Probably Howe could easily have captured
it. But he had led in the field at Bunker Hill and had had enough of
attacking forts defended by Americans. So he stopped his soldiers--with
some difficulty. That night the wind blew a gale, and the next day was
foggy. The British fleet could not sail into the East River. Skillful
fishermen safely ferried the rest of the American army across to New
York. When at length the British marched to the attack, there was no one
left in the fort on Brooklyn Heights.
[Sidenote: Retreat from New York.]
[Sidenote: Washington crosses the Delaware.]
142. From the Hudson to the Delaware, 1776.--Even now with his
splendid fleet and great army Howe could have captured the Americans.
But he delayed so long that Washington got away in safety. Washington's
army was now fast breaking up. Soldiers deserted by the hundreds. A
severe action at White Plains only delayed the British advance. The fall
of Fort Washington on the end of Manhattan Island destroyed all hope of
holding anything near New York. Washington sent one part of his army to
secure the Highlands of the Hudson. With the other part he retired
across New Jersey to the southern side of the Delaware River. The end of
the war seemed to be in sight. In December, 1776, Congress gave the sole
direction of the war to Washington and then left Philadelphia for a
place of greater safety.
[Sidenote: Battle of Trenton, 1776. _Higginson_, 203; _Hero Tales_,
45-55]
143. Trenton, December 26, 1776.--Washington did not give up. On
Christmas night, 1776, he crossed the Delaware with a division of his
army. A violent snowstorm was raging, the river was full of ice. But
Washington was there in person, and the soldiers crossed. Then the storm
changed to sleet and rain. But on the soldiers marched. When the Hessian
garrison at Trenton looked about them next morning they saw that
Washington and Greene held the roads leading inland from the town.
Stark and a few soldiers--among them James Monroe--held the bridge
leading over the Assanpink to the next British post. A few horsemen
escaped before Stark could prevent them. But all the foot soldiers were
killed or captured. A few days later nearly one thousand prisoners
marched through Philadelphia. They were Germans, who had been sold by
their rulers to Britain's king to fight his battles. They were called
Hessians by the Americans because most of them came from the little
German state of Hesse Cassel.
[Illustration: Battle of Trenton.]
[Illustration: Battle of Princeton.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Princeton, 1777. _Source-Book_, 149-151.]
144. Princeton, January, 1777.--Trenton saved the Revolution by
giving the Americans renewed courage. General Howe sent Lord Cornwallis
with a strong force to destroy the Americans. Washington with the main
part of his army was now encamped on the southern side of the
Assanpink. Cornwallis was on the other bank at Trenton. Leaving a few
men to keep up the campfires, and to throw up a slight fort by the
bridge over the stream, Washington led his army away by night toward
Princeton. There he found several regiments hastening to Cornwallis. He
drove them away and led his army to the highlands of New Jersey where he
would be free from attack. The British abandoned nearly all their posts
in New Jersey and retired to New York.
CHAPTER 15
THE GREAT DECLARATION AND THE FRENCH ALLIANCE
[Sidenote: Rising spirit of independence, 1775-76.]
145. Growth of the Spirit of Independence.--The year 1776 is even
more to be remembered for the doings of Congress than it is for the
doings of the soldiers. The colonists loved England. They spoke of it as
home. They were proud of the strength of the British empire, and glad to
belong to it. But their feelings rapidly changed when the British
government declared them to be rebels, made war upon them, and hired
foreign soldiers to kill them. They could no longer be subjects of
George III. That was clear enough. They determined to declare themselves
to be independent. Virginia led in this movement, and the chairman of
the Virginia delegation moved a resolution of independence. A committee
was appointed to draw up a declaration.
[Illustration: FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG. Adopted by Congress in 1777.]
[Sidenote: The Great Declaration, adopted July 4, 1776. _Higginson_,
194-201; _McMaster_, 131-135; _Source-Book_, 147-149.]
[Sidenote: Signing of the Declaration, August 2, 1776.]
146. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.--The most
important members of this committee were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams,
and Thomas Jefferson. Of these Jefferson was the youngest, and the least
known. But he had already drawn up a remarkable paper called _A Summary
View of the Rights of British America._ The others asked him to write
out a declaration. He sat down without book or notes of any kind, and
wrote out the Great Declaration in almost the same form in which it now
stands. The other members of the committee proposed a few changes, and
then reported the declaration to Congress. There was a fierce debate in
Congress over the adoption of the Virginia resolution for independence.
But finally it was adopted. Congress then examined the Declaration of
Independence as reported by the committee. It made a few changes in the
words and struck out a clause condemning the slave-trade. The first
paragraph of the Declaration contains a short, clear statement of the
basis of the American system of government. It should be learned by
heart by every American boy and girl, and always kept in mind. The
Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. A few copies were printed on
July 5, with the signatures of John Hancock and Charles Thompson,
president and secretary of Congress. On August 2, 1776, the Declaration
was signed by the members of Congress.
[Illustration: Battle of Brandywine.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Brandywine 1777. _McMaster_, 137-138.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Germantown, 1777.]
147. The Loss of Philadelphia, 1777.--For some months after the
battle of Princeton there was little fighting. But in the summer of
1777, Howe set out to capture Philadelphia. Instead of marching across
New Jersey, he placed his army on board ships, and sailed to Chesapeake
Bay. As soon as Washington learned what Howe was about, he marched to
Chad's Ford, where the road from Chesapeake Bay to Philadelphia crossed
Brandywine Creek. Howe moved his men as if about to attempt to cross the
ford. Meantime he sent Cornwallis with a strong force to cross the creek
higher up. Cornwallis surprised the right wing of the American army,
drove it back, and Washington was compelled to retreat. Howe occupied
Philadelphia and captured the forts below the city. Washington tried to
surprise a part of the British army which was posted at Germantown. But
accidents and mist interfered. The Americans then retired to Valley
Forge--a strong place in the hills not far from Philadelphia.
[Sidenote: The army at Valley Forge, 1777-78.]
[Illustration: "The Glorious WASHINGTON and GATES." FROM TITLE-PAGE OF
AN ALMANAC OF 1778. To show condition of wood-engraving in the
Revolutionary era.]
[Sidenote: Baron Steuben.]
148. The Army at Valley Forge, 1777-78.--The sufferings of the
soldiers during the following winter can never be overstated. They
seldom had more than half enough to eat. Their clothes were in rags.
Many of them had no blankets. Many more had no shoes. Washington did all
he could do for them. But Congress had no money and could not get any.
At Valley Forge the soldiers were drilled by Baron Steuben, a Prussian
veteran. The army took the field in 1778, weak in numbers and poorly
clad. But what soldiers there were were as good as any soldiers to be
found anywhere in the world. During that winter, also, an attempt was
made to dismiss Washington from chief command, and to give his place to
General Gates. But this attempt ended in failure.
[Sidenote: Burgoyne's campaign, 1777. _Eggleston_, 178-179; _McMaster_,
139-140; _Source-Book_, 154-157.]
[Sidenote: Schuyler and Gates.]
149. Burgoyne's March to Saratoga, 1777.--While Howe was marching
to Philadelphia, General Burgoyne was marching southward from Canada.
It had been intended that Burgoyne and Howe should seize the line of the
Hudson and cut New England off from the other states. But the orders
reached Howe too late, and he went southward to Philadelphia. Burgoyne,
on his part, was fairly successful at first, for the Americans abandoned
post after post. But when he reached the southern end of Lake Champlain,
and started on his march to the Hudson, his troubles began. The way ran
through a wilderness. General Schuyler had had trees cut down across its
woodland paths and had done his work so well that it took Burgoyne about
a day to march a mile and a half. This gave the Americans time to gather
from all quarters and bar his southward way. But many of the soldiers
had no faith in Schuyler and Congress gave the command to General
Horatio Gates.
[Sidenote: Battle of Bennington, 1777. _Hero Tales_, 59-67.]
150. Bennington, 1777.--Burgoyne had with him many cavalrymen. But
they had no horses. The army, too, was sadly in need of food. So
Burgoyne sent a force of dismounted dragoons to Bennington in southern
Vermont to seize horses and food. It happened, however, that General
Stark, with soldiers from New Hampshire, Vermont, and western
Massachusetts, was nearer Bennington than Burgoyne supposed. They killed
or captured all the British soldiers. They then drove back with great
loss a second party which Burgoyne had sent to support the first one.
[Sidenote: Battle of Oriskany, 1777.]
151. Oriskany, 1777.--Meantime St. Leger, with a large body of
Indians and Canadian frontiersmen, was marching to join Burgoyne by the
way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk Valley. Near the site of the present
city of Rome in New York was Fort Schuyler, garrisoned by an American
force. St. Leger stopped to besiege this fort. The settlers on the
Mohawk marched to relieve the garrison and St. Leger defeated them at
Oriskany. But his Indians now grew tired of the siege, especially when
they heard that Arnold with a strong army was coming. St. Leger marched
back to Canada and left Burgoyne to his fate.
[Sidenote: First battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777.]
[Sidenote: Second battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777.]
[Sidenote: Surrender of the British at Saratoga, 1777.]
152. Saratoga, 1777.--Marching southward, on the western side of
the Hudson, Burgoyne and his army came upon the Americans in a forest
clearing called Freeman's Farm. Led by Daniel Morgan and Benedict
Arnold the Americans fought so hard that Burgoyne stopped where he was
and fortified the position. This was on September 19. The American army
posted itself near by on Bemis' Heights. For weeks the two armies faced
each other. Then, on October 7, the Americans attacked. Again Arnold led
his men to victory. They captured a fort in the centre of the British
line, and Burgoyne was obliged to retreat. But when he reached the
crossing place of the Hudson, to his dismay he found a strong body of
New Englanders with artillery on the opposite bank. Gates had followed
the retiring British, and soon Burgoyne was practically surrounded. His
men were starving, and on October 17 he surrendered.
[Sidenote: The Treaty of Alliance, 1778.]
153. The French Alliance, 1778.--Burgoyne's defeat made the French
think that the Americans would win their independence. So Dr. Franklin,
who was at Paris, was told that France would recognize the independence
of the United States, would make treaties with the new nation, and give
aid openly. Great Britain at once declared war on France. The French
lent large sums of money to the United States. They sent large armies
and splendid fleets to America. Their aid greatly shortened the struggle
for independence. But the Americans would probably have won without
French aid.
[Sidenote: The British leave Philadelphia 1778.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Monmouth, 1778.]
154. Monmouth, 1778.--The first result of the French alliance was
the retreat of the British from Philadelphia to New York. As Sir Henry
Clinton, the new British commander, led his army across the Jerseys,
Washington determined to strike it a blow. This he did near Monmouth.
The attack was a failure, owing to the treason of General Charles Lee,
who led the advance. Washington reached the front only in time to
prevent a dreadful disaster. But he could not bring about victory, and
Clinton seized the first moment to continue his march to New York. There
were other expeditions and battles in the North. But none of these had
any important effect on the outcome of the war.
[Illustration: Clark's Campaign 1777-1778]
[Sidenote: Clark's conquest of the Northwest, 1778-79. _Hero Tales_,
31-41.]
155. Clark's Western Campaign, 1778-79.--The Virginians had long
taken great interest in the western country. Their hardy pioneers had
crossed the mountains and begun the settlement of Kentucky. The
Virginians now determined to conquer the British posts in the country
northwest of the Ohio. The command was given to George Rogers Clark.
Gathering a strong band of hardy frontiersmen he set out on his
dangerous expedition. He seized the posts in Illinois, and Vincennes
surrendered to him. Then the British governor of the Northwest came from
Detroit with a large force and recaptured Vincennes. Clark set out from
Illinois to surprise the British. It was the middle of the winter. In
some places the snow lay deep on the ground. Then came the early floods.
For days the Americans marched in water up to their waists. At night
they sought some little hill where they could sleep on dry ground. Then
on again through the flood. They surprised the British garrison at
Vincennes and forced it to surrender. That was the end of the contest
for the Northwest.
[Illustration: WEST POINT IN 1790.]
[Sidenote: Benedict Arnold.]
[Sidenote: His treason, 1780 _Higginson_, 209-211; _McMaster_, 144]
156. Arnold and Andre, 1780.--Of all the leaders under Washington
none was abler in battle than Benedict Arnold. Unhappily he was always
in trouble about money. He was distrusted by Congress and was not
promoted. At Saratoga he quarrelled with Gates and was dismissed from
his command. Later he became military governor of Philadelphia and was
censured by Washington for his doings there. He then secured the command
of West Point and offered to surrender the post to the British. Major
Andre, of Clinton's staff, met Arnold to arrange the final details. On
his return journey to New York Andre was arrested and taken before
Washington. The American commander asked his generals if Andre was a
spy. They replied that Andre was a spy, and he was hanged. Arnold
escaped to New York and became a general in the British army.
CHAPTER 16
INDEPENDENCE
[Sidenote: Invasion of the South.]
[Sidenote: Capture of Charleston, 1780.]
157. Fall of Charleston, 1780.--It seemed quite certain that
Clinton could not conquer the Northern states with the forces given him.
In the South there were many loyalists. Resistance might not be so stiff
there. At all events Clinton decided to attempt the conquest of the
South. Savannah was easily seized (1778), and the French and Americans
could not retake it (1779). In the spring of 1780, Clinton, with a large
army, landed on the coast between Savannah and Charleston. He marched
overland to Charleston and besieged it from the land side. The Americans
held out for a long time. But they were finally forced to surrender.
Clinton then sailed back to New York, and left to Lord Cornwallis the
further conquest of the Carolinas.
[Sidenote: Battle of Camden, 1780.]
158. Gates's Defeat at Camden, 1780.--Cornwallis had little trouble
in occupying the greater part of South Carolina. There was no one to
oppose him, for the American army had been captured with Charleston.
Another small army was got together in North Carolina and the command
given to Gates, the victor at Saratoga. One night both Gates and
Cornwallis set out to attack the other's camp. The two armies met at
daybreak, the British having the best position. But this really made
little difference, for Gates's Virginia militiamen ran away before the
British came within fighting distance. The North Carolina militia
followed the Virginians. Only the regulars from Maryland and Delaware
were left. They fought on like heroes until their leader, General John
De Kalb, fell with seventeen wounds. Then the survivors surrendered.
Gates himself had been carried far to the rear by the rush of the
fleeing militia.
[Battle of King's Mountain, 1780. _Hero Tales_, 71-78.]
159. King's Mountain, October, 1780.--Cornwallis now thought that
resistance surely was at an end. He sent an expedition to the
settlements on the lower slopes of the Alleghany Mountains to get
recruits, for there were many loyalists in that region. Suddenly from
the mountains and from the settlements in Tennessee rode a body of armed
frontiersmen. They found the British soldiers encamped on the top of
King's Mountain. In about an hour they had killed or captured every
British soldier.
[Illustration: THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS.]
[Sidenote: General Greene.]
[Sidenote: Morgan's victory of the Cowpens, 1781.]
160. The Cowpens, 1781.--General Greene was now sent to the South
to take charge of the resistance to Cornwallis. A great soldier and a
great organizer Greene found that he needed all his abilities. His
coming gave new spirit to the survivors of Gates's army. He gathered
militia from all directions and marched toward Cornwallis. Dividing his
army into two parts, he sent General Daniel Morgan to threaten
Cornwallis from one direction, while he threatened him from another
direction. Cornwallis at once became uneasy and sent Tarleton to drive
Morgan away, but the hero of many hard-fought battles was not easily
frightened. He drew up his little force so skillfully that in a very few
minutes the British were nearly all killed or captured.
[Illustration: GENERAL MORGAN THE HERO OF COWPENS.]
[Sidenote: Greene's retreat.]
[Sidenote: The Battle of Guilford, 1781.]
161. The Guilford Campaign, 1781.--Cornwallis now made a desperate
attempt to capture the Americans, but Greene and Morgan joined forces
and marched diagonally across North Carolina. Cornwallis followed so
closely that frequently the two armies seemed to be one. When, however,
the river Dan was reached, there was an end of marching, for Greene had
caused all the boats to be collected at one spot. His men crossed and
kept the boats on their side of the river. Soon Greene found himself
strong enough to cross the river again to North Carolina. He took up a
very strong position near Guilford Court House. Cornwallis attacked. The
Americans made a splendid defense before Greene ordered a retreat, and
the British won the battle of Guilford. But their loss was so great that
another victory of the same kind would have destroyed the British army.
As it was, Greene had dealt it such a blow that Cornwallis left his
wounded at Guilford and set out as fast as he could for the seacoast.
Greene pursued him for some distance and then marched southward
to Camden.
[Sidenote: Greene's later campaigns, 1871-83.]
162. Greene's Later Campaigns.--At Hobkirk's Hill, near Camden, the
British soldiers who had been left behind by Cornwallis attacked Greene.
But he beat them off and began the siege of a fort on the frontier of
South Carolina. The British then marched up from Charleston, and Greene
had to fall back. Then the British marched back to Charleston and
abandoned the interior of South Carolina to the Americans. There was
only one more battle in the South--at Eutaw Springs. Greene was defeated
there, too, but the British abandoned the rest of the Carolinas and
Georgia with the exception of Savannah and Charleston. In these
wonderful campaigns with a few good soldiers Greene had forced the
British from the Southern states. He had lost every battle. He had won
every campaign.
[Sidenote: Lafayette and Cornwallis, 1781.]
163. Cornwallis in Virginia, 1781.--There were already two small
armies in Virginia,--the British under Arnold, the Americans under
Lafayette. Cornwallis now marched northward from Wilmington and added
the troops in Virginia to his own force; Arnold he sent to New York.
Cornwallis then set out to capture Lafayette and his men. Together they
marched from salt water across Virginia to the mountains--and then they
marched back to salt water again. Cornwallis had called Lafayette "the
boy" and had declared that "the boy should not escape him." Finally
Cornwallis fortified Yorktown, and Lafayette settled down at
Williamsburg. And there they still were in September, 1781.
[Sidenote: The French at Newport, 1780.]
[Sidenote: Plans of the allies, 1781.]
164. Plans of the Allies.--In 1780 the French government had sent
over a strong army under Rochambeau. It was landed at Newport. It
remained there a year to protect the vessels in which it had come from
France from capture by a stronger British fleet that had at once
appeared off the mouth of the harbor. Another French fleet and another
French army were in the West Indies. In the summer of 1781 it became
possible to unite all these French forces, and with the Americans to
strike a crushing blow at the British. Just at this moment Cornwallis
shut himself up in Yorktown, and it was determined to besiege him there.
[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES IN 1783.]
[Illustration: The Siege of Yorktown.]
[Sidenote: The march to the Chesapeake.]
[Sidenote: Combat between the French and the British fleets.]
[Surrender of Yorktown, October 19, 1781. _Higginson_, 211-212.]
165. Yorktown, September-October, 1781.--Rochambeau led his men to
New York and joined the main American army. Washington now took command
of the allied forces. He pretended that he was about to attack New York
and deceived Clinton so completely that Clinton ordered Cornwallis to
send some of his soldiers to New York. But the allies were marching
southward through Philadelphia before Clinton realized what they were
about. The French West India fleet under De Grasse reached one end of
the Chesapeake Bay at the same time the allies reached the other end.
The British fleet attacked it and was beaten off. There was now no hope
for Cornwallis. No help could reach him by sea. The soldiers of the
allies outnumbered him two to one. On October 17, 1781, four years to a
day since the surrender of Burgoyne, a drummer boy appeared on the
rampart of Yorktown and beat a parley. Two days later the British
soldiers marched out to the good old British tune of "The world turned
upside down," and laid down their arms.
[Sidenote: Treaty of Peace, 1783.]
166. Treaty of Peace, 1783.--This disaster put an end to British
hopes of conquering America. But it was not until September, 1783, that
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay brought the negotiations
for peace to an end. Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the
United States. The territory of the United States was defined as
extending from the Great Lakes to the thirty-first parallel of latitude
and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Spain had joined the United
States and France in the war. Spanish soldiers had conquered Florida,
and Spain kept Florida at the peace. In this way Spanish Florida and
Louisiana surrounded the United States on the south and the west.
British territory bounded the United States on the north and the
northeast.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 14
Sec.Sec. 134-136.--_a_. Compare the advantages of the British and the
Americans. Which side had the greater advantages?
_b_. Explain the influence of geographical surroundings upon the war.
_c_. Why were there so many loyalists?
Sec.Sec. 137-139.--_a_. Mold or draw a map of Boston and vicinity and explain
by it the important points of the siege.
_b_. Who won the battle of Bunker Hill? What were the effects of the
battle upon the Americans? Upon the British?
_c_. Why was Washington appointed to chief command?
_d_. What were the effects of the seizure of Ticonderoga on the siege of
Boston?
Sec.Sec. 140, 141.--_a_. Why did Congress determine to attack Canada? _b_.
Follow the routes of the two invading armies. What was the result of the
expedition?
_c_. Describe the harbor of Charleston. Why did the British attack at
this point?
_d_. What was the result of this expedition?
Sec.Sec. 142, 143.--_a_. What advantage would the occupation of New York give
the British?
_b_. Describe the Long Island campaign.
_c_. Why did Congress give Washington sole direction of the war? Who had
directed the war before?
Sec.Sec. 144, 145.--_a_. Describe the battle of Trenton. Why is it memorable?
_b_. Who were the Hessians?
_c_. At the close of January, 1777, what places were held by the
British?
CHAPTER 15
Sec.Sec.146, 147.--_a_. What had been the feeling of most of the colonists
toward England? Why had this feeling changed?
_b_. Why was Jefferson asked to write the Declaration?
_c_. What great change was made by Congress in the Declaration? Why?
_d_. What truths are declared to be self-evident? Are they still
self-evident?
_e_. What is declared to be the basis of government? Is it still the
basis of government?
_f_. When was the Declaration adopted? When signed?
Sec.Sec. 148, 149.--_a_. Describe Howe's campaign of 1777.
_b_. What valuable work was done at Valley Forge?
Sec.Sec. 150-153.--_a_. What was the object of Burgoyne's campaign? Was the
plan a wise one from the British point of view?
_b_. What do you think of the justice of removing Schuyler?
_c_. How did the battle of Bennington affect the campaign? What was the
effect of St. Leger's retreat to Canada?
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