A Short History of the United States Part 1

A Short History of the United States.

by Edward Channing.

PREFACE

The aim of this little book is to tell in a simple and concise form the story of the founding and development of the United States. The study of the history of one's own country is a serious matter, and should be entered upon by the text-book writer, by the teacher, and by the pupil in a serious spirit, even to a greater extent than the study of language or of arithmetic. No effort has been made, therefore, to make out of this text-book a story book. It is a text-book pure and simple, and should be used as a text-book, to be studied diligently by the pupil and expounded carefully by the teacher.

Most of the pupils who use this book will never have another opportunity to study the history and inst.i.tutions of their own country. It is highly desirable that they should use their time in studying the real history of the United States and not in learning by heart a ma.s.s of anecdotes,--often of very slight importance, and more often based on very insecure foundations. The author of this text-book, therefore, has boldly ventured to omit most of the traditional matter which is usually supposed to give life to a text-book and to inspire a "love of history,"--which too often means only a love of being amused. For instance, descriptions of the formation of the Const.i.tution and of the struggle over the extension of slavery here occupy the s.p.a.ce usually given to the adventures of Captain John Smith and to accounts of the inst.i.tutions of the Red Men. The small number of pages available for the period before 1760 has necessitated the omission of "pictures of colonial life," which cannot be briefly and at the same time accurately described. These and similar matters can easily be studied by the pupils in their topical work in such books as Higginson's _Young Folks'

History_, Eggleston's _United States and its People_, and McMaster's _School History_. References to these books and to a limited number of other works have been given in the margins of this text-book. These citations also mention a few of the more accessible sources, which should be used solely for purposes of ill.u.s.tration.

It is the custom in many schools to spread the study of American history over two years, and to devote the first year to a detailed study of the period before 1760. This is a very bad arrangement. In the first place, it gives an undue emphasis to the colonial period; in the second place, as many pupils never return to school, they never have an opportunity to study the later period at all; in the third place, it prevents those pupils who complete this study from gaining an intelligent view of the development of the American people. And, finally, most of the time the second year is spent in the study of the Revolutionary War and of the War for the Union. A better way would be to go over the whole book the first year with some parallel reading, and the second year to review the book and study with greater care important episodes, as the making of the Const.i.tution, the struggle for freedom in the territories, and the War for the Union. Attention may also be given the second year to a study of industrial history since 1790 and to the elements of civil government. It is the author's earnest hope that teachers will regard the early chapters as introductory.

Miss Annie Bliss Chapman, for many years a successful teacher of history in grammar schools, has kindly provided a limited number of suggestive questions, and has also made many excellent suggestions to teachers.

These are all appended to the several divisions of the work. The author has added a few questions and a few suggestions of his own. He has also altered some of Miss Chapman's questions. Whatever there is commendable in this apparatus should be credited to Miss Chapman. Acknowledgments are also due to Miss Beulah Marie Dix for very many admirable suggestions as to language and form. The author will cordially welcome criticisms and suggestions from any one, especially from teachers, and will be very glad to receive notice of any errors.

CAMBRIDGE,

March 29, 1900.

THE UNITED STATES

I

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 1000-1600

Books for Study and Reading

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

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

CHAPTER I

THE EUROPEAN DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

[Sidenote: Leif Ericson.]

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

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

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

We thought that he was the first European to visit America. But nearly five hundred years before his time Leif Ericson had discovered the New World. He was a Northman and the son of Eric the Red. Eric had already founded a colony in Greenland, and Leif sailed from Norway to make him a visit. This was in the year 1000. Day after day Leif and his men were tossed about on the sea until they reached an unknown land where they found many grape-vines. They called it Vinland or Wineland. They Then sailed northward and reached Greenland in safety. Precisely where Vinland was is not known. But it certainly was part of North America.

Leif Ericson, the Northman, was therefore the real discoverer of America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EUROPE, ICELAND, GREENLAND, AND NORTH AMERICA.]

[Sidenote: Marco Polo, Cathay, and c.i.p.ango.]

2. Early European Travelers.--The people of Europe knew more of the lands of Asia than they knew of Vinland. For hundreds of years missionaries, traders, and travelers visited the Far East. They brought back to Europe silks and spices, and ornaments of gold and of silver.

They told marvelous tales of rich lands and great princes. One of these travelers was a Venetian named Marco Polo. He told of Cathay or China and of c.i.p.ango or j.a.pan. This last country was an island. Its king was so rich that even the floors of his palaces were of pure gold. Suddenly the Turks conquered the lands between Europe and the golden East. They put an end to this trading and traveling. New ways to India, China, and j.a.pan must be found.

[Sidenote: Portuguese seamen.]

3. Early Portuguese Sailors.--One way to the East seemed to be around the southern end of Africa--if it should turn out that there was a southern end to that Dark Continent. In 1487 Portuguese seamen sailed around the southern end of Africa and, returning home, called that point the Cape of Storms. But the King of Portugal thought that now there was good hope of reaching India by sea. So he changed the name to Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later a brave Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama, actually reached India by the Cape of Good Hope, and returned safely to Portugal (1497).

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

4. Columbus.--Meantime Christopher Columbus, an Italian, had returned from an even more startling voyage. From what he had read, and from what other men had told him, he had come to believe that the earth was round. If this were really true, c.i.p.ango and Cathay were west of Europe as well as east of Europe. Columbus also believed that the earth was very much smaller than it really is, and that c.i.p.ango was only three thousand miles west of Spain. For a time people laughed at the idea of sailing westward to c.i.p.ango and Cathay. But at length Columbus secured enough money to fit out a little fleet.

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

5. The Voyage, 1492.--Columbus left Spain in August, 1492, and, refitting at the Canaries, sailed westward into the Sea of Darkness. At ten o'clock in the evening of October 20, 1492, looking out into the night, he saw a light in the distance. The fleet was soon stopped. When day broke, there, sure enough, was land. A boat was lowered, and Columbus, going ash.o.r.e, took possession of the new land for Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Aragon and Castile. The natives came to see the discoverers. They were reddish in color and interested Columbus--for were they not inhabitants of the Far East? So he called them Indians.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHIPS, SEA-MONSTERS, AND INDIANS. From an early Spanish book on America.]

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

[Sidenote: Columbus discovers Cuba.]

6. The Indians and the Indies.--These Indians were not at all like those wonderful people of Cathay and c.i.p.ango whom Marco Polo had described. Instead of wearing clothes of silk and of gold embroidered satin, these people wore no clothes of any kind. But it was plain enough that the island they had found was not c.i.p.ango. It was probably some island off the coast of c.i.p.ango, so on Columbus sailed and discovered Cuba. He was certain that Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia, for the Indians kept saying "Cubanaquan." Columbus thought that this was their way of p.r.o.nouncing Kublai Khan--the name of a mighty eastern ruler. So he sent two messengers with a letter to that powerful monarch.

Returning to Spain, Columbus was welcomed as a great admiral. He made three other voyages to America. But he never came within sight of the mainland of the United States.

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

7. John Cabot, 1497.--While Columbus explored the West Indies, another Italian sailed across the Sea of Darkness farther north. His name was John Cabot, and he sailed with a license from Henry VII of England, the first of the Tudor kings. Setting boldly forth from Bristol, England, he crossed the North Atlantic and reached the coast of America north of Nova Scotia. Like Columbus, he thought that he had found the country of the Grand Khan. Upon his discovery English kings based their claim to the right to colonize North America.

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

[Sidenote: The New World named America.]

8. The Naming of America.--Many other explorers also visited the new-found lands. Among these was an Italian named Americus Vespucius.

Precisely where he went is not clear. But it is clear that he wrote accounts of his voyages, which were printed and read by many persons. In these accounts he said that what we call South America was not a part of Asia. So he named it the New World. Columbus all the time was declaring that the lands he had found were a part of Asia. It was natural, therefore, that people in thinking of the New World should think of Americus Vespucius. Before long some one even suggested that the New World should be named America in his honor. This was done, and when it became certain that the other lands were not parts of Asia, the name America was given to them also until the whole continent came to be called America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.]

[Sidenote: Balboa sees the Pacific, 1513.]

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