The Story of American History Part 25

Then as now the country doctor used to ride night and day, year after year, whatever the weather or the condition of the roads, to attend the good people of his neighborhood. He received, as he richly deserved, the respect and affection of his patients for his life of hardship and self-denial.

=271. How the Schoolmaster taught School.=--Besides the doctor, minister, and lawyer, the village schoolmaster was socially and otherwise an important man. He was usually a student who was "working his way"

through college, and who sought, by teaching winters and working on a farm in summer, to defray his expenses at Yale, Dartmouth, or Harvard.

In many of the school districts he was expected to "board round." That is, he lived with the parents of his pupils, regulating his stay according to the number of the children of the family who attended school.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN OLD SOLDIER FIGHTING HIS BATTLES OVER AGAIN.]

In those days there were large families and many children, and the young schoolmaster was a welcome guest. The best room in the house, the warmest corner by the fireplace, and the choicest food were reserved for him. During the long winter evenings he discussed theology and politics with the fathers, played games with the children, and escorted the girls to "spelling matches" and "quilting bees."

=272. The Everyday Home Life.=--Such conveniences and comforts as are now found in almost every home were then unknown. Cooking stoves, matches, refined sugar, sewing machines, and kerosene oil had never been heard of. The mechanic's home had no carpets on the floor, no pictures on the walls, no coal in the cellar, no water faucets in the kitchen. Fruits and vegetables, now so cheap in their season, such as tomatoes, oranges, bananas, celery, and dates, were either quite unknown or beyond the reach of scanty means.

The farmers of a century ago ate plain food and wore plain clothes.

Their daily fare was usually salt fish, salt pork, beef, a few vegetables, and dried apples. The numerous farm implements, which have done so much to cheapen food and to bring thousands of acres into a state of high cultivation, were not yet invented.

The well-to-do farmer managed to pick up a great deal of general information and news of the day. He was noted for an inquiring turn of mind. He could tire out the weary visitor or stranger on the road with numberless questions on current social, political, or religious topics.

At times he would unbend enough to play "fox and geese" with his children, or attend "apple bees" and corn huskings.

CHAPTER XXI.

WHAT OUR NAVY DID IN THE WAR OF 1812.

=273. Outrages committed by the Pirates of the Barbary Coast.=--A hundred years ago the ports of the nations lying on the northern coast of Africa--the Barbary States, as they were called, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli--were infested by fierce pirates. They used to rush out with their swift vessels and capture the ships of Christian nations.

After plundering them of their valuables, they would hold the crews as slaves, or sell them to slave dealers.

These pirates became for years the terror of Europe. Merchants paid annual tributes of large sums of money to the Pasha to save their cargoes from seizure. Even our own nation, in 1795, paid these sea robbers for the release of American sailors captured and held by them as slaves, and also for the exemption of our ships from attack. First and last we paid these robber states not less than a million dollars to buy their good will.

It is difficult to realize that there was once a time when the President of the United States negotiated treaties, the Senate ratified them, and Congress voted tribute money to keep the peace with pirates.

In 1801 a disagreement arose about our regular payment; and the Bashaw of Tripoli, whose greed it was hard to satisfy, had the impudence to declare war against the United States and cut down the flagstaff in front of our consul's residence.

=274. The Gallant Exploits of Decatur and his Brave Men.=--Although we had only a small navy, President Jefferson thought it best to put a stop to this blackmail business, and settle with the pirates in a different way.

So he sent some war vessels to punish them, and they did it quite thoroughly.

During one of these encounters the United States frigate Philadelphia, one of our best, under the command of Captain Bainbridge, chased a pirate craft into the harbor of Tripoli, but unluckily ran on a reef.

She stuck fast, helpless either to fight or to sail. She was captured, with all her crew, by the enemy.

But a few months afterwards, Stephen Decatur, a gallant lieutenant of only twenty-five, sailed from Sicily in a small vessel, the Intrepid, which had just been captured from the Moors. He boldly entered the harbor of Tripoli one evening about dusk, and sailed quietly along close to the Philadelphia. Then pirates did not suspect harm, as the Intrepid appeared to be a Moorish vessel. With its crew of seventy men concealed under the bulwarks, the little vessel was instantly made fast to the ill-fated frigate.

"Follow me, lads!" cried Decatur.

The men from the Intrepid sprang to their feet and climbed on board the Philadelphia. The surprise was complete. In ten minutes Decatur and his bold sailors had killed or driven overboard every pirate, then set the ship afire, leaped back upon the Intrepid, and escaped from the harbor amid a storm of shot from the batteries. Not one of our men was lost in the whole affair.

This heroic adventure, which made young Decatur a captain, became common talk in Europe. England's greatest naval hero, Lord Nelson, said, "It was the most bold and daring act of the ages." There is no single naval exploit to be compared with it for boldness, except Cushing's destruction of the ironclad Albemarle in the war for the Union.

=275. Outrageous Conduct of the British toward American Sailors.=--During the years soon after 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte was at war with almost all Europe, and especially with England.

The British navy was very large and in constant need of sailors. To get them, English men-of-war used to stop American merchant ships wherever they met them on the high seas. They would fire a cannon shot across the bows of the American vessel to compel it to heave to. British officers would then come on board, marshal the crew in line, and pick out sailors whom they claimed to be deserters from British ships.

Very likely the ones thus singled out could prove that they were Americans by birth or adoption. No matter for that! They were needed, and, as the men-of-war had the power to take them by force, go they must. In time this dastardly business became even worse. The British sometimes stationed their war vessels off the entrance of our largest harbors, ready to search our merchantmen as they sailed out.

Now all this bid fair to destroy our commerce. None of our ships were safe. Importing, exporting, our vast fisheries, important manufactures--many kinds of business--were on the verge of ruin.

In spite of our protests the British government kept up this practice for years, until it was said that more than nine hundred American vessels had been searched, and over six thousand American sailors kidnapped from them.

=276. The War of 1812 begun.=--Why did we endure these insults from England so long? Perhaps the princ.i.p.al reason was our small navy. The English war fleets then numbered over a thousand vessels, and ours less than twenty! These outrages could not, however, be longer tolerated.

England even insisted that she had a perfect _right_ to seize our ships and to carry off our citizens.

War was declared in 1812. In this war most of our land battles were more or less failures, but the brilliant success of our naval contests more than made up for them. In fact, whenever we speak of the war of 1812, we always think of the surprising series of victories won by our splendid though small naval force against England.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ISAAC HULL.]

=277. The Great Naval Battle between the Const.i.tution and the Guerriere.=--Only a few weeks after war was declared, our frigate Const.i.tution, Captain Isaac Hull, met the enemy's man-of-war Guerriere, Captain Dacres, off the Ma.s.sachusetts sh.o.r.e. The British vessel had been sailing proudly up and down our coast, challenging the Yankee craft to fight. The Guerriere in real British pride flings out a flag from the top of each "ocean spire." Her guns flash but the b.a.l.l.s fall short.

"Not a cannon to be fired till I give the word," cried Captain Hull; "double shot the guns."

"May we not begin?" shouted his first officer as the shot came tearing through the rigging.

Another broadside from the Guerriere! The men are getting impatient.

Captain Hull calmly waits until he can bring every gun to bear.

"Now, boys, give it to them!" he shouted at the top of his voice.

They did their work well. In twenty minutes the proud English frigate was a helpless wreck.

"I will not take your sword," said the gallant Hull to Captain Dacres as the British officer surrendered; "but I will trouble you for that hat!"

It seems that these two brave captains were personal friends, and Hull had made a bet with Dacres that his vessel would "whip" the Guerriere if there should ever be a war, and the loser was to forfeit his hat!

The Const.i.tution was almost unhurt. The Guerriere, shattered and useless, was set on fire, and in a few minutes blew up. All that was left of the splendid vessel instantly vanished from sight forever. Hull took his prisoners to Boston, where he was received with enthusiastic welcome.

The news of this victory created equal joy in every section of the country. Its chief importance lay in the confidence it inspired among all the people, demonstrating that a first-cla.s.s English battleship was far from invincible. The British government was astounded. So were the naval authorities, some of whom had sneered at the Const.i.tution as "a bundle of pine boards."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPTAIN HULL REFUSES TO ACCEPT CAPTAIN DACRES' SWORD.]

=278. Naval Battle between the Wasp and Frolic; Other Brilliant Naval Victories for the American Sailors.=--A few weeks later the American sloop-of-war Wasp fell in with the British brig Frolic off Virginia. It was a sharp fight for three-quarters of an hour. Both vessels were nearly destroyed, when the Wasp came close to the Frolic and gave a tremendous broadside that carried away everything before it. Then the Wasp's crew boarded the Frolic and found not a sailor on deck--only the officers, who surrendered. The surviving sailors had gone below to escape the deadly fire.

The very next week Commodore Decatur of the frigate United States attacked the British frigate Macedonian near the Canary Islands. It was a brisk fight of two hours, when the Macedonian surrendered with a loss of over one hundred men.

Decatur's victory produced a profound impression both in this country and in England. Congress recognized its importance by a vote of thanks and a gold medal to the commodore.

=279. "Old Ironsides" and her n.o.ble Record.=--In the same month occurred the famous battle off Brazil between the Const.i.tution under Commodore Bainbridge and the frigate Java. It was a furious contest for two hours.

The enemy's ship had every mast shot away, and her hull was torn with shot. Her deck was covered with more than two hundred killed and wounded. The wreck of the Java surrendered, the survivors were taken on board the Const.i.tution, and the hull was burned. This was the fourth brilliant naval victory gained within six months.

The Const.i.tution has ever since been popularly known as "Old Ironsides,"