Woman's Club Work and Programs Part 3

The period ends with the discovery by the French of the Canadian country and the establishment of the fisheries in Newfoundland.

Read Francis Parkman on Champlain and the wonderful stories of the Jesuit missionaries on the St. Lawrence and the lakes.

II--COLONIZATION

1. The London Company is responsible for the settling of both the South and the North. Begin with the study of Virginia, the history of Sir Walter Raleigh and John Smith. Then give plenty of time to these important topics: The founding of Jamestown, the different governors and their policies, the Indians and their relations to the colonists, the beginning of slavery, the raising of tobacco, and the coming from England of indentured servants. Read Mary Johnston's To Have and To Hold, which gives an excellent picture of the times.

Note the changes in the colony when Charles I. came to the throne and the cavaliers came over, bringing something of luxury with them. In closing the period mention Bacon's rebellion. Read from John Esten Cooke's Virginia: a History of the People, and also White Ap.r.o.ns, by Maud Wilder Goodwin.

2. The northern branch of the great English trading company was called the Plymouth Company. Of the many sea captains who came over to explore and sometimes to try and settle, Bartholomew Gosnold accomplished the most; he found Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, and made a short-lived colony. John Smith came also, and gave the country the name of New England.

At this point take up the subject of the Puritans in England, and what brought them to America. Read of the _Speedwell_ and the _Mayflower_, the voyage of the latter and the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. Have a paper on the first winter with its hardships, and other papers on the great men of the colony, Governor Carver, Governor Bradford, John Winthrop, William Brewster, and Miles Standish. Study the topic of the founding of churches and schools, the relations with the Indians, and the establishment of new settlements, through Ma.s.sachusetts and beyond.

Read S. G. Fisher's Men, Women, and Manners in Colonial Times, Mrs.

Austen's Standish of Standish, and Longfellow's Miles Standish.

The religious difficulties of the times deserve special notice, because of their results; read the stories of Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker. The work of John Eliot for the Indians should not be forgotten, nor the rise and spread of witchcraft; on this last read Ye Little Salem Maid, by Hopkins. Close the period with King Philip's War, and notice how many colonies now existed.

3. The Dutch of the early seventeenth century were among the most famous navigators of the world, and the East India Company, founded by them, sent out ships all over the seas. One of these, the little _Half Moon_, commanded by an Englishman in their employ, Henry Hudson, sailed all along the northern coast, and up the Hudson River as far as Albany.

Others followed him; the New Netherlands Company was organized for trading in furs, and little settlements were made by them. In 1626 Peter Minuit, the Governor, bought Manhattan Island from the Indians for less then twenty-five dollars in beads and ribbons, and founded New Amsterdam.

From the beginning this colony prospered. Peter Stuyvesant was its most famous figure, but the whole history of the life of the patroons is well worth reading. The colony pa.s.sed into the hands of the English, and was renamed New York, but the people remained Dutch for many years. Irving's History of New York and Amelia Barr's Bow of Orange Ribbon give a good idea of the time.

4. The founding of New Jersey and Maryland come next in order, and the struggles between Catholics, Puritans, Episcopalians, and Quakers for supremacy, with the work of Lord Baltimore and Calvert, and the intervention of Oliver Cromwell.

The story of the peaceful founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn follows in 1681, and this, with the settling of the Carolinas and Georgia, may be taken up rather briefly. The coming of Germans, Scotch Highlanders, and Scotch-Irish to these southern colonies is to be mentioned. The war between England and Spain affected the relations between the Spanish settlers of Florida and the English of Georgia, and led to trouble. Under Governor Oglethorpe the power of Spain in America was overthrown.

The subject of the opening up of the Mississippi Valley should be studied by itself. The story of La Salle is as interesting as any novel; read Parkman's La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West.

III--THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR

This began in Canada under the famous Governor Frontenac, who came down to conquer New York, and extended throughout the North, the middle colonies, and the Mississippi Valley. There might easily be a set of at least three meetings on this theme. The ma.s.sacres of the Indians, especially that at Deerfield; the siege of Quebec; the capture of Louisburg; the taking of Fort Duquesne by men under George Washington; the coming of Braddock, and his campaign; the transportation of the Acadians from Nova Scotia to the South; the history of Sir William Johnson and the Indians; the fortifications of Fort William Henry and Ticonderoga; the struggle of Wolfe and Montcalm at Quebec, and the final overthrow of French power in our country should all be studied, for the importance of this period of our history cannot be over-estimated. Read Parkman's histories: Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV.; a Half Century of Conflict; Montcalm and Wolfe; and the Conspiracy of Pontiac.

Some of Cooper's novels are also good, Leather Stocking Tales especially; and Thackeray's Virginians may be read in part.

IV--THE REVOLUTION

The entire history of the war must of course be gone over, but how thoroughly will depend on the individual club. At least the causes which led to it, the great men who guided the nation at the time, and the results should be made familiar.

Read first of England at the time; of George III. and his ministers; of their att.i.tude toward the colonies; of the restrictions of manufacture and trading; of the revenue laws and taxation without representation.

Note the influence of such men as Burke, Pitt, and others.

Take up the patriots in America: Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Lee of Virginia, John Hanc.o.c.k, John Adams, Samuel Adams, among others. Show pictures of the Old South Meeting House and Faneuil Hall of Boston; read Paul Revere's Ride, and a description of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Note the establishment of a Continental congress and army, and speak of the fitness of George Washington as the leader of the American forces.

Read the Declaration of Independence; follow with the struggle for the control of the Hudson, which occupied the whole of the first year of the war and more, and includes the battles about New York, with their retreats and victories; then study the invasion of Canada, the attempt on the South, the British plan of three Northern armies simultaneously; the use of Indian allies; the surrender of Burgoyne; the movements of the fleets; the treason of Arnold; the surrender of Cornwallis.

Other topics for papers or talks may be: Valley Forge; Andre and Hale; the recent discovery of the treachery of Charles Lee; the story of Paul Jones; the aid of the French under Lafayette; the character of the great generals on both sides; how the news of the final success of America was received in England. Read The American Revolution, by Lecky, and H. C.

Lodge's Story of the Revolution; also, The Tory Lover, by Jewett (about Paul Jones), and Ford's Janice Meredith.

V--THE CRITICAL PERIOD

of our history naturally succeeds the Revolution, when our Government was in the making. Read of the leaders of the time: Washington, Jefferson, Marshall, Madison, Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. Have parts of the Const.i.tution read, and study the different aspects of our Government: the way we choose our President; the houses of Congress and the Senate; our judiciary. Read the story of Washington's inauguration.

Additional topics are: Shay's rebellion; paper money; the Northwest Territory; and the home life of the times. Take up the early presidents in order, with the events of each term. The tariff, the war with the Barbary pirates, the rise of newspapers, the Louisiana Territory, and the decrees of France and England about neutral ships are all important.

VI--THE WAR OF 1812

Read of the Embargo Act and the refusal of England to repeal her decree; also of the acts of Napoleon at the time. The battles of the war that followed were nearly all at sea, and are full of exciting interest, from the victory of the _Const.i.tution_, after only half an hour's fighting, to the very end; one of the most famous is the Battle of Lake Erie, when Perry sent the historic message, "I have met the enemy, and they are ours." Read of the invasion of Canada and the Battle of New Orleans, and close the study with the Treaty of 1814. A story called Midshipman Paulding, by Molly Elliot Seawell, gives a good sketch of the time, and Roosevelt's Naval War of 1812 is excellent for reference.

VII--EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENTS

From this point on for several decades, the country slowly increased her territory, her manufactures, her school system, her trade at home and abroad. Steam was introduced on boats and railways, and wealth and comforts grew. Florida was bought for five millions, the Monroe Doctrine exploited, and several States added to the Union. Slavery gradually increased in the South, and the cotton-gin was introduced in the North to weave the raw product there. The Missouri Compromise was one of the great national issues of the day, and Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun were the leaders in politics. There was a great commercial panic which led to the settling of our banking laws; the first telegraphic message was sent; Mormonism was first heard of, and became important.

The war with Mexico, which began in 1848, gave us a great additional territory. Abolition sentiment rose. The period closed with the discovery of gold in California. Read Bret Harte's books, Theodore Winthrop's John Brent, for a study of Mormonism, and Parkman's Oregon Trail.

VIII--THE CIVIL WAR

The various difficulties which led to the great conflict should be studied in detail in a good history of the times. Among others were: The Fugitive Slave Law, the Underground Railway, Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the debates of Lincoln and Douglas, the Dred Scott decision, and the story of John Brown's raid.

It will be necessary to have a good reference-book with maps of the campaigns. Perhaps the best book is Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, written by the great generals, published by The Century Company.

Divide the war into the four years of its continuance, following this condensed outline:

1861--Attack on Fort Sumter; call for troops by Lincoln; Battle of Bull Run; The Trent Affair.

1862--The _Merrimac_ and _Monitor_; Battle of Shiloh; Farragut and the Battle of New Orleans; Seven Days' Battles before Richmond; Second Battle of Bull Run; Antietam; Fredericksburg.

1863--January first, the Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation; Chancellorsville; Gettysburg; surrender of Vicksburg; Chickamauga; Chattanooga.

1864--Grant's advance on Lee; Battle of the Wilderness; Sherman's Atlanta campaign; siege of Petersburg; the _Alabama_ sunk by the _Kearsarge_; Battle of Mobile Bay; fall of Atlanta; Sheridan in the Shenandoah; Sherman's March to the Sea; Battle of Nashville.

1865--Battle of Five Forks; Richmond evacuated; surrender of Lee; Lincoln a.s.sa.s.sinated; surrender of Johnston; capture of Jefferson Davis; review of Northern army in Washington.

Take up the condition of the South immediately after the war. Have papers on the purchase of Alaska, our increase in population, the crossing of the continent by the railway, and the war with the Indians in which Custer was killed. Mention the administrations as before, and close the period with the war with Spain, and describe our new possessions.

IX--PRESENT-DAY CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS

The various subjects to be studied under this topic stand out conspicuously: our material wealth; our cities; our manufactures; our coalfields, forests, watercourses, and other resources; our public schools and universities; our vocational schools and schools for the defective; the education of the negro, the Indian, the mountain white; our railway systems; telegraph, telephone, and wireless communication; our scientific discoveries; conservation; our art galleries, museums, theaters, orchestras. Close with discussions of our chief national problems: immigration, labor, and woman suffrage.

This period should have one program on the physical character of our country; its great natural beauties in the Yosemite, the Sierras, the Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon in the West; the mountains of the East and South; Niagara, the Hudson, the Mississippi, and our seacoast.

X--AMERICAN LITERATURE AND ART