Part 16

[Sidenote: =Helps France become a republic=]

After the war was over and England had taken her armies home, Congress sent Thomas Jefferson as minister to France (1785). The French people liked Jefferson very much, because, like Franklin, he was very democratic, and treated all men alike. The French people were just beginning to overthrow the power of their king, and plan a republic. Jefferson told them how happy the Americans were since they had broken away from George III.

[Sidenote: =Greeted by his slaves=]

After five years Jefferson returned home. When his negro slaves heard that he was coming back to Monticello they went several miles to greet him. When the carriage reached home they carried him on their shoulders into the house. The slaves were happy for Jefferson, like Washington, was a kind master, and hoped for the day to come when slavery would be no more.

[Sidenote: =First Secretary of State=]

Washington had just been elected the first President of the United States (1789), and was now looking for a good man to be his adviser on questions relating to foreign nations. He chose Thomas Jefferson to do that work and gave him the office of Secretary of State.

[Sidenote: =Leader of the Democratic-Republican party=]

Congress disputed and debated over the best ways of paying the Revolutionary War debt, and also over the question as to whether America should take sides with France in the great war between that country and England. The people also disputed over these questions, and formed themselves into two parties. One, the Democratic-Republican, was led by Thomas Jefferson, and the other, the Federalist party, was led by Alexander Hamilton.

[Sidenote: =Elected president=]

=117. Jefferson President.= In 1800 the people elected Jefferson president. He was very popular because he was a friend of the poor as well as of the rich people. He declared that the new national government should in every way be plain and simple, instead of showy like the governments of Europe.

Presidents Washington and Adams had had fine receptions, where people wore wigs, silver shoe buckles, and fine lace. When Jefferson became president he did away with all this show and style.

[Sidenote: =Reduces expenses=]

Jefferson also pleased the people by reducing the expenses of the government. He cut down the number of government clerks, soldiers in the army, and sailors in the navy. He spent just as little money as possible in running the government.

One of Jefferson's most important acts while president was the purchase of Louisiana. Thanks to George Rogers Clark and his brave men, England had been forced to give the United States the Mississippi as our western boundary.

[Sidenote: =Napoleon forces Spain to give France Louisiana=]

In 1800 Napoleon, the great French general, forced Spain to give France all the region then known as Louisiana, which extended from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Spain, a weak country, had already refused to permit American boats to use the mouth of the Mississippi. What if Napoleon should send his victorious army to Louisiana and close the Mississippi entirely? Jefferson saw the danger at once, and sent James Monroe to Paris to help our minister, Robert R. Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, buy New Orleans and a strip of land on the east side of the Mississippi River near its mouth.

[Sidenote: =Sells Louisiana to America=]

Napoleon was about to enter on a terrible war with England, and needed money badly. He was only too glad to sell all of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars (1803). This was more than Livingston was told to buy, but he and Monroe accepted his offer.

[Sidenote: =The greatness of the purchase=]

If you will count the number of great states which have been carved out of the "Louisiana Purchase," and look at the great cities and the number of towns which have grown up within "old Louisiana," you will understand why great honor is given to the men who purchased this vast region.

[Sidenote: =The Lewis and Clark expedition=]

In the very next year Jefferson sent out an expedition under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this vast country of Louisiana. With white men, Indians, and boats they made their way slowly up the Missouri, across the mountains, and down the Columbia River to the Pacific coast.

[Sidenote: =Louisiana Purchase Exposition=]

The wonderful stories told by Lewis and Clark gave Americans their first real knowledge of parts of the Louisiana Purchase and of the Oregon region. In 1904, America, with the help of all the great nations of the world, celebrated at St. Louis the buying of this region by holding the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

[Sidenote: =President a second time=]

[Sidenote: =Friends visit him at Monticello=]

In 1804 Jefferson was elected president again by a greater majority than before. After serving a second term, he, like Washington, refused to be president for a third time. He retired to Monticello, where he spent his last days pleasantly and where hundreds of friends from all parts of America and Europe came to consult him. The people called him the "Sage of Monticello."

[Sidenote: =Died July 4, 1826=]

Jefferson lived to see the first two great states, Louisiana and Missouri, carved out of the Louisiana Purchase. He died at Monticello, July 4, 1826. On the same day, at Quincy, Massachusetts, died his longtime friend, John Adams. These two patriots, one the writer the other the defender of the Declaration of Independence, died just half a century after it was signed.

LEWIS AND CLARK, AMERICAN EXPLORERS IN THE OREGON COUNTRY

[Sidenote: =A vast unexplored country=]

[Sidenote: =Gray visits the Pacific=]

=118. Discovery of the Columbia River.= The purchase of the Louisiana territory by Jefferson opened up a great new field for settlers. It was necessary to know something about the new territory. It was a vast unexplored country stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rockies. The Pacific shore had already been visited by explorers. Boston merchants had sent Captain Robert Gray to the Pacific coast to buy furs of the Indians. He did not try to find an overland route, but sailed around South America and up the coast to Vancouver Island, where he obtained a rich cargo of furs. He then made his way across the Pacific to China, and came back to Boston by way of the Cape of Good Hope--the first American to carry the Stars and Stripes around the world.

[Sidenote: =Discovers the mouth of the Columbia=]

On a second voyage to the same region, in the good ship _Columbia_, Gray discovered the mouth of a great river (1792). Up this river he went for nearly thirty miles, probably the first white man to sail upon its waters. Captain Gray named the river the Columbia after his vessel. The Indians had called it the Oregon.

=119. The Lewis and Clark Expedition.= The next important step in finding a route to the Oregon country was the great expedition undertaken while Thomas Jefferson was yet president.

[Sidenote: =Expedition leaves St. Louis=]

Lewis and Clark were two young men chosen by Jefferson to explore the region known as the Louisiana Purchase and to make their way across the Rocky Mountains to the Oregon country and to the Pacific. They chose forty-two men to go with them--some as soldiers, others as servants, and still others as hunters. From the little French village of St. Louis they began their adventurous journey in boats in the spring of 1804.

Up the Missouri River they slowly made their way against the current of the muddy, rushing stream. At one time it was so swift that they could not force boats against it, and at another time the brushwood that came down the river broke their oars.

[Sidenote: =Smoked the "pipe of peace"=]

Near where the city of Council Bluffs now stands, Lewis and Clark held a great meeting with the Indians. They told the Indians that the people of the United States and not the people of France were now the owners of this great land. Together they smoked the "pipe of peace," and the Indians promised to be friendly.

On they went till the region near the Black Hills was reached. It was the fall of the year and the trees were bright with color, and the wild ducks and geese in large numbers were seen going southward.

[Sidenote: =Spent the winter with the Indians=]

The company spent the winter on an island sixteen hundred miles from St. Louis. The men built rude homes and fortified them. The Indians were friendly and the explorers spent many evenings around the wigwam fires listening to stories of the country the Indians had to tell them.

[Sidenote: =The Rocky Mountains=]

In the spring they bade the Indians good-by, passed the mouth of the Yellowstone, and traveled on till the Rocky Mountains with their long rows of snow-covered peaks came into view.

On the thirteenth day of June they beheld wonderful pictures of the "Falls of the Missouri." The water tore through a vast gorge a dozen miles or more in length.

=120. The Way over the Mountains.= On they went until their boats could go no farther. They had reached rough and rugged hills and mountains. They climbed the heights as best they could. From now on the suffering was very great indeed.

[Sidenote: =The source of the Missouri=]

One day Captain Lewis went ahead with three men to find Indian guides for the party. They climbed higher and higher until finally they came to a place where the Missouri River takes its rise. They went on and at last came to the western slope of the mountains, down which flowed a stream toward the Pacific Ocean.

Finally Captain Lewis came upon a company of Indian women who could not get away. They all bowed their heads as if expecting to be killed. They led the white men to a band of Indians, who received them with all the signs of kindness they could show.

[Sidenote: =Indians are friendly=]

Now they all turned back to find Clark and his party. When they reached Clark the Indians smoked the "pipe of peace" and Lewis and Clark told the Indians why the United States had sent them out.

They were the first white men these Indians had ever seen. They looked the men over carefully and took a deep interest in their clothing, their food, and in their guns.

[Sidenote: =Explorers suffer from hunger and cold=]

The mountains were now rough and barren and the streams ran through deep gorges. The explorers took an old Indian guide and crossed the Bitter Root Mountains into a valley of the same name. They followed an Indian trail over the mountains again and into the Clearwater. They suffered for want of food and on account of the cold. When they reached a tribe of the Nez Percé (Pierced Nose) Indians they ate so much they were all ill.

[Sidenote: =Reach the Columbia River=]

=121. On Waters Flowing into the Pacific.= In five log boats, which they had dug out of trees, they glided down the Clearwater to where it meets the Snake River. They camped near the spot where now stands the present town of Lewiston, Idaho. Then they embarked on the Snake River and floated down to where it joins the mighty Columbia.

They were among the Indians again, who had plenty of dried fish, for here is the home of the salmon, a fish found in astonishing numbers. The men had never seen so many fish before.

[Sidenote: =Explorers reach the Pacific=]

The number of Indians increased as they went toward the Pacific. Finally the party of explorers passed through the Cascade Mountains and were once more on the smooth current of the Columbia. They soon beheld the blue waters of the Pacific.

During their five months' stay on the Pacific, Captain Clark made a map of the region they had gone through. They repaired their guns and made clothes of the skins of elk and of other game.

[Sidenote: =Lewis and Clark travel different routes=]

The Indians told them of a shorter route to the Falls of the Missouri, and Captain Lewis and nine men went by this route while Captain Clark with others retraced the old route. They saw nothing of each other for two months, when they all met again in August on the banks of the Missouri.

[Sidenote: =All return to St. Louis=]

They reached St. Louis September 23, 1806. The people of the United States were glad to hear of the safe return of the exploring party, for they had long thought the men were dead.

[Sidenote: =Rewarded by Congress=]

Both President Jefferson and Congress put great value upon the useful information that the expedition gathered. Congress rewarded every one connected with the expedition. Each man was granted double pay for the time he spent and was given three hundred acres of land. To Captain Lewis was given fifteen hundred acres and to Captain Clark a thousand acres. Lewis was appointed first governor of Louisiana Territory and Clark was made the governor of Missouri Territory.

=122. Fur Traders and Missionaries Lead the Way.= Soon after this expedition the fur traders pushed their way across the Rocky Mountains from St. Louis to the Pacific. They found the "gateway of the Rockies," called the South Pass, which opened the way to the Oregon country (1824).

[Sidenote: =The coming of the missionaries=]

After the fur traders came the missionary, Nathaniel Wyeth, a New Englander who led a party to the Columbia and established a post (1832). Five missionaries followed him and began to work among the Indians. Very soon Parker and Whitman went out to the Nez Percé Indians, who came over the mountains to meet them near the headwaters of the Green River. Parker returned with the Indians and visited Walla Walla, Vancouver, and the Spokane and Colville regions. Whitman returned East, was married, and found a missionary, Spaulding, and his wife, and the party went out to the Oregon country to work among the Indians.

[Sidenote: =The treaty of 1846=]

=123. The Boundary Established.= During this time fur traders from Canada and Great Britain were occupying the Oregon country as far as the Columbia River. The United States and Great Britain made a treaty by which they agreed to occupy the country together. This treaty lasted till settlers from the United States made it necessary to have a new treaty. In 1846 a new treaty was made and the present northern boundary was established.

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, VICTOR IN THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

[Sidenote: =A Rhode Islander=]

=124. A Young Man Who Captured a British Fleet.= Perry was born in Rhode Island in 1785. He went to the best schools, and learned the science of navigation. At fourteen years of age he was a midshipman on his father's vessel, and before he was twenty-one he had served in a war against the Barbary pirates.

[Sidenote: =Perry bitter toward the British=]

[Sidenote: =Ready for battle=]

When young Perry returned to his home the British were seizing American ships, claiming the right to search them for British sailors. Perry was very bitter toward the British for these insults to his country, and when war was declared he was eager to fight. A fleet of vessels was being built on Lake Erie, and Perry was sent as commandant to take charge of their construction. He promptly set to work, and in a few weeks the ships were ready for battle.

He immediately set sail for Put-In-Bay, where the British fleet was stationed. There he arranged his ships for battle and raised a banner containing the last words of Captain Lawrence, who had been killed earlier in the war while bravely fighting. "Don't give up the ship!" were the words the flag showed as it was unfurled to the breeze.

[Sidenote: =Drives the "Lawrence" into the British fleet=]

Driving his flagship, the _Lawrence_, right in among the enemy's ships, Perry made them turn all their cannon against it. The loss of life was dreadful, but Perry kept cool. When the last gun of the _Lawrence_ could no longer be fired, he ordered a boat to be lowered and with some brave men rowed through a storm of shot and shell to the _Niagara_, another of Perry's large ships. Then he drove this ship into the midst of the fight. In fifteen minutes the two largest British ships struck their colors. The remainder of the fleet then surrendered.

[Sidenote: =Broke British power in the West=]

This victory broke the British power in the West. Congress voted resolutions in praise of Perry and ordered a gold medal struck in his honor. Wherever he went the people paid him great attention, and at his home he was given a royal welcome.

ANDREW JACKSON, THE VICTOR OF NEW ORLEANS

[Sidenote: =Jackson a Scotch-Irishman=]

=125. How a Poor Boy Began to Rise.= Andrew Jackson was born of Scotch-Irish parents who had emigrated from Ireland to South Carolina. His father died and his mother moved to North Carolina to be among her own people. Here, a few days after his father's death, in the same year in which England passed the Tea Act (1767), Andrew was born.

[Sidenote: =Learns from the woods=]

Schools were few and poor. In fact, Andrew was too poor himself to do anything but work. He learned far more from the pine woods in which he played than from books. At nine he was a tall, slender, freckle-faced lad, fond of sports, and full of fun and mischief. But woe to the boy that made "Andy" angry!

[Sidenote: =Learns to hate the British=]

When thirteen, he learned what war meant, for it was in the days of the Revolution when Colonel Tarleton came along and killed more than a hundred and wounded one hundred fifty of Jackson's neighbors and friends. Among the killed was one of the boy's own brothers. Andrew never forgave the British.

[Sidenote: =A prisoner of war=]

[Sidenote: =Loses his mother=]

At fourteen he was taken prisoner by the British. "Boy," shouted an officer, "clean these boots!" "I will not," replied Jackson. "I am a prisoner of war, and claim to be treated as such." The officer drew his sword and struck Jackson a blow upon the head, and another upon the hand. These blows left scars which Jackson carried to his grave. He was taken a prisoner to Camden, where smallpox killed his remaining brother and left Andrew poor and sickly looking. His mother had come to Camden to nurse her sons. A little later she lost her life in caring for American prisoners on British ships in Charleston Harbor, so Jackson was now an orphan of the Revolution.

[Sidenote: =A lawyer before twenty=]

After the Revolutionary times had gone by, Jackson studied law and at the age of twenty was admitted to practice in the courts of the state.

[Sidenote: =Follows the settlers over the mountains=]

But stories of the beautiful country that were coming over the mountains from Tennessee, stirred his blood. He longed to go, and in company with nearly a hundred men, women, and children, Jackson set out for the goodly land.

They crossed the mountains into east Tennessee, where was the town of Jonesboro, not far from where Governor Sevier lived.

[Sidenote: =Outwits the Indians=]

Jackson and the others rested awhile before taking up their march to Nashville. From Jonesboro to Nashville they had to look out for Indians. Only once were they troubled. One night, when men, women, and children were resting in their rude tents, Jackson sat at the foot of a tree smoking his corncob pipe. He heard "owls" hooting near by. These were Indian signals. "A little too natural," thought Jackson. He aroused the people, and silently they marched away. Another party, coming an hour or two later, stopped in the same place, and were massacred by Indians.

[Sidenote: =Practicing law on the frontier=]

Arriving in Nashville, Jackson began the practice of law. To reach the court, he sometimes had to ride miles and miles, day after day, through thick forests where the Indians might lie in wait.

When Tennessee was made a territory, Jackson became district attorney. He had many "ups and downs" with the bad men of the frontier. Jackson himself had a bad temper, and woe to the man who made him angry. He either got a sound thrashing or had to fight a duel.

[Sidenote: =In Congress=]

When Tennessee became a state, Jackson was elected to Congress. A year or so afterward (1797) he was appointed a United States senator to fill a vacancy. But such a position did not give him excitement enough, so he resigned the next year and returned to Nashville. He was a frontier judge for a time, then he became a man of business.

[Sidenote: =A call to arms=]

=126. How Jackson Won a Great Victory.= When the War of 1812 broke out there was a call to arms! The British will capture New Orleans! Twenty-five hundred frontiersmen rallied to Jackson's call. He was just the man to lead them. They decided to go to New Orleans by water.

Down the Cumberland to the Ohio in boats! Down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and down the Mississippi to Natchez! Here they stopped, only to learn that there were no British near.

[Sidenote: =How he won the name "Old Hickory"=]

The twenty-five hundred men marched the long, dreary way home. Jackson was the toughest one among them. He could march farther and last longer without food than any of them. The soldiers nicknamed him "Old Hickory."

Once more he was at home, where he now was a great man among his friends. About this time Jackson had a fierce fight with Thomas H. Benton and received a pistol shot in the shoulder. Before he was again well the people who suffered from the Fort Mims massacre were calling loudly for help. Tecumseh had stirred up the Creeks to murder five hundred men, women, and children at this fort in Alabama.

[Sidenote: =Another call to arms=]

[Sidenote: =Jackson and the hungry soldier=]

Twenty-five hundred men answered Jackson's call. They marched south through a barren country. Food was scarce. His army, almost starved, threatened to go home. A half-starved soldier saw Jackson sitting under a tree and asked him for something to eat. Looking up, Jackson said: "It has always been a rule with me never to turn away a hungry man. I will cheerfully divide with you." Then he drew from his pocket a few acorns, saying: "This is the best and only fare I have."

But Jackson soon received reënforcements, and then, in spite of all these drawbacks, he broke the power of the Creeks in the great battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River in Alabama. After that the Indians were only too glad to cease fighting and sue for peace.

[Sidenote: =A third call to arms=]

Jackson was hardly home again before President Madison made him a major-general, and sent him with an army to guard New Orleans from the British.