Chapter 6

[Footnote: "We meet," said Penn, "on the broad pathway of good faith and good will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. The friendship between you and me I will not compare to a chain; for that the rains might rust or the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood."]

The savages were touched by his gentle words and kindly bearing. "We will live in love with William Penn and his children," said they, "as long as the sun and moon shall shine."

[Footnote: This tree was carefully preserved until 1810, when it was blown down. A monument now marks the spot.]

[Footnote: The simple-minded natives kept the history of this treaty by means of strings of wampum, and they would often count over the shells on a clean piece of bark and rehearse its provisions. "It was the only treaty never sworn to, and the only one never broken." On every hand the Indians waged relentless war with the colonies, but they never shed a drop of Quaker blood.]

PENN'S RETURN.--Penn returned to England (1684) leaving the colony fairly established. His benevolent spirit shone forth in his parting words, "Dear friends, my love salutes you all."

DELAWARE.--The three lower counties on the Delaware being greatly offended by the action of the council which Penn had left to govern in his absence, set up for themselves. Penn "sorrowfully" consented to their action, appointed a deputy governor over them, and afterward granted them an assembly. Pennsylvania and Delaware, however, remained under one governor until the Revolution.

PENN'S HEIRS after his death (1718) became proprietors of the flourishing colony he had established. It was ruled by deputies whom they appointed, until (1779) the State of Pennsylvania bought out their claims by the payment of about half a million of dollars.

MARYLAND.

SETTLEMENT.--Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert), a Catholic, was anxious to secure for the friends of his church a refuge from the persecutions which they were then suffering in England.

[Footnote: His father, George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, with this same design had attempted to plant a colony in Newfoundland. But having failed on account of the severity of the climate, he visited Virginia. When he found that the Catholics were there treated with great harshness, he returned to England, took out a grant of land, and bestowed upon it, in honor of the queen, Henrietta Maria, the name Maryland. Ere the patent had received the great seal of the king, Lord Baltimore died. His son, inheriting the father's noble and benevolent views, secured the grant himself, and carried out the philanthropic scheme.]

[Footnote: It is curious to observe how largely this country was peopled in its earlier days by refugees for religious faith. The Huguenots, the Puritans, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, the Catholics, the persecuted of every sect and creed, all flocked to this "home of the free."]

He accordingly obtained from King Charles a grant of land lying north of the Potomac. The first settlement was made (1634) by his brother at an Indian village which he called St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Potomac.

THE CHARTER was very different from that granted to Virginia, since it gave to all freemen a voice in making the laws. An Assembly, called in accordance with this provision, passed (1649) the celebrated _Toleration Act_, which secured to all Christians liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. Maryland, like Rhode Island, became an asylum for the persecuted.

[Footnote: Two years before, Rhode Island had passed an act protecting every kind of religious faith and worship. Maryland extended protection to all forms of Christianity alone.]

CIVIL WARS.

1. _Clayborne's Rebellion_ (1635).--The Virginia colony claimed that Lord Baltimore's grant covered territory belonging to them. Clayborne, a member of the Jamestown council, was especially obstinate in the matter. He had already established two trading posts in Maryland, which he prepared to defend by force of arms. A bloody skirmish ensued, in which his party was beaten. He, himself, had fled to Virginia, on the eve of battle, but being accused of treason, was sent to England for trial. He was, however, acquitted of this charge. Ten years afterward he came back, raised a rebellion, and drove Calvert, then governor of Maryland, out of the colony. The governor returned at last with a strong force, and Clayborne fled. This ended the contest.

2. _The Protestants and the Catholics_.--The Protestants, having obtained a majority in the Assembly, made a most ungrateful use of their power. They refused to acknowledge the hereditary rights of the proprietor, assailed his religion, excluded Catholics from the Assembly, and even declared them outside the protection of the law. Civil war ensued. For years the victory alternated. At one time two governments, one Protestant, the other Catholic, were sustained. In 1691, Lord Baltimore was entirely deprived of his rights as proprietor, and Maryland became a royal province. The Church of England was established, and the Catholics were again disfranchised in the very province they had planted. In 1715, the fourth Lord Baltimore recovered the government, and religious toleration was again restored. Maryland remained under this administration until the Revolution.

* * * * *

THE CAROLINAS.

SETTLEMENT.--Lord Clarendon and several other noblemen obtained (1663) from Charles II. a grant of a vast tract south of Virginia, which was termed in honor of the king, Carolina. Two permanent settlements were soon made.

[Footnote: This in Latin is Carolus II.]

[Footnote: Both colonies were named after prominent proprietors of the grant.]

1. The _Albemarle__Colony_. This was a name given to a plantation which was already settled by people who had pushed through the wilderness from Virginia. A governor from their own number was appointed over them. They were then left in quiet to enjoy their liberties and forget the world.

[Footnote: Except when rent day came. Then they were called upon to pay to the English proprietors a half-penny per acre.]

2. The _Carteret Colony_ was established (1670) by English emigrants. They first sailed into the well-known waters where Ribaut anchored and the fort of Carolina was erected so long before. Landing, they began a settlement on the banks of the Ashley, but afterward removed to the "ancient groves covered with yellow jessamine" which marked the site of the present city of Charleston. The growth of this colony was rapid from the first. Thither came shiploads of Dutch from New York, dissatisfied with the English rule and attracted by the genial climate. The Huguenots (French Protestants), hunted from their homes, here found a southern welcome.

[Footnote: In Charleston alone there were at one time as many as 16,000 Huguenots. They added whole streets to the city. Their severe morality, marked charity, elegant manners and thrifty habits, made them a most desirable acquisition. They brought the mulberry and olive, and established magnificent plantations on the banks of the Cooper. They also introduced many choice varieties of pears, which still bear illustrious Huguenot names. Their descendants are eminently honorable, and have borne a proud part in the establishment of our Republic. Of seven presidents who were at the head of the Congress of Philadelphia during the Revolution, three were of Huguenot parentage.]

THE GRAND MODEL was a form of government for the colonies prepared by Lord Shaftesbury and the celebrated philosopher, John Locke. It was a magnificent scheme. The wilderness was to be divided into vast estates, with which hereditary titles were to be granted. But the model was aristocratic, while the people were democratic. It granted no rights of self-government, while the settlers came into the wilderness for the love of liberty. This was not the soil on which vain titles and empty pomp could flourish. To make the Grand Model a success, it would have been necessary to transform the log-cabin into a baronial castle, and the independent settlers into armed retainers. The attempt to introduce it arousing violent opposition, it was at length abandoned.

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA SEPARATED.--The two colonies,--the northern, or Albemarle, and the southern, or Carteret,--being so remote from each other, had from the beginning separate governors, though they remained one province. There was constant friction between the settlers and the proprietors. The people were jealous. The proprietors were arbitrary. Rents, taxes, and rights were plentiful sources of irritation. Things kept on in this unsettled way until (1729) the discouraged proprietors ceded to the crown their right of government and seven-eighths of the soil. The two colonies were separated and they remained royal provinces until the Revolution.

GEORGIA.

SETTLEMENT.--The same year in which Washington was born (1732), this last colony of the famous thirteen which were to fight for independence under him was planned. James Oglethorpe, a warm-hearted English officer, having conceived the idea of founding a refuge for debtors burdened by the severe laws of that time, naturally turned to America, even then the home of the oppressed. George II. granted him "in trust for the poor" a tract of land which, in honor of the king, was called Georgia. Oglethorpe settled at Savannah in 1733.

[Footnote: He made peace with the Indians, conciliating them by presents and by his kindly disposition. One of the chiefs gave him in return a buffalo's skin with the head and feathers of an eagle painted on the inside of it "The eagle," said the chief, "signifies swiftness; and the buffalo strength. The English are swift as a bird to fly over the vast seas, and as strong as a beast before their enemies. The eagle's feathers are soft and signify love; the buffalo's skin is warm and means protection; therefore love and protect our families."]

A general interest was excited in England, and many charitable people gave liberally to promote the enterprise. More emigrants followed, including, as in the other colonies, many who sought religious or civil liberty.

[Footnote: The gentle Moravians and sturdy Scotch Highlanders were among the number, and proved a valuable acquisition to the colony. The former had fled hither from Austria, for "conscience' sake." Having founded a little colony among the pine forests of Georgia, they named it Ebenezer,-taking as their motto "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." When John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, came to America as a missionary with his brother Charles, they were greatly charmed with the fervent piety of this simple people. The celebrated George Whitfield afterward founded at Savannah an orphan asylum, which he supported by contributions from the immense audiences which his wonderful eloquence attracted. On one occasion sixty thousand were gathered to hear him, and his open-air meetings were often attended by from twenty thousand to forty thousand people.]

The trustees limited the size of a man's farm, did not allow women to inherit land, and forbade the importation of rum, or of slaves. These restrictions were irksome, and great discontent prevailed. At last the trustees, wearied by the complaints of the colonists, surrendered their charter to the crown. Georgia remained a royal province till the Revolution.

[Footnote: Rum was obtained in exchange for lumber in the West Indies. Hence this law prevented that trade and cut off a valuable source of profit.]

* * * * *

INTER-COLONIAL WARS.

I. KING WILLIAM'S WAR. (1689-1697.)

CAUSE.--War having broken out in Europe between England and France, their colonies in America took up the quarrel. The Indians of Canada and Maine aided the French, and the Iroquois (Five Nations of New York) assisted the English.

ATTACKS UPON THE COLONISTS.--War parties of the French and Indians coming down on their snow-shoes from Canada through the forest in the depth of winter, fell upon the exposed settlements of New York and New England, and committed the most horrible barbarities. Schenectady, unsuspecting and defenceless, was attacked at midnight. Men, women, and children were dragged from their beds and tomahawked. The few who escaped, half-naked, made their way through the snow of that fearful night to Albany.

[Footnote: The histories of the time abound in thrilling stories of Indian adventure. One day in March, 1697, Haverhill, Mass., was attacked. Mr. Dustin was at work in the field. Hurrying to his house, he brought out his seven children, and bidding them "run ahead," slowly retreated, keeping the Indians back with his gun. He thus brought off his little flock in safety. His wife, who was unable to escape with him, was dragged into captivity. The party who had captured Mrs. Dustin marched many days through the forest, and at length reached an island in the Merrimac. Here she resolved to escape. A white boy, who had been taken prisoner before, found out from his master, at Mrs. Dustin's request, how to strike a blow that would produce instant death, and how to take off a scalp. Having learned these facts, in the night she awoke the boy and her nurse, and arranged their parts The task was soon done Seizing each a tomahawk, they killed ten of the sleeping Indians; only one escaped She then scalped the dead bodies, in order to prove her story when she should reach home, and hastened to the bank, where, finding a canoe, they descended the river and soon rejoined her family]

ATTACKS BY THE COLONISTS.--Aroused by these scenes of savage ferocity, the colonists organized two expeditions, one under Governor Phipps of Massachusetts, against Port Royal, Acadia, and the other a combined land and naval attack on Canada. The former was successful, and secured, it is said, plunder enough to pay the expenses of the expedition. The latter was a disastrous failure.

PEACE.--The war lasted eight years. It was ended by the treaty of Ryswick (riz'-wik), according to which each party held the territory it had at the beginning of the struggle.

II. QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. (1702-1713.)

CAUSE.--England having declared war against France and Spain, hostilities broke out between their colonies. The Five Nations had made a treaty with the French, and so took no part in the contest. Their neutrality protected New York from invasion. Consequently, the brunt of the war fell on New England.

ATTACKS ON THE COLONISTS.--The New England frontier was again desolated. Remote settlements were abandoned. The people betook themselves to palisaded houses, and worked their farms with their guns always at hand.

[Footnote: On the last night of February, 1704, while the snow was four feet deep, a party of about three hundred and fifty French and Indians reached a pine forest near Deerfield, Mass. They skulked about till the unfaithful sentinels deserted the morning watch, when they rushed upon the defenceless slumberers, who awoke from their dreams to death or captivity. Leaving the blazing village with forty-seven dead bodies to be consumed amid the wreck, they then started back with their train of one hundred and twelve captives. The horrors of that march through the wilderness can never be told. The groan of helpless exhaustion, or the wail of suffering childhood, was instantly stilled by the pitiless tomahawk. Mrs. Williams, the feeble wife of the minister, had remembered her Bible in the midst of surprise, and comforted herself with its promises, till, her strength failing, she commended her five captive children to God and bent to the savage blow of the war-axe. One of her daughters grew up in captivity, embraced the Catholic faith, and became the wife of a chief. Years after she visited her friends in Deerfield. The whole village joined in a fast for her deliverance, but her heart loved best her own Mohawk children, and she went back to the fires of her Indian wigwam.]

ATTACKS BY THE COLONISTS.

1. _At the South_.--South Carolina made a fruitless expedition against her old enemies at St. Augustine (1702).

[Footnote: Four years after, the French and Spanish in Havana sent a fleet against Charleston. The people, however, valiantly defended themselves, and soon drove off their assailants.]

2. _At the North_.--Port Royal was again wrested from the French by a combined force of English and colonial troops. In honor of the queen, the name was changed to Annapolis. Another expedition sailed against Quebec, but many of the ships were dashed upon the rocks in the St. Lawrence, and nearly one thousand men perished. Thus ended the second attempt to conquer Canada.

PEACE.-The war lasted eleven years. It was ended by the treaty of Utrecht (oo-trekt), according to which Acadia was ceded to England.

III. KING GEORGE'S WAR.

[Footnote: This war was immediately preceded by what is known as the "SPANISH WAR," which grew out of the difficulties then existing between England and Spain. It was marked by no important event in the colonies. Governor Oglethorpe invested (1740) St. Augustine with a force of two thousand men, but the strength of the Spanish garrison, and the loss by sickness, caused the attempt to be abandoned. The Spaniards, in their turn, sent (1742) an expedition against Georgia. By means of a letter which Governor Oglethorpe caused to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, they were made to believe that he expected large reinforcements. Being frightened, they burned the fort they had captured, and fled in haste. The colonies, also, furnished about four thousand men for an expedition against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies; but only a few hundred ever returned from this disastrous enterprise.]

(1744-1748.)

CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG.--War having again broken out between England and France, the flame was soon kindled in the new world. The only event of importance was the capture of Louisburg on the island of Cape Breton, by a combined force of English and colonial troops. The latter did most of the fighting, but the former took the glory and the booty. Peace being made in 1748 by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (akes-la-sha-pel), England gave back Louisburg to the French. The boundaries between the French and English colonies were left undecided, and so the germ of a new war remained.

[Footnote: Louisburg was called the "Gibraltar of America." Its fortifications were extensive, and cost upward of $5,000,000. The siege was conducted in the most unscientific way, the colonial troops laughing at military terms and discipline. When the place was captured, they were themselves astonished at what they had done. The achievement called forth great rejoicing over the country, especially in New England, and had an influence on the Revolutionary War, thirty years after. Colonel Gridley, who planned General Pepperell's batteries in this siege, laid out the American intrenchments on Bunker Hill. The same old drums that beat the triumphal entrance of the New Englanders into Louisburg, June 17, 1745, beat at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. "When General Gage was erecting intrenchments on Boston Neck, the provincials sneeringly remarked that his mud walls were nothing compared to the stone walls of old Louisburg."]

IV. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. (1754-1763)

CAUSE.--The English occupied at this time a narrow strip along the coast one thousand miles in length. It was like a string to the great bow of the French territory which reached around from Quebec to New Orleans. Both nations claimed the region west of the Alleghany Mountains, along the Ohio River. The three previous inter-colonial wars had engendered bitter hatred, and occasions of quarrel were abundant. The French had over sixty military posts guarding the long line of their possessions. They seized the English surveyors along the Ohio. They broke up a British post on the Miami.

[Footnote: The claims of the real proprietors, the Indians, were overlooked by both the English and the French. The Indians, feeling this, sent to the agent of the Ohio Company the pertinent query, "Where is the Indian's land? The English claim all on one side of the river, the French all on the other. Where does our land lie?"]

[Footnote: The Indian allies of the French having captured the Miami chief who defended his English friends, killed and ate him, in true savage style.]

They built a fort at Presque Isle (pres-keel) near the present town of Erie, Penn.; another, Fort le Boeuf (le boof), at the present town of Waterford; and a third, Fort Venango, about twelve miles south, on French Creek. These encroachments awakened the liveliest solicitude on the part of the colonists.

WASHINGTON'S JOURNEY.--Din-wid'-die, lieutenant-governor of Virginia, accordingly sent a message by George Washington, then a young man of twenty-one, to the French commander of these forts, asking their removal. Washington, the very day he received his credentials, set out on his perilous journey through the wilderness from Williamsburg to Lake Erie. He found the French officer at Fort Venango loud and boastful. At Fort le Boeuf the commandant, St. Pierre (sang-pe-are), treated him with great respect; but, like a true soldier, refused to discuss theories, and declared himself under orders which he should obey. It was clear that France was determined to hold the territory explored by the heroic La Salle and Marquette. The shore in front of the fort was even then lined with canoes ready for an intended expedition down the river. Washington's return through the wilderness, a distance of four hundred miles, was full of peril. At last he reached home unharmed, and delivered St. Pierre's reply.

[Footnote: The streams were swollen. The snow was falling and freezing as it fell. The horses gave out, and he was forced to proceed on foot. With only one companion, he quitted the usual path, and, with the compass as his guide, struck boldly out through the forest. An Indian, lying in wait, fired at him only a few paces off, but missing, was captured. Attempting to cross the Alleghany on a rude raft, they were caught between large masses of ice floating down the rapid current of the mid-channel. Washington thrust out his pole to check the speed, but was jerked into the foaming water. Swimming to an island, he barely saved his life. Fortunately, in the morning the river was frozen over, and he escaped on the ice.]

WAR OPENS.--Early the next spring, the French, at the fork of the Monongahela and Alleghany, drove off a party of English traders and erected a fort, which was called Du Quesne (doo-kane). Soon, among the blackened stumps, corn and barley were growing on the present site of Pittsburg. In the meantime, a regiment of Virginia troops, under Colonel Frye, Washington being second in command, had been sent out to occupy this important point. Learning that the French had anticipated them, Washington hastened forward with a reconnoitering party. Jumonville (zhoo-mong-veel), who was hiding among the rocks with a company of French troops, waiting an opportunity to attack him, was himself surprised and defeated.

[Footnote: Washington's word of command to "fire!" upon that skulking foe, on the night of May 28, 1754, was the opening of the campaign. Washington himself, it is said, fired the first gun of that long and bloody war.]

On the death of Colonel Frye, soon after, Washington assumed command. Collecting the troops at the Great Meadows, he erected a stockade, which he aptly named _Fort Necessity_. Here he was attacked by a large force of French and Indians, and after a severe conflict was compelled to capitulate.

THE FIVE OBJECTIVE POINTS OF THE WAR.