Part 15

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

OREGON: A. D. 1805. Lewis and Clark's exploring expedition.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1804-1805.

OREGON: A. D. 1844-1846. The Boundary dispute with Great Britain and its settlement.

"The territory along the Pacific coast lying between California on the south and Alaska on the north —Oregon as it was comprehensively called—had been a source of dispute for some time between the United States and Great Britain. After some negotiations both had agreed with Russia to recognize the line of 54° 40' as the southern boundary of the latter's possessions; and Mexico's undisputed possession of California gave an equally well marked southern limit, at the 42d parallel. All between was in dispute. The British had trading posts at the mouth of the Columbia, which they emphatically asserted to be theirs; we, on the other hand, claimed an absolutely clear title up to the 49th parallel, a couple of hundred miles north of the mouth of the Columbia, and asserted that for all the balance of the territory up to the Russian possessions our title was at any rate better than that of the British. In 1818 a treaty had been made providing for the joint occupation of the territory by the two powers, as neither was willing to give up its claim to the whole, or at the time at all understood the value of the possession, then entirely unpeopled. This treaty of joint occupancy had remained in force ever since. Under it the British had built great trading stations, and used the whole country in the interests of certain fur companies. The Americans, in spite of some vain efforts, were unable to compete with them in this line; but, what was infinitely more important, had begun, even prior to 1840, to establish actual settlers along the banks of the rivers, some missionaries being the first to come in. … The aspect of affairs was totally changed when in 1842 a huge caravan of over 1,000 Americans made the journey from the frontiers of Missouri, taking with them their wives and their children, their flocks and herds, carrying their long rifles on their shoulders, and their axes and spades in the great canvas-topped wagons. The next year 2,000 more settlers of the same sort in their turn crossed the vast plains, wound their way among the Rocky Mountains through the pass explored by Fremont, Benton's son-in-law, and after suffering every kind of hardship and danger, and warding off the attacks of hostile Indians, descended the western slope of the great water–shed to join their fellows by the banks of the Columbia. When American settlers were once in actual possession of the disputed territory, it became evident that the period of Great Britain's undisputed sway was over. … Tyler's administration did not wish to embroil itself with England; so it refused any aid to the settlers, and declined to give them grants of land, as under the joint occupancy treaty that would have given England offense and cause for complaint. But Benton and the other Westerners were perfectly willing to offend England, if by so doing they could help America to obtain Oregon, and were too rash and headstrong to count the cost of their actions. Accordingly, a bill was introduced providing for the settlement of Oregon, and giving each settler 640 acres, and additional land if he had a family. … It passed the Senate by a close vote, but failed in the House. … The unsuccessful attempts made by Benton and his supporters, to persuade the Senate to pass a resolution, requiring that notice of the termination of the joint occupancy treaty should forthwith be given, were certainly ill-advised. However, even Benton was not willing to go to the length to which certain Western men went, who insisted upon all or nothing. … He sympathized with the effort made by Calhoun while secretary of state to get the British to accept the line of 49° as the frontier; but the British government then rejected this proposition. In 1844 the Democrats made their campaign upon the issue of 'fifty-four forty or fight'; and Polk, when elected, felt obliged to insist upon this campaign boundary. {2403} To this, however, Great Britain naturally would not consent; it was, indeed, idle to expect her to do so, unless things should be kept as they were until a fairly large American population had grown up along the Pacific coast, and had thus put her in a position where she could hardly do anything else. Polk's administration was neither capable nor warlike, however well disposed to bluster; and the secretary of state, the timid, shifty, and selfish politician, Buchanan, naturally fond of facing both ways, was the last man to wish to force a quarrel on a high-spirited and determined antagonist, like England. Accordingly, he made up his mind to back down and try for the line of 49°, as proposed by Calhoun, when in Tyler's cabinet; and the English, for all their affected indifference, had been so much impressed by the warlike demonstrations in the United States, that they in turn were delighted …; accordingly they withdrew their former pretensions to the Columbia River and accepted [June 15, 1846] the offered compromise."

_T. Roosevelt, Life of Thomas H. Benton, chapter 12._

ALSO IN: _T. H. Benton, Thirty Years' View, volume 2, chapters 143, and 156-159._

_Treaties and Conventions between the United States and other countries (edition of 1889), page 438._

_W. Barrows, Oregon._

OREGON: A. D. 1859. Admission into the Union, with a constitution excluding free people of color.

"The fact that the barbarism of slavery was not confined to the slave States had many illustrations. Among them, that afforded by Oregon was a signal example. In 1857 she formed a constitution, and applied for admission into the Union. Though the constitution was in form free, it was very thoroughly imbued with the spirit of slavery; and though four fifths of the votes cast were for the rejection of slavery, there were seven eighths for an article excluding entirely free people of color. As their leaders were mainly proslavery, it is probable that the reason why they excluded slavery from the constitution was their fear of defeat in their application for admission. … On the 11th of February, 1859, Mr. Stephens reported from the Committee on Territories a bill for the admission of Oregon as a State. A minority report, signed by Grow, Granger, and Knapp, was also presented, protesting against its admission with a constitution so discriminating against color. The proposition led to an earnest debate;" but the bill admitting Oregon prevailed, by a vote of 114 to 103 in the House and 35 to 17 in the Senate.

_H. Wilson, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power, volume 2, chapter 49._

OREGON: End--------

OREJONES, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAMPAS TRIBES.

ORELLANA, and his discovery of the Amazons River (1541).

See AMAZONS RIVER.

ORESTÆ, The.

See MACEDONIA.

ORIENTAL CHURCH, The.

See CHRISTIANITY: A. D. 330-1054; ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY; and FILIOQUE CONTROVERSY.

ORIFLAMME, The.

"The Oriflamme was originally the Banner of the Abbey of St. Denis, and was received by the Counts of the Vexin, as 'Avoués' of that Monastery, whenever they engaged in any military expedition. On the union of the Vexin with the Crown effected by Philip I., a similar connexion with the Abbey was supposed to be contracted by the Kings; and accordingly Louis the Fat received the Banner, with the customary solemnities, on his knees, bare-headed, and ungirt. The Banner was a square Gonfalon of flame-coloured silk, unblazoned, with the lower edge cut into three swallow-tails."

_E. Smedley, History of France, part 1, chapter 3, foot-note._

"The Oriflamme was a flame-red banner of silk; three-pointed on its lower side, and tipped with green. It was fastened to a gilt spear."

_G. W. Kitchin, History of France, volume 1, book 3, chapter 5, foot-note._

ORIK, OR OURIQUE, Battle of (1139).

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1095-1325.

ORISKANY, Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1777 (JULY-OCTOBER).

ORKNEYS: 8-14th Centuries. The Norse Jarls.

See NORMANS: 8-9TH CENTURIES; and 10-13TH CENTURIES.

ORLEANISTS.

See LEGITIMISTS.

ORLEANS, The Duke of: Regency.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1715-1723.

ORLEANS, The House of: Start--------

ORLEANS, The House of: Origin.

See BOURBON, THE HOUSE OF.

ORLEANS, The House of: A. D. 1447. Origin of claims to the duchy of Milan.

See MILAN: A. D. 1447-1454.

ORLEANS, The House of: End--------

ORLEANS, The City: Start--------

ORLEANS, The City: Origin and name.

"The Loire, flowing first northwards, then westwards, protects, by its broad sickle of waters, this portion of Gaul, and the Loire itself is commanded at its most northerly point by that city which, known in Caesar's day as Genabum, had taken the name Aureliani from the great Emperor, the conqueror of Zenobia, and is now called Orleans."

_T. Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders, book 2, chapter 3 (volume 2)._

See, also, GENABUM.

ORLEANS, The City: Early history.

See GAUL: B. C. 58-51.

ORLEANS, The City: A. D. 451. Siege by Attila.

See HUNS: A. D. 451.

ORLEANS, The City: A. D. 511-752. A Merovingian capital.

See FRANKS: A. D. 511-752.

ORLEANS, The City: A. D. 1429. Deliverance by Joan of Arc.

In the summer of 1428 the English, under the Duke of Bedford, having maintained and extended the conquests of Henry V., were masters of nearly the whole of France north of the Loire. The city of Orleans, however, on the north bank of that river, was still held by the French, and its reduction was determined upon. The siege began in October, and after some months of vigorous operations there seemed to be no doubt that the hard-pressed city must succumb. It was then that Joan of Arc, known afterwards as the Maid of Orleans, appeared, and by the confidence she inspired drove the English from the field. They raised the siege on the 12th of May, 1429, and lost ground in France from that day.

_Monstrelet, Chronicles, book 2, chapters 52-60._

See FRANCE: A. D. 1429-1431.

ORLEANS, The City: A. D. 1870. Taken by the Germans. Recovered by the French. Again lost. Repeated battles.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1870 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER); and 1870-1871.

ORLEANS, The City: End--------

ORLEANS, The Territory of.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1804-1812; and 1812.

ORMÉE OF BORDEAUX, The.

See BORDEAUX: A. D. 1652-1653.

{2404}

OROPUS, Naval Battle at.

The Athenians suffered a defeat at the hands of the Spartans in a sea fight at Oropus, B. C. 411, as a consequence of which they lost the island of Eubœa. It was one of the most disastrous in the later period of the Peloponnesian War.

_Thucydides, History, book 8, section 95._

ORPHANS, The.

See BOHEMIA: A. D. 1419-1434.

ORSINI, OR URSINI, The.

See ROME: 13-14TH CENTURIES.

ORTHAGORIDÆ, The.

See SICYON.

ORTHES, Battle of (1814).

See SPAIN: A. D. 1812-1814.

ORTHODOX, OR GREEK CHURCH, The.

See CHRISTIANITY: A. D. 330-1054; also, ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY, and FILIOQUE CONTROVERSY.

ORTOSPANA.

The ancient name of the city of Cabul.

ORTYGIA.

See SYRACUSE.

OSAGES, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY, and SIOUAN FAMILY.

OSCANS, The.

"The Oscan or Opican race was at one time very widely spread over the south (of Italy]. The Auruncans of Lower Latium belonged to this race, as also the Ausonians, who once gave name to Central Italy, and probably also the Volscians and the Æquians. In Campania the Oscan language was preserved to a late period in Roman history, and inscriptions still remain which can be interpreted by those familiar with Latin."

_H. G. Liddell, History of Rome, introduction, section 2_.

See, also, ITALY: ANCIENT.

OSCAR I., King of Sweden, A. D. 1844-1859.

Oscar II., King of Sweden, 1872-.

OSI, The.

See ARAVISCI; also, GOTHINI.

OSISMI, The.

See VENETI OF WESTERN GAUL.

OSMAN. OSMANLI.

See OTHMAN.

OSMANLIS.

See TURKS (OTTOMANS): A. D. 1240-1326.

OSNABRÜCK: A. D. 1644-1648. Negotiation of the Peace of Westphalia.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.

OSRHOËNE, OSROËNE.

A small principality or petty kingdom surrounding the city of Edessa, its capital, in northwestern Mesopotamia. It appears to have acquired its name and some little importance during the period of Parthian supremacy. It was a prince of Osrhoëne who betrayed the ill-fated army of Crassus to the Parthians at Carrhæ. In the reign of Caracalla Osrhoëne was made a Roman province. Edessa, the capital, claimed great antiquity, but is believed to have been really founded by Seleucus. During the first ten or eleven centuries of the Christian era Edessa was a city of superior importance in the eastern world, under dependent kings or princes of its own. It was especially noted for its schools of theology.

_G. Rawlinson, Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy, chapter 11._

ALSO IN: _T. Mommsen, History of Rome, book 5, chapter 2._

_E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapters 8 and 47._

_P. Smith, History of the World, volume 3 (American edition), page 151._

OSSA AND PELION.

See THESSALY.

OSTEND: Start--------

OSTEND: A. D. 1602-1604. Siege and capture by the Spaniards.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1609.

OSTEND: A. D. 1706. Besieged and reduced by the Allies.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1706-1707.

OSTEND: A. D. 1722-1731. The obnoxious Company.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725; and 1726-1731.

OSTEND: A. D. 1745-1748. Taken by the French, and restored.

See NETHERLANDS (AUSTRIAN PROVINCES): A. D. 1745; and AIX-LA-CHAPELLE: THE CONGRESS.

OSTEND: End--------

OSTEND MANIFESTO, The.

See CUBA: A. D. 1845-1860.

OSTIA.

Ostia, the ancient port of Rome, at the mouth of the Tiber, was regarded as a suburb of the city and had no independent existence. Its inhabitants were Roman citizens. In time, the maintaining of a harbor at Ostia was found to be impracticable, owing to deposits of silt from the Tiber, and artificial harbors were constructed by the emperors Claudius, Nero and Trajan, about two miles to the north of Ostia. They were known by the names Portus Augusti and Portus Trajani. In the 12th century the port and channel of Ostia were partially restored, for a time, but only to be abandoned again. The ancient city is now represented by a small hamlet, about two miles from the sea shore.

_R. Burn, Rome and the Campagna, chapter 14._

OSTMEN.

See NORMANS: 10-13TH CENTURIES.

OSTRACH, Battle of (1799).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1798-1799.(AUGUST-APRIL).

OSTRACISM.

"The state [Athens] required means of legally removing persons who, by an excess of influence and adherents, virtually put an end to the equality among the citizens established by law, and thus threatened the state with a revival of party-rule. For this purpose, in the days of Clisthenes, and probably under his influence, the institution of ostracism, or judgment by potsherds, was established. By virtue of it the people were themselves to protect civic equality, and by a public vote remove from among them whoever seemed dangerous to them. For such a sentence, however, besides a public preliminary discussion, the unanimous vote of six thousand citizens was required. The honour and property of the exile remained untouched, and the banishment itself was only pronounced for a term of ten years."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 2, chapter 2 (volume 1)._

"The procedure (in ostracism] was as follows: —Every year, in the sixth or seventh Prytany, the question was put to the people whether it desired ostracism to be put in force or not. Hereupon of course orators came forward to support or oppose the proposal. The former they could only do by designating particular persons as sources of impending danger to freedom, or of confusion and injury to the commonwealth; in opposition to them, on the other side, the persons thus designated, and anyone besides who desired it, were of course free to deny the danger, and to show that the anxiety was unfounded. If the people decided in favour of putting the ostracism in force, a day was appointed on which it was to take place. On this day the people assembled at the market, where an enclosure was erected with ten different entrances and accordingly, it is probable, the same number of divisions for the several Phylæ. Every citizen entitled to a vote wrote the name of the person he desired to have banished from the state upon a potsherd. … At one of the ten entrances the potsherds were put into the hands of the magistrates posted there, the Prytanes and the nine Archons, and when the voting was completed were counted one by one. The man whose name was found written on at least six thousand potsherds was obliged to leave the country within ten days at latest."

_G. F. Schömann, Antiquities of Greece, part 3, chapter 3._

{2405}

OSTROGOTHS.

See GOTHS.

OSTROLENKA, Battle of (1831).

See POLAND: A. D. 1830-1832.

OSTROVNO, Battle of.

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1812 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER).

OSWALD, King of Northumbria, A. D. 635-642.

OSWEGO: Start--------

OSWEGO: A. D. 1722. Fort built by the English.

See CANADA: A. D. 1700-1735.

OSWEGO: A. D. 1755. English position strengthened.

See CANADA: A. D. 1755 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

OSWEGO: A. D. 1756. The three forts taken by the French.

See CANADA: A. D. 1756-1757.

OSWEGO: A. D. 1759. Reoccupied by the English.

See CANADA: A. D. 1759.

OSWEGO: A. D. 1783-1796. Retained by the English after peace with the United States. Final surrender.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1783-1796; and 1794-1795.

OSWEGO: End--------

OSWI, King of Northumbria, A. D. 655-670.

OTADENI, OTTEDENI, The.

One of the tribes in Britain whose territory lay between the Roman wall and the Firth of Forth. Mr. Skene thinks they were the same people who are mentioned in the 4th century as the "Attacotti."

_W. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland, volume l._

See BRITAIN, CELTIC TRIBES.

OTCHAKOF, Siege of (1737).

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1725-1739.

OTFORD, Battle of.

Won by Edmund Ironsides, A. D. 1016, over Cnut, or Canute, the Danish claimant of the English crown.

OTHMAN, Caliph, A. D. 643-655.

Othman, or Osman, founder of the Ottoman or Osmanli dynasty of Turkish Sultans, 1307-1325.

Othman II., Turkish Sultan, 1618-1622.

Othman III., Turkish Sultan, 1754-1757.

OTHO, Roman Emperor, A. D. 69.

Otho (of Bavaria), King of Hungary, 1305-1307.

Otho, or Otto I. (called the Great), King of the East Franks (Germany), 936-973; King of Lombardy, and Emperor, 962-973.

Otho II., King of the East Franks (Germany), King of Italy, and Emperor, 967-983.

Otho Ill., King of the East Franks (Germany), 983-1002; King of Italy and Emperor, 996-1002.

Otho IV., King of Germany, 1208-1212; Emperor, 1209-1212.

OTHRYS.

See THESSALY.

OTIS, James, The speech of, against Writs of Assistance.

See MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1761.

OTOES, OTTOES, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY, and SIOUAN FAMILY.

OTOMIS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: OTOMIS.

OTRANTO: Taken by the Turks (1480).

See TURKS: A. D. 1451-1481.

OTTAWA, Canada: The founding of the City.

"In 1826 the village of Bytown, now Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion of Canada, was founded. The origin of this beautiful city was this: Colonel By, an officer of the Royal Engineers, came to survey the country with a view of making a canal to connect the tidal waters of the St. Lawrence with the great lakes of Canada. After various explorations, an inland route up the Ottawa to the Rideau affluent, and thence by a ship canal to Kingston on Lake Ontario, was chosen. Colonel By made his headquarters where the proposed canal was to descend, by eight locks, a steep declivity of 90 feet to the Ottawa River. 'The spot itself was wonderfully beautiful.' … It was the centre of a vast lumber-trade, and had expanded by 1858 to a large town."

_W. P. Greswell, History of the Dominion of Canada, page 168._

OTTAWAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY, and OJIBWAS; also PONTIAC'S WAR.

OTTERBURN, Battle of.

This famous battle was fought, August 19, 1388, between a small force of Scots, harrying the border, under Earl Douglas and a hastily assembled body of English led by Sir Henry Percy, the famous Hotspur. The English, making a night attack on the Scottish camp, not far from Newcastle, were terribly beaten, and Hotspur was taken prisoner; but Douglas fell mortally wounded. The battle was a renowned encounter of knightly warriors, and greatly interested the historians of the age. It is narrated in Froissart's chronicles (volume 3, chapter 126), and is believed to be the action sung of in the famous old ballad of Chevy Chase, or the "Hunting of the Cheviot."

_J. H. Burton, History of Scotland, chapter 26 (volume 3)._

OTTIMATI, The.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1498-1500.

OTTO.

See OTHO.

OTTOCAR, OTOKAR, King of Bohemia, A. D. 1253-1278.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

See TURKS (OTTOMANS): A. D. 1240-1326, and after.

OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT.

See SUBLIME PORTE.

OTUMBA, Battle of.

See MEXICO: A. D. 1520-1521.

OTZAKOF: Storming, capture, and massacre of inhabitants by the Russians (1788).

See TURKS: A. D. 1776-1792.

OUAR KHOUNI, The.

See AVARS.

OUDE: Start--------

OUDE, OR OUDH.