A Short History of the United States by Channing

by Edward Channing

  [Sidenote: Mrs. Hutchinson and her friends.]

  [Sidenote: They settle Rhode Island, 1637.]

  50. The Rhode Island Towns.--Soon another band of exiles came from Massachusetts. These were Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers. Mrs.

  Hutchinson was a brilliant Puritan woman who had come to Boston from England to enjoy the ministry of John Cotton, one of the Boston ministers. She soon began to find fault with the other ministers of the colony. Naturally, they did not like this. Their friends were more numerous than were Mrs. Hutchinson's friends, and the latter had to leave Massachusetts. They settled on the island of Rhode Island (1637).

  [Sidenote: The Connecticut colonists.]

  [Sidenote: Founding of Connecticut, 1635-36. Higginson, 71-72.]

  51. The Connecticut Colony.--Besides those Puritans whom the Massachusetts people drove from their colony there were other settlers who left Massachusetts of their own free will. Among these were the founders of Connecticut. The Massachusetts people would gladly have had them remain, but they were discontented and insisted on going away. They settled the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Weathersfield, on the Connecticut River. At about the same time John Winthrop, Jr., led a colony to Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut. Up to this time the Dutch had seemed to have the best chance to settle the Connecticut Valley. But the control of that region was now definitely in the hands of the English.

  [Sidenote: Destruction of the Pequods, 1637.]

  52. The Pequod War, 1637.--The Pequod Indians were not so ready as the Dutch to admit that resistance was hopeless. They attacked Wethersfield. They killed several colonists, and carried others away into captivity. Captain John Mason of Connecticut and Captain John Underhill of Massachusetts went against them with about one hundred men.

  They surprised the Indians in their fort. They set fire to the fort, and shot down the Indians as they strove to escape from their burning wigwams. In a short time the Pequod tribe was destroyed.

  [Illustration: JOHN WINTHROP, JR.]

  [Sidenote: The Connecticut Orders of 1638-39.]

  53. The First American Constitution, 1638-39.--The Connecticut colonists had leisure now to settle the form of their government.

  Massachusetts had such a liberal charter that nothing more seemed to be necessary in that colony. The Mayflower Compact did well enough for the Pilgrims. The Connecticut people had no charter, and they wanted something more definite than a vague compact. So in the winter of 1638-39 they met at Hartford and set down on paper a complete set of rules for their guidance. This was the first time in the history of the English race that any people had tried to do this. The Connecticut constitution of 1638-39 is therefore looked upon as "the first truly political written constitution in history." The government thus established was very much the same as that of Massachusetts with the exception that in Connecticut there was no religious condition for the right to vote as there was in Massachusetts.

  [Sidenote: The New Haven settlers.]

  [Sidenote: New Haven founded, 1638. Higginson, 72-73.]

  54. New Haven, 1638.--The settlers of New Haven went even farther than the Massachusetts rulers and held that the State should really be a part of the Church. Massachusetts was not entirely to their tastes.

  They passed only one winter there and then moved away and settled New Haven. But this colony was not well situated for commerce, and was too near the Dutch settlements (p. 41). It was never as prosperous as Connecticut and was finally joined to that colony.

  [Sidenote: Reasons for union.]

  [Sidenote: Articles of Confederation, 1643.]

  [Sidenote: New England towns. Higginson, 47-79.]

  55. The New England Confederation, 1643.--Besides the settlements that have already been described there were colonists living in New Hampshire and in Maine. Massachusetts included the New Hampshire towns within her government, for some of those towns were within her limits.

  In 1640 the Long Parliament met in England, and in 1645 Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans destroyed the royal army in the battle of Naseby. In these troubled times England could do little to protect the New England colonists, and could do nothing to punish them for acting independently.

  The New England colonists were surrounded by foreigners. There were the French on the north and the east, and the Dutch on the west. The Indians, too, were living in their midst and might at any time turn on the whites and kill them. Thinking all these things over, the four leading colonies decided to join together for protection. They formed the New England Confederation, and drew up a constitution. The colonists living in Rhode Island and in Maine did not belong to the Confederation, but they enjoyed many of the benefits flowing from it; for it was quite certain that the Indians and the French and the Dutch would think twice before attacking any of the New England settlements.

  [Illustration: A CHILD'S HIGH CHAIR, ABOUT 1650.]

  [Sidenote: Education.]

  56. Social Conditions.--The New England colonies were all settled on the town system, for there were no industries which demanded large plantations--as tobacco-planting. The New Englanders were small farmers, mechanics, ship-builders, and fishermen. There were few servants in New England and almost no negro slaves. Most of the laborers were free men and worked for wages as laborers now do. Above all, the New Englanders were very zealous in the matter of education. Harvard College was founded in 1636. A few years later a law was passed compelling every town to provide schools for all the children in the town.

  CHAPTER 7

  NEW NETHERLAND AND NEW SWEDEN

  [Sidenote: The Dutch East India Company.]

  57. The Dutch.--At this time the Dutch were the greatest traders and shipowners in the world. They were especially interested in the commerce of the East Indies. Indeed, the Dutch India Company was the most successful trading company in existence. The way to the East Indies lay through seas carefully guarded by the Portuguese, so the Dutch India Company hired Henry Hudson, an English sailor, to search for a new route to India.

  [Sidenote: Henry Hudson.]

  [Sidenote: He discovers Hudson's River, 1609. Higginson, 88-90; Explorers, 281-296.]

  [Sidenote: His death. Explorers 296-302.]

  58. Hudson's Voyage, 1609.--He set forth in 1609 in the Half-Moon, a stanch little ship. At first he sailed northward, but ice soon blocked his way. He then sailed southwestward to find a strait, which was said to lead through America, north of Chesapeake Bay. On August 3, 1609, he reached the entrance of what is now New York harbor.

  Soon the Half-Moon entered the mouth of the river that still bears her captain's name. Up, up the river she sailed, until finally she came to anchor near the present site of Albany. The ship's boats sailed even farther north. Everywhere the country was delightful. The Iroquois came off to the ship in their canoes. Hudson received them most kindly--quite unlike the way Champlain treated other Iroquois Indians at about the same time, on the shore of Lake Champlain (p. 20). Then Hudson sailed down the river again and back to Europe. He made one later voyage to America, this time under the English flag. He was turned adrift by his men in Hudson's Bay, and perished in the cold and ice.

  [Sidenote: The Dutch fur-traders.]

  [Sidenote: Settle on Manhattan Island.]

  [Sidenote: New Netherland.]

  59. The Dutch Fur-Traders.--Hudson's failure to find a new way to India made the Dutch India Company lose interest in American exploration. But many Dutch merchants were greatly interested in Hudson's account of the "Great River of the Mountain." They thought that they could make money from trading for furs with the Indians. They sent many expeditions to Hudson's River, and made a great deal of money.

  Some of their captains explored the coast northward and southward as far as Boston harbor and Delaware Bay. Their principal trading-posts were on Manhattan Island, and near the site of Albany. In 1614 some of the leading traders obtained from the Dutch government the sole right to trade between New France and Virginia. They called this region New Netherland. />
  [Sidenote: The Dutch West India Company, 1621. Higginson, 90-96; Explorers, 303-307; Source-book, 42-44.]

  [Sidenote: The patroons, 1628.]

  60. The Founding of New Netherland.--In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was founded. Its first object was trade, but it also was directed "to advance the peopling" of the American lands claimed by the Dutch. Colonists now came over; they settled at New Amsterdam, on the southern end of Manhattan Island, and also on the western end of Long Island. By 1628 there were four hundred colonists in New Netherland. But the colony did not grow rapidly, so the Company tried to interest rich men in the scheme of colonization, by giving them large tracts of land and large powers of government. These great land owners were called patroons. Most of them were not very successful. Indeed, the whole plan was given up before long, and land was given to any one who would come out and settle.

  [Illustration: THE DUTCH COLONY OF NEW AMSTERDAM.]

  [Sidenote: Governor Kieft.]

  [Sidenote: Kieft orders the Indians to be killed.]

  [Sidenote: Results of the massacre.]

  61. Kieft and the Indians, 1643-44.--The worst of the early Dutch governors was William Kieft (Keeft). He was a bankrupt and a thief, who was sent to New Netherland in the hope that he would reform. At first he did well and put a stop to the smuggling and cheating which were common in the colony. Emigrants came over in large numbers, and everything seemed to be going on well when Kieft's brutality brought on an Indian war that nearly destroyed the colony. The Indians living near New Amsterdam sought shelter from the Iroquois on the mainland opposite Manhattan Island. Kieft thought it would be a grand thing to kill all these Indian neighbors while they were collected together. He sent a party of soldiers across the river and killed many of them. The result was a fierce war with all the neighboring tribes. The Dutch colonists were driven from their farms. Even New Amsterdam with its stockade was not safe. For the Indians sometimes came within the stockade and killed the people in the town. When there were less than two hundred people left in New Amsterdam, Kieft was recalled, and Peter Stuyvesant was sent as governor in his stead.

  [Sidenote: Peter Stuyvesant. Higginson, 97.]

  62. Stuyvesant's Rule.--Stuyvesant was a hot-tempered, energetic soldier who had lost a leg in the Company's service. He ruled New Netherland for a long time, from 1647 to 1664. And he ruled so sternly that the colonists were glad when the English came and conquered them.

  This unpopularity was not entirely Stuyvesant's fault. The Dutch West India Company was a failure. It had no money to spend for the defence of the colonists, and Stuyvesant was obliged to lay heavy taxes on the people.

  [Sidenote: The Swedes on the Delaware. Higginson, 106-108.]

  [Sidenote: Stuyvesant conquers them.]

  63. New Sweden.--When the French, the English, and the Dutch were founding colonies in America, the Swedes also thought that they might as well have a colony there too. They had no claim to any land in America.

  But Swedish armies were fighting the Dutchmen's battles in Europe. So the Swedes sent out a colony to settle on lands claimed by the Dutch.

  As long as the European war went on, the Swedes were not interfered with. But when the European war came to an end, Stuyvesant was told to conquer them. This he did without much trouble, as he had about as many soldiers as there were Swedish colonists. In this way New Sweden became a part of New Netherland.

  [Sidenote: Summary.]

  [Sidenote: The Chesapeake Colonies.]

  [Sidenote: The New England Colonies.]

  64. Summary.--We have seen how the French, the Dutch, the Swedish, and the English colonies were established on the Atlantic seashore and in the St. Lawrence valley. South of these settlements there was the earlier Spanish colony at St. Augustine. The Spanish colonists were very few in number, but they gave Spain a claim to Florida. The Swedish colony had been absorbed by the stronger Dutch colony. We have also seen how very unlike were the two English groups of colonies. They were both settled by Englishmen, but there the likeness stops. For Virginia and Maryland were slave colonies. They produced large crops of tobacco. The New England colonists on the other hand were practically all free. They lived in towns and engaged in all kinds of industries. In the next hundred years we shall see how the English conquered first the Dutch and then the French; how they planted colonies far to the south of Virginia and in these ways occupied the whole coast north of Florida.

  QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

  CHAPTER 4

  §§ 26, 27.--a. Mark on a map all the places mentioned in these sections.

  b. Describe Champlain's attacks on the Iroquois.

  §§ 28-30.--a. Compare the reasons for the coming of the French and the Spaniards.

  b. What work did the Jesuits do for the Indians?

  c. Explain carefully why the hostility of the Iroquois to the French was so important.

  CHAPTER 5

  §§ 31, 32.--a. Give two reasons for the revival of English colonial enterprises.

  b. Describe the voyage and early experiences of the Virginia colonists.

  c. Give three reasons for the sufferings of the Virginia colonists.

  §§ 33-35.--a. What do you think of Sir Thomas Dale?

  b. To what was the prosperity of Virginia due? Why?

  c. What classes of people were there in Virginia?

  §§ 36-38.--a. What is the meaning of the word "Puritan" (see § 43)? Why is Sir Edwin Sandys regarded as the founder of free government in the English colonies?

  b. Describe the laws of Virginia as to Roman Catholics and Puritans.

  §§ 39-41.--a. Describe Lord Baltimore's treatment of his settlers.

  What do you think of the wisdom of his actions?

  b. How were Roman Catholics treated in England?

  c. What is meant by toleration? Who would be excluded by the Maryland Toleration Act?

  d. Describe the likenesses and the differences between Virginia and Maryland.

  CHAPTER 6

  §§ 42-47.--a. Describe the voyage of the Mayflower.

  b. What was the object of the Mayflower Compact?

  c. Describe the Pilgrims' search for a place of settlement.

  d. Read Bradford's account of the first winter at Plymouth.

  e. What did Squanto do for the Pilgrims?

  §§ 48-50.--a. What advantages did the founders of Massachusetts have over those of New Plymouth?

  b. Look up the history of England, 1630-40, and say why so many colonists came to New England in those years.

  c. On what matters did Roger Williams disagree with the rulers of Massachusetts?

  d. How are Williams's ideas as to religious freedom regarded now?

  e. Why was Mrs. Hutchinson expelled from Massachusetts?

  §§ 51-54.--a. How did the Pequod War affect the colonists on the Connecticut?

  b. What is a constitution? Why did the Connecticut people feel the need of one? Why is the Connecticut constitution famous?

  c. Why did the New Haven settlers found a separate colony?

  §§ 55, 56.--a. What two parties were fighting in England?

  b. Give all the reasons for the formation of the New England Confederation. What were the effects of this union?

  c. Compare the industries of New England with those of Virginia.

  CHAPTER 7

  §§ 57-59.--a. Why did the Dutch East India Company wish a northern route to India?

  b. Describe Hudson's and Champlain's expeditions, and compare their treatment of the Iroquois.

  c. What attracted the Dutch to the region discovered by Hudson?

  §§ 60-62.--a. What was the object of the Dutch West India Company? What privileges did the patroons have?

  b. Describe the career of Kieft. What were the results of his treatment of the Indians?

  c. What kind of a governor was Stuyvesant? Why was he unpopular?

  § 63.--a. In what European war were the Swedes and the Dutch engaged?

  b. On what land did the
Swedes settle?

  c. Describe how New Sweden was joined to New Netherland.

  GENERAL QUESTIONS

  a. Mark on a map in colors the lands settled by the different European nations.

  b. Note the position of the Dutch with reference to the English, and explain the importance of such position.

  c. Give one fact about each of the colonies, and state why you think it important.

  d. Give one fact which especially interests you in connection with each colony, and explain your interest.

  e. In which colony would you have liked to live, and why?

  TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK

  a. Champlain's place in American history (Parkman's Pioneers).

  b. The First American Legislature and its work (Hart's Contemporaries, I., No. 65).

  c. Why did the Pilgrims come to America? (Bradford's Plymouth).

  d. Arrange a table of the several settlements similar to that described on page 18.

  e. Write a composition on life in early colonial days (Eggleston's United States, 91-113).

  SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER

  In treating this chapter aim to make clear the reasons for and conditions of the settlement of each colony. Vividness can best be obtained by a study of the writings of the time, especially of Bradford's History of Plymouth. Use pictures in every possible way and molding board as well.

  Emphasize the lack of true liberty of thought, and lead the children to understand that persecution was a characteristic of the time and not a failing of any particular colony or set of colonists.

  III

  A CENTURY OF COLONIAL

  HISTORY, 1660-1760

  Books for Study and Reading

  References.--Fiske's United States for Schools 133-180; McMaster's School History, 93-108 (life in 1763); Source-Book, ch.