EXTENT OF THESE EXPLORATIONS.

1. The Spaniards confined their settlements and explorations to the West Indies and the adjacent mainland, and in the United States made settlements only in Florida and New Mexico.

2. The French claimed the whole of New France, and made their first settlements in Acadia and Canada.

3. The English explored the Atlantic coast at various points, and claimed this vast territory, which they termed Virginia, having made their first settlement at Jamestown.

[Footnote: After this time, the English is the only nation that directly influences the history of the United States. The country was settled mainly by emigrants from Great Britain, and in the next epoch all the colonies become dependencies of that empire.]

4. The Dutch laid claim to New Netherland, but made no settlement till 1613.

The Rival Claims.—These four claims overlapped one another, and necessarily produced much confusion. While the first few settlements were separated by hundreds of miles of savage forests, this was of little account. But as the settlements increased, the rival claims became a source of constant strife, and were decided principally by the sword.

[Footnote: It is noticeable that the English grants all extended westward to the Pacific Ocean, the French southward from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf, and the Spanish northward to the Arctic Ocean. None of the European nations had any idea of the immense territory they were donating.]

Two Centuries of Exploration and One of Settlement.—These explorations had lasted during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and at the close of the sixteenth century, the only permanent settlements were those of the Spaniards at St. Augustine and Santa Fe. In the beginning of the seventeenth century, permanent settlements multiplied. They were made by

The FRENCH at Port Royal, N S., in 1605;

The ENGLISH at Jamestown, in 1607;

The FRENCH at Quebec, in 1608;

The DUTCH at New York, in 1613;

The ENGLISH at Plymouth, in 1620.

[Footnote: Here lay the shaggy continent from Florida to the Pole, outstretched in savage slumber. On the bank of the James River was a nest of woebegone Englishmen, a handful of fur-traders at the mouth of the Hudson, and a few shivering Frenchmen among the snowdrifts of Acadia; while amid still wilder desolation Champlain upheld the banner of France over the icy rock of Quebec. These were the advance guard of civilization, the messengers of promise to a desert continent. Yet, not content with inevitable woes, they were rent by petty jealousies and miserable quarrels, while each little fragment of rival nationalities, just able to keep up its own wretched existence on a few square miles, begrudged to all the rest the smallest share in a domain which all the nations of Europe could not have sufficed to fill.—Parkman.]

Summary of the History of the First Epoch, arranged in Chronological Order.

1492. Columbus discovered the New World, October 12 1497. The Cabots discovered Labrador, July 3 1498. The Cabots explored the Atlantic Coast South America was discovered by Columbus, August 10 Vasco de Gama sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and discovered a passage to India 1512. Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, April 6 1513. Balboa saw the Pacific Ocean, September 29 1519-21. Cortez conquered Mexico 1520. Magellan discovered and sailed through the straits which bear his name, into the Pacific Ocean; and his vessel returning home by the Cape of Good Hope, had made the first circumnavigation of the globe 1524. Verrazani explored the coast of North America 1528. Narvaez explored part of Florida 1534-35. Cartier discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and ascended the river to Montreal 1539-41. De Soto rambled over the Southern States and in 1541 discovered the Mississippi River 1540-42. Cabrillo explored California and sailed along the Pacific Coast 1541-42. Roberval attempted to plant a colony on the St. Lawrence, but failed 1562. Ribaut attempted to plant a Huguenot colony at Port Royal, but failed 1564. Laudonniere attempted to plant a Huguenot colony on the St. John's River. It was destroyed by the Spaniards 1565. Melendez founded a colony at St. Augustine, Florida; first permanent settlement in the United States 1576-7. Frobisher tried to find a northwest passage; entered Baffin Bay, and twice attempted to found a colony in Labrador, but failed 1578-80. Drake sailed along Pacific Coast to Oregon; wintered in San Francisco, and circumnavigated the globe 1582. Espejo founded Santa Fe; second oldest town in the United States 1583. Gilbert was lost at sea 1583-7. Raleigh twice attempted to plant a colony in Virginia 1602. Gosnold discovered Cape Cod, May 14 1605 De Monts established a colony at Port Royal, Nova Scotia first permanent French settlement in America 1607 The English settled Jamestown first permanent English settlement in America, May 23 1608 Champlain planted a colony at Quebec first permanent French settlement in Canada, 1609 Hudson discovered the Hudson River, Champlain discovered Lake Champlain, 1613 Settlement of New York by the Dutch, 1620 Pilgrims settled at Plymouth first English settlement in New England December 21

REFERENCES FOR READING

Irving's Columbus-Parkman's Pioneers of France Jesuits in North
America, and Discovery of the Great West—Longfellow's Sir Humphrey
Gilbert (Poem)—De Vere's Romance of American History—Abbott's
Biography of Illustrious Men and Women—T. Irving's De Soto in
Florida—Help's Spanish Conquest of America-Biddle's Sebastian
Cabot—Nicholls's John Cabot—Barlow's Vision of Columbus (Poem)
and Poems on Columbus by Samuel Rogers and F R Lowell-Simms's
Damsel of Danen (Poem)—Scibner's Monthly, Nov 1874 art, Pictures
from Florida—Harper's Magazine, Nov etc 1874, art The first
Century of the Republic—Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella
(Columbus)—Hawk's History of North Carolina (Lost Colony of
Roanoke)—Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi
Valley—Wallace's Fair God (Fiction)—Barnes's Popular History of
United States

[Illustration: THE OLD GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA]

EPOCH II.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES.

* * * * *

From 1607—the Founding of Jamestown,
To 1775—the Breaking out of the Revolution.

This Epoch traces the early history of the thirteen colonies—Virginia, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Georgia. The Cavaliers land in Virginia, and the Puritans in Massachusetts. Immigration increases and the settlements multiply along the whole coast. The colonies, however, still have little history in common. Each by itself struggles with the wilderness, contends with the Indian, and develops the principles of liberty.

[Footnote: Questions on the Geography of the Second Epoch.—Names of
places in italic letters may be found on the map for Epoch III. Locate
Jamestown. Salem. Charlestown. Boston. Cambridge. Swanzea.
Providence. Bristol. Hadley. Hatfield. Portsmouth. Dover. Hartford.
Wethersfield. New Haven. Windsor. Saybrook. New York. Albany.
Schenectady. Elizabethtown. Wilminton. Philadelphia. St. Mary's.
Edenton. Charleston. Savannah. Haverhill. Deerfield. St. Augustine.
Quebec. Louisburg.

Locate Fort Venango. Oswego. Presque Isle. Fort Le Boeuf. Crown
Point. Fort Ticonderoga. Fort Niagara. Fort du Quesne. Fort William
Henry. Fort Edward.

Describe the Ohio River. Monongahela River. French Creek. Chowan
River. Ashley River, Cooper River. River St. John. Potomac River.
James River. Hudson River. Connecticut River. Mohawk River.
Delaware River. Kennebec River. Penobscot River. Mystic River. Miami
River. St. Lawrence River.

Locate Manhattan Island. Alleghany Mountains. Cape Breton.
Massachusetts Bay. Albemarle Sound. Chesapeake Bay.]

VIRGINIA.

THE CHARACTER of the colonists was poorly adapted to endure the hardships incident to a settlement in a new country. They were mostly gentlemen by birth, unused to labor. They had no families, and came out in search of wealth or adventure, expecting, when rich, to return to England. The climate was unhealthy, and before the first autumn half of their number had perished.

JOHN SMITH saved the colony from ruin. First as a member of the council, and afterward as president, his services were invaluable. He persuaded the settlers to erect a fort and to build log huts for the winter. He made long voyages, carefully exploring Chesapeake Bay, securing the friendship of the Indians, and bringing back boat-loads of supplies. He trained the tender gentlemen till they learned how to swing the axe in the forest. He declared that "he who would not work, might not eat." He taught them that industry and self-reliance are the surest guarantees to fortune.

[Footnote: Captain John Smith was born to adventure. While yet a boy he leaves his home in Lincolnshire, England, to engage in Holland wars. After a four-years service he builds a lodge of boughs in a forest, where he hunts, rides, and studies military tactics. Next we hear of him on his way to fight the Turks. Before reaching France he is robbed, and escapes death from want only by begging alms. Having embarked for Italy, a fearful storm arises; he, being a heretic, is deemed the cause, and is thrown overboard, but he swims to land. In the East, a famous Mussulman wishes to fight some Christian knight "to please the ladies;" Smith offers himself and slays three champions in succession. Taken prisoner in battle and sold as a slave, his head is shaved and his neck bound with an iron ring; he kills his master, arrays himself in the dead man's garments, mounts a horse and spurs his way to a Russian camp. Having returned to England, he embarks for the new world. On the voyage he excites the jealousy of his fellows and is landed in chains; but his worth becomes so apparent that he is finally made president of the colony. His marvelous escapes seem now more abundant than ever. A certain fish inflicts a dangerous wound, but he finds an antidote and afterward eats part of the same fish with great relish. He is poisoned, but overcomes the dose and severely beats the poisoner. His party of fifteen is attacked by Opechancanough (Op-e-kan-ka-no), brother and successor of Powhatan, with seven hundred warriors; Smith drags the old chief by his long hair into the midst of the Indian braves, who, amazed at such audacity, immediately surrender. He is shockingly burned on a boat by the explosion of a bag of powder at his side; but he leaps into the water, where he barely escapes death by drowning. These and many other wonderful exploits he published in a book after his return to England. Historians very generally discredit them, and even the story of his rescue by Pocahontas (p. 48) is considered very doubtful. His services were, however, of unquestionable value to Virginia; and his disinterestedness appears from the fact that he never received a foot of land in the colony his wisdom had saved. Of his last years we know little. He died near London, 1631.]

Smith's Adventures were of the most romantic character. In one of his expeditions up the Chickahommy he was taken prisoner by the Indians. With singular coolness he immediately attempted to interest his captors by explaining the use of his pocket compass and the motions of the moon and stars. At last they permitted him to write a letter to Jamestown. When they found that this informed his friends of his misfortune, they were filled with astonishment.

They could not understand by what magical art he could make a few marks on paper express his thoughts. They considered him a being of a superior order, and treated him with the utmost respect. He was carried from one tribe to another, and at last brought to the great chief, Powhatan, by whom he was condemned to die. His head was laid on a stone, and the huge war-club of the Indian executioner was raised to strike the fatal blow. Suddenly Pocahantas, the young daughter of the chief, who had already become attached to the prisoner, threw herself upon his neck and pleaded for his pardon (see note, p. 46). The favorite of the tribe was given her desire. Smith was released, and soon sent home with promises of friendship. His little protector was often thereafter to be seen going to Jamestown with baskets of corn for the white men.

[Footnote: This was undertaken by the express order of the company to seek a passage to the Pacific Ocean and thus to India. Captain Newport before his return to England made a trip up the James River for the same purpose but on reaching the falls concluded that the way to India did not lie in that direction. These attempts which seem so preposterous to us now show what inadequate ideas then prevailed concerning the size of this continent.]

[Footnote: His route was over the peninsula, since rendered so famous by McClellan's campaign.]

[Illustration: SMITH SHOWING HIS COMPASS TO THE INDIANS]

[Footnote: As another evidence of the simplicity of the Indians, it is said that having seized a quantity of gunpowder belonging to the colonists, they planted it for seed, expecting to reap a full harvest of ammunition for the next contest.]

A SECOND CHARTER was now obtained by the company (1609). This vested the authority in a governor instead of a local council. The colonists were not consulted with regard to the change, nor did the charter guarantee to them any rights.

THE "STARVING TIME."—Unfortunately, Smith was disabled by a severe wound and compelled to return to England. His influence being removed, the settlers became a prey to disease and famine. Some were killed by the Indians. Some, in their despair, seized a boat and became pirates. The winter of 1609-10 was long known as the Starving Time. In six months they were reduced from 490 to 60. At last they determined to flee from the wretched place. "None dropped a tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness." The next morning, as they slowly moved down with the tide, to their great joy they met their new governor, Lord Delaware, with abundant supplies and a company of emigrants. All returned to the homes they had just deserted, and Jamestown colony was once more rescued from ruin.

THE THIRD CHARTER.—Up to this time the colony had proved a failure and was publicly ridiculed in London. To quiet the outcry, the charter was changed (1612). The council in London was abolished, and the stockholders were given power to regulate the affairs of the company themselves.

THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS (1613).—The little Indian girl had now grown to womanhood. John Rolfe, a young English planter, had won her love and wished to marry her. In the little church at Jamestown, rough almost as an Indian's wigwam, she received Christian baptism, and, in broken English, stammered the marriage vows according to the service of the Church of England.

Three years after, with her husband, she visited London. The childlike simplicity and winning grace of Lady Rebecca, as she was called, attracted universal admiration. She was introduced at court and received every mark of attention. As she was about to return to her native land with her husband and infant son, she suddenly died.

[Footnote: This son became a man of wealth and distinction. Many of the leading families of Virginia have been proud to say that the blood of Pocahontas coursed through their veins.]

FIRST COLONIAL ASSEMBLY.—Governor Yeardley (yard'-le) believed that the colonists should have "a hande in the governing of themselves." He accordingly called at Jamestown, June 28, 1619, the first legislative body that ever assembled in America. It consisted of the governor, council, and deputies, or "burgesses," as they were called, chosen from the various plantations, or "boroughs." Its laws had to be ratified by the company in England, but, in turn, the orders from London were not binding unless ratified by the colonial assembly. These privileges were afterward (1621) embodied in a written constitution—the first of the kind in America. A measure of freedom was thus granted the young colony, and Jamestown became a nursery of liberty.

PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY.—The old famine troubles had now all passed. The attempt to work in common had been given up, and each man tilled his own land and had the avails. Tobacco was an article of export. The colonists raised it so eagerly that at one time even the streets of Jamestown were planted with it. Gold-hunting had ceased, and many of the former servants of the company owned plantations. Settlements lined both banks of the James for 140 miles. Best of all, young women of good character were brought over by the company. These sold readily as wives to the settlers. The price was fixed at the cost of the passage—100 pounds of tobacco—but they were in such demand that it soon went up to 150 pounds. Domestic ties were formed. The colonists, having homes, now became Virginians. All freemen had the right to vote. Religious toleration was enjoyed. Virginia became almost an independent republic.

[Footnote: In the early life of this colony, particles of mica glittering in the brook were mistaken for gold dust. "There was no talk, no hope, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold." Newport carried to England a shipload of the worthless stuff. Smith remonstrated in vain against this folly.]

SLAVERY INTRODUCED.—In 1619 the captain of a Dutch trading vessel sold to the colonists twenty negroes. They were employed in cultivating tobacco. As their labor was found profitable, larger numbers were afterward imported.

[Footnote: From this circumstance, small as it seemed at the time, the most momentous consequences ensued,—consequences that, long after, rent the republic with strife, and moistened its soil with blood.]

INDIAN TROUBLES.—After the death of Powhatan, the firm friend of the English, the Indians formed a plan for the extermination of the colony. So secretly was this managed that on the very morning of the massacre (March 22, 1622) they visited the houses and sat at the tables of those whose murder they were plotting. At a preconcerted moment they attacked the colonists on all their widely-scattered plantations. Over three hundred men, women, and children fell in one day. Fortunately, a converted Indian had informed a friend whom he wished to save, and thus Jamestown and the settlements near by were prepared. A merciless war ensued, during which the colony was reduced from 4,000 to 2,500; but the Indians were so severely punished that they remained quiet for twenty years. Then came a fearful massacre of five hundred settlers (1644), which ended in the natives being expelled from the region.

VIRGINIA A ROYAL PROVINCE.—The majority of the stockholders gladly granted to the infant colony those rights for which they were struggling at home. King James, becoming jealous of the company because of its patriotic sentiments, took away the charter (1624), and made Virginia a royal province. Henceforth the king appointed the governor and council, though the colony still retained its assembly.

A PERIOD OF OPPRESSION.—The British Parliament enforced the Navigation Act (1660), which ordered that the commerce of the colony should be carried on in English vessels, and that their tobacco should be shipped to England. Besides this, their own assembly was composed mainly of royalists, who levied exorbitant taxes, refused to go out of office when their term had expired, fixed their own salary at 250 pounds of tobacco per day, restricted the right of voting to "freeholders and housekeepers," and imposed on Quakers a monthly fine of one hundred dollars for absence from worship in the English Church. Two parties gradually sprung up in their midst; one, the aristocratic party, was composed of the rich planters and the officeholders in the colony; the other comprised the liberty-loving portion of the people, who felt themselves deprived of their political rights.

[Footnote: It is a curious fact that the royalists who fled from England in Cromwell's time took refuge in Virginia, and were hospitably entertained, while the "regicides" (the judges who condemned Charles I) fled to Massachusetts and were concealed from their pursuers.]

BACON'S REBELLION.—These difficulties came to a crisis in 1676, when Governor Berkeley failed to provide for the defence of the settlements against the Indians. At this juncture, Nathaniel Bacon, a patriotic young lawyer, rallied a company, defeated the Indians, and then turned to meet the governor, who had denounced him as a traitor. During the contest which followed, Berkeley was driven out of Jamestown and the village itself burned.

[Illustration: The Ruins at Jamestown.]

[Footnote: Going up the James River, just before reaching City Point, one sees on the right-hand bank the ruins of an old church. The crumbling tower, with its arched doorways, is almost hidden by the profusion of shrubbery which surrounds it. Its moss covered walls, entwined with ivy planted by loving hands which have since crumbled into dust, look desolately out upon the old churchyard at its back. Here, pushing aside the rank vines and tangled bushes which conceal them, one finds a few weather—beaten tombstones A huge buttomwood tree, taking root below, has burst apart one of these old slabs and now, with its many fellows spreads its lofty branches high over the solitary dead. And this is all that remains of that Jamestown whose struggles we have here recorded.]

In the midst of this success, Bacon died. No leader could be found worthy to take his place, and the people dispersed. Berkeley revenged himself with terrible severity. On hearing of the facts, Charles II. impatiently declared, "He has taken more lives in that naked country than I did for the murder of my father."

* * * * *

MASSACHUSETTS.

THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY made several attempts to explore North Virginia. Captain John Smith, already so famous in South Virginia, examined the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, drew a map of it, and called the country NEW ENGLAND. The company, stirred to action by his glowing accounts, obtained a new patent (1620) under the name of the Council for New England. This authorized them to make settlements and laws, and to carry on trade through a region reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and comprising over a million square miles. New England, however, was settled with no consent of king or council.

PLYMOUTH COLONY.

SETTLEMENT.—Landing of the Pilgrims.—One stormy day in the fall of 1620, the Mayflower, with a band of a hundred pilgrims, came to anchor in Cape Cod harbor. The little company, gathering in the cabin, drew up a compact, in which they agreed to enact just and equal laws, which all should obey. One of their exploring parties landed at Plymouth, as it was called on Smith's chart, December 21.

[Footnote: The exact number of the pilgrims was 102.]

[Footnote: This was Dec. 11, Old Style. In 1752, eleven days were added to correct an error in the calendar, thus making this date the 22d. Only 10 days, however, should have been allowed, and therefore the correct date is the 21st, New Style.]

Finding the location suitable for a settlement, they all came ashore, and amid a storm of snow and sleet commenced building their rude huts.

[Footnote: They were called Pilgrims because of their wanderings. About seventy years before this time the state religion of England had been changed from Catholic to Protestant; but a large number of the clergy and people were dissatisfied with what they thought to be a half-way policy on the part of the new church, and called for a more complete purification from old observances and doctrines. For this, they were called Puritans. They still believed in a state church, that is, that the nation of England was the church of England; and that the queen, as the head of both, could appoint church officers and prescribe the form of religious worship. They, however, wanted a change, and desired the government to make it to suit them. The government not only refused, but punished the Puritan clergy for not using the prescribed form of worship. This led some of them to question the authority of the government in religious matters. They came to believe that any body of Christians might declare themselves a church, choose their own officers, and be independent of all external authority. When they began to form these local churches, they separated themselves from the Church of England, and for this reason are called Separatists and Independents. One of these churches of Separatists was at Scrooby, in the east of England. Not being allowed to worship in peace, they fled to Holland (1608), where they lived twelve years. But evil influences surrounded their children, and they longed for a land where they might worship God in their own way and save their families from worldly follies. America offered such a home. They came, resolved to brave every danger, trusting to God to shape their destinies.]

[Footnote: The little shallop sent out to reconnoitre before landing, lost, in a furious storm, its rudder, mast, and sail. Late at night, the party sought shelter under the lee of a small island. They spent the next day in cleaning their rusty weapons and drying their wet garments. Every hour was precious, as the season was late and their companions in the Mayflower were waiting their return; but "being ye last day of ye week, they prepared there to keepe ye Sabbath." No wonder that the influence of such a people has been felt throughout the country, and that "Forefathers' Rock," on which they first stepped, is yet held in grateful remembrance.]

THE CHARACTER of the Pilgrim settlers was well suited to the rugged, stormy land which they sought to subdue. They had come into the wilderness with their families in search of a home where they could educate their children and worship God as they pleased. They were earnest, sober-minded men, actuated in all things by deep religious principle, and never disloyal to their convictions of duty.

THEIR SUFFERINGS during the winter were severe. At one time there were only seven well persons to take care of the sick. Half of the little band died. Yet when spring came, not one of the company thought of returning to England.

THE INDIANS, fortunately, did not disturb them. A pestilence had destroyed the tribe inhabiting the place where they landed. They were startled, however, one day in early spring by a voice in their village crying in broken English, "Welcome!" It was the salutation of Sam'-o-set, an Indian whose chief, Mas-sa-suit, soon after visited them. The treaty then made lasted for fifty years. Ca-non'-i-cus, a Narraganset chief, once sent a bundle of arrows, wrapped in a rattlesnake skin, as a token of defiance. Governor Bradford returned the skin filled with powder and shot. This significant hint was effectual.

[Illustration: WELCOME—PLYMOUTH, 1621]

The progress of the Colony was slow. Their harvests were insufficient to feed themselves and the new-comers. During the "famine of 1623," the best dish they could set before their friends was a bit of fish and a cup of water.

[Footnote: As an illustration of their pious content it is said that Elder Brewster was wont over a meal consisting only of clams to return thanks to God who "had given them to suck the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sands."]

After four years they numbered only 184. The plan of working in common having failed here as at Jamestown, land was assigned to each settler. Abundance ensued. The colony was never organized by royal charter; therefore they elected their own governor, and made their own laws. In 1692, Plymouth was united with Massachusetts Bay colony, under the name of Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.

SETTLEMENT.—John Endicott and five associates having obtained a grant of land about Massachusetts Bay, secured (1628) a royal charter giving authority to make laws and govern the territory. This company afterward transferred all their rights to the colony. It was a popular measure, and many prominent Puritan families flocked to this land of liberty. Some gathered around Governor Endicott, who had already started Salem and Charlestown, some established colonies at Dorchester and Watertown, and one thousand under Governor Winthrop founded Boston (1630).

RELIGIOUS DISTURBANCES.—The people of Massachusetts Bay, while in England, were Puritans, but not Separatists. Having come to America to establish a Puritan Church, they were unwilling to receive persons holding opinions differing from their own, lest their purpose should be defeated. They accordingly sent back to England those who persisted in using the forms of the Established Church, and allowed only members of their own church to vote in civil affairs.

Roger Williams, an eloquent and pious young minister, taught that each person should think for himself in all religious matters, and be responsible to his own conscience alone. He declared that the magistrates had, therefore, no right to punish blasphemy, perjury, or Sabbath-breaking. The clergy and magistrates were alarmed at what they considered a doctrine dangerous to the peace of the colony, and he was ordered (1635) to be sent to England. It was in the depth of winter, yet he fled to the forest and found refuge among the Indians. The next year, Canonicus, the Narraganset sachem, gave him land to found a settlement, which he gratefully named Providence.

Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, during the same year, aroused a violent and bitter controversy. She claimed to be favored with special revelations of God's will. These she expounded to crowded congregations of women, greatly to the scandal of the clergy and people. Finally she also was banished.

The Quakers, about twenty years after these summary measures, created fresh trouble by their peculiar views. They were fined, whipped, imprisoned, and sent out of the colony; yet they as constantly returned, glorying in their sufferings. At last four were executed. The people beginning to consider them as martyrs, the persecution gradually relaxed.

A UNION OF THE COLONIES of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut, was formed (1643) under the title of THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND. This was a famous league in colonial times. The object was a common protection against the Indians and the encroachments of the Dutch and French settlers.

KING PHILIP'S WAR.—During the life of Massasuit, Plymouth enjoyed peace with the Indians, as did Jamestown during that of Powhatan. After Massasoit's death, his son, Philip, brooded with a jealous eye over the encroachments of the whites. With profound sagacity, he planned a confederation of the Indian tribes against the intruders. The first blow fell on the people of Swansea as they were quietly going home from church on Sunday (July 14, 1675). The settlers flew to arms, but Philip escaped, and soon excited the savages to fall upon the settlements high up the Connecticut valley.

[Footnote: At Hadley the Indians surprised the people on Fast day, June 12,1676. Seizing their muskets at the sound of the savage war-whoop, the men rushed out of the meeting-house to fall into line. But the foe was on every side. Confused and bewildered, the settlers seemed about to give way, when suddenly a strange old man with long white beard and ancient garb appeared among them. Ringing out a quick, sharp word of command, he recalled them to their senses. Following their mysterious leader, they drove the enemy headlong before them. The danger passed, they looked around for their deliverer. But he had disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. The good people believed that God had sent an angel to their rescue. But history reveals the secret. It was the regicide Colonel Goffe. Fleeing from the vengeance of Charles II, with a price set upon his head he had for years wandered about, living in mills, clefts of rocks, and forest caves. At last he had found an asylum with the Hadley minister. From his window he had seen the stealthy Indians coming down the hill. Fired with desire to do one more good deed for God's people, he rushed from his hiding-place, led them on to victory, and then returned to his retreat, never more to reappear.—One learns with regret that recent research throws great doubt over the truth of this thrilling story. It is curious to notice also that there is no proof that Philip possessed any eloquence or was even present in any fight, though all these statements have hitherto been made by reliable historians.]

[Illustration: A FORTIFIED HOUSE.]

The colonists fortified their houses with palisades, carried their arms with them into the fields when at work, and stacked them at the door when at church. The Narraganset Indians favored Philip, and seemed on the point of joining his alliance. They had gathered their winter's provisions, and fortified themselves in the midst of an almost inaccessible swamp. Fifteen hundred of the colonists accordingly attacked them in this stronghold. The Indian wigwams and stores were burned, and one thousand warriors perished. In the spring the war broke out anew along a frontier of three hundred miles, and to within twenty miles of Boston. Nowhere fighting in the open field, but by ambuscade and skulking, the Indians kept the whole country in terror. Driven to desperation by their atrocities, the settlers hunted down the savages like wild beasts. Philip was chased from one hiding-place to another. His family being captured at last, he fled, broken-hearted, to his old home on Mt. Hope, near Bristol, E. I., where he was shot by a faithless Indian.

[Illustration: KING PHILIP.]

NEW ENGLAND A ROYAL PROVINCE.—The Navigation Act (p. 51), which we have seen so unpopular in Virginia, was exceedingly oppressive in Massachusetts, which possessed a thriving commerce. In spite of the decree the colony opened a trade with the West Indies. The royalists in England determined that this bold republican spirit should be quelled. An English officer who attempted to enforce the Navigation Act having been compelled to return home, Charles II, eagerly seized upon the excuse thus offered, and made Massachusetts a royal province. The king died before his plan was completed, but James II. (1686) declared the charters of all the New England colonies forfeited, and sent over Sir Edmund Andros, as first royal governor of New England. He carried things with a high hand. The colonies endured his oppression for three years, when, learning that his royal master was dethroned, they rose against their petty tyrant and put him in jail. With true Puritan sobriety they then quietly resumed their old form of government. This lasted for three years, when Sir William Phipps came as royal governor over a province embracing Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia. From this time till the Revolution, Massachusetts remained a royal province.

SALEM WITCHCRAFT (1692).—A strange delusion known as the Salem witchcraft, produced the most intense excitement. The children of Mr. Parris, a minister near Salem, performed pranks which could be explained only by supposing that they were under Satanic influence. Every effort was made to discover who had bewitched them. An Indian servant was flogged until she admitted herself to be guilty. Soon others were affected, and the terrible mania spread rapidly. Committees of examination were appointed and courts of trial convened. The most improbable stories were credited. To express a doubt of witchcraft was to indicate one's own alliance with the evil spirit. Persons of the highest respectability, clergymen, magistrates, and even the governor's wife were implicated. At last, after fifty-five persons had been tortured and twenty hung, the people awoke to their folly.

[Footnote: A belief in witchcraft was at that time universal. Sir Matthew Hale, one of the most enlightened judges of England, repeatedly tried and condemned persons accused of witchcraft. Blackstone himself, at a later day, declared that to deny witchcraft was to deny Revelation. Cotton Mather, the most prominent minister of the colony, was active in the rooting out of this supposed crime. He published a book full of the most ridiculous witch stories. One judge, who engaged in this persecution, was afterward so deeply penitent that he observed a day of fasting in each year, and on the day of general fast rose in his place in the Old South Church at Boston, and in the presence of the congregation handed to the pulpit a written confession acknowledging his error, and praying for forgiveness.]

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MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.

THESE COLONIES were so intimately united with Massachusetts that they have almost a common history. Gorges (gor-jez) and Mason, about two years after the landing of the Pilgrims, obtained from the Council for New England the grant of a large tract of land which lay between the Merrimac and Kennebec Rivers. They established some small fishing stations near Portsmouth and at Dover. This patent being afterward dissolved, Mason took the country lying west of the Piscataqua, and named it New Hampshire; Gorges took that lying east, and termed it the province of Maine.

[Footnote: To distinguish it from the islands along the coast, this country had been called the Mayne (main) land, which perhaps gave rise to its present name. New Hampshire was so called from Hampshire in England, Mason's home. The settlers of New Hampshire were long vexed with suits brought by the men into whose hands Mason's grant had fallen.]

Massachusetts, however, claimed this territory, and to secure it paid six thousand dollars to the heirs of Gorges. Maine was not separated from Massachusetts till 1820. The feeble settlements of New Hampshire also placed themselves under the protection of Massachusetts. "Three times, either by their own consent or by royal authority, they were joined in one colony, and as often separated," until 1741, when New Hampshire became a royal province, and so remained until the Revolution.

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CONNECTICUT.

[Footnote: This State is named from its principal river—
(Connecticut being the Indian word for Long River).]

SETTLEMENT.—About eleven years after the landing of the Pilgrims, Lord Say-and-Seal and Lord Brooke obtained from the Earl of Warwick a transfer of the grant of the Connecticut valley, which he had secured from the Council for New England. The Dutch claimed the territory, and before the English could take possession, built a fort at Hartford, and commenced traffic with the Indians. Some traders from Plymouth sailing up the river were stopped by the Dutch, who threatened to fire upon them. But they kept on and established a post at Windsor (win'-zer). Many people from Boston, allured by the rich meadow lands, settled near. In the autumn of 1635, John Steele, one of the proprietors of Cambridge, led a pioneer company "out west," as it was then called, and laid the foundations of Hartford. The next year the main band, with their pastor—Thomas Hooker, a most eloquent and estimable man—came, driving their flocks before them through the wilderness. In the meantime John Winthrop established a fort at the mouth of the river, and thus shut out the Dutch. This colony, in honor of the proprietors, was named Saybrook.

[Footnote: John Winthrop appears in history without blemish. Highly educated and accomplished, he was no less upright and generous. In the bloom of life, he left all his brilliant prospects in the old world to follow the fortunes of the new. When his father had made himself poor in nurturing the Massachusetts colony, this noble son gave up voluntarily his own large inheritance to "further the good work." It was through his personal influence and popularity at court that the liberal charter was procured from Charles II. which guaranteed freedom to Connecticut.]

THE PEQUOD WAR.—The colonists had no sooner become settled in their new home than the Pequod Indians endeavored to persuade the Narragansets to join them in a general attack upon the whites. Roger Williams hearing of this, and forgetting all the injuries he had received, on a stormy night set out in his canoe for the Indian village. Though the Pequod messengers were present, he prevailed upon the old Narraganset chief to remain at home. So the Pequods lost their ally and were forced to fight alone. They commenced by murdering thirty colonists. Captain Mason, therefore, resolved to attack their stronghold on the Mystic River. His party approached the fort at daybreak (June 4, 1637). Aroused by the barking of a dog, the sleepy sentinel shouted "Owanux! Owanux!" (the Englishmen! ) but it was too late. The troops were already within the palisades. The Indians, rallying, made a fierce resistance, when Captain Mason, seizing a firebrand, hurled it among the wigwams. The flames quickly swept through the encampment. The English themselves barely escaped. The few Indians who fled to the swamps were hunted down. The tribe perished in a day.

THE THREE COLONIES.—1. The New Haven Colony was founded (1638) by a number of wealthy London families. They took the Bible for law, and only church members could vote. 2. The Connecticut Colony, proper, comprising Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, adopted a written constitution in which it was agreed to give to all freemen the right to vote. This was the first instance in history of a written constitution framed by the people. 3. The Saybrook Colony was at first governed by the proprietors, but was afterward sold to the Connecticut colony. This reduced the three colonies to two.

[Illustration: THE CHARTER OAK.]

A ROYAL CHARTER was obtained (1662) which united both these colonies and guaranteed to all the rights upon which the Connecticut colonists had agreed. This was a precious document, since it gave them almost independence, and was the most favorable yet granted to any colony. Twenty-four years after, Governor Andros marching from Boston over the route where the pious Hooker had led his little flock fifty years before, came "glittering with scarlet and lace" into the assembly at Hartford, and demanded the charter. A protracted debate ensued. The people crowded around to take a last look at this guarantee of their liberties, when suddenly the lights were extinguished. On being relighted, the charter was gone. William Wadsworth had seized it, escaped through the crowd and hidden it in the hollow of a tree, famous ever after as the Charter Oak. However, Andros pronounced the charter government at an end. "Finis" was written at the close of the minutes of their last meeting. When the governor was so summarily deposed in Boston the people brought the charter from its hiding-place, the general court reassembled, and the "finis" disappeared.

[Footnote: Another attempt to infringe upon charter rights occurred in 1693. Governor Fletcher ordered the militia placed under his own command. Having called them out to listen to his royal commission, he began to read. Immediately Captain Wadsworth ordered the drums to be beaten. Fletcher commanded silence, and began again. "Drum, drum!" cried Wadsworth. "Silence!" shouted the governor. "Drum, drum, I say!" repeated the captain; and then turning to Fletcher, with a meaning look, he added: "If I am interrupted again, I will make the sun shine through you." The governor did not press the matter.—The story of the Charter Oak is denied by some, who claim that contemporary history does not mention it, and that probably Andros seized the charter, while the colonists had previously made a copy.]

RHODE ISLAND.

[Footnote: An island of a reddish appearance was observed lying in the bay. This was known to the Dutch as Roode or Red Island. Hence the name of the island and State of Rhode Island.—Brodhead.]

SETTLEMENT. Roger Williams settled Providence Plantation in 1636, the year in which Hooker came to Hartford. Other exiles from Massachusetts followed, among them the celebrated Mrs. Hutchinson. A party of these purchased the island of Aquiday and established the Rhode Island Plantation. Roger Williams stamped upon these colonies his favorite idea of religious toleration, i.e., that the civil power has no right to interfere with the religious opinions of men.

[Footnote: William Blackstone, being as dissatisfied with the yoke of the "lords brethren" in Boston as with that of the "lord bishops" in England, some time before this removed to the banks of what is now called the Blackstone, near Providence. He, however, acknowledged the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.]

[Footnote: Persecuted refugees from all quarters flocked to Providence; and Williams shared equally with all the lands he had obtained, reserving to himself only two small fields which, on his first arrival, he had planted with his own hands.]

A CHARTER.—The colonists wished to join the New England Union, but were refused on the ostensible plea that they had no charter. Williams accordingly visited England and obtained a charter uniting the two plantations. On his return the people met, elected their officers, and (1647) agreed on a set of laws guaranteeing freedom of faith and worship to all,—"the first legal declaration of liberty of conscience ever adopted in Europe or America."

NEW YORK.

SETTLEMENT.—Soon after the discovery of the Hudson, as previously described (p. 39), Dutch ships began to visit the river to traffic in furs with the Indians. Afterward the West India Company obtained a grant of New Netherland, and under its patronage permanent settlements were made at New Amsterdam and also at Fort Orange (Albany). The company allowed persons who should plant a colony of fifty settlers to select and buy land of the Indians, which it was agreed should descend to their heirs forever. These persons were called "patroons" (patrons) of the manor.

[Footnote: Some huts were built by the Dutch traders on Manhattan Island in 1613. and a trading-post was established a year or two after. A fort was completed, in 1615, south of the present site of Albany. Eight or nine years later, a party of Walloons or Protestants from Belgian provinces were brought over by the company. About the same time, Fort Orange was erected, and eighteen families built their bark huts under its protection. In 1626, Minuit, the first governor, arrived in New Amsterdam, and purchased Manhattan Island of the Indians for about $24, nearly 1 mill per acre.—Some of the old Dutch manors remain to this day. The famous anti-rent difficulties (p. 182) grew out of such titles.]