Part 8 (2/2)
[Sidenote: Southern Carolina.]
74. The Carolina Colonists.--In 1663, when the Carolina charter was granted, there were a few settlers living in the northern part of the colony. Other colonists came from outside mainly from the Barbadoes and settled on the Cape Fear River. In this way was formed a colony in northern Carolina. But the most important settlement was in the southern part of the province at Charleston. Southern Carolina at once became prosperous. This was due to the fact that the soil and climate of that region were well suited to the cultivation of rice. The rice swamps brought riches to the planters, they also compelled the employment of large numbers of negro slaves. Before long, indeed, there were more negroes than whites in southern Carolina. In this way there grew up two distinct centers of colonial life in the province.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Southern Carolina.]
[Sidenote: Indian war.]
[Sidenote: Bacon's Rebellion, 1676.]
75. Bacon's Rebellion, 1676.--By this time the Virginians had become very discontented. There had been no election to the colonial a.s.sembly since 1660 and Governor Berkeley was very tyrannical. The Virginians also wanted more churches and more schools. To add to these causes of discontent the Indians now attacked the settlers, and Berkeley seemed to take very little interest in protecting the Virginians. Led by Nathaniel Bacon the colonists marched to Jamestown and demanded authority to go against the Indians. Berkeley gave Bacon a commission.
But, as soon as Bacon left Jamestown on his expedition, Berkeley declared that he was a rebel. Bacon returned, and Berkeley fled. Bacon marched against the Indians again, and Berkeley came back, and so the rebellion went on until Bacon died. Berkeley then captured the other leaders one after another and hanged them. But when he returned to England, Charles II turned his back to him, saying, ”The old fool has killed more men in Virginia than I for the murder of my father.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HOUSE IN WHICH NATHANIEL BACON DIED. From an original sketch.]
[Sidenote: Greedy Governors.]
[Sidenote: Founding of William and Mary College, 1691.]
76. Virginia after Bacon's Rebellion.--The Virginians were now handed over to a set of greedy governors. Some of them came to America to make their fortunes. But some of them were governors whom the people of other colonies would not have. The only event of importance in the history of the colony during the next twenty-five years was the founding of William and Mary College (1691) at Williamsburg. It was the second oldest college in the English colonies.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OPENING LINES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CHARTER SHOWING ORNAMENTAL BORDER AND PORTRAIT OF CHARLES II.]
[Sidenote: King Philip's War, 1675-76. _Higginson_, 137-138; _Eggleston_, 81-89.]
77. King Philip's War, 1675-76.--It was not only in Virginia and Maryland that the Indians were restless at this time. In New England also they attacked the whites. They were led by Ma.s.sasoit's son, King Philip, an able and far-seeing man. He saw with dismay how rapidly the whites were driving the Indians away from their hunting-grounds. The Indians burned the English villages on the frontier and killed hundreds of the settlers. The strongest chief to join Philip was Canonchet of the Narragansetts. The colonial soldiers stormed his fort and killed a thousand Indian warriors. Before long King Philip himself was killed, and the war slowly came to an end.
[Sidenote: William Penn.]
[Sidenote: The Pennsylvania Charter, 1681.]
78. William Penn.--Among the greatest Englishmen of that time was William Penn. He was a Quaker and was also a friend of Charles II and James, Duke of York. He wished to found a colony in which he and the Quakers could work out their ideas in religious and civil matters. It chanced that Charles owed Penn a large sum of money. As Charles seldom had any money, he was very glad to give Penn instead a large tract of land in America. In this way Penn obtained Pennsylvania. James, for his part, gave him Delaware.
[Sidenote: Settlement of Pennsylvania, 1682. _Higginson_, 101-105; _Eggleston_, 57-60; _Source-Book_, 67-69.]
79. Founding of Pennsylvania, 1682.--William Penn had a great reputation for honesty and fair dealing among the English Quakers and among the Quakers on the continent of Europe as well. As soon as it was known that he was to found a colony, great numbers of persons came to Pennsylvania from England and from Germany. In a very short time the colony became strong and prosperous. In the first place, the soil of Pennsylvania was rich and productive while its climate was well suited to the growth of grain. In the second place, Penn was very liberal to his colonists. He gave them a large share in the government of the province and he allowed no religious persecution. He also insisted on fair and honest dealing with the Indians.
[Sidenote: Mason and Dixon's line.]
[Sidenote: Its importance in history.]
80. Mason and Dixon's Line.--In the seventeenth century the geography of America was very little understood in Europe--and the persons who drew up colonial charters understood it least of all.
Charter lines frequently overlapped and were often very indistinct. This was particularly true of the Maryland and Pennsylvania boundaries. Penn and Baltimore tried to come to an agreement; but they never could agree.
Years afterward, when they were both dead, their heirs agreed to have a line drawn without much regard to the charters. This line was finally surveyed by two English engineers, Mason and Dixon, and is always called after their names. It is the present boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. In colonial days it separated the colonies where slavery was the rule from those where labor was generally free. In the first half of the nineteenth century it separated the free states from the slave states. Mason and Dixon's line, therefore, has been a famous line in the history of the United States.
CHAPTER 9
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