Part 29 (1/2)
10. Who was sent against the Indians? What great general was in command of all this force?
11. What was the success of General Jackson's expedition?
12. What is said of the end of the war of 1812?
CHAPTER XLIV.
AFTER THE STORM.
A. D. 1815 TO 1821.
When hostilities ceased it seemed a great thing to the people of North Carolina once more to enjoy the full benefits of trade and commerce. British cruisers had made all foreign commodities very scarce and costly. Salt had been made on the seacoast in limited quant.i.ties, but of inferior quality. It was, therefore, gratifying to the people to see the stores again filled with goods of every description.
2. When this period of its history had been reached, the State was divided into sixty-two counties. Each of these sent annually to the General a.s.sembly one Senator and two members of the House of Commons. Edenton, New Bern, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Hillsboro, Halifax and Salisbury were called ”borough towns”; and, by virtue of this superior dignity, each sent, in addition to the county members, a representative to the lower House of a.s.sembly.
3. The Moravian settlement at Salem had prospered, and though no great numbers of that sect had come over from Europe, yet much wisdom and thrift were seen in the affairs of Wachovia. A female seminary of real excellence and great popularity had been founded in 1804, and young ladies from all the Southern States were receiving a good education in this retired and healthful region.
4. Raleigh then contained about eight hundred people: Fayetteville twice as many. Wilmington and New Bern were the largest and most important towns in the State, but were still limited in population and trade. Edenton and Halifax had each lost importance, and many villages were surpa.s.sing them both in number of inhabitants and in extent of trade.
1819.
5. Dr. Joseph Caldwell had been, for many years, President of the University. He came from New Jersey to make North Carolina his future home, and gave the State of his adoption so laborious and useful a devotion that his name will be cherished in its limits so long as learning and patriotism are valued He was not only making the college famous for the excellence of its appointments, but internal improvement was advocated by him so intelligently and zealously that the general apathy on the two great subjects of education and intercommunication was pa.s.sing away.
6. The churches were likewise providing for increased effect among the people. The Methodist conference was each year adding to the number of its churches and itinerant preachers. The Baptists had added the ”Chowan” as a coadjutor to similar bodies known as ”Sandy Creek” and ”Kehukee” a.s.sociations.
7. The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, in 1816, perfected its organization by the election and consecration of Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft. He was a man of strong character and eminent piety and usefulness. As a preacher, he was held in equal reverence with another distinguished divine of that day, the Rev.
John Kerr, of Caswell, a leader among the Baptists.
[NOTE--In 1827, Dr. Caldwell delivered an exceedingly able address before the Legislature, on the subject of railways, and a considerable interest was awakened. The first railway in the United States was built in 1826. This was in Ma.s.sachusetts, and was only two miles long. It was known as the ”Quincey Railroad.”
The first pa.s.senger railway was the Baltimore and Ohio road, fifteen miles long, and was regularly opened in 1830. The cars were drawn by horses until the next year, when a locomotive was used.]
8. The Presbyterian Synod also contained many able and excellent ministers. Rev. Drs. Samuel E. McCorkle, David Caldwell and James Hall were greatly esteemed for their learning; and devotion. This church was specially active and efficient in refuting the teachings of the French atheists.
9. William Gaston and Bartlett Yancey were leaders among the statesmen of North Carolina at this period. They were both greatly distinguished for eloquence and ability. For purity of character they had not been surpa.s.sed in all our annals. Another James Iredell had arisen in Chowan county, and in Craven were John Stanly and young George E. Badger. In Caswell appeared Romulus M. Saunders, another young lawyer of fine abilities, who became a distinguished citizen of the State.
10. The establishment of the Supreme Court, in 1818, on its present basis, was largely the work of Bartlett Yancey. John Louis Taylor, the Chief-Justice, with Leonard Henderson and John Hall, as a.s.sociates, const.i.tuted a tribunal which was soon to win the veneration of American lawyers.
1820.
11. This has been called the era of ”Good Feeling” in American politics. But the question of slavery in the Territories was fast a.s.suming a dangerous importance.
12. The Northern States objected to the admission of any more slave States. The Southern would consent to no such prohibition.
The storm grew louder, until it was temporarily settled by the ”Missouri Compromise” of March 3d, 1820, which provided that henceforward slavery should be forever forbidden north of the parallel of 36 60' The news of which, however, Mr. Jefferson declared fell on his ears ”like a fire-bell at night.”
QUESTIONS.
1. What was the condition of North Carolina after the war of 1812?