Part 40 (1/2)

CATHERINE II. OF RUSSIA.--_Catherine II_. (1762-1796) in her private life was notoriously dissolute. If she did not connive at the a.s.sa.s.sination of her husband, _Peter III_., she heaped gifts upon his murderers. In her policy, she aimed to strengthen Russia, especially towards the sea. This occasioned successful conflicts with the Turks.

THE PARt.i.tION OF POLAND.--At first inimical to _Frederick the Great, Catherine_ afterwards made an alliance with him. She compelled the election of one of her lovers, _Poniatowski_, to the throne of _Poland_. Poland was mainly Catholic; and the _Confederation_ of _Bar_ (1768), made by the Poles to prevent the toleration of Greek Christians and Protestants, was defeated by a Russian army, and broken up. The Turks were worsted in the war which they made in defense of the confederacy. As one result, Russia gained a firm footing on the north coasts of the Black Sea (1774). The ”free veto,” oppression of the peasantry, their distress, and the general want of union and public spirit, had reduced Poland to a miserable condition. _Catherine_, however, favored no reforms there looking to an improvement in the const.i.tution. She preferred to prolong the anarchy and confusion. She wished to make the death of Poland in part a suicide. At length she invited _Prussia_ and _Austria_ to take part with her in the first seizure and part.i.tion of Polish territory (1772). Each took certain provinces. In 1793 the second, and in 1795 the final part.i.tion of Poland, was made by its three neighbors. The capture of _Warsaw_, and the defeat of the national rising under _Kosciusko_, obliterated that ancient kingdom from the map of Europe. It should be said that a large part of the territory that Russia acquired had once been Russian, and was inhabited by Greek Christians. By the division of Poland, Russia was brought into close contact with the Western powers. The _Crimea_ was incorporated with Russia in 1783. After a second war, provoked by her, with the Turks, who now had the Austrians to help them, the Russian boundaries through the Treaty of _Ja.s.sy_ (1792) were carried to the _Dniester_.

CHAPTER V. CONTEST OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN AMERICA: WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE: THE CONSt.i.tUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

In this period the United States of America achieved their independence, and began their existence as a distinct nation.

THE ENGLISH COLONIES.--The English colonies south of Canada had become thirteen in number. In the southern part of what was called Carolina, _Charleston_ was settled in 1680. More than a century before (1562), a band of Huguenots under _Ribault_ had entered the harbor of _Port Royal_, and given this name to it, and had built a fort on the river May, which they called _Charlesfort_--the _Carolina_--in honor of King _Charles IX_. of France. In 1663 the territory thus called, south of _Virginia_, was granted to the _Earl of Clarendon_. In it were two distinct settlements in the northern part. The English philosopher _John Locke_ drew up a const.i.tution for _Carolina_, never accepted by the freemen. The rights of the proprietors were purchased by _George II._; and the region was divided (1729) into two royal provinces, _North_ and _South Carolina_, each province having a governor appointed by the king, and an a.s.sembly elected by the people. Besides the English, Huguenots and emigrants from the North of Ireland, as well as from Scotland, planted themselves in South Carolina. _Georgia_ was settled by _James Oglethorpe_, who made his settlement at _Savannah_. He had a charter from _George II._, in whose honor the region was named (1732). Soon the ”trustees” gave up their charter, and the government was shaped like that of the other colonies (1752). _John Wesley_, afterwards the founder of Methodism, sojourned for a time in Georgia. The settlement of _New Jersey_ was first made by members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, sent over by _William Penn_, the son of an English admiral, and familiar at court. The Quakers gave up the government to the crown, and from 1702 to 1738 it formed one province with _New York_. _Pennsylvania_ was granted to _Penn_ himself, by the king, in discharge of a claim against the crown. _Penn_ procured also a t.i.tle to _Delaware_. He sent out emigrants in 1681, and the next year came himself. By him _Philadelphia_ was founded. He dealt kindly with all the settlers, and made a treaty of peace and amity with the Indians. The government organized by _Penn_ was just and liberal. In 1703 the inhabitants of _Delaware_ began to have a governing a.s.sembly of their own.

_THE FRENCH COLONIES._--Among the French explorers in America, _La Salle_ is one of the most famous. Having traversed the region of the upper lakes, he reached the Mississippi, and floated in his boats down to its mouth (1682). The region of the great river and of its tributaries, he named _Louisiana_, in honor of his king, _Louis XIV_. This name was applied to the whole region from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains. On his return, _La Salle_ built _Fort St. Louis_. Afterwards (1684) he took part in an expedition from France which had for its purpose the building of a fort at the mouth of the _Mississippi_, but which was so wrongly guided as to land on the coast of _Texas_. _La Salle_ himself perished, while seeking to find his way to Canada. But a French settlement was made near the mouth of the river (1699), and a connection established by a series of forts with _Canada_.

On the principle that the country belonged to the explorer, Spain claimed all the southern part of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The French claim stretched from the coast of _Nova Scotia_ westward to the Great Lakes, and embraced the valley of the Mississippi to its mouth. England claimed the country from _Labrador_ as far south as _Florida_, and westward to the Pacific. This region included within it the claims of the Dutch, founded on the discoveries of _Henry Hudson_.

War between England and France, whenever it occurred, was attended with conflicts between the English and the French settlements in America. The Indians were most of them on the side of the French. But the fierce _Iroquois_ in central New York, who wished to monopolize the fur-trade, were hostile to them. A ma.s.sacre perpetrated by these at _La Chine_, near _Montreal_ (1689), provoked a murderous attack of French and Indians upon the settlement at Schenectady, the most northern post of the English. This was an incident of _King William's War_ (1689). In _Queen Anne's War_ (1702-1713) _Deerfield_ in Ma.s.sachusetts was captured and destroyed by French and Indians (1704). By an expedition fitted out in Ma.s.sachusetts, and commanded by _Sir William Phipps, Port Royal_ in Nova Scotia was captured (1710). The colonies incurred great expense in fitting out expeditions (1709 and 1711) against Canada, which were abandoned. The contest between France and England for supremacy in America was further continued in a series of conflicts lasting from 1744 for nearly twenty years. An early event of much consequence in the contest known as _King George's War_,--a part of the war of the Austrian succession (p. 476),--was the capture of _Louisburg_, an important fortified place on Cape Breton, by an expedition from Boston (1745). The colonists, who were with reason proud of their achievement, had the mortification to see this place restored to the French in the treaty of peace (1748). In these contests the French had the help of their Indian allies, who fell upon defenseless villages. The English were sometimes aided by the Iroquois. The English founded _Halifax_ (1749).

THE ”OLD FRENCH WAR” (1756-1763).--The ”Old French and Indian War” in America was a part of the Seven Years' War in Europe. A British officer, Gen. _Braddock_, led a force which departed from Fort c.u.mberland in Maryland, against _Fort Du Quesne_ at the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany Rivers. Disregarding the advice of _George Was.h.i.+ngton_, who was on his staff, he allowed himself to be surprised by the Indians and the French, and was mortally wounded. The remains of his army were led by _Was.h.i.+ngton_, whose courage and presence of mind had been conspicuous, to Philadelphia (1755). Prior to the expedition, _Was.h.i.+ngton_ had made a perilous journey as envoy, to demand of the French commander his reasons for invading the Ohio valley. The English held Nova Scotia, and expelled from their homes the French _Acadians_, seven thousand in number, in a way that involved severe hards.h.i.+ps, including the separation of families (1755). They were carried off in s.h.i.+ps, and scattered among the colonies along the Atlantic sh.o.r.e. The English also took the forts in _Acadia_. There were two battles near _Lake George_ (1755), in the first of which the French were victors, but in the second they were routed. _Montcalm_, the French commander, captured the English fort near _Oswego_, from which an expedition was to have been sent against the French fort at _Niagara_ (1756). In 1757 he took _Fort William Henry_ on Lake George.

THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759.--The English were dissatisfied at their want of success on the Continent and in America. But they had advantages for prosecuting the conflict. The French, who had been successful at the outset, had to bring their troops and supplies from Europe. They were, to be sure, disciplined troops; but the English had the substantial strength which was derived from the prosperous agriculture, and still more from the brave and self-respecting spirit, of their American colonies. The elder _William Pitt_, afterwards _Earl of Chatham_, again entered the cabinet, and began to manage the contest (1757). The French held posts at important points,--_Fort Du Quesne_, where _Pittsburg_ now stands, for the defense of the West; _Crown Point_ and _Ticonderoga_ on Lake Champlain, guarding the approach to Canada; _Niagara_, near the Great Lakes and the region of the fur-trade; and _Louisburg_, on the coast of Nova Scotia, which protected the fisheries, and was a menace to New England. To seize these posts, and to break down the French power in America, was now the aim of the English. In 1758 an expedition of _Gen. Abercrombie_, at the head of sixteen thousand men, against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, was repulsed; Lord Howe was killed, and the army retreated. _Louisburg_, to the joy of the colonies, was captured anew by _Lord Amherst_ (1758). _Fort Du Quesne_ was taken (1758), and named _Fort Pitt_; _Fort Frontenac_ on Lake Ontario was destroyed. The object of the campaign of 1759 was the conquest of Canada. _Fort Niagara_ was captured by _Sir William Johnston_ (1759). _Ticonderoga_ and _Crown Point_ were taken, and the French driven into Canada. Then came the great expedition under Major-Gen, _Wolfe_, a most worthy and high-spirited young officer, which left _Louisburg_ for the capture of Quebec, ”the Gibraltar of America.” The attempt of _Wolfe_ to storm the heights in front of the city, which were defended by the army of _Montcalm_, failed of success. From a point far up the river, he embarked a portion of his troops in the night, and, silently descending the stream, climbed the heights in the rear of the city, and intrenched himself on the ”Plains of Abraham.”

In the battle which took place in the morning, both commanders, _Wolfe_ and _Montcalm_, were mortally wounded. _Wolfe_ lived just long enough to be a.s.sured of victory; _Montcalm_ died the next day. Five days after the battle the town surrendered (1759).

An incident connected with Wolfe's approach by night to Quebec is thus given by Mr. _Parkman_: ”For full two hours the procession of boats, borne on the current, steered silently down the St. Lawrence. The stars were visible, but the night was moonless and sufficiently dark. The general was in one of the foremost boats; and near him was a young mids.h.i.+pman, John Robison, afterwards professor of natural philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. He used to tell in his later life how Wolfe, with a low voice, repeated Gray's _Elegy in a Country Churchyard_ to the officers about him. Among the rest, was the verse which his fate was soon to ill.u.s.trate,--

'The paths of glory lead but to the grave.'

”'Gentlemen,' he said, as his recital ended, 'I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec.' None were there to tell him that the hero is greater than the poet.” (_Montcalm and Wolfe_, p. 287.)

In the following year _Montreal_ and all _Canada_ were in the hands of the English. The English colonies were safe. It was decided that English, not French, should be spoken in aftertimes on the banks of the Ohio. In the _Peace of Paris_ (1763), France kept _Louisiana_, but had already ceded it to Spain (1762).

CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.--The Indians in the West were dissatisfied with the transference of Canada and the region of the Lakes to England. _Pontiac_, chief of the _Ottawas_, combined a large number of tribes, and kindled a war against the English, which spread from the Mississippi to Canada (1763). He captured eight forts, but failed to take Detroit and Fort Pitt. Three years pa.s.sed before the Indians were completely beaten, and a treaty of peace concluded with their leader (1766).

STATE OF THE COLONIES: POPULATION.--At the close of the French war, the population of the thirteen colonies probably exceeded two millions, of whom not far from one fourth were negro slaves. The number of slaves in New England was small. They were proportionately much more numerous in New York, but they were found princ.i.p.ally in the Southern colonies.

Quakers were always averse to slavery. The slave-trade was still kept up. Newport in Rhode Island was one of the ports where slave-s.h.i.+ps frequently discharged their cargoes.

GOVERNMENT.--The forms of government in the different colonies varied. All of them had their own legislative a.s.semblies, and regarded them as essential to their freedom. Under _Charles II._, the charter which secured to Ma.s.sachusetts its civil rights was annulled (1684). Under _James II._, the attempt was made to revoke all the New England charters. Sir _Edmund Andros_ was appointed governor of New England, and by him the new system began to be enforced. The revolution of 1688 restored to the colonies their privileges; but Ma.s.sachusetts (with which Plymouth was now united), under its new charter (1691), no longer elected its governor. Prior to the Revolution, there were three forms of government among the colonies. Proprietary governments (that is, government by owners or proprietors) still remained in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. In these the king appointed no officers except in the customs and admiralty courts. In Rhode Island and Connecticut, which like Ma.s.sachusetts retained their charters, the governors were chosen by the people. New Hamps.h.i.+re, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North and South Carolina, had royal or provincial governments: the governor and council were appointed by the king.

OCCUPATIONS.--The chief occupation of the colonists was agriculture. In the North, wheat and corn were raised. From Virginia and Maryland, great crops of tobacco were exported from the plantations, in English s.h.i.+ps which came up the Potomac and the James. Rice was cultivated in the Carolinas. Indigo was also raised. Cotton was grown in the South. Labor in the fields in the Southern colonies was performed by the negroes. Building of s.h.i.+ps was a profitable occupation on the coast of New England. The cod and other fisheries also gave employment to many, and proved a school for the training of seamen. The colonists were industrious and prosperous, but generally frugal and plain in their style of living.

EDUCATION AND RELIGION.--Common schools were early established by law in New England, and by the Dutch in New York. As Mr. _Bancroft_ well observes, ”He that will understand the political character of New England in the eighteenth century must study the const.i.tution of its towns, its congregations, its schools, and its militia.” Harvard College was founded in 1636; William and Mary, in 1693; Yale, in 1700. Eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, a printing-press was set up at Cambridge. In 1704 the first American newspaper, ”The Boston News Letter,” was established. In the Puritan colonies, the minds of the people were quickened intellectually as well as religiously, by the character of the pulpit discourses. Theology was an absorbing theme of inquiry and discussion. In the town-meetings, especially in the closing part of the colonial period, political affairs became a subject of earnest debate. In all the colonies, the representative a.s.semblies furnished a practical training in political life. In the Eastern colonies, the people were mostly Congregationalists and Calvinists: Presbyterians were numerous in the Middle States. In Virginia the Episcopal Church was supported by legislative authority; and it was favored, though not established by law, in New York. In Pennsylvania, while there was freedom in religion, the Quakers ”still swayed legislation and public opinion.”

Philadelphia, with its population of thirty thousand, was the largest city in America, and was held in high esteem for its intelligence and refinement.

COMPLAINTS OF THE COLONIES.--The colonists all acknowledged the authority of king and parliament, but they felt that they had brought with them across the ocean the rights of Englishmen. One thing that was more and more complained of was the laws compelling the colonies to trade with the ”mother country” exclusively, and the enactments laying restraint on their manufactures. In the conflicts with the Indians from time to time, the necessity had arisen for leagues; and, more than once, congresses of delegates had met. One of these was held at Albany in 1754, where _Benjamin Franklin_ was present. In the Old French War, there had been a call for concert of action, and a deepening of the sense of common interests and of being really one people.

NEW GROUNDS OF DISAFFECTION.--The colonies had taxed themselves in the French War; but the condition of the finances in England at the close of it inspired the wish there to enforce the laws of trade more rigidly in America, and to levy additional taxes upon the provinces. These English laws were so odious that they were often evaded. The _writs of a.s.sistance_ in Ma.s.sachusetts authorized custom-house officers to search houses for smuggled goods (1761). In the legal resistance to this measure, a sentence was uttered by a Boston patriot, _James Otis_, which became a watchword. ”Taxation,” he said, ”without representation is tyranny.” Taxation, it was contended, must be ordained by the local colonial a.s.semblies in which the tax-payers are represented. But the _Stamp Act_ (1765), requiring for legal and other doc.u.ments the use of stamped paper, was a form of taxation. It excited indignation in all the colonies, especially in Virginia and in New England. In all the measures of resistance, _Virginia_ and _Ma.s.sachusetts_ were foremost. _Patrick Henry_, an impa.s.sioned, patriotic orator, in the Virginia Legislature, was very bold in denouncing the obnoxious Act, and the alleged right to tax the colonies which it implied. This right was denied in a _Congress_ where nine colonies were represented, which met in New York in 1765. They called for the repeal of the Stamp Act, and declared against the importation of English goods until the repeal should be granted. _William Pitt_, in the House of Commons, eulogized the spirit of the colonies. The Stamp Act was repealed. The discussions which it had provoked in America had awakened the whole people, and made them watchful against this sort of aggression. Political topics engrossed attention. When Parliament ordered that the colonies should support the troops quartered on them, and that the royal officers should have fixed salaries, to be obtained, not by the voluntary grants of colonial legislatures, but by the levy of new duties, there was a renewed outburst of disaffection, especially in _New York_ and _Boston_ (1768). By way of response to a pet.i.tion that was sent to the king against these Acts of Parliament, four regiments of troops were sent to _Boston_. Their presence was a bitter grievance. In one case, there was bloodshed in a broil in the street between the populace and the soldiers, which was called ”The Boston Ma.s.sacre”

(1770). An influential leader of the popular party in Boston was the stanch Puritan patriot, _Samuel Adams_.