The Story of Our Country - Every Child Can Read

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• Publié par: indri
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 19
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of Our Country, Edited by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Story of Our Country Every Child Can Read Editor: Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Release Date: May 16, 2010 [eBook #32402] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY*** E-text prepared by Emmy, Tor Martin Kristiansen, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/storyofourcountr00hurl STEAM SHOVEL AT WORK IN CULEBRA CUT, PANAMA CANAL. THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY EVERY CHILD CAN READ EDITED BY REV. JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT, D.D. ILLUSTRATED THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. PHILADELPHIA Copyright, 1910, By T HE J OHN C. WINSTON CO. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE [1] A Talk with the Young Reader CHAPTER I C OLUMBUS, THE GREAT SAILOR Bold Sailors of the Northern Countries—The Northmen—Columbus the Little Boy—Columbus and the Egg—He Crosses the Atlantic, Braves the Sea and Discovers New Land CHAPTER II THREE GREAT D ISCOVERERS John and Sebastian Cabot—Balboa Discovers the Pacific—The Fountain of Youth and Ponce de Leon—The Naming of America CHAPTER III THREE EARLY H EROES The Story of John Smith and First English Settlement—Miles Standish and the Pilgrims—Roger Williams, the Hero Preacher CHAPTER IV H OW THE D UTCH AND QUAKERS C AME TO AMERICA Captain Hudson and His Ship, the Half Moon —The Trip up the Hudson —Adventures with the Indians—William Penn and the Quakers —How They Settled on the Delaware River CHAPTER V THE C AVALIER C OLONIES OF THE SOUTH The Cavaliers and Lords of England—They Settle in Virginia—The Catholics Come to Maryland—Strange Form of Government in Carolina—Paupers Settle Georgia—An Old Spanish Town in Florida CHAPTER VI THE R ED MEN, H OW THEY LIVED AND WERE TREATED They Were the First Americans—Their Strange Customs and Manners —How They Followed a Trail—How they Fought—Indian Massacres CHAPTER VII R OYAL GOVERNORS AND LOYAL C APTAINS How the Governor was Treated in Connecticut—The Charter Oak—An Exciting Time in Virginia 9 15 27 36 [2] 48 59 70 81 CHAPTER VIII OLD TIMES IN THE C OLONIES When a Tallow Candle Gave the Light—Old-Time Houses—The Story of the Famous Hunter, and How he Escaped from the Indians CHAPTER IX A H ERO OF THE C OLONIES Two Boys who Crossed the Mountains—Their Adventures with the Indians—George Washington, the Surveyor—Messenger to the French—An Old-Time Hero 91 101 CHAPTER X THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR [3] The Acadians—Their Home in Nova Scotia—Their Sufferings—The Story of Evangeline—Why the Indians Helped the French—The Story of 112 a Cruel War CHAPTER XI THE C AUSES OF THE R EVOLUTION How the Trouble Began—The Americans Object to Paying Taxes on Various Articles—The Famous Boston Tea Party—Battle of Lexington—Declaration of Independence CHAPTER XII FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM Washington the Commander-in-Chief—Bunker Hill—The Wonderful Christmas—The Americans Succeed—They Meet Defeat—"Molly Stark a Widow"—Help from France CHAPTER XIII PAUL JONES, THE N AVAL H ERO OF THE R EVOLUTION Old-Time Warships—A Daring Deed—A Great Sea Fight—The British Captain Surrenders CHAPTER XIV MARION, THE SWAMP FOX How the War Went in the South—The Patriots Hard to Find—The British Officers Eat Sweet Potatoes—Jack Davis' Adventure—General Greene and his Famous Retreat—Cornwallis Surrenders—The War at an End. 121 133 143 153 CHAPTER XV THE VOYAGE OF OUR SHIP OF STATE [4] How the People Rule—Illustrated by a Story—Our First Trial and Failure —Making a New Form of Government—A Nation of Thirteen States 162 —The President—The Congress—The Judges CHAPTER XVI THE END OF A N OBLE LIFE Washington the First President—Beloved by Everyone—Benjamin Franklin's Last Hours—The Kind of Money They Used—How the Quarrel was Settled—Washington Dies CHAPTER XVII THE STEAMBOAT AND THE C OTTON GIN The Power of Steam—Is a Boat Like a Duck—Who Thought of the First Steamboat—The Cotton Gin and How it Saves Labor—Where the Cotton Grows CHAPTER XVIII THE ENGLISH AND AMERICANS FIGHT AGAIN How We Came to Quarrel with England—Protecting the American Sailor —Interesting Land Battles—Adventures at Sea—Peace is Made Again 170 176 184 CHAPTER XIX H OW THE VICTIMS OF THE ALAMO WERE AVENGED How General Santa Anna Got into Trouble—Massacre of the Alamo—The Famous Samuel Houston—War with Mexico—The City of Mexico 193 —Santa Anna is Defeated and United States is Victorious CHAPTER XX H OW SLAVERY LED TO WAR [5] Black and White Slaves—First Slaves Brought to America in 1619—Why the Slaves were Used in the South—Why the North did not Believe 201 in Slavery—What the word Abolitionist Means—John Brown and Harper's Ferry CHAPTER XXI H OW LINCOLN BECAME PRESIDENT The Ruler of the Republic—The President Chosen from the People—Why the People Liked Him—Lincoln's School Days—The North and 208 South Differ—Lincoln, the Great War President CHAPTER XXII THE GREAT C IVIL WAR What Civil War is—Where the War was Fought—Battle of Bull Run—"Stonewall" Jackson—General Ulysses S. Grant and How He Came to Command the Army—His "Unconditional Surrender" Message—Battle of Gettysburg CHAPTER XXIII WAR ON SEA AND LAND Fight Between the "Cheesebox" and the Ram—How the Monitor Won the Fight—The Battle "Above the Clouds"—Battle of the Wilderness —Sherman's March to the Sea—Richmond Surrenders and the War Closes CHAPTER XXIV THE WASTE OF WAR AND THE WEALTH OF PEACE What is Seen on the Picture of History—A Reign of Peace in America 215 225 —The Ocean Cable and the Railroad—Alaska and its Treasures —The Burning of Chicago and other Disasters—Edison and His Work—The Triumphs of Electricity CHAPTER XXV THE MARVELS OF INVENTION Professor Morse, the Famous Inventor—His Struggles and His Success —The First Message—Telephone and Other Inventions of Electricity—New Ideas in Machinery and the Comfort they Bring CHAPTER XXVI H OW THE C ENTURY ENDED FOR THE U NITED STATES The Nation's Birthplace—Centennial Exhibition and Columbian World's Fair—Our People's Progress—The Indians—Trouble in Cuba —War with Spain—Santiago and its Fleet—Dewey at Manila CHAPTER XXVII H OW A H UNTER BECAME PRESIDENT Assassination of President McKinley—Theodore Roosevelt's Great Ride —His Election by the People—The Panama Canal—Roosevelt Declines Re-election and Goes to Africa. 234 [6] 242 253 266 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS STEAM SHOVEL AT WORK IN C ULEBRA C UT, PANAMA C ANAL Frontispiece PAGE [7] C OLUMBUS AND THE EGG WASHINGTON C ROSSING THE D ELAWARE THE BATTLE OF N EW ORLEANS THE STORMING OF C HAPULTEPEC THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND THEIR FAMOUS AEROPLANE C USTER'S LAST FIGHT R OOSEVELT SURPRISED BY A GIANT H IPPOPOTAMUS 25 137 191 199 242 258 266 A TALK WITH THE YOUNG READER ABOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY F any of the readers of this book should have the chance to take a railroad ride over the vast region of the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, they would see a wonderful display of cities and towns, of factories and farms, and a great multitude of men and women actively at work. They would behold, spread out on every side, one of the busiest and happiest lands the sun shines upon. Here and there, amid [9] I the miles on miles of farms, they might see a forest, here and there a wild beast, here and there a red-faced Indian, one of the old people of the land; but these would be almost lost in the rich and prosperous scene. If our young traveler knew nothing of history he might fancy that it had been always this way, or that it had taken thousands of years for all those cities to be built and these great fields to be cleared and cultivated. Yet if he had been here only three hundred years ago he would have seen a very different sight. He could not then have gone over the country by railroad, for such a thing had never been thought of. He could not have gone by highroad, for there was not a road of any kind in the whole length and breadth of the land. Nowhere in this vast country would he have seen a city or town; nowhere a ploughed field, a farmhouse, or a barn; nowhere a horse, cow, or sheep; nowhere a man with a white or a black face. Instead of great cities he would have seen only clusters of rude huts; instead of fertile farms, only vast reaches of forest; instead of tame cattle, only wild and dangerous beasts; instead of white and black men, only red-skinned savages. Just think of it! All that we see around us is the work of less than three hundred years! No doubt many of you have read in fairy tales of wonderful things done by the Genii of the East, of palaces built in a night, of cities moved miles away from their sites. But here is a thing as wonderful and at the same time true, a marvel wrought by men instead of magical beings. These great forests have fallen, these great fields have been cleared and planted, these great cities have risen, these myriads of white men have taken the place of the red men of the wild woods, and all within a period not longer than three times the life of the oldest men now living. Is not this as wonderful as the most marvelous fairy tale? And is it not better to read the true tale of how this was done than stories of the work of fairies and magicians? Let us forget the Genii of the East; men are the Genii of the West, and the magic of their work is as great as that we read of in the fables of the "Arabian Nights." The story of this great work is called the "History of the United States." This story you have before you in the book you now ho