A New History of the United States / The greater republic, embracing the growth and achievements of our country from the earliest days of discovery and settlement to the present eventful year

by Charles Morris

ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, JOHN ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON—1789-1809.

Washington—His Inauguration as First President of the United States—Alexander Hamilton—His Success at the Head of the Treasury Department—The Obduracy of Rhode Island—Establishment of the United States Bank—Passage of a Tariff Bill—Establishment of a Mint—The Plan of a Federal Judiciary—Admission of Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee—Benjamin Franklin—Troubles with the Western Indians—Their Defeat by General Wayne—Removal of the National Capital Provided for—The Whiskey Insurrection—The Course of "Citizen Genet"—Jay's Treaty—Re-election of Washington—Resignation of Jefferson and Hamilton—Washington's Farewell Address—Establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point—The Presidential Election of 1796—John Adams—Prosperity of the Country—Population of the Country in 1790—Invention of the Cotton Gin—Troubles with France—War on the Ocean—Washington Appointed Commander-in-Chief—Peace Secured—The Alien and Sedition Laws—The Census of 1800—The Presidential Election of 1800—The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution—Thomas Jefferson—Admission of Ohio—The Indiana Territory—The Purchase of Louisiana—Its Immense Area—Abolishment of the Slave Trade—War with Tripoli—The Lewis and Clark Expedition—Alexander Hamilton Killed in a Duel by Aaron Burr—The First Steamboat on the Hudson—The First Steamer to Cross the Atlantic—England's Oppressive Course Toward the United States—Outrage by the British Ship Leander—The Affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake—Passage of the Embargo Act—The Presidential Election of 1808.

WASHINGTON.

MARY BALL,
AFTERWARD THE MOTHER
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.

The name of Washington will always stand peerless and unapproachable on the pages of human history. In great crises, Heaven raises up men for its appointed work. As soldier, statesman, and patriot, he combined in his own personality the full requirements of the prodigious task than which no greater was ever laid upon the shoulders of man. Through trials, sufferings, discouragements, disappointments, abuse, ill treatment, opposition, and misunderstandings, he never lost heart; his lofty patriotism was never quenched; his sublime faith in God and the destiny of his country never wavered, and, seeing with the eye of undimmed faith the end from the beginning, he advanced with serene majesty and unconquerable resolve to the conclusion and perfection of his mighty work.

It has been said of Washington that he embodied within himself the genius of sanity and the sanity of genius. We can conceive of Lincoln, Grant, or any other great man losing his mind, but like the snowy crest of a mountain, rising far above the plain, he stood by himself, and it is impossible to think of him as losing even in the slightest degree the magnificent attributes of his personality. As has been stated, his was the single example in our history in which the fate of our country rested with one man. Had he fallen in battle at any time between Lexington and Yorktown, the Revolution would have stopped and independence been postponed indefinitely. But when Heaven selects its agent, it shields him in impenetrable armor, and, though Washington was exposed to innumerable personal perils in the wilderness and in battle, when his comrades were smitten with death around him, he never received the slightest wound, and lived to see his work finished, when, in the quiet of his own home at Mount Vernon, he lay down, folded his arms, and passed to his reward.

GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732-1799.)
Two terms, 1789-1797.

George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 1732. There is a general misunderstanding as to his family. He had three half-brothers, one half-sister, and three brothers and two sisters. His half-brothers and sister, children of Augustine Washington and Jane Butler, were: Butler (died in infancy), Lawrence, Augustine, and Jane. His brothers and sisters, children of Augustine Washington and Mary Ball, were: Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred (died in infancy).

Washington's father died when the son was eleven years old, and his training devolved upon his mother, a woman of rare force of character. He received a common school education, but never became learned in books. He early showed a liking for military matters, was fond of the sports of boyhood, and was manly, truthful, and so eminently fair in everything, that his playmates generally selected him as umpire and cheerfully accepted his decisions. He became an expert surveyor, and, at the age of sixteen, was employed by Lord Fairfax to survey his immense estate. The work, which continued for three years and was of the most difficult nature, attended by much hardship and danger, was performed to the full satisfaction of his employer.

Washington grew to be a magnificent specimen of physical manhood. He was six feet two inches tall, with a large frame and a strength surpassing that of two ordinary men. No one in the neighborhood was his equal in horsemanship, running, leaping, throwing, swimming, and all manner of athletic sports. He was of the highest social rank, wealthy, and a vestryman and member of the Episcopal Church. He was rather fond of pomp and ceremony, somewhat reserved in manner, and at times seemed cold and distant, but with a character that was without flaw or stain. It has already been said that he served throughout the Revolution without accepting a penny for his services. He kept an account of all he received from the government, but sometimes forgot to note what he paid out. In such cases he balanced his books by paying the deficit from his own pocket, so that it may be truthfully said he not only won independence for his country, but paid for the privilege of doing so.

Washington from his first services in the French and Indian War was so identified with the history of his country that the account of one includes that of the other. Having told of his election to the presidency, it, therefore, remains to give the principal incidents of his administration.

WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION.

A special messenger reached Mount Vernon with news of Washington's election on the 14th of April, and two days later he set out for New York. The journey was one continual ovation, special honors being shown him at Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, and New York, where they attained their culmination. He arrived on the 23d of April, and the inauguration took place a week later. Amid impressive ceremonies, the oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the chancellor of the State of New York, in Federal Hall, on the present site of the sub-treasury building. Washington stood in a balcony of the senate chamber, in full view of the great multitude on the outside. He showed considerable embarrassment, but was cheered to the echo and was greatly touched by the manifestations of the love of his fellow-countrymen.

INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON.

At the opening of his administration, Washington became ill and no important business was done until September. On the 10th of that month, Congress created a department of foreign affairs, a treasury department, and a department of war. Thomas Jefferson was nominated to the first, Alexander Hamilton to the second, and General Henry Knox to the third. All were admirable appointments.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, was one of the most remarkable men identified with the history of our country. He was born in the West Indies in 1757, and, while a child, displayed extraordinary ability. When fifteen years old, he was sent to New York City and entered King's (now Columbia) College. A patriotic speech made when he was only seventeen years old held his hearers spellbound by its eloquence. At twenty, he organized a company of cavalry and performed excellent service on Long Island and at White Plains. Washington was so impressed by his brilliancy that he placed him on his staff and made him his military secretary. Many of the best papers of the commander-in-chief received their finishing touches from the master hand of Hamilton. He was in Congress in 1782-1783, and helped to frame the Constitution. When the New York Convention assembled to ratify the new Constitution, three-fourths of its members were strongly opposed to it, but Hamilton by the sheer force of his eloquent logic won them over and secured the assent of the State to the adoption of the Constitution. He was one of our most brilliant statesmen and the foremost Federalist of his time.

HAMILTON'S WISE MANAGEMENT OF THE FINANCES.

The greatest problem which confronted the country was that of finance, and Hamilton grasped it with the skill of a master. Hardly had he received his commission, when Congress called upon him for a plan to provide for the public debt and to revive the dead national credit. Hamilton's first answer was that the country would begin by being honest, and that every dollar of the confederation, then amounting almost to $80,000,000, should be paid, the United States assuming all debts due to American citizens, as well as the war debt of each State. This bold and creditable ground greatly improved public credit, before any provision was made for the payment of the vast debt.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
(1757-1804).

Hamilton's plan was to fund the entire debt and issue new certificates. It was vehemently opposed, especially the provision that the State debts should be assumed by the general government; but solely by his wonderful ability he carried the measure through Congress. The debate sharpened the lines between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists or Republicans.

It will be remembered that at that time neither North Carolina nor Rhode Island had adopted the Constitution. The former called a convention, and, on the 13th of November, 1789, ratified it, but Rhode Island continued to sulk until Providence and Newport withdrew from the State, and Massachusetts and Connecticut made ready to parcel the State between them. This frightened her, and, on May 29, 1790, she joined her sisters.

The following year Hamilton gave another proof of his power by carrying through Congress, in the face of the strongest opposition, a measure for the relief of the financial straits of the government. The only banks in the country were one each in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, all of which were State institutions. He advocated the establishment of a bank in which the government should be one-fifth owner of the capital stock of $10,000,000 and a preferred borrower to the same amount. It was to be under private management. In the face of the strong opposition, the act creating it was passed, and it was chartered for twenty years. The subscriptions required that one-fourth should be paid in specie and the rest in six per cent. certificates of the bank. Within two hours after the subscription books were opened the entire amount of stock was subscribed. The United States Bank was destined to play an important part in national affairs in after years.

PASSAGE OF A TARIFF BILL.

Having provided the means for funding the debt and for borrowing money, it yet remained to find some way of earning the money. The method was so apparent that Congress lost no time in passing a tariff bill. A law placed a duty on imported and domestic spirits, and, in February, 1792, a protective tariff bill was enacted. This provided that the materials from which goods are manufactured should not be taxed, while articles competing with those made in this country were prohibited. A mint was also established in Philadelphia for coining money.

THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY ORGANIZED.

The plan for the Federal judiciary was perfected on the lines proposed by Ellsworth, of Connecticut. The national judiciary consisted of a supreme court, having a chief justice and five associate justices, who were to hold two sessions annually at the seat of the Federal government. Specified jurisdiction was given to the circuit and district courts, and each State was made a district; the Territories of Maine and Kentucky were provided for in the same manner, and the remaining Territories were grouped into three circuits. When the matter in dispute amounted to $2,000, an appeal could be taken from the lower courts to the supreme court. The President was to appoint a marshal in each district, possessing the general powers of a sheriff, and the interests of the government were placed in the hands of a district attorney.

The first chief justice of the United States was John Jay, of New York, while Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, was made attorney-general. The associate judges were John Rutledge, of South Carolina; James Wilson, of Pennsylvania; William Cushing, of Massachusetts; Robert H. Harrison, of Maryland; and John Blair, of Virginia.

Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791; Kentucky, June 1, 1792; and Tennessee exactly two years later. These three States were all that were formed during the presidency of Washington.

BEN FRANKLIN MOULDING CANDLES IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP.

Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia, April 17, 1790, at the age of eighty-four years. Since he was one of the greatest of all Americans, he is entitled to fitting notice. He was born in Boston in 1706, and was the youngest of seventeen children. His father was a tallow chandler and soap boiler, a trade which Benjamin detested. He was apprenticed to his brother, who was a printer, and while a boy gave evidence of his remarkable keenness and brilliant common sense. Rebelling against the discipline of his brother, he ran away, tramping most of the distance to Philadelphia. There he secured a situation and showed himself so skillful and tasteful a printer that he never lacked for work. He established a paper in Philadelphia in 1729, and began the publication of Poor Richard's Almanac in 1732, the year in which Washington was born. The wit, homely philosophy, and keen penetration shown by Franklin attracted wide attention and gave the almanac an enormous circulation, which lasted as long as it was published. Many of his proverbs are still popular and widely quoted.

FRANKLIN'S GRAVE.

In 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster of the British colonies, and, as a delegate to the Albany Convention in 1754, proposed an important plan for colonial union. From 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to the Revolution, he was agent of Pennsylvania in England; part of the time also for Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia. Returning to Philadelphia in 1775, he was at once chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress. Few persons, in looking at his handsome signature on the Declaration of Independence, would suspect that it was written when he was seventy years old. It has been shown that he was one of the committee of five who drew up the Declaration, and in the following autumn was sent to Paris to join Arthur Lee and Silas Deane. His services there were of the highest importance. He had a leading part in the negotiations of the treaty of peace in 1783, after which he negotiated a favorable treaty with Russia. He returned to America in 1785, and was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and again in 1786 and 1787. He was an influential member of the Constitutional convention, and probably was second to Washington in popularity. His funeral in Philadelphia was attended by more than 20,000 persons.

Franklin's researches in electricity, though slight as compared with the discoveries since made by Edison, Tesla, and others, extended his fame to Europe. By means of the kite which he sent aloft in a thunderstorm, he proved that the lightning in the atmosphere is identical with that developed by frictional electricity. This discovery led to the invention of the lightning-rod for buildings, which has been the means of saving property beyond estimate. He was the inventor also of an economical stove and other useful contrivances. He made himself wealthy, and the fortune which he left at his death was the foundation of the splendid institution of learning known as the University of Pennsylvania.

THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS.
In this memorable battle of August 20, 1794, General Wayne visited a final defeat upon the Indians at Maumee Rapids, putting an end to the war in the Northwest, which for nearly four years had terrorized and devastated the territory now occupied by the States of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.

DISASTROUS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE WESTERN INDIANS.

Returning to the history of Washington's presidency, mention must be made of the troubles with the western Indians, who, as has been stated, fought relentlessly against the advance of civilization into their hunting grounds. Between 1783 and 1790, 1,500 persons were killed by the red men near the Ohio. It being clear that peace could not be secured except by a thorough chastisement of the Indians, Congress gave General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, authority to call for 500 militia from Pennsylvania and a thousand from Kentucky, to which were added 400 regulars. Under General Harmar they marched against the Indian villages.

In the campaign the Indians outgeneraled Harmar, who, after inflicting some damage, was defeated and lost 200 men in killed and wounded. The defeat encouraged the savages, who became more aggressive than ever. General St. Clair organized a second expedition consisting of 2,000 men, including cavalry and artillery, with which in October, 1793, he entered the Indian country, only to suffer a more disastrous defeat than General Harmar, and in which the losses were so dreadful that the news caused consternation in Philadelphia. Washington had cautioned St. Clair against the very mistakes he made, and he completely lost his temper. He paced up and down his room, giving such expressions to his feelings that those around him were awed into silence. By-and-by, he seemed to regret the outburst, and, when the trembling St. Clair some time later presented himself, the President received him without reproach; but St. Clair was overwhelmed by his disgrace and resigned his command.

WAYNE'S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS.

Washington determined that no more blunders should be made, and appointed Anthony Wayne to the command of the next expedition. He raised a large force, moved cautiously, and took every precaution against surprise, as Washington had told him to do. He had 4,000 men under his command, and the consummate woodcraft and tricks of the red men failed to deceive him. At Fallen Timbers, near the present city of Toledo, he met a large force, August 20, 1794, of Canadians and Indians, completely routed them, killed a great many, with slight loss to himself, and so crushed the confederation of tribes that they gave no more trouble for a long time. A year later, 1,100 chiefs and warriors met the United States commissioners at Fort Greenville and signed a treaty of peace, by which they ceded to the government an immense tract of land lying in the present States of Michigan and Indiana. An impetus was given to western emigration, which suffered no interruption for many years.

THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION IN PENNSYLVANIA.

One of the acts of Congress was to declare that Philadelphia was to be the national capital for ten years, from 1790, when it was to be removed to a point on the Potomac River, where the city of Washington now stands. One measure which Hamilton induced Congress to pass caused trouble. It doubled the duty on imported spirits and taxed those distilled in this country. So much dissatisfaction appeared in North Carolina and Pennsylvania that the law was modified, but it did not end the discontent. The officers sent to Pennsylvania to collect the taxes were resisted and the militia sympathized with the rioters, whose numbers swelled to 7,000 under arms. When they began to talk of appealing to England, Washington lost patience and sent a large body of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey militia to the section. They were under the command of General Henry Lee, governor of Virginia, and arrived on the scene in October, 1794. Order was soon restored, and the ringleaders, expressing sorrow for their acts, were not punished. This seems to be the rule in our country, except that repentance on the part of criminals is not required.

"CITIZEN GENET."

The action of "Citizen Genet" caused a flurry during Washington's presidency. The "Reign of Terror" had begun in France, where the most appalling revolution in history had taken place. The tyranny of the rulers had driven the people to frenzied desperation, and, overthrowing the government, their massacres were not checked until literally hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Since their rebellion was begun against tyranny, and France had helped us in our war for independence, there was general sympathy for the people in our own country, though everyone was shocked by the deeds that soon horrified the civilized world.

Having established a government, the revolutionists sent Edward Charles Genet to this country as its representative. He was warmly welcomed at Charleston, where he landed in April, 1793. He was too discourteous to go to Philadelphia to present his credentials, and began enlisting recruits for France and intriguing for an alliance with us. Since France was fighting England, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Holland, it can be understood how desirable such an alliance would have been to her.

Washington was too wise to be misled, and he issued a proclamation of neutrality, forbidding citizens of the United States to equip vessels to carry on hostilities against the belligerent powers. Genet paid no attention to this, but kept on enlisting men and fitting out cruisers in American waters. His course became so intolerable that Washington demanded his recall. This demand was complied with, and he was ordered to return home. No one knew better than he that if he showed himself in France he would lose his head. So he stayed in this country until his death in 1834.

JAY'S TREATY.

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAY.

The course of England became so unjust toward the commerce, because of her war with France, that Chief Justice John Jay, in May, 1794, was sent as envoy extraordinary to that country to demand redress. A treaty was agreed upon and ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, which provided that the British garrisons should be withdrawn from the western posts by June 1, 1796; free inland navigation upon lakes and rivers was guaranteed to both nations, except that the United States was excluded from the territory of the Hudson Bay Company; British vessels were admitted to the rivers and harbors on our seacoast, but our shipping was shut out from the rivers and harbors of the British provinces, with the exception of small vessels trading between Montreal and Quebec; our northeastern boundary was to be fixed by a commission; the payments of debts incurred before the war were guaranteed to British creditors, if such debts were collectible by an American creditor; Great Britain was to pay for losses resulting from irregular captures by her cruisers; citizens of either country were allowed to hold landed possessions in the territory of the other; private property was not to be confiscated in time of war; trade between the United States and the West Indies was free to the vessels of both nations, but American vessels were forbidden to carry West Indian products from the islands or from the States to any other part of the world. The last clause was to be in force only two years, when further negotiation was to take place. In addition, the two years' limit was applicable to the right of American vessels to trade between the East Indies and the United States, but in time of war they were not to take thither any rice or military stores; free commerce was established between the British dominions in Europe and the United States; the regulation of duties was provided for, as well as the appointment of consuls and the rules of blockade; privateering was regulated; what was contraband of war was defined, and it was agreed that piracy should be punished; ships of war could enter the ports of either country; criminals escaping from one country to the other were to be surrendered; and, in the event of war between the two countries, citizens in hostile territory were not to be molested.

Although this treaty possessed many good points, and was the best obtainable by our envoy, it gave so many advantages to Great Britain that it roused bitter enmity in this country. Public meetings were held in the leading cities, where it was denounced as cowardly and made for the express purpose of avoiding a war with England. The feeling rose so high that Jay was burned in effigy, Hamilton was assaulted at a public meeting, the British minister insulted, and even Washington himself treated with disrespect. Better judgment prevailed, when the passions cooled, and it is now admitted that Jay's treaty, when all the circumstances are considered, was a commendable one.

SECOND ELECTION OF WASHINGTON.

It was Washington's wish to retire to private life on conclusion of his first term, but he could not disregard the demand from all quarters. No competitor appeared in the field against him, and for a second time he was unanimously elected. His vote was 132; that cast for the candidates for the minor office being, John Adams, Federalist, 77; George Clinton, of New York, Republican, 50; Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Republican, 4; Aaron Burr, of New York, Republican, 1; vacancies, 3. This vote made John Adams again Vice-President.

Since Jefferson was the leader of the Republicans (or as now called the Democrats), and Hamilton of the Federalists (afterward the Whigs), and the two, as members of Washington's cabinet, were able and aggressive, they were continually disputing. Sometimes they sorely tried Washington's patience, who, appreciating the ability of both, often had hard work to prevent an open rupture. On the last day in 1793, Jefferson resigned his office as secretary of foreign affairs and retired to private life at Monticello, Virginia. A year later Hamilton resigned as minister of finance. Through his efforts public credit had been restored, and industry and trade had revived. He well deserved the eloquent tribute of Daniel Webster: "He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenues burst forth. He touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprung upon its feet."

As Washington's second term drew to a close, a universal demand was made that he should serve again. Despite the fact that the two great political parties were fairly organized, and each contained many able men, no one would have had the temerity to offer himself as a competitor; but he was growing old, his strength had been worn out in the service of his country, and the rest he yearned for could no longer be denied him. He, therefore, issued his immortal Farewell Address to his countrymen and withdrew to Mount Vernon, where he peacefully passed away December 14, 1799, mourned by the whole country and revered by the civilized world.

WASHINGTON'S BEDROOM,
MT. VERNON, IN WHICH HE DIED.

The Farewell Address contains counsel that can never lose its value to America. After thanking his fellow-countrymen for the confidence they had always shown in him, and the support he had received from them, he said that the love of liberty was so interwoven with every ligament of their hearts that no recommendation of his was necessary to fortify that attachment. The unity of government, by which they were made one people, had also become very dear to them.

"It is justly so," he said, "for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence—the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety, of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices be employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth—as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed—it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must also exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and joints efforts; of common dangers, sufferings, and successes."

THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON RECEIVING MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
Previous to his departure for Europe, in the fall of 1784, the Marquis de Lafayette repaired to Fredericksburg to pay his parting respects to Washington's mother and to ask her blessing.
Conducted by one of her grandsons he approached the house, when, the young gentleman observing, "There, sir, is my grandmother," the Marquis beheld, working in her garden, clad in domestic-made clothes and her gray head covered by a plain straw hat, the mother of "his hero, his friend, and a country's preserver." The lady saluted him kindly, observing, "Ah, Marquis, you see an old woman; but come, I can make you welcome to my poor dwelling without the parade of changing my dress."

Washington next pointed out the mutual advantages derived from one another in the different sections of the Union, and impressively warned his countrymen against the danger of sectional parties and the baneful effects of party spirit. He commended the Constitution, which could be amended, whenever the necessity arose, as beneficent in its provisions and obligatory upon all. Other wholesome counsel, which he added, made the Farewell Address a priceless heritage to the generations that came after him.

The immediate effect of the paper was excellent. The various State Legislatures voted thanks to Washington, and were warm in their praises of his wise and patriotic services as President. The regret was universal that the country was so soon to lose his valuable counsel and guidance.

WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY ESTABLISHED.

During the Revolution Washington recommended the excellent location of West Point as the proper one for a military school of instruction. An act establishing the United States Military Academy at that place was passed March 16, 1802. It provided that fifty students or cadets should be given instruction under the senior engineer or officer, assisted by the corps of engineers of the army. As the institution grew, professorships of mathematics, engineering, philosophy, etc., were added, and the academy was made a military body subject to the rules and articles of war. A superintendent was designated in 1815, and the present system of appointing cadets was instituted in 1843. The rigid course, steadily elevated, probably prevents fully one-half of those entering from graduating, and, a comparison of the West Point Military Academy with similar institutions establishes the fact that it is the finest of the kind in the world.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1796.

The presidential election of 1796 was a close one, the result being: John Adams, Federalist, 71; Thomas Jefferson, Republican, 68; Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina, Federalist, 59; Aaron Burr, of New York, Republican, 30; Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, Republican, 15; Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, Independent, 11; George Clinton, of New York, Republican, 7; John Jay, of New York, Federalist, 5; James Iredell, of North Carolina, Federalist, 3; George Washington, of Virginia, John Henry, of Maryland, and S. Johnson, of North Carolina, all Federalists, 2 votes each; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, Federalist, 1 vote. Since it required 70 votes to elect, it will be seen that John Adams was barely successful, with Jefferson close to him.

John Adams, the second President, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, October 19, 1735. He graduated at Harvard, at the age of twenty, and was admitted to the bar three years later. He was one of the most active and influential members of the First and Second Continental Congresses. It was he who by his eloquent logic persuaded Congress to adopt the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, his strenuous political opponent, declared that Adams was the pillar of its support and its ablest advocate and defender. It was Adams who suggested the appointment of General Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental army. During the progress of the war, he criticised the management of Washington, but, long before the death of the Father of his Country, candidly acknowledged the injustice of such criticism.

JOHN ADAMS.
(1735-1826.)
One term, 1797-1801.

The services of Adams were not confined to his early efforts in Congress nor to his term as President. He did important work as commissioner to France and Holland, and as minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain. He obtained large loans and induced leading European powers to make excellent treaties with his country. Adams and Franklin framed the preliminary treaty of Versailles, and, as the first American minister to England, he served until 1788. He received the thanks of Congress for the "patriotism, perseverance, integrity, and diligence" displayed while representing his country abroad. When John Adams assumed the duties of the presidency, he found the country comparatively prosperous and well governed.

The South was the most prosperous. Until 1793, its principal productions were rice, indigo, tar, and tobacco. The soil and climate were highly favorable to the growth of cotton, but its culture was unprofitable, for its seeds were so closely interwoven in its texture that only by hard work could a slave clean five pounds a day. In the year named, Eli Whitney, a New England schoolteacher, living in Georgia, invented the cotton gin, with which a man can clean a thousand pounds of cotton a day. This rendered its cultivation highly profitable, gave an importance to the institution of slavery, and, in its far-reaching effects, was the greatest invention ever made in this country.

TROUBLES WITH FRANCE.

The matter which chiefly occupied public attention during the administration of the elder Adams was our difficulties with France. That country had hardly emerged from the awful Reign of Terror in which a million of people were massacred, and it was under the control of a set of bloody minded miscreants, who warred against mankind and believed they could compel the United States to pay a large sum of money for the privilege of being let alone. They turned our representatives out of the country, enacted laws aimed to destroy our commerce, and instructed their naval officers to capture and sell American vessels and cargoes.

President Adams, who abhorred war, sent special ministers to protest against the course of France. The impudent reply was there would be no stoppage until the men who controlled the French government were paid large sums of money. This exasperating notice brought the answer from Charles Cotesworth Pinckney which has become historical: "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."

THE COTTON GIN, INVENTED IN 1793.
A machine which does the work
of more than 1,000 men.

Although war was not declared, it prevailed on the ocean during the latter half of 1798. Congress convened, abolished the treaties with France, strengthened the navy, and ordered it to attack French vessels wherever found. Several engagements took place, in all of which the French men-of-war were whipped "to a standstill." The most important of the naval battles was between the Constitution, under Commodore Truxton, and the French frigate L'Insurgente, in which the latter was captured. A messenger was sent to Mount Vernon, carrying the appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. He found the great man in the harvest field; but when Washington donned his spectacles and read the paper, he replied that he was then as always ready to serve his country in whatever capacity he could. He accepted with the understanding that he was not to be called into the field until actual hostilities took place on the land, and that Alexander Hamilton should until then be the commander-in-chief.

Doubtless a destructive war would have resulted, but for the fact that Napoleon Bonaparte, as a stepping-stone to his marvelous career, overturned the French government and installed himself as emperor. He saw the folly of a war with the United States, when he was certain soon to be embroiled with more powerful neighbors near home. He offered fair terms of peace to our country in 1799, and they were accepted.

THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS.

One of the gravest mistakes made by the Federalists in Congress was the passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws. Irritated by the mischief-making of foreigners, a law was enacted which permitted the President to arrest any alien in the country whose presence he considered dangerous. The acts under which this was to be done were known as the Alien Laws. The most detested measure, however, was that which authorized the arrest of any person who should speak evil of the government, and was known as the Sedition Law. There were arrests and punishments under its provisions, and the majority of the people were bitterly hostile to it. It was unquestionably a direct invasion of the liberty of speech. The claim that no editor, public speaker, or private citizen should be allowed to condemn an action of the government which he disproved was unbearable, but it was in direct line with the Federal policy of a powerful central government, and as directly opposed to Republican principles. The feeling became so intense that at the next presidential election the Federal party was defeated and never afterward gained control of the government.

REMOVAL OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TO WASHINGTON.

The census of 1800 showed that the population of the country had increased to 5,308,483. In that year, the national capital was removed from Philadelphia to the straggling, partly built village of Washington, standing in the woods, and without any of the structures that have made it one of the most attractive cities in the world.

The presidential election of 1800 was an exciting one. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both Republicans, received 73 electoral votes, while John Adams, Federalist had 65; Charles C. Pinckney, Federalist, 64; John Jay, Federalist 1. The vote between the leaders being a tie, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where, after thirty-eight ballots, Jefferson was elected, with Burr, the next highest candidate, Vice-President. The preceding election, as will be remembered, gave a President and Vice-President of different political parties, always an undesirable thing, and this fact, added to the difficulties of the election just over, led to the adoption in 1804 of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, which requires the electors to vote separately for the President and Vice-President.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
(1743-1826.)
Two terms, 1801-1809.

Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, was born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, April 2, 1743. His father, a wealthy planter, died when his son was fourteen years old, and he entered William and Mary College, where he was the most assiduous student in the institution. Jefferson was as fond as Washington of athletic sports, and, though he was of less massive build, he attained the same stature, six feet two inches. In college, he was an awkward, freckle-faced, sandy haired youth, who, but for his superior mental attainments, would have commanded little respect. Except for his fondness for hunting and horseback riding, he never could have acquired the physique which allowed him to spend ten, twelve, and sixteen hours of every twenty-four in hard study.

Jefferson was undoubtedly the most learned of all our Presidents. He was not only a fine mathematician, but a master of Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and Italian. He was an exquisite performer on the violin, and it was said of him, by one of the most noted European musicians, that he never heard an amateur play the king of instruments as well as the slim Virginian.

Jefferson married a wealthy lady and named his attractive home Monticello. His great ability caused his election to the Virginia Legislature while a young man, and he was soon afterward sent to Congress. Lacking the gifts of oratory, he had no superior as a writer of fine, classical, forceful English. Among the many excellent laws he secured for Virginia was the separation of Church and State. He was the author of a parliamentary manual for the government of the United States Senate, which is still an authority, and of our present system of decimal currency; but the reader does not need to be reminded that his fame will go down to posterity chiefly as the writer of the Declaration of Independence; but Jefferson felt almost equally proud of the fact that he was founder of the University of Virginia, which, abandoning the old system, introduced the "free system of independent schools." He also proposed for his State a comprehensive system of free public schools.

Although wealthy, he went almost to the extreme of simplicity. His dress was as plain as that of the Quakers; he wore leathern shoestrings instead of the fashionable silver buckles; and strove to keep his birthday a secret, because some of his friends wished to celebrate it. He was opposed to all pomp, ceremony, and titles. He is universally regarded as the founder of the Democracy of the present day, and was undeniably one of the greatest Presidents we have had.

WELCOME LEGISLATION.

The administration of Jefferson proved among the most important in the history of our country. Congress promptly abolished the tax on distilled spirits and a number of other manufactures, a step which enabled the President to dismiss a large number of revenue collectors, whose unwelcome duties had entailed considerable expense upon the country. The obnoxious Sedition Law was repealed, and the Alien Law so modified that it was shorn of its disagreeable features.

ADMISSION OF OHIO.

In the year 1800, a line was run through the Northwest Territory from the mouth of the Great Miami to Fort Recovery and thence to Canada. Three years afterward, the territory thus defined was admitted to the Union as the State of Ohio. The Indiana Territory included the portion west of the line named, with Vincennes as the capital. The Mississippi Territory was organized so as to extend from the western boundaries of Georgia to the Mississippi.

The punishment administered to France in 1798 naturally gave that country a respect for the United States, and in 1802 our relations with her became quite friendly. Bonaparte, having established a truce with the nations around him, found time to give some attention to the American republic. He seemed to believe he could establish a French colonial empire, not only in the West Indies, but in the immense province of Louisiana. Had Bonaparte succeeded, he would have acquired control of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing would have pleased England more than to see so serious a check placed upon our growth, and nothing would have displeased our countrymen more than to be shut off from the Father of Waters and the right to emigrate westward. They were ready to go to war before submitting to such deprivation.

PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA.

No one was more keenly alive to the situation than Jefferson. He carefully instructed our envoy at Paris to make the strongest possible representations to the French ruler of the grave mistake of the course he had in mind, which must inevitably result in an alliance with Great Britain in sweeping France from the seas and driving her from the West Indies. Bonaparte was too wise not to perceive that this was no empty threat, and that his visionary French empire in the West would prove an element of weakness rather than strength. Nothing was plainer than the truth that the stronger the United States became, the more dangerous would it be for his traditional enemy, England. He, therefore, proposed to sell Louisiana to the United States.

This was the very thing for which Jefferson had been skillfully working from the first. The bargain was speedily completed. On April 30, 1803, Louisiana came into our possession for the sum of $11,250,000, we agreeing at the same time to pay certain debts due from France to American citizens, amounting to $3,750,000, so that the total cost of Louisiana was $15,000,000.

It must not be forgotten that the Territory of Louisiana, as purchased by us, was vastly more extensive than is the present State of that name. It included the area from which have been carved the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Montana, part of Kansas, Wyoming and Colorado, and the Territory of Oklahoma, the whole area being 1,171,931 square miles, as against 827,844, which was all the territory occupied previous to 1803. Peaceable possession was taken on the 20th of December following. The governorship of the Territory was offered to Lafayette, and declined by him, but he received a grant of 12,000 acres within its limits.

SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED.

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, it was agreed that the slave trade should be permitted for twenty years. It was abolished, therefore, in 1808, and the penalty for engaging in it was made punishable with death. At the time of the purchase of Louisiana, it was believed that it included Texas, but the United States gave up this claim in 1819 to Spain in return for the cession of Florida.

It seems incredible, but it was true, that for twenty years we had been paying a large tribute to Algiers on condition that she would not molest our commerce. Other nations did the same, because it was more convenient than keeping a navy in those far-off waters. A treaty with Morocco had been signed, in 1787, under which we also paid her tribute. The people of the Barbary States naturally waxed insolent, and when we were slow in sending our tribute they imposed a heavy penalty, which we meekly paid.

WAR WITH TRIPOLI.

One of the most disgusted men was Captain William Bainbridge, when obliged to carry the tribute in 1800 to the Dey of Algiers, who informed him that the Americans were his slaves, and must do as he ordered. The indignant officer expressed the hope that the next tribute he delivered would be from the mouths of his cannon. The following year the ruler of Tripoli became ruffled because we did not send him as much tribute as he thought he was entitled to, and actually declared war against us.

The flurry of 1798 with France had caused a considerable increase in our navy, which was furnished with plenty of daring officers, who afterward made names for themselves. They eagerly welcomed a war of that nature which of necessity was a naval one. The operations were confined to the Mediterranean, on whose shore are the Barbary States.

The first real fight took place in August, 1801, between the Enterprise, a vessel of twelve guns, and a Tripolitan vessel of fourteen guns. It occurred off Malta, and lasted for two hours, when the Tripolitan hauled down his flag. Thereupon the Americans left their guns and were cheering, when the enemy treacherously fired a broadside into the Enterprise. Nothing loth, Lieutenant Sterrett renewed the battle with such vigor that in a few minutes the flag was lowered a second time, only to renew the fighting when the enemy saw an advantage.

Thoroughly exasperated, Lieutenant Sterrett now determined to complete the business. The vessel was raked fore and aft, the mizzen-mast torn away, the hull knocked to splinters, and fifty men killed and wounded. Then the American officer caught sight of the captain leaping up and down on the deck, shrieking and flinging his arms about, as evidence that he was ready to surrender in earnest. He threw his own flag overboard, but Lieutenant Sterrett demanded that his arms and ammunition should follow, the remainder of the masts cut away, and the ship dismantled. That being done, Sterrett allowed him to rig a jury mast and told him to carry his compliments to the Dey.

The war against the Tripolitans was very similar to that against the Spaniards in 1898. The Enterprise had not lost a man, although the Americans inflicted severe loss on the enemy. In July, 1802, the Constellation, in a fight with nine Tripolitan gunboats, drove five ashore, the rest escaping by fleeing into the harbor. More than once a Tripolitan vessel was destroyed, with all on board, without the loss of a man on our side.

But the war was not to be brought to a close without an American disaster. In 1803 the fine frigate Philadelphia, while chasing a blockade-runner, ran upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, and, being helpless, a fleet of the enemy's gunboats swarmed around her and compelled Captain Bainbridge and his crew to surrender. The frigate was floated off at high tide and the enemy refitted her.

A GALLANT EXPLOIT.

One night in February, 1804, the Intrepid, a small vessel under the command of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, one of the bravest of American naval officers, approached the Philadelphia, as she lay at anchor, and, being hailed, replied, through a native whom he had impressed into service, that he was a merchantman who had lost his anchors. The Tripolitans allowed the vessel to come alongside without any suspicion on their part. Suddenly a score of Americans sprang up and leaped through the port-holes of the frigate. It took them but a few minutes to clear the deck, when the vessel was fired in several places and the men safely withdrew. The Philadelphia burned to the water's edge.

Early in August, Commodore Preble bombarded the town of Tripoli from his mortar boats. During a fight with the gunboats James Decatur, a brother of Stephen, received the surrender of one he was fighting, and stepped on the deck to take possession. As he did so, the captain shot him dead. Stephen had just destroyed a gunboat when he learned of this treacherous occurrence and dashed after the craft, which he boarded. Recognizing the captain from his immense size, he attacked him, and, in a desperate personal encounter, in which he narrowly escaped death himself, killed the Moor.

THE BOMB KETCH.

The Americans fixed up the Intrepid as a bomb ketch, storing a hundred barrels of powder and missiles and a hundred and fifty shells on deck. Under command of Captain Richard Somers, and accompanied by twelve men, the vessel ran slowly into the harbor one dark night. The intention was to fire a slow-match and then for the officer and men to withdraw in boats. Captain Somers was discovered by the enemy, and in some unknown way the ketch was blown up with all on board, and without doing any material harm to the shipping and fortifications in the harbor.

Commodore Preble was superseded in November by Commodore Barron, who arrived with the President and Constellation. This gave the Americans ten vessels, carrying 264 guns. Hostilities were pressed with so much vigor that the Dey of Tripoli became anxious to make peace before the terrible fleet from the West destroyed him and his people. Accordingly, a treaty was signed on the 3d of June by which the Tripolitans were given $60,000 for the prisoners in their hands, and the payment of tribute to them was ended.

EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK.

In those comparatively modern days the vast region west of the Mississippi was almost unknown. President Jefferson recommended a congressional appropriation for the exploration of the country. The appropriation being made, a party of thirty men left the Mississippi, May 14, 1804, under command of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Both had had a good deal of experience in the Indian country, and they ascended the Missouri in a flotilla for 2,600 miles. To the three streams which form the Missouri they gave the names of Jefferson, Gallatin, and Madison. A detachment was then left in charge of the boats, and the remainder, riding the horses they had captured and tamed, made their way across the mountains. They discovered the two streams which bear their names, and traced the Columbia to its outlet in the Pacific Ocean.

The expedition was absent for two years, and its report on returning added much to our geographical knowledge of the section. They were the first party of white men to cross the continent north of Mexico. Captain Lewis was appointed governor of Missouri Territory in 1806, and was acting as such when he committed suicide in 1809. Captain Clark was also governor of Missouri Territory, and afterward superintendent of Indian affairs. He died in St. Louis in 1838.

THE BURR AND HAMILTON DUEL.

No one read the wicked character of Aaron Burr more unerringly than Alexander Hamilton. He saw that he was ready to ruin his country for the sake of gratifying an insatiate ambition. Hamilton was always outspoken in expressing his opinions; and the hostility between the two became so bitter that Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Although the latter had had a son killed through the barbarous code within the preceding year, he was foolish enough to accept the challenge, and the duel was fought at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 12, 1804. Hamilton fired in the air, but Burr aimed straight for his antagonist and inflicted a wound from which he died the next day.

Although Burr presided in the Senate after the duel, the whole country was shocked by the occurrence, and his friends fell away from him. In 1804, when Jefferson was re-elected to the presidency, George Clinton took the place of Burr as Vice-President. Burr then engaged in a plot to form a new empire in the southwest, the precise nature of which is uncertain. He found a few to join with him, but it came to naught, and in 1807 he was tried at Richmond, Virginia, on the charge of treason, but acquitted. He spent some years in wandering over Europe, and then returned to resume the practice of law in New York. He died in obscurity and poverty on Staten Island in 1836.

DEVELOPMENT OF STEAM NAVIGATION
FOLLOWING FULTON'S DISCOVERY.

A notable event of Jefferson's administrations was the first voyage of a steamboat up the Hudson. This was the Clermont, the invention of Robert Fulton, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765. This boat was slightly over one hundred feet in length and about twenty feet broad, with side paddle-wheels and a sheet-iron boiler brought from England. There was general ridicule of the idea of moving boats by steam against a current, and the craft was called "Fulton's Folly." The crowd which gathered on the wharf in New York, August 1, 1807, indulged in jests which were not hushed until the craft moved slowly but smoothly up stream. Heading against the current, she made the voyage to Albany in thirty-two hours. She met with some mishaps, but after a time made regular trips between that city and New York, at the rate of five miles an hour.

OCEAN STEAMERS.

ROBERT FULTON.

This incident marked an epoch in the history of the West, where the first steamboat was built in 1811. Within a few years, they were plying on all the important rivers, greatly assisting emigration and the development of the country. The first steamer to cross the Atlantic was the Savannah in 1819. The screw propeller was introduced by the great Swedish inventor, John Ericsson, in 1836. Really successful ocean navigation began in 1838, when the Sirius and Great Western made the voyage from England to the United States.

OPPRESSIVE COURSE OF ENGLAND.

The devastating war raging between England and France was destructive to American commerce and interests. The star of the wonderful Napoleon Bonaparte was rapidly in the ascendant, and his marvelous military genius seemed to threaten the "equilibrium of the world." England had no love for the United States and played havoc with our shipping. Her privateers infested our coasts, like swarms of locusts. Because of her immense naval superiority, she pestered us almost beyond bearing. She stopped our vessels off-shore, followed them into rivers and harbors, overhauled the crews, and in many cases took sailors away under the plea that they were English deserters. Her claim was that "once a British subject, always a British subject;" no sworn allegiance to any other government could release the claim of England upon him.

Our vessels were prohibited from carrying imports from the West Indies to France, but evaded the law by bringing imports to this country and then reshipping them to France. England peremptorily ordered the practice to stop and declared that all vessels thus engaged should be lawful prizes to her ships. This action caused general indignation in this country and thousands of citizens clamored for war.

Jefferson never lost his self-poise. While a thorough patriot, he knew the meaning of war. He sent a message to Congress on the subject in January, 1806, and the question was one of earnest and prolonged discussion, ending in the adoption of a resolution to prohibit certain articles of British manufacture.

But matters rapidly grew worse. In May following England declared the coast of Europe, from the Elbe in Germany to Brest in France, in a state of blockade. Bonaparte retaliated with the famous Berlin Decree, which blockaded the British Islands. In the spring of 1807 the British ship Leander fired into a coasting vessel and killed one of the men. The President issued a proclamation forbidding the Leander and the two ships in her company from entering any of the waters of the United States; calling upon all officers to apprehend the captain of the Leander on a charge of murder; prohibiting all communication between the shore and the ships, and warning all citizens from giving them aid under penalty of the law. Envoys were sent to England to adjust the trouble, but their efforts came to naught.

THE AFFAIR OF THE LEOPARD AND CHESAPEAKE.

Matters were in this tense state when the most glaring outrage of all was perpetrated. The British ship-of-war Leopard, of fifty guns, was cruising off the capes of Virginia, hunting for the American frigate Chesapeake, which she claimed had a number of English deserters on board. The Chesapeake was hailed, and the English captain asked permission to send dispatches on board. Such courtesies were common, and Captain James Barron, the American commander, willingly complied with the request. When the boat arrived, a letter was presented to Captain Barron, containing the orders of the British admiral to search the Chesapeake for a number of deserters, who were mentioned by name. Captain Barron sent word that he had no knowledge of any deserters, and refused to submit. Thereupon the Leopard fired several broadsides into the Chesapeake, which, being entirely unprepared for battle, was obliged to strike her flag, three men having been killed and eighteen wounded. Four men were then selected from the crew of the Chesapeake, three of whom were negroes, all declared to be deserters, and taken on board the Leopard.

The country was thrown into a tumult of excitement, and the President, by proclamation, closed all American harbors and waters against the British navy, prohibited any intercourse with such vessels, and sent a special minister to England to demand satisfaction. Congress was called together, and a hundred thousand men in the different States were ordered to hold themselves in readiness for service. The action of the captain of the Leander was disavowed, reparation offered, and the offending admiral was recalled, but the reparation promised was never made, and Great Britain refused to give up the right of search.

THE EMBARGO ACT.

Although the action of England was anything but satisfactory, it averted war for the time. In December, Congress passed the Embargo Act, which forbade all American vessels to leave the coast of the United States. The belief was that by thus suspending commerce with England and France, the two countries would be forced to respect our neutrality. The real sufferers, however, were ourselves; New England and New York, whose shipping business was ruined, denounced the act in unmeasured terms. Thus the administration of Jefferson, which had brought so much material prosperity to the country and was so prolific in beneficent events, closed amid clouds and threatened disaster.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1808.

In the presidential election of 1808, the electoral vote was as follows: James Madison, of Virginia, Republican, 122; Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, Federalist, 47; George Clinton, of New York, Republican, 6. For Vice-President, George Clinton, Republican, 113; Rufus King, of New York, Federalist, 47; John Langdon, of New Hampshire, 9; James Madison, 3; James Monroe, 3. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Clinton became respectively President and Vice-President.

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CHAPTER IX.

ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, 1809-1817.

THE WAR OF 1812.

James Madison—The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts—Revival of the Latter Against England—The Little Belt and the President—Population of the United States in 1810—Battle of Tippecanoe—Declaration of War Against England—Comparative Strength of the Two Nations on the Ocean—Unpopularity of the War in New England—Preparations Made by the Government—Cowardly Surrender of Detroit—Presidential Election of 1812—Admission of Louisiana and Indiana—New National Bank Chartered—Second Attempt to Invade Canada—Battle of Queenstown Heights—Inefficiency of the American Forces in 1812—Brilliant Work of the Navy—The Constitution and the Guerrière—The Wasp and the Frolic—The United States and the Macedonian—The Constitution and the Java—Reorganization and Strengthening of the Army—Operations in the West—Gallant Defense of Fort Stephenson—American Invasion of Ohio and Victory of the Thames—Indian Massacre at Fort Mimms—Capture of York (Toronto)—Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett's Harbor—Failure of the American Invasion of Canada—The Hornet and Peacock—Capture of the Chesapeake—"Don't Give Up the Ship"—Captain Decatur Blockaded at New London—Capture of the Argus by the Enemy—Cruise of the Essex—The Glorious Victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie—Success of the American Arms in Canada—Battle of the Chippewa—Of Lundy's Lane—Decisive Defeat of the Enemy's Attack on Plattsburg—Punishment of the Creek Indians for the Massacre at Fort Mimms—Vigorous Action by the National Government—Burning of Washington by the British—The Hartford Convention.

JAMES MADISON.

James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, was born at Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751, and died June 28, 1836. He received the best educational facilities and graduated from Princeton College at the age of twenty. He devoted himself so closely to study that he permanently injured his health. In 1776, he was elected a member of the Virginia Legislature, and was offered the mission to France, after the return of Jefferson, but declined it. Again he had the chance of becoming Jefferson's successor, when the latter resigned as secretary of State, but refused through fear of causing differences in Washington's cabinet. He was a Federalist at first, but changed his views and became an earnest Republican. Jefferson made him his secretary of State, and he served throughout both administrations. He was a cultured gentleman, an ardent friend of Jefferson, and carried out his policy when he became President.

THE NON-INTERCOURSE ACT.

Just before the close of Jefferson's last term, Congress repealed the Embargo Act and passed the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade all trade with England. This was in 1809, and the law was abrogated in the following year. Our relations with England, however, continued to grow more irritating, until it became clear that war was at hand. Congress gave notice that if either Great Britain or France would repeal their offensive decrees, the Non-Intercourse Act would be revived against the other. Bonaparte immediately announced that he revoked his decrees, but instead of doing so, he enforced them more rigidly than before, thus accomplishing what he sought, that of arraying the United States against Great Britain. The Non-Intercourse Law was revived against Great Britain, whose conduct became more exasperating than ever. Our whole coast was under surveillance, and many of our merchant vessels were captured without any excuse whatever.

JAMES MADISON. (1751-1836.)
Two terms, 1809-1817.

In the dusk of early evening, May 16, 1811, the British sloop Little Belt, while occupied in holding up American vessels, hailed the frigate President off the coast of Virginia. Deeming the reply of the American not sufficiently respectful, the Little Belt fired a shot at the President, which instantly let fly with a broadside, followed by several others, that killed eleven men and wounded twenty-one. The incident added to the angry excitement in both countries and brought war nearer.

BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.

The population of the United States in 1810 was 7,239,881, somewhat more than a third of Great Britain and Ireland. Our growth in the West was rapid. There was a continual stream of emigration thither, and the Indians, seeing how rapidly their hunting grounds were passing from them; combined to resist the invasion. This was done under the leadership of Tecumseh, the ablest Indian that ever lived. In this course he was incited by British agents, who, knowing that war was coming, were anxious to do the Americans all the harm they could. The outrages of the red men became so numerous that General William Henry Harrison, governor of the Northwest Territory, gathered a large, force and marched against them. Near the present city of Lafayette, while encamped at a place called Tippecanoe, he was furiously assailed (Nov. 7, 1811) by the Indians. Tecumseh was absent at the time, and the battle was brought on, against his orders, by his brother, called "The Prophet." The loss was severe on both sides, but the Indians were decisively defeated.

By this time the American people were clamoring more loudly than ever for war with England. The congressional candidates were obliged to declare whether they favored or opposed the war. Those who opposed it were beaten at the polls. Congress, which had been making preparations for some time for hostilities, declared war against England, June 18, 1812. It is a regrettable fact that we could not know that almost on the same day England suspended the Orders of Council, so far as they affected this country. Had the Atlantic cable been in existence at the time, there would have been no war.

ENGLAND'S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH.

England had been fighting so continuously with her neighbors that her strength on the ocean was overwhelming when compared with ours. She had 1,036 vessels, of which 254 were ships-of-the-line, not one of which carried less than seventy-four guns. This immense navy was manned by 144,000 men. The American navy numbered 12 vessels, besides a few gunboats of little value. Indeed, the relative strength of the warring nations was so disproportionate that the intention of the United States at first was not to attempt a conflict on the ocean. Captains Bainbridge and Stewart, however, persuaded the government to allow our little navy to try its hand.

Despite the seeming hopelessness of such a struggle, it had some advantages for the Americans. In the first place, it was easier for them to find the enemy than for the latter to find them, because of the disproportion between the number of their vessels. More important, however, than all was the fact that our navy contained no politicians. The men were brave sailors, and marvelously skillful in handling guns. With these conditions they were sure to win glory on the ocean.

Still another fact must be mentioned, for it will explain many of the incidents recorded in the following pages. England had been triumphant so long on the ocean that she had become unduly confident and careless. She held the surrounding nations in light esteem, and had good warrant for doing so. Naturally this led her greatly to underestimate the insignificant American navy. When such a mistake is made the consequences are sure to be disastrous to the one committing the blunder.

Truth compels the statement that in every war in which our country has been engaged since the Revolution, the disasters have been mainly due to the politicians. They have the "pull," as it is called, with the government, and secure the appointment of men as leaders who are totally lacking in military skill. When defeat has followed defeat, with exasperating regularity, the government gradually awakes to the fact that the most criminal thing it can do is to place a politician in charge of a body of brave men, or to appoint a callow youth to the same position, merely because his father was a good soldier and has become a politician.

THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN SOME SECTIONS.

Moreover, it must be remembered that our country was by no means a unit in favoring the second war with England. It was popular in most of the Middle States and the South, but bitterly opposed in New England. When the news reached Boston of the declaration of war, the shipping hung their flags at half-mast. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, through their Legislatures, protested against it, but, as in the Revolution, the general enthusiasm swept away all opposition.

An increase of the regular army was ordered to 25,000 men, in addition to the call for 50,000 volunteers, while the States were asked to summon 100,000 militia, to be used in defense of the coast and harbors. The government authorized a loan of $11,000,000, and Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, was made the first major-general and commander-in-chief of the army, while the principal brigadiers were James Wilkinson, William Hull, Joseph Bloomfield, and Wade Hampton, the last being father of the general of the same name who became famous as a Confederate leader in the War for the Union.

A SHAMEFUL SURRENDER.

The opening battle of the war was one of the most shameful affairs that ever befell the American arms. General William Hull, who had made a creditable record in the Revolution, was governor of Michigan Territory. He was ordered to cross the river from Detroit, which was his home, and invade Canada. He showed great timidity, and learning that a British force, under General Brock, was advancing against him, he recrossed the river and returned to Detroit, before which General Brock appeared, on the 12th of August, at the head of 700 British soldiers and 600 Indians. In demanding the surrender of the post, he frightened Hull, whose daughter and her children were with him, by telling him he would be unable to restrain the ferocity of his Indians, if the Americans made a defense.

The soldiers were brave and eager to fight, but, to their inexpressible disgust, the siege had been pressed but a short time when Hull ran up a white flag and surrendered, August 16th. With the submission of Detroit went the whole territory northwest of Ohio.

The country was angered and humiliated by the act. Twenty-five men were given in exchange for Hull, and he was placed on trial, charged with treason, cowardice, and conduct unbecoming an officer. He was convicted on the last two charges and sentenced to be shot. In recognition of his services in the Revolution, however, the President pardoned him, and he died, without ever having gained the respect of his countrymen, in 1825.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1812.

Before proceeding with the history of the war, a few incidents not connected with it should be recorded. In the presidential election of 1812, the electoral vote was: for President, James Madison, Republican, 128; De Witt Clinton, of New York, Federalist, 89. For Vice-President, Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, Republican, 131; Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, Federalist, 86. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Gerry were elected.

Louisiana was admitted as a State in 1812, being a part of the immense territory of that name purchased from France in 1803. Indiana was admitted in 1816, and was the second of the five States carved out of the old Northwest Territory. It will be recalled that the United States Bank was chartered in 1791 for twenty years. Its charter, therefore, expired in 1811. In 1816, Congress chartered a new bank, on the same plan and for the same length of time. The public money was to be deposited in it or its branches, except when the secretary of the treasury choose to order its deposit elsewhere.

BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS.

Returning to the history of the war, it has to be said that the second attempt to invade Canada was more disastrous if possible than the first, and more disgraceful to American arms. The troops on the Niagara frontier were mainly New York militia, with a few regulars and recruits from other States, all under the command of Stephen Van Rensselaer. Resolved to capture the Heights of Queenstown, he sent two columns across the river on the morning of October 13, 1812. They were led by Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, cousin of the general and a brave officer. The engagement was a brisk one, the colonel being wounded early in the fight, but his troops gallantly charged the Heights and captured the fortress. General Brock was reinforced and attacked the Americans, but was repulsed, Brock being killed. The fierceness of the battle is shown by that fact that the three commanders who succeeded Brock were either killed or severely wounded.

Under the attack of superior forces, the Americans had managed to hold their ground and they now began to intrench. Meanwhile, the 1,200 New York militia on the other side of the river had become frightened by the sounds of battle, and when called upon to cross refused to do so, on the cowardly plea that they had enlisted to defend only their State. Lieutenant-Colonel Winfield Scott had taken command of the brigade and was engaged in intrenching, when the enemy, again reinforced, drove his troops, after two attacks, to the river, where they were hemmed in and compelled to surrender. The American loss in killed and wounded was fully a thousand. General Van Rensselaer was so disgusted with the conduct of his militia that he resigned his command, and was succeeded by General Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, whose conduct led to the general conviction that he was mentally about as near to being an idiot as it is possible for a man to be and still retain a little ground for being thought otherwise.

The first thing General Smyth did was to issue a proclamation of so bombastic a character that his friends were humiliated. He made several starts toward Canada, but in each instance recalled his troops, and acted so inexplicably that the militia were on the point of revolting, when he was deprived of his command. This closed the military operations for the year 1812, and the story is enough to crimson the cheek of every American with shame.

BRILLIANT WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.

On the ocean, however, the record was brilliant and as astonishing to friends as to enemies. Hardly had the news of the declaration of war reached New York, when Commodore John Rodgers put to sea in the President, the same vessel that had taught the Little Belt her severe lesson. Some time later Rodgers sighted the frigate Belvidera and gave chase. He killed a number of the crew, but the vessel managed to escape. Continuing his cruise, he captured a number of merchantmen and retook an American prize. The luckiest ship in the American navy was said to be the Constitution, afterward popularly known as "Old Ironsides." Under command of Captain Isaac Hull, nephew of the disgraced general of Detroit, she engaged the sloop-of-war Guerrière off the coast of Massachusetts. The battle was a desperate one, but extraordinary marksmanship prevailed, and the enemy were compelled to strike their flag after a loss of 79 killed and wounded, while that of the Americans was 7 killed and 7 wounded.

The victory caused deep chagrin in England and corresponding rejoicing in the United States. Congress gave Captain Hull a gold medal and distributed $50,000 among his crew.

In October, the sloop-of-war Wasp, Captain Jacob Jones, met the British brig Frolic off Cape Hatteras. Since the vessels were of precisely the same strength, the contest could not have been a more perfect test of the bravery and efficiency of the ships of England and our own country. As respects bravery, it was equal, for the men on both sides fought with a courage that could not have been surpassed. When the crew of the Wasp boarded the Frolic, they found no one on deck except the man at the wheel and two wounded officers. The vessels were so damaged that on the same day the British ship Poicters captured both.

During the same month (October 25th), Commodore Stephen Decatur, in command of the frigate United States, encountered the British frigate Macedonian off the Island of Madeira, and captured her after a battle of two hours, in which he lost twelve men, while that of the enemy was more than a hundred. The Macedonian was so shattered that only with the greatest difficulty was she brought into New London.

The command of the Constitution was now turned over to Bainbridge, who sighted the frigate Java off the coast of Brazil, December 29th. In the terrific battle that followed he lost 34 men, but killed 120 of the enemy, tore out every mast, and burst her hull with round shot. The Java was blown up, and the prisoners and wounded were taken to Boston, where Bainbridge received a right royal welcome.

THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE ART OF WAR.

This ends the history of the first half-year of the war of 1812. While everything went wrong on land, the ocean showed only a succession of brilliant victories. England, chagrined and humiliated, declared that her flag had been disgraced "by a piece of striped bunting flying at the mast-heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of outlaws."

REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.

Congress took measures for strengthening and reorganizing the army. The pay and bounty of the soldiers were increased; the President was empowered to raise twenty additional regiments of infantry, to borrow money, and to issue treasury notes, and provisions were made for adding four ships-of-the-line, six frigates, and as many vessels of war on the Great Lakes as might be needed. The army was organized into three divisions: the Army of the North, under General Wade Hampton, to act in the country about Lake Champlain; the Army of the Centre, under the commander-in-chief, General Henry Dearborn, to act on the Niagara frontier and Lake Ontario; and the Army of the East, under General Winchester, who soon after was superseded by General William Henry Harrison.

IN THE WEST.

The last-named officer did his utmost to drive the British out of Detroit. His troops were volunteers, brave but undisciplined, and displayed their most effective work in scattered fighting and against the Indians; but their success was not decisive. When the swamps and lakes of the Northwest were sufficiently frozen to bear their weight, Harrison repeated his attempts to expel the British from Detroit. His advance, under General Winchester, was attacked on the River Raisin by the British, led by General Proctor. Winchester was as prompt as General Hull in surrendering. Proctor allowed his Indians to massacre the wounded prisoners, most of whom were Kentuckians. Thereafter, when the Kentucky troops rushed into battle they raised the war-cry, "Remember the Raisin!"

The disaster to Winchester caused Harrison to fall back to Fort Meigs, which stood near the site of the present town of Defiance. There, in the spring of 1813, he was besieged by Proctor. A force of Kentuckians relieved him, after severe loss, and Proctor retreated. Some months later he again advanced against Fort Meigs, but was repulsed, and marched to Fort Stephenson, where Fremont now stands.

The besiegers consisted of 3,000 British and Indians, while the garrison numbered only 160, under the command of Major George Croghan, only twenty years of age. When Proctor ordered the youth to surrender he threatened that, in case of resistance, every prisoner would be tomahawked. Major Croghan replied that when the surrender took place there would not be a single man left to tomahawk. Although Croghan had but a single cannon, he made so gallant a defense that his assailants were repulsed, and Proctor, fearing the approach of Harrison, withdrew from the neighborhood.

BATTLE OF THE THAMES.

Perry's great victory on Lake Erie in September, 1813, as related further on, gave the Americans command of that body of water. Harrison's troops were placed on board of Perry's vessels and carried across from Ohio to Canada. They landed near Malden and Proctor fell back to Sandwich, with the Americans following. He continued his retreat to the Thames, where, with the help of Tecumseh, he selected a good battle-ground and awaited the Americans, who attacked him on the 5th of October. Proctor fled early in the battle, but his regulars fought bravely. The 1,500 Indians, under the lead of Tecumseh, displayed unusual heroism, but, when the great Tecumseh fell, they fled in a panic. The American victory was overwhelming and complete.

Tecumseh's irresistible eloquence had roused the Creeks to take the warpath in the South. The danger became so imminent that 500 of the inhabitants took refuge in a stockade known as Fort Mimms, Alabama, thirty-five miles above Mobile. The sentinels, believing there was no danger, were careless, and on August 21, 1813, nearly a thousand Creeks attacked the place, which was surprised and captured after feeble resistance. More than 200 were tomahawked, the negroes being spared to become slaves of the Indians.

CAPTURE OF TORONTO (YORK).

In April of this year, General Dearborn crossed Lake Ontario from Sackett's Harbor to Toronto (then known as York), which was the capital of Upper Canada and the chief depot for the supply of the western garrisons. Under a sharp fire, General Zebulon Pike drove the enemy from the works. The explosion of a magazine in the fort caused the death of General Pike in the moment of victory.

The operations left Sackett's Harbor almost unprotected, and led to an attack by the British admiral, Sir James Yeo, and General Prevost. The commander of the garrison appealed to General Jacob Brown, a militia officer of the neighborhood, who hurriedly gathered a small force and added it to the defenders. In the attack which followed Brown showed great skill, and General Prevost, believing his retreat was about to be cut off, fled in a panic, leaving 300 dead and wounded. In the engagements in that section during the remainder of the year, General Brown was about the only officer who displayed any military ability, his skill eventually placing him at the head of the United States army.

The fighting that followed was mainly in favor of the British, who recaptured York. Eight hundred Americans were made prisoners at Beaver Dams, and, as the autumn approached, the enemy found themselves in command of a powerful squadron.

INCOMPETENT COMMANDERS.

There was much dissatisfaction with General Dearborn, the head of the army. He was in ill-health, never led his troops in person, and missed a good opportunity of capturing Montreal. He was relieved in June and succeeded by General Wilkinson, who arrived at Sackett's Harbor in August. He began preparations for invading Canada, but was so laggard in his movements that the enemy had abundance of time in which to make ready. The St. Lawrence seemed to be fortified at every point, but General Brown, by brave fighting, opened the way for the flotilla.

General Wilkinson reached St. Regis, November 11th, at which point General Wade Hampton was to co-operate with him. But that officer, owing to a lack of provisions, had fallen back to Plattsburg, hoping to keep open his communications with the St. Lawrence. This obliged General Wilkinson to retreat, and Wilkinson, Hampton, and other officers quarreled like so many children.

Disaster and disgrace seemed to follow the American land forces during the first two years of the war, but the fault lay wholly with the officers, who were incompetent, and many times lacking in patriotism. The soldiers were brave, but were comparatively powerless with such poor commanders.

Once again the American navy performed brilliant work, though, unfortunately, the record was marred by a sad disaster. On February 24th, Captain James Lawrence, who had made several minor captures from the enemy, riddled the English brig-of-war Peacock, while in command of the Hornet, and, in a fierce engagement of fifteen minutes, compelled her to surrender and hoist a signal of distress. She went down so quickly that several of the Hornet's crew, who were giving aid, sank with her, besides thirteen of the enemy. Captain Lawrence treated his prisoners so kindly that, upon reaching New York, they gave him a letter of thanks.

CAPTURE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BY THE SHANNON.

Captain Lawrence's fine work caused him to be promoted to the command of the Chesapeake, then refitting at Boston. Captain Broke (afterward Sir Philip, B.V.), commander of the Shannon, cruising off Boston, challenged Lawrence to come out and fight him. The American promptly accepted the challenge. It was a piece of unwarrantable recklessness, for the Chesapeake was not yet ready for the sea, and his crew was undisciplined and in a surly mood, because some promised prize money had not been paid them. Moreover, it is said that most of the sailors were under the influence of liquor.

The Chesapeake sailed gaily out of the harbor on the 1st of June, followed by a number of pleasure boats and barges crowded with spectators, while the hills swarmed with people, many with glasses, all anxious to witness the triumph of the gallant young captain. A woeful disappointment awaited them.

The battle was a terrific one. In a short time the rigging of the Chesapeake was so mangled that she became unmanageable, and could not escape a raking fire which did frightful execution. Captain Lawrence was twice wounded, the last time mortally, and was carried below at the time the enemy were preparing to board. He ordered that the colors should not be struck. "Tell the men to fire faster," he cried; "don't give up the ship!"

Boarders swarmed over the Chesapeake and a few minutes later she was captured, the loss of the Americans being 48 killed and 98 wounded, that of the enemy being about half as great. Lawrence lived four days, most of the time delirious, during which he continually repeated the appeal, "Don't give up the ship!" The impressiveness of the circumstances and the words themselves made them the motto of the American navy in many a subsequent engagement.

MRS. JAMES MADISON
(DOLLY PAYNE).
During the burning of Washington in 1812
by the British, Dolly Madison's heroism
saved the Declaration of Independence
from destruction. She broke the glass case
containing it and fled.

Lawrence was one of the bravest of men, and entered the navy when only seventeen years old. He helped Captain Decatur in burning the Philadelphia, in the harbor of Tripoli, during the war with that country. His body was taken to Halifax and buried with the honors of war, several of the oldest captains in the British navy acting as pall-bearers.

CAPTAIN DECATUR CHECKED.

An exasperating experience befell Captain Decatur. On the day of the capture of the Chesapeake, he was compelled to take refuge in the harbor of New London, to escape a powerful squadron. He was in command of the United States, the Macedonian, and the Hornet. Chafing with impatience, he made repeated attempts to get to sea, but he declared that in every instance the blockading squadron were notified by means of blue lights displayed by Tories on shore. He was thus held helpless until the close of hostilities. This betrayal by his own countrymen caused much resentment throughout the country, and the enemies of the Federal party gave it the name of "Blue Lights," and Connecticut was often taunted for her disloyal course in the war, though the offenders were probably few in number.

By this time, England had acquired so wholesome a respect for the American navy that orders were issued that two or three vessels should always cruise in company, and under no circumstances should a single vessel engage an American, where there was the least preponderance against the British. The Americans were the only nation against whom such an order was ever issued.

Captain William Henry Allen, in command of the brig Argus, boldly entered the English Channel and destroyed much shipping of the enemy. Many vessels were sent in search of him, and on the 14th of August he was captured by the Pelican. Soon afterward the brig Enterprise captured the British Boxer off the coast of Maine. The fight was a desperate one, both commanders being killed. They were buried side by side in Portland.

THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX.

In the spring of 1813, Captain David Porter (father of Admiral David Dixon Porter), in command of the Essex, doubled Cape Horn and entered the Pacific, where until then no American frigate had ever been seen. He protected American vessels and nearly broke up the British whaling trade in that ocean. He made so many captures that he soon had almost a fleet under his command, and was able to pay his men with the money taken from the enemy. Every nation in that region was a friend of England, and he seized the Marquesas Islands, where he refitted his fleet and resumed his cruise. Early in 1814, he entered the neutral harbor of Valparaiso, where he was blockaded by two British vessels that had long been searching for him. Regardless of international law, they attacked the Essex, which was in a crippled condition and unable to close with them, and finally compelled her surrender.

OPERATIONS ON THE LAKES.

Thus far our record of the exploits of the American navy has been confined to the ocean, but the most important doings of all occurred on the lakes. At the beginning, our force upon these inland waters was weak. On Lake Ontario, there was but one small vessel, while the British had several. Both sides began building war-vessels. The American fleet was commanded by Commodore Chauncey and the British by Sir James Yeo. They alternated in gaining command of the lake. Meanwhile, the ship-builders were so busy that from about a dozen vessels on either side they increased the number to more than a hundred each by the close of the war.

PERRY'S GREAT VICTORY.

One of the grandest of all triumphs was gained by the American navy in the early autumn of 1813. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was sent to Lake Erie to build a navy. Perry at that time was not thirty years old and had never seen a naval battle. By August, he had a squadron of two large and seven small vessels, carrying 54 guns and 416 men, with which he set out to find Commodore Barclay, who had two large and four small vessels, with 63 guns and 440 men.

The two squadrons met at the western end of Lake Erie on the 10th of September. Barclay centred such a furious fire upon the Lawrence, Perry's flagship, that in two hours she was in a sinking condition. Perry entered a small boat, and, exposed to a sharp fire, was rowed to the Niagara, on which he hoisted his flag. The battle was renewed, and, while the enemy was trying to form a new line of battle, Perry ran the Niagara directly through the fleet, delivering broadsides right and left. The other vessels were prompt in following her, and poured such a raking fire into the enemy that fifteen minutes later Barclay surrendered. The British commander had but one arm when the battle opened, and, before it ended, his remaining arm was shot off. He lost 200 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners, while the Americans had 27 killed and 96 wounded.

It has already been shown that this victory was of the utmost importance, for Proctor was waiting to invade Ohio, if it went his way, while General Harrison was also waiting to invade Canada, in the event of an American triumph. In sending news of his victory to General Harrison, Perry, in his hastily written dispatch, used the words which have been quoted thousands of times: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." It will be recalled that Harrison immediately embarked his troops on Perry's ships, and, crossing the lake, pursued Proctor to the Thames, where he decisively defeated him and ended all danger of an invasion of Ohio by the enemy.

The American government now began to heed the benefit of the severe lessons of defeat. The worthless generals were weeded out, and the army in western New York reorganized so effectually that the country was cheered by a number of victories—proof that the rank and file were of the best quality and that their previous defeats were due to their leaders.

On July 3, 1814, Gens. Scott, Ripley, and Brown crossed the Niagara from Black Rock to Erie with 3,000 men. Brown's ability had become so manifest that by this time he was a major-general. When he appeared in front of Fort Erie, it surrendered without resistance. Brown pursued a British corps of observation down the river until it crossed Chippewa Creek and joined the main body. Brown withdrew and united also with the principal forces of the Americans, who attacked the British on the 5th of July, in their strong intrenchments behind the Chippewa. They were completely defeated, routed out of their defenses, and driven up the shore of Lake Ontario. Their Indian allies were so disgusted with the defeat of the British and the furious fighting of the Americans that all deserted the British commander.

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE.

The British army received reinforcements and turned back to meet the Americans who were pursuing them. The armies met, July 25th, at Lundy's Lane, within sight of Niagara Falls, where the fiercely contested battle, beginning at sunset, lasted until midnight. The British commander was wounded and captured and the enemy driven back. The loss of the Americans was serious. Scott was so badly wounded that he could take no further part in the war, Brown was less severely injured, and Ripley withdrew with the army to Fort Erie.

An exploit of Colonel James Miller deserves notice. At a critical point in the battle, General Brown saw that victory depended upon the silencing of a battery of seven guns stationed on a hill, that was pouring a destructive fire into the Americans.

"Colonel," said he, "can you capture that battery?"

"I can try," was the modest reply, and a few minutes later Colonel Miller was in motion with his regiment. The darkness enabled the men to conceal themselves under the shadow of a fence, along which they silently crept until they could peep between the rails and see the gunners standing with lighted matches awaiting the order to fire. Thrusting the muzzles of their guns through the openings, they shot down every gunner, and, leaping over the fence, captured the battery in the face of a hot infantry fire. The enemy made three attempts to recapture the battery, but were repulsed each time. When General Ripley retreated, he left the guns behind, so that they again fell into the hands of the British from whom they had been so brilliantly won.

The enemy soon received reinforcements and besieged the Americans in Fort Erie. Brown, although still suffering from his wound, resumed command and drove his besiegers once more beyond the Chippewa. The Americans evacuated Fort Erie on the 5th of November, and recrossing the Niagara went into winter quarters at Black Rock and Ontario. There were no more military operations during the war between Lakes Erie and Ontario.

THE ARMY OF THE NORTH.

General Wilkinson was so inefficient with the Army of the North that he was superseded by General Izard, who advanced with his force to the aid of General Brown at Fort Erie. This left Plattsburg uncovered, and the British decided to attack it by land, and to destroy at the same time the American flotilla on Lake Champlain.

Sir George Prevost, at the head of an army of 14,000 men, entered American territory on the 3d of September, and three days later reached Plattsburg. The garrison withdrew to the south side of the Saranac, and prepared to dispute the passage of the stream. Commodore Downie appeared off the harbor of Plattsburg, with the British squadron, September 11th. The American squadron, under Commodore Macdonough, was in the harbor, and consisted of two less barges than the enemy, 86 guns, and 820 men, while the English commander had 95 guns and more than a thousand men.

During the battle which followed the British land forces made repeated attempts to cross the Saranac, but were defeated in every instance. The battle on the water lasted less than three hours, during which Commodore Downie was killed, his vessel sunk, and the remainder sunk or captured. The destruction of the British squadron was complete, and the land forces withdrew during the night. England was so dissatisfied with the action of Sir George Prevost that he was dismissed from command. No more serious fighting took place in that section during the war.

PUNISHMENT OF THE CREEK INDIANS.

Mention has been made of the massacre at Fort Mimms in Alabama by the Creeks, August 30, 1813. Tennessee acted with prompt vigor. General Jackson at the head of 5,000 men marched into the Creek country and punished the Indians with merciless rigor. After repeated defeats, the Creeks made a stand at the Great Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River. There a thousand warriors gathered, with their wives and children, prepared to fight to the last. The desperate battle was fought March 27, 1814, and at its close 600 Indians were killed and the remainder scattered. The spirit of the Creeks was crushed, and General Jackson's exploit made him the most popular military leader in the Southwest.

Matters looked gloomy for the Americans at the beginning of 1814. England sent a formidable force of veterans to Canada, and another to capture Washington, while the main body expected to take New Orleans, with the intention of retaining the city and province of Louisiana upon the conclusion of peace.

PREPARING FOR THE FINAL STRUGGLE.

The American government gathered up her loins for the great struggle. The President was authorized to borrow $25,000,000, and to issue treasury notes to the amount of $5,000,000. Such sums are but bagatelles in these days, but in 1814 the credit of the government was so poor that the notes depreciated one-fifth of their face value. One hundred and twenty-four dollars were offered as a bounty for every recruit, while the pay, rations, and clothing were placed upon a generous scale. An order was issued increasing the regular army to 66,000 men, and an embargo laid with the aim of stopping trade under British licenses was repealed in April.

The British cruisers kept the Atlantic coast in continual alarm. Entering Delaware Bay they burned every merchant vessel in sight. When the people of Lewiston refused to sell food to them, they bombarded their homes. In Chesapeake Bay Admiral Cockburn plundered private dwellings. Among the places sacked and burned were Lewes, Havre de Grace, Fredericktown, and Georgetown. More leniency was shown the New England coast because of her opposition to the war. Another inexcusable proceeding on the part of the invaders was that of persuading many slaves to leave their masters and join the enemy. This business compelled England, after the close of the war, to pay the United States one million and a quarter dollars, on the award of the Emperor of Russia to whom the question was submitted.

CAPTURE AND BURNING OF WASHINGTON.

But this year saw the crowning disgrace to the American arms. The mismanagement of affairs left our national capital defenseless. In August, 1814, Sir Alexander Cochrane carried a British army up the Chesapeake on board his squadron. Commodore Barney with his few ships had taken shelter in the Patuxent. Paying no attention to him, Ross landed his 5,000 veterans within 40 miles of Washington and advanced against the city. The government had awakened to the threatened peril a short time before, and placed 500 regulars and 2,000 undisciplined militia under the command of General William H. Winder.

Winder took a strong position at Bladensburg and awaited Ross and Cochrane. The British army met with no opposition, and, upon reaching Marlborough, found that Commodore Barney, acting under the orders of the secretary of war, had burned his fleet and hurried to Washington. The English commander arrived in sight of Washington on the 24th of August. His approach to Bladensburg was over a bridge defended by artillery from Barney's flotilla, which were handled by Barney and his sailors. They fought with the utmost heroism, repelling the British again and again; but the militia fled, and, when Barney was wounded and his command helpless, he surrendered. General Ross complimented him for his bravery and immediately paroled him.

BURNING OF WASHINGTON.

This was the only check encountered by the British in their advance upon Washington. General Winder had learned enough of his militia to know that no dependence could be placed upon them, and he fled to Georgetown. The President, heads of departments, and most of the citizens joined in the stampede, and the advance guard of General Ross entered the city that evening.

The British commander offered to spare the city for a large sum of money, but no one was within reach with authority to comply with his demand. Ross claimed that his flag of truce had been fired on, and he ordered the city to be burned. In the conflagration that followed, the President's house, the department offices, numerous private dwellings, the libraries and public archives, many works of art in the public buildings, the navy yard and its contents, a frigate on the stocks, and several small vessels were destroyed. The patent office and jail were the only public property spared. The burning of Washington was an outrage which was generally condemned in England.

After a rest and the reception of reinforcements, Ross marched against Baltimore, which he declared should be his winter quarters. While on the road he was mortally wounded by an American sharpshooter in a tree. Such a brave defense was made by Forts McHenry and Covington, guarding the narrow passage from the Patapsco into the harbor of Baltimore, that the British fleet and the land forces were repelled. The success of this defense inspired Francis S. Key to write our famous national song, The Star-Spangled Banner.

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION.

The war became intensely unpopular in New England. Its shipping suffered severely, and the demands for peace grew more clamorous. On the 15th of December, 1814, a convention of delegates, appointed by the Legislatures of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont, met in Hartford and held secret sessions for three weeks. An address was agreed upon charging the national government with carrying on a policy injurious to New England. Amendments were proposed to the Constitution, and a committee was selected to confer with the government at Washington and to propose that the revenues of New England should be applied to her own defense. An agreement was made that if their proposed action failed, and peace was not soon made, the convention should meet again in the following June. There was open talk of a withdrawal from the Union, and doubtless grave results would have followed had the war gone on. The Hartford Convention and the "Blue Lights" of Connecticut gave the final death-blow to the Federal party.

A TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED.

Despite the progress of the war, peace negotiations had been going on for a long time. Russia, whose system of government has always been the exact opposite of ours, has shown us marked friendship in many instances. As early as 1813 she offered to mediate between Great Britain and the United States. The President appointed five commissioners, John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, who were sent to Ghent, Belgium, where they were met by Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams, the commissioners for Great Britain. After long negotiations, the commissioners reached an agreement on the 24th of December, 1814. The treaty did not contain a word about the search of American vessels for alleged deserters, which was the real cause of the war, nor was any reference made to the wrongs done our commerce, and the rights of neutral nations were not defined. The Orders of Council, however, died of themselves, Great Britain never again attempting to enforce them. It was agreed that all places captured by either side during the progress of the war or afterward should be surrendered, and provisions were made for fixing the boundary between the United States and Canada.

In those days, when the ocean telegraph was not thought of and there were no swift-going steamers, news traveled slowly, and it did not reach Washington until February 4, 1815. Meanwhile, the most important battle of the war had taken place and several captures were made on the ocean.

The Creek Indians had been so crushed by General Jackson that they ceded a large part of their lands to the Americans. They were sullen, and when a British squadron entered the Gulf of Mexico they eagerly did all they could to help the enemy. The squadron, by permission of the Spanish authorities took possession of the forts of Pensacola, and fitted out an expedition against Fort Bower at the entrance to Mobile Bay. They attacked the fort, September 15th, by sea and land, but were repulsed. Among the land assailants were several hundred Creek warriors, who thus received another lesson of the bravery of American soldiers.

General Jackson, in command of the southern military district, was enraged by the course of the Spanish authorities. He marched from Mobile at the head of 2,000 Tennessee militia and a number of Choctaws, stormed Pensacola, November 7th, drove the British from the harbor, and compelled the Spanish governor to surrender the town.

GENERAL JACKSON'S GREAT VICTORY AT NEW ORLEANS.

Having completed his work in this summary fashion, he returned to Mobile, where he found an urgent call for him to go to the defense of New Orleans, which was threatened by a powerful force of the enemy. The invasion, to which we have referred in another place, was a formidable one and had been arranged a long time before. General Jackson reached New Orleans, December 2d, and began vigorous preparations. He enlisted almost everybody capable of bearing arms, including negroes and convicts. One of the most famous freebooters that ever ravaged the Gulf of Mexico was Lafitte, to whom the British made an extravagant offer for his help, but he refused, and gave his services to Jackson.

Jackson's vigor filled the city with confidence, but he was so strict that dissatisfaction was expressed, whereupon he declared martial law; in other words, he took the city government into his own hands and ruled as he thought best. He neglected no precaution. Fort St. Philip, guarding the passage of the Mississippi at Detour la Plaquemine, was made stronger by new works, and a line of fortifications was built four miles below the city, on the left of the river, and extended eastward to an impassable cypress swamp. It was a disputed question for a time whether Jackson used cotton bales in the defenses of New Orleans, but it is established that he placed them on the tops of the intrenchments. Cannon were also mounted at different points. The militia under General Morgan, and the crews and guns of a part of the squadron of Commodore Patterson, held the west bank of the river. These precautions enabled the defenders to enfilade the approaching enemy. A detachment guarded the pass of Bayou St. John, above the city, and a number of gunboats awaited to dispute the passage of the river between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne.

The British fleet appeared at the entrance to this channel, December 14th, and was immediately assailed by the American flotilla, which was destroyed before it could inflict serious damage. Left free to select the point of attack, the British sent a force in flat-bottomed boats to the extremity of the lake, where they landed in a swamp. They repelled an attack by Jackson, who fell back toward the city. On the 28th of December the British were within half a mile of the American lines. They began a fire of shells, but were repulsed by Jackson's artillery.

The defenders numbered some 3,000 militia, who were stationed in a line of intrenchments a mile long and four miles from the town. This line was protected by a ditch in front, flanked by batteries on the other side of the river, and, in addition, eight other batteries were in position.

The British worked slowly forward until on the first day of the year they were within less than a quarter of a mile of New Orleans. As the best material at hand from which to erect breastworks they used hogsheads of sugar and molasses, which were sent flying in fragments by the American cannon. Several attacks upon the defenders were repulsed and the final assault delayed for a number of days.

Sir Edward Pakenham, a veteran of the Peninsular wars, and a brother-in-law of Wellington, the conqueror of Napoleon, was in command of the reinforcements. While the advance went on slowly, 3,000 militia joined Jackson. They were composed mainly of Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen, the finest marksmen in the world. They were men, too, who did not lose their heads in battle, but, kneeling behind their intrenchments, coolly took aim and rarely threw away a shot.

On the morning of Jan. 8, 1815, the English army advanced against the American intrenchments. They numbered nearly 8,000 veterans, and England never placed a finer body of men in the field. The American riflemen, with shotted cannon and leveled rifles, calmly awaited the command to open on the advancing host. They were formed in two lines, those at the rear loading for those in front, who were thus enabled to keep up an almost continuous fire.

WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON.

Before the outburst of flame the British dissolved like snow in the sun, but the survivors with unsurpassable heroism persisted until it was apparent that not a man would be left alive if they maintained their ground. Then they fell back to decide upon some other method of attack.

Angered by his repulse, Pakenham ran to the head of a regiment bearing scaling ladders and called upon his men to follow him. Only a few succeeded in piercing the American lines. Pakenham fell, mortally wounded; his successor was killed, and the third in command was so badly injured that he could give no orders. "All that were left of them" retreated. From the opening to the close of the battle was less than half an hour, during which the British lost 2,500 in killed, wounded, and prisoners, one-third being killed. On the American side eight were killed and thirteen wounded. A few days later the British withdrew to their ships and sailed for the West Indies, where they learned of the signing of the treaty of peace.

WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.

It will be noticed that as the war progressed the principal fighting changed from the ocean to the land. Several encounters took place on the sea, but they were mostly unimportant, and did not always result favorably for us. In September, 1814, Captain Samuel C. Reid, in command of the privateer Armstrong, while lying in the harbor of Fayal, one of the Azores, was attacked by a fleet of boats from three British frigates. He fought all through the night, and, although outnumbered twenty to one, made one of the most remarkable defenses in naval annals.

On the 16th of January following, the President was captured by the British ship Endymion. On the 20th of February, while Captain Charles Stewart was cruising off Cape St. Vincent, in the Constitution, with no thought that peace had been declared, he fell in with two British brigs, the Cyane and the Levant. It was a bright moonlight night, and, after a brief engagement, in which Stewart displayed consummate seamanship, he captured both vessels.

But peace had come and was joyfully welcomed everywhere. The war had cost us heavily in men, ships, and property; the New England factories were idle, commerce at a standstill, and the whole country in a deplorable state. But everything now seemed to spring into life under the glad tidings. The shipping in New England was decked with bunting, and, within twenty-four hours after the news arrived, the dockyards rang with the sound of saw and hammer.

WAR WITH ALGIERS.

The Barbary States did not forget their rough treatment at the hands of the United States a few years before. During the war they allowed the British to capture American vessels in their harbors, and sometimes captured them on their own account. In 1812 the Dey of Algiers compelled the American consul to pay him a large sum of money to save himself, family, and a few friends from being carried off into slavery. We were too busily occupied elsewhere to give this barbarian attention, but in March, 1815, war was declared against Algiers, and Commodores Decatur and Bainbridge were sent to the Mediterranean with two squadrons to conduct operations.

They did it to perfection. After capturing several frigates, they approached the city of Algiers and demanded the immediate surrender of every American prisoner, full indemnity for all property destroyed, and the disavowal of all future claims to tribute. The terrified Dey eagerly signed the treaty placed before him on the quarter-deck of Decatur's ship. The Pasha of Tunis was compelled to pay a round sum on account of the American vessels he had allowed the British to capture in his harbor during the war. When he had done this, the Pasha of Tripoli was called upon and forced to make a similar contribution to the United States treasury.

FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

The negro had long been a disturbing factor in politics, and, in 1816, the National Colonization Society was formed in Princeton, N.J., and immediately reorganized in Washington. Its object was to encourage the emancipation of slaves by obtaining a place for them outside the United States, whither they might emigrate. It was hoped also that by this means the South would be relieved of its free black population. The scheme was so popular that branches of the society were established in almost every State. At first free negroes were sent to Sierra Leone, on the western coast of Africa, under the equator. Later, for a short time, they were taken to Sherbrooke Island, but in 1821 a permanent location was purchased at Cape Mesurado, where, in 1847, the colony declared itself an independent republic under the name of Liberia. Its capital, Monrovia, was named in honor of the President of the United States. The republic still exists, but its functions were destroyed by the war for the Union, which abolished slavery on this continent, and Liberia has never been looked upon with great favor by the colored people of this country.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1816.

It has already been shown that the course of the Federal party in the War of 1812 ruined it. The Federal nominee for the presidency was Rufus King, of New York. He was a native of Maine, a graduate of Harvard College, and had served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. It was he who in 1785 moved the provision against slavery in the Northwest Territory, and he was an active member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, afterward returning to Massachusetts and giving all his energies to bringing about the ratification of the Constitution. He was United States senator from New York in 1789-1796; was minister to London, 1796-1803; and again a United States senator, 1813-1825.

John Eager Howard, the candidate for the vice-presidency, had hardly a less claim upon the recognition of his countrymen, for he joined the patriot army at the outbreak of the Revolution, and fought with marked gallantry at White Plains, Germantown, Monmouth, and Camden, and won special honor at the Cowpens in 1781. He was afterward governor of Maryland, declined the portfolio of war in Washington's cabinet, and was United States senator from 1796 to 1803.

These facts are given to show the character and standing of the candidates of the Federalists in the presidential election of 1816. The following was the result: For President, James Monroe, of Virginia, Republican, 133; Rufus King, of New York, Federalist, 34. For Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, Republican, 183; John Eager Howard, of Maryland, Federalist, 22; James Ross, of Pennsylvania, 5; John Marshall, of Virginia, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland, 3. Vacancies, 4. Thus Monroe became President and Tompkins Vice-President.

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FIRST TRAIN OF CARS IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER X.