A History of the United States

by Charles Kendall Adams; William P. Trent

99. The Explorations of La Salle.—Their work was finished ten years later by Robert de la Salle,[^[49]] who with his companions crossed from Lake Erie to the Illinois River and, after enduring many hardships, tracked the Mississippi southward to the Gulf of Mexico. There, taking possession of the region for Louis XIV. of France, La Salle named it Louisiana in his honor. He had been about four years at his work, in which he had shown a courage that has made him memorable. Two years later, in 1684, he sailed from France to plant a colony on the Mississippi; but, missing its mouth, landed on the coast of Texas. Here a fort was built, and from its occupation France got her claim to the territory as far as the Rio Grande. La Salle and his party, after suffering many hardships, determined to separate into two bands. The party led by La Salle murdered their brave commander, and finally reached the Illinois River.

100. French and English Claims.—Thus France, through the labors of her loyal subjects, had established a claim to an enormous region stretching from the mouth of the St. Lawrence, around the English colonies, to the mouth of the Mississippi, and thence to the Rio Grande. East and west the boundaries were practically the Alleghany and the Rocky mountains. But these claims were sure to be resisted, for the charters of the English colonies gave them almost indefinite rights to the westward, and they were growing too fast to be long cooped up between the Alleghanies and the Atlantic. Before the close of the seventeenth century, the struggle for predominance in the Mississippi Valley had begun, and in about seventy-five years France had been stripped of all the possessions which had been secured for her by the intrepidity and foresight of leaders who had often been but ill-supported by their king and government.

WARS WITH THE FRENCH.

101. King William’s War (1690–1697).—The colonial wars against the French for the possession of the region west of the Alleghanies are known by the names of the English sovereigns reigning at the time of hostilities; but they practically coincide with important European wars. For example, the first break in the American struggle corresponded with the famous Peace of Ryswick (1697). Indeed, throughout the eighteenth century colonial questions formed a most important factor in the numerous and destructive wars waged in Europe. The French early began to see that war must soon arise between the English colonists and their own, and about the time of the revolution which brought in William and Mary (1689), they sent over the able Count Frontenac with instructions to overrun New York. At first he had to beat off the Iroquois; but in 1690 he began that long series of horrible raids, conducted by mixed bands of French and Indians, which gives such a bloody tinge to the annals of the times and accounts for the hatred cherished for both their Christian and their savage enemies by the English colonists. First it was Schenectady, New York, that was burned and laid waste; then Salmon Falls, New Hampshire; then Fort Loyal (now Portland, Maine); then Exeter, New Hampshire. No one knew where the blow might fall next. Panic reigned among the colonies, and a meeting of delegates from several of them was held at Albany, in February, 1690, to discuss the situation (§ [66]). A threefold attack on the French possessions was planned, but only that against Port Royal in Acadia, led by Sir William Phips, governor of Massachusetts, was successful. Having destroyed Port Royal, he attempted to take Quebec, while another body of troops attacked Montreal. Both expeditions were failures, and, as a result, the French ravages continued until the Peace of Ryswick, in 1697. Neither side had gained ground, but the English had suffered terribly. Massacres of the inhabitants of frontier towns made life a terror to the pioneers, and in 1697 the invaders actually sacked Haverhill, not thirty miles from Boston.

102. Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713).—Peace did not last long, for William III. was resolute in opposing the aggressions of Louis XIV. His policy was carried on after his death (in 1702) by the advisers of his successor, Queen Anne, chief among whom was the famous Duke of Marlborough, the victor of Blenheim. Massacres soon began again in New England. Port Royal was attacked unsuccessfully in 1707 and successfully in 1710, and another expedition to Quebec came to nothing. The Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, put a stop to hostilities, and this time the English diplomats were sufficiently resolute to retain Acadia. Thenceforth Port Royal, or Annapolis, as it was now named in honor of the queen, was held by the English.

Jonathan Edwards.

103. Colonies at Peace: the “Great Awakening.”—Peace was to last for thirty years, a period which the French improved by exploring expeditions and by the building of forts to secure the great region watered by the Mississippi. Nor did the English lose sight of the vast interests at stake. They did perhaps the best thing to be done under the circumstances—they waited and grew strong in numbers and wealth, filling out as well as possible their more compact territory. They experienced also a spiritual awakening that must have strengthened the popular character in many ways. This was the “Great Awakening” which, beginning early in the century, became especially potent in 1734 under the preaching of the famous Jonathan Edwards[^[50]] at Northampton, Massachusetts. The religious enthusiasm spread far and wide, and after a short lull, began, in 1739–1740, to flame out afresh under the inspiration of the great revivalist, George Whitefield. This eloquent English preacher went to Georgia to join John and Charles Wesley, and there carried on the religious work which the brothers had begun. Whitefield preached throughout the colonies, stirring men everywhere, and undoubtedly producing many good results in spite of the evil consequences which a period of excitement always leaves behind it.

104. Establishment of French Forts.—After the Peace of Ryswick, Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, established a French settlement at Biloxi, in the present state of Mississippi. La Salle had previously built Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River, and it was now the French policy to fill up the territory between these two points with a chain of forts and settlements. Mobile was founded in 1702, New Orleans in 1718. The founder of New Orleans was Iberville’s brother, Bienville. At the other end of the line Detroit was founded in 1701, Fort Niagara was built in 1726, and Crown Point was erected on Lake Champlain in 1731. In order that Acadia might be won back if possible, the strong fortress of Louisburg was erected on Cape Breton Island.

105. King George’s War (1744–1748).—In 1744 the war known in Europe as the War of the Austrian Succession, and in America as King George’s War, was begun by a successful French attack on an English post in Nova Scotia, and by an unsuccessful attempt to take Annapolis. Great efforts were now made by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts to save Nova Scotia. He applied to the English king, but his main reliance was upon Massachusetts and her sister colonies of New England. In the spring of 1745, just one year after the commencement of hostilities, a large expedition set out to capture Louisburg, and after a siege of six weeks took that redoubtable fortress. The victory was celebrated in many long and sincere prayers of thanksgiving and in some remarkably bad poetry. But the English government was so blind to the importance of the interest at stake as to restore Louisburg to the French at the close of the war, in 1748.