A Brief History of the United States

by Joel Dorman Steele

ALABAMA, the twenty-second State, was admitted to the Union December 14, 1819. Its name is of Indian origin, and signifies "Here we rest." It was originally a part of Georgia. (See Mississippi.) The fierce contests with the Creek Indians, ended by Jackson, gave to the State a vast and fertile region. The first settlement was made by Bienville on Mobile Bay, in 1702. Nine years afterward, the present site of Mobile was occupied. Mobile was the original seat of the French colonization in Louisiana, and for many years the capital. Having been ceded to Great Britain and then to Spain, in 1813 it was surrendered to General Wilkinson, and has since remained in the possession of the United States (p. 146).

MAINE, the twenty-third State, was admitted to the Union March 15, 1820. (See p. 60.)

MISSOURI, the twenty-fourth State, was admitted to the Union August 10, 1821. Its name is derived from its principal river, and means "Muddy water." Its oldest town, St. Genevieve, was founded in 1755. St. Louis was settled nine years after, but was not incorporated as a town until 1809; its first newspaper was published in 1808, and the first steamboat arrived at its wharf in 1817. The District of Louisiana was organized as Louisiana Territory in 1805, with St. Louis as its capital. When Louisiana became a State, the name of the Territory was changed to Missouri.

ARKANSAS, the twenty-fifth State, was admitted to the Union June 15, 1836. It took its name from a now extinct tribe of Indians. It was discovered and settled by the French under Chevalier de Tonty, as early as 1685. It followed the fate of the other portions of Louisiana. On the admission of the State of Missouri, Arkansas was organized as a Territory, including the present State and a part of Indian Territory.

MICHIGAN, the twenty-sixth State, was admitted to the Union January 26, 1837. The name is of Indian origin, signifying "Great Lake." It was early visited by missionaries (see p. 33) and fur traders. Detroit was founded in 1701 by Cadillac. This region, first a part of the Northwestern Territory, then of Indiana Territory, was organized as a separate Territory in 1805. The country north of the present States of Indiana and Illinois was annexed to Michigan in 1818. The act of admission gave the State its present boundaries.

FLORIDA, the twenty-seventh State, was admitted to the Union March 3, 1845. The Spanish word florida, means "blooming" (see p. 27). Its early visitors, Ponce de Leon, De Narvaez, and De Soto, its first settlement at St. Augustine, its history under the Spaniards, and the Seminole war, have been incidentally described. It was organized as a Territory March 3, 1819.

TEXAS, the twenty-eighth State, was admitted to the Union December 27, 1845. It was explored by De Leon and La Salle. The latter, intending to found a French settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi, sailed by it unawares, and, landing at Matagorda Bay, built Fort St. Louis on the Lavaca. The Spaniards afterward explored and partially settled the country, establishing missions at various points. These did not prosper, however, and the region was populated mainly by roving bands of Indians. Civil war had impoverished the few settlers who were unable to flee from the country, and Galveston was nearly deserted, when, in 1820, Moses Austin, a native of Connecticut, obtained from the Spanish authorities in Mexico a grant of land. Emigration from the United States was encouraged, and in 1830 there were twenty thousand Americans in Texas. The jealousy of Mexico being excited, acts of oppression followed, and in 1835 the Texans were driven to declare their independence. After a year of severe fighting and alternating victories, Santa Anna was conquered.

[Footnote: Santa Anna, with four thousand men, having attacked the Alamo, a fort garrisoned by only one hundred and seventy-two men, every one of that gallant few died at his post except seven, who were killed while asking for quarter. Here David Crockett, the famous hunter, who had volunteered to fight with the Texans for their liberty, fell, pierced with wounds, but surrounded by the corpses of those whom he had cut down ere he was overpowered. In the battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna, with fifteen hundred men, was defeated by eight hundred, under General Sam. Houston (See Barnes's Popular History of the United States, p. 445.)]

The next year (1837) Texas sought admission into the Union. In 1844 the question was revived. The last act of Tyler's administration was to sign a bill for its admission. This bill was ratified by a convention of the State, July 5th of the same year.

IOWA, the twenty-ninth State, was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846. Its name is of Indian origin, signifying "Drowsy ones." Julien Dubuque, a Canadian Frenchman, obtained, in 1788, a large tract of land, including the present site of Dubuque. He there built a fort and traded with the Indians till 1810. The first permanent settlement was made at Burlington in 1833, by emigrants from Illinois. The same year, Dubuque was founded. This Territory belonged to the Louisiana tract and partook of its fortunes. It was successively a part of Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin Territories, but was organized separately in 1838. It then included all of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, but when admitted as a State was reduced to its present limits.