From 1607—the Founding of Jamestown,
To 1775—the Breaking out of the Revolution.
This Epoch traces the early history of the thirteen colonies—Virginia, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Georgia. The Cavaliers land in Virginia, and the Puritans in Massachusetts. Immigration increases and the settlements multiply along the whole coast. The colonies, however, still have little history in common. Each by itself struggles with the wilderness, contends with the Indian, and develops the principles of liberty.
[Footnote: Questions on the Geography of the Second Epoch.—Names of
places in italic letters may be found on the map for Epoch III. Locate
Jamestown. Salem. Charlestown. Boston. Cambridge. Swanzea.
Providence. Bristol. Hadley. Hatfield. Portsmouth. Dover. Hartford.
Wethersfield. New Haven. Windsor. Saybrook. New York. Albany.
Schenectady. Elizabethtown. Wilminton. Philadelphia. St. Mary's.
Edenton. Charleston. Savannah. Haverhill. Deerfield. St. Augustine.
Quebec. Louisburg.
Locate Fort Venango. Oswego. Presque Isle. Fort Le Boeuf. Crown
Point. Fort Ticonderoga. Fort Niagara. Fort du Quesne. Fort William
Henry. Fort Edward.
Describe the Ohio River. Monongahela River. French Creek. Chowan
River. Ashley River, Cooper River. River St. John. Potomac River.
James River. Hudson River. Connecticut River. Mohawk River.
Delaware River. Kennebec River. Penobscot River. Mystic River. Miami
River. St. Lawrence River.
Locate Manhattan Island. Alleghany Mountains. Cape Breton.
Massachusetts Bay. Albemarle Sound. Chesapeake Bay.]
VIRGINIA.
THE CHARACTER of the colonists was poorly adapted to endure the hardships incident to a settlement in a new country. They were mostly gentlemen by birth, unused to labor. They had no families, and came out in search of wealth or adventure, expecting, when rich, to return to England. The climate was unhealthy, and before the first autumn half of their number had perished.
JOHN SMITH saved the colony from ruin. First as a member of the council, and afterward as president, his services were invaluable. He persuaded the settlers to erect a fort and to build log huts for the winter. He made long voyages, carefully exploring Chesapeake Bay, securing the friendship of the Indians, and bringing back boat-loads of supplies. He trained the tender gentlemen till they learned how to swing the axe in the forest. He declared that "he who would not work, might not eat." He taught them that industry and self-reliance are the surest guarantees to fortune.
[Footnote: Captain John Smith was born to adventure. While yet a boy he leaves his home in Lincolnshire, England, to engage in Holland wars. After a four-years service he builds a lodge of boughs in a forest, where he hunts, rides, and studies military tactics. Next we hear of him on his way to fight the Turks. Before reaching France he is robbed, and escapes death from want only by begging alms. Having embarked for Italy, a fearful storm arises; he, being a heretic, is deemed the cause, and is thrown overboard, but he swims to land. In the East, a famous Mussulman wishes to fight some Christian knight "to please the ladies;" Smith offers himself and slays three champions in succession. Taken prisoner in battle and sold as a slave, his head is shaved and his neck bound with an iron ring; he kills his master, arrays himself in the dead man's garments, mounts a horse and spurs his way to a Russian camp. Having returned to England, he embarks for the new world. On the voyage he excites the jealousy of his fellows and is landed in chains; but his worth becomes so apparent that he is finally made president of the colony. His marvelous escapes seem now more abundant than ever. A certain fish inflicts a dangerous wound, but he finds an antidote and afterward eats part of the same fish with great relish. He is poisoned, but overcomes the dose and severely beats the poisoner. His party of fifteen is attacked by Opechancanough (Op-e-kan-ka-no), brother and successor of Powhatan, with seven hundred warriors; Smith drags the old chief by his long hair into the midst of the Indian braves, who, amazed at such audacity, immediately surrender. He is shockingly burned on a boat by the explosion of a bag of powder at his side; but he leaps into the water, where he barely escapes death by drowning. These and many other wonderful exploits he published in a book after his return to England. Historians very generally discredit them, and even the story of his rescue by Pocahontas (p. 48) is considered very doubtful. His services were, however, of unquestionable value to Virginia; and his disinterestedness appears from the fact that he never received a foot of land in the colony his wisdom had saved. Of his last years we know little. He died near London, 1631.]