A School History of the United States

by John Bach McMaster

[Footnote 1: From an old print.]

In 1802 Georgia ceded her western lands, which were added to the Mississippi Territory. From the Louisiana purchase there was organized in 1804 the territory of Orleans, and in 1805 the territory of Louisiana (see p. 247). In 1805, also, the lower peninsula of Michigan was cut off from Indiana and organized as Michigan Territory. In 1809 the territory of Illinois was organized (p. 247). In 1812 the territory of Orleans became the state of Louisiana.

The third census showed that in 1810 the population of the United States was 7,200,000, and that of these over 1,000,000 were in the states and territories west of the Alleghanies.

%279. Indian Troubles; Battle of Tippecanoe.%—As the settlers north of the Ohio moved further westward, and as more came in, their farms and settlements touched the Indian boundary line. In Indiana, where, save a strip sixty miles wide along the Ohio River, and a few patches scattered over the territory, every foot of soil was owned by the Indians, this crowding led to serious consequences. The Indians first grew restive. Then, under the lead of Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, they founded a league or confederacy against the whites, and built a town on Tippecanoe Creek, just where it enters the Wabash. Finally, when Harrison, who was governor of Indiana Territory, bought the Indian rights to the Wabash valley, the confederacy refused to recognize the sale, and gave such signs of resistance that Harrison marched against them, and in 1811 fought the battle of Tippecanoe and burned the Indian village. For a time it was thought the victory was as signal as that of Wayne. But the Indians were soon back on the old site, and in our second war with Great Britain they sided with the British.

[Illustration: The United States and Territories in 1813]

%280. Industrial Progress.%—In 1789 our country had no credit and no revenue, and was burdened with a great debt which very few people believed would ever be paid. But when the government called in all the old worthless Continental money and certificates and gave the people bonds in exchange for them, when it began to lay taxes and pay its debts, when it had power to regulate trade, when the National Bank was established and the merchants were given bank bills that would pass at their face value all over the country, business began to revive. The money which the people had been hiding away for years was brought out and put to useful purposes. Banks sprang up all over the country, and companies were founded to manufacture woolen cloth and cotton cloth, to build bridges, to construct turnpike roads, and to cut canals. Between 1789 and 1795 the first carpet was woven in the United States, the first broom made from broom corn, the first cotton factory opened, the first gold and silver coins of the United States were struck at the mint, the first newspaper was printed in the territory northwest of the Ohio River, the first printing press was set up in Tennessee, the first geography of the United States was published, and daily newspapers were issued in Baltimore and Boston. It was during this period that a hunter named Guinther discovered anthracite coal in Pennsylvania; that Whitney invented the cotton gin; that Samuel Slater built the first mill for making cotton yarns; that Eli Terry started the manufacture of clocks as a business; that cotton sewing thread was first manufactured in the United States at Pawtucket, R.I.; and that the first turnpike in our country was completed. This extended from Philadelphia to Lancaster, a distance of sixty-two miles.

%281. The Period of Commercial and Agricultural Prosperity.%—Just at this time came another change of great importance. Till 1793 we had scarcely any commerce with the West Indies. England would not allow our vessels to go to her islands. Neither would Spain, nor France, except to a very limited degree. It was the policy of these three countries to confine such trade as far as possible to their own merchants. But in 1793 France, you remember, made war on England and opened her West Indian ports to all neutral nations. The United States was a neutral, and our merchants at once began to trade with the islanders. What these people wanted was lumber, flour, grain, provisions, salt pork, and fish. All this led to a demand, first, for ships, then for sailors, and then for provisions and lumber—to the benefit of every part of the country except the South. New England was the lumber, fishing, shipbuilding, and commercial section. New York and Pennsylvania produced grain, flour, lumber, and carried on a great commerce as well. So profitable was it to raise wheat, that in many parts of Virginia the people stopped raising tobacco and began to make flour, and soon made Virginia the second flour-producing state in the Union. Until after 1795 the people of the Western States were cut off from this trade. But in that year the treaty with Spain was made, and the people of the West were then allowed to float their produce to New Orleans and there sell it or ship it to the West Indies. Kentucky then became a flour-producing state.

As a consequence of all this, people stopped putting their money into roads and canals and manufactures, and put it into farming, shipbuilding, and commerce. Between 1793 and 1807, therefore, our country enjoyed a period of commercial and agricultural prosperity. But with 1807 came another change. In that year the embargo was laid, and for more than fifteen months no vessels were allowed to leave the ports of the United States for foreign countries. Up to this time our people had been so much engaged in commerce and agriculture, that they had not begun to manufacture. In 1807 all the blankets, all the woolen cloth, cotton cloth, carpets, hardware, china, glass, crockery, knives, tools, and a thousand other things used every day were made for us in Great Britain. Cotton grown in the United States was actually sent to England to be made into cloth, which was then carried back to the United States to be used.

%282. "Infant Manufactures."%—As the embargo prevented our ships going abroad and foreign ships coming to us, these goods could no longer be imported. The people must either go without or make them at home. They decided, of course, to make them at home, and all patriotic citizens were called on to help, which they did in five ways.

First, in each of the cities and large towns people met and formed a "Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Manufactures." Every patriotic man and woman was expected to join one of them, and in so doing to take a pledge not to buy or use or wear any article of foreign make, provided it could be made in this country.