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THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY-BOOK
THE NIZVJ YOi^
PUBLIC LIBRA n'
ASTCR, LCN'O-r AND TILDLN FOUNOATlOWg.
YOUNG CAPTAIN GRANDPRE, SWORD IN HANI), FACED THE DRAGOON
Frontispiece. Sec Page iiy.
i lie An 'an History
Stuiy-BoOi*
A i Tn:T>'
tBANCIS K, BALL'
MERKILL
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The American History Story- Book
By
ALBERT F. BLAISDELL
AND
FRANCIS K. BALL
Authors of " Hero Stories from American History," etc.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
FRANK T. MERRILL
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1911
FLIE
AS-J TILf?
c
Copyright, 1911, Bv Little, Brown, and Company.
All rights reserved
Published, September, 1911
5Pr(ntet«
J. PARKHILL & Co., BOSTON, U.S.A.
PREFACE
This little book is designed to be used as a supplementary historical reader for the fourth and fifth grades of our public schools, or for other young persons from ten to fifteen years of age. It is also intended for collateral reading in connection with the study of the numerous elementary text-books on Ameri- can history.
The authors have attempted to describe in some detail the perils, the arduous struggles, the stern lessons of self-denial, and the staunch patriotism of the early settlers of this country. Personal anecdotes and inci- dents which thrill us because of their human element and which smack of the picturesque life of our forefathers have been freely used. Such historical material, instinct with human life, serves a most useful purposje in teach-
PREFACE
ing elementary history. Experienced teachers know that such material attracts and holds the attention of boys and girls and tends to stimulate them to learn more about the history of their country.
These stories rest upon a substantial his- torical basis. They have been diligently culled from many trustworthy sources. This book would indeed prove of little worth to young people if it could be read at a glance and then thrown aside like the ordinary story-book. It is suggested that teachers and parents supplement and enrich the text of this book with such other his- torical material as may be readily obtained from school, home, or public libraries.
Albert F. Blaisdell.
Francis K. Ball.
May, 1911.
vi:
CONTENTS
CHAPTBa
I. Elizabeth Tilley, the Young Pilgrim Girl"
II. Squanto Helps the Pilgrims .
III. The Bravery of Hannah Dustin
IV. A Famous Writing - Desk .
V. Bessie Fisher Outwits the Tories
VI. Tempy Wicks Hides Her Horse
VII. Peggy Miller Goes Marketing
VIII. Paul Russell's Bacon is Saved
IX. Fighting the British y/iru Bees
X. A Timely Jack - o' - Lantern
XI. Mercy Tyler Traps a Panther
XII. Bessie Brandon's Unexpected Guest
XIII. David Miller Kills a Rattlesnake
XIV. Little Jarvis, the Midshipman . XV. Helen Patterson's Escape
XVI. A Last Blow for Spain
XVII. The Charge of the Hounds
XVIII. The Defense of Fort Stephenson
PAGE
1
9
19
28
37
44
50
59
67
73
80
86
92
98
106
112
121
126
VII
ILLUSTRATIONS
Young Captain Grandpre, sword in hand, faced the
dragoon Frontispiece
Squanto now taught thera how to get the old Indian
cornfield ready for a new crop .... Mr. Dustin stopped his horse and faced the savages " That will make King George gnash his teeth,"
said the genial old gentleman ....
It was a mad race for an hour
" Do you please sit down with me, and I shall enjoy
this good breakfast with you " . . . . "90
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THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY-BOOK
ELIZABETH TILLEY, THE YOUNG PILGRIM GIRL
JOHN TILLEY was a blacksmith. He lived in London, where with plenty of work he made a home for himself and his family.
Now there were some people in England who did not Hke the English church and be- lieved they had a right to worship God in their own way. John Tilley was one of them. The King of England told them they must go to his church or be sent to prison. Some of these people were really put into prison; others were driven from their homes and native land; some were even put to death.
1
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
^' Let us go away/' they said to one an- other. ^' Let us find a country where we can worship God as we please."
And so it came to pass that they hired a vessel, and with their women and children crossed the sea to Holland. Here they were allowed to worship as they saw fit.
John Tilley's daughter Elizabeth thought Holland was an odd country. Indeed it is. It is almost as flat as a floor. It is so low and so little above the level of the sea that the tide could flow over the land. The people of Holland built great walls, called dykes, which kept the ocean out. But there were canals which ran everywhere like great spider- webs, even through the main streets of the cities.
As the years passed by, other good people came across the sea from England, to make homes for themselves in Holland. At the end of twelve years there were about a thou- sand of them. They were a thrifty and hard- working people. They liked their new friends,
2
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
and were liked by them. Still, it was not England; and at last they began to feel that it was not best for them to live any longer in a strange land. Their children were already learning the ways of the country and could speak Dutch as well as English.
'^ We are pilgrims in a strange land," mur- mured the good Elder Brewster.
" This will never do in the world/ ^ said Goodman Tilley to his wife one day. " Look at Elizabeth and the children she is playing with in the garden. They are talking Dutch so fast I don't know a word they are saying. It is high time for us to cross the great ocean and make a new home for ourselves in America."
'' In truth, John," answered Goodwife Til- ley, " we could indeed live there under the rule of King James of England and yet be free to worship as we pleased. Let us talk it over with our good pastor. Elder Robinson, and get his advice."
Thus it came about that in the summer of 3
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
1620 a little company of these people bade good-by to Holland, and sailed away to England in an old vessel called the Speed- well.
Another vessel, named the Mayflower, was waiting for them. The Speedwell, however, was found to be too old and leaky to make the voyage across the Atlantic. She was said to be as open and leaky as a sieve. After many delays a hundred people were crowded into the Mayflower and set sail from Plymouth in September, 1620, on the long voyage across the sea.
At first Elizabeth Tilley and several other young girls of her age liked to watch the waves and the strange sights about the vessel. But after a time it came on stormy, and the women and children were often sent below, where it was cold and dreary, with scarcely room enough to move about. It was a long voyage of sixty-three days. The Mayflower was a frail and leaky craft to cross the Atlantic even in midsummer. Storm after storm arose, and
4
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
it often seemed as if the vessel would go to the bottom with all on board.
In the midst of the ocean a baby was born to Master Stephen Hopkins and his wife Ehzabeth. We are told that the tiny baby was a great comfort to all on board.
^^ What shall we name him? ^' asked Ehza- beth Tilley of her mother one day, when the boy was a week old.
" The poor thing was born on the ocean; and why not call him Oceanus? ^'
The name pleased the mother, and the baby was named Oceanus Hopkins.
^' Land! land! " shouted a sailor, early one morning.
Yes, there was land; but it was not Vir- ginia or New Jersey, as the Pilgrims expected. The last storm had driven the Mayflower out of her course. They had come to what is now known as the coast of New Eng- land. The low, sandy beach before them was the tip of Cape Cod. In spite of the per- ilous shoals and head winds the Mayflower
5
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
rounded the Cape, and soon dropped anchor in what is now the harbor of Province- town.
This was late in November, in the year 1620. How cold and bleak the icy coast of Cape Cod looked on that November day! There was not a living thing to be seen any- where, except the gulls, as they flew with shrill cries across the harbor.
Before anybody went ashore, a writing was drawn up, and forty-one of the men signed it. They used Governor Bradford's chest for a table. In this writing they said they would defend one another and obey such laws as should be made. They also chose John Carver as governor of the colony.
Bright and early the first morning on shore the women went to washing the clothes, for they had not been able to do washing on board the Mayflower. This was on a Monday ; and Monday, as we know, has ever since been used in New England as wash-day.
Meanwhile the men made three trips along 6
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
the shore of Cape Cod Bay, to find a place to build their homes. The third trip was made in their frail sailboat. It was bitter cold, and the sea was rough. A snowstorm set in, and they were soon in great peril. The rudder broke, and the mast came crashing down on their heads. The men rowed toward a little cove and brought their boat ashore. This proved to be on an island well out from the mainland. It is now known as Clarke's Island. On the next day but one they rowed over to the mainland.
At last they had found a good place. This was Plymouth. They called it '' a beautiful spot, with cornfields and little running brooks." They quickly sailed back to Cape Cod to carry the good news.
The Mayflower had been at anchor in Provincetown Harbor for a month. The frozen sails were now unfurled, the anchor raised, and the good ship was headed for the mainland across the great bay of Cape Cod. On Saturday, December 20, 1620, the May-
7
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
flower dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor, about a mile from the shore.
At last the long voyage was at an end. The Pilgrims had found a home on the bleak shore of New England.
And what about Elizabeth Tilley? John Tilley and his wife did not endure the cold and hunger of the first winter. They died early the next spring. Elizabeth married a man by the name of John Howland. This was the young man that fell overboard in mid- ocean, but was quick enough to catch hold of a trailing rope, and was pulled on board the Mayflower more dead than alive. As the records tell us, this worth}^ couple were still living thirty years after the landing, with a family of ten children. Elizabeth lived for sixty-seven years after reaching the Plymouth shore.
II
SQUANTO HELPS THE PILGRIMS
WHEN the Pilgrims reached New Eng- land, their hardships had only be- gun. The Mayflower had to anchor more than a mile from the shore, the water was so shallow. Except at high tide they could not land, even in their boat, without wading in the icy water. Some of the men made a trip ashore to spy out the land. The weather was cold and stormy and the whole country looked bleak and dreary; for winter had set in early that year.
The place where the Pilgrims landed had once been an Indian village. They thought they should find Indians lurking in the woods; but all the people had died of the plague,
9
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
and not a living creature was to be seen. The cornfields were left for the newcomers " to plant. There were several running brooks and a large spring close by, from which they could get plenty of fresh water.
The first thing to do was to stake out the land and build some kind of house. That first Christmas on the Plymouth shore must indeed have been hard. Governor Bradford wrote in his journal, " No man rested on that day; we had a sore storm of wind and rain." It was on that dreary Christmas morning that they began to build their first log house, a cabin about twenty feet square, for storing their goods.
The women and children stayed on board the Mayflower. They had to breathe the bad air of the cabin, and suffered from cold and hunger. The men came ashore in good weather and worked all day in building log cabins and moving their household goods. It was slow and hard work. The winter days were short and often stormy. It took a long 10
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
time to go to and from the vessel, and their food was poor and scanty.
So slow was the work that at the end of the first year there were only four log storehouses and seven log cabins in the whole settlement.
Sickness and death came too. During the first winter nearly one half of the colony died. At one time there were only seven persons well enough to wait on the sick and bury the dead.
Governor Bradford wrote in his journal: '^ On the third day of March it was warm and fair; the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly. In the afternoon there was a thunderstorm, and it rained very sadly until midnight.'' And two days later, we are told, one of the children sowed some garden seeds.
One Friday afternoon in March, when the Pilgrims were busy about their log cabins, a tall, half-naked Indian came out of the woods at the top of the hill. He walked boldly toward the little village of log houses and cried out, " Welcome, Enghshmen, welcome! " 11
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
It seems that the Indian's name was Samoset and that he had lived on the coast of Maine, where he picked up a few Enghsh words from the fishermen. It was beheved that he mistook the Mayflower for a fishing vessel and felt free to enter the little village.
The Pilgrims treated their savage guest kindly. They gave him a coat to cover his bare shoulders; and they fed him on ^' bis- cuit, butter, cheese, pudding, and roast duck." They would gladly have got rid of their guest for the night, but he was not willing to go; and so they let him stay in one of the log houses, where they watched him to keep him from doing harm. In the morning they sent him away, ^^ after giving him a knife, a bracelet, and a ring."
Samoset was so well pleased with his new friends that he came back on a visit the next day, which was Sunday. This time he brought five other Indians with him. They were tall, sturdy men, dressed in deerskins. Some had their faces painted black. They brought their 12
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
own food with them. It was Indian corn. They pounded it into meal, put it into a little water, and then ate it. Governor Bradford says: ^' They would eat liberally of our Eng- lish victuals; although it was Sunday, the redskins sang and danced, after their manner, like antics. '^
The Pilgrims sent the Indians away before night. Samoset pretended to be sick; he would not go until the next Wednesday. He went home a well-pleased and proud Indian, for the Pilgrims gave him ^^ a hat, a pair of shoes and stockings, a shirt, and a piece of cloth to tie about his waist. '^
On Thursda}^ Samoset came again, bringing still another Indian with him. The name of this Indian was Squanto, a sort of nickname for Squantum or Tisquantum.
It seems that Squanto had once lived in this region, but had been kidnapped by the cap- tain of an English vessel and carried to Eng- land. He lived in London and learned to speak Enghsh pretty well. Then some kind- 13
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
hearted sea-captain brought him back and put him ashore on the coast of Maine. Thence he wandered back to his native place, only to find most of his people dead. Squanto said that many Indians once lived in this region and had large fields of corn; but some dreadful disease broke out, from which nearly all of them died.
Squanto proved a useful friend to the Pil- grims from the very first. He took them out to a Httle river close by, and showed them how to fish for eels. He trod the eels out of the mud and caught them with his hands. Gov- ernor Bradford says in his journal, ^^ The eels were fat and sweet, and our people were glad of them."
Shortly afterwards Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims. It would be a long story to tell you all this Indian did for his half-starved friends.
When the Pilgrims made their first trip along the shore of Cape Cod they found several basketfuls of corn, which the Indians 14
SQUANTO NOW TAUGHT THEM HOW TO GET THE OLD INDIAN CORNFIELD READY FOR A NEW CROP.
Page 15.
■JHh: Nh:vV \OKK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TiLDLN FOUi^DATIONS.
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
had buried in the sand. They saved enough of this to plant in the spring. Squanto now taught them how to get the old Indian corn- field ready for a new crop. He showed them how to catch the httle fish called alewives, and put two or three into every hill of corn to make the corn grow better. He also showed his friends how to watch the cornfields to prevent the wolves from digging up the fish. ,
It has been said that without the seed corn and the help of Squanto the whole Plymouth settlement would have starved to death before the end of the first year. The Pilgrims had left their old home in England without hooks and lines for fishing. Here again Squanto was able to lend a hand, and taught his friends how to catch fish and lobsters after the Indian fashion.
Squanto now began to serve the settlers in another way. The chief of the Indians in the Plymouth region was Massasoit. He had been told wonderful things about the white- faced strangers, and wished to visit them. 15
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
One day he came with some of his warriors to the top of the hill to make a friendly visit, and Squanto was sent out to talk with him. Shortly afterward Massasoit and twenty red- skins came tramping into the settlement, leaving their bows and arrows behind them. This Indian chief was a tall, strong young man. He wore a large chain of white bone beads about his neck; at the back of his neck hung a little bag of tobacco, which he smoked and gave to the Pilgrims to smoke. His face was painted a deep red; his head and face were so covered with oil that he '^ looked greasily.'^ His warriors were tall and strong, and were painted, some black, some red, some yellow, and some white.
The chief and his warriors went marching slowly along the narrow street and into the large log cabin. A great noise was made with a trumpet, and some of the men fired their muskets. Governor Bradford did the honors. He kissed the chief's hand, and Massasoit kissed the governor, and then they sat down 16
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
for a talk. The Indian chief sat on a green mat, with some cushions placed round him.
Massasoit was greatly pleased with his re- ception. A copper chain and some beads were given to him. He said he would live in peace with his white-faced friends. The red- skin chief kept his word. The treaty was kept sacred for more than fifty years.
Squanto hked to tell his Indian friends about the white-faced settlers. He said the Pilgrims kept gunpowder in the cellars of the log cabins; in the same place, he said, where the plague was kept. If an Indian did any harm to the strangers, the plague would be let loose to destroy every redskin along the coast.
The Pilgrims owed a good deal of money to their friends in England; for they had been obliged to run into debt to fit out the May- flower. After a while they coasted along the shore to trade with the Indians for furs and corn. On such trips Squanto was a great help as pilot. Late one fall, about two years 17
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
after Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims, he sailed with his friends outside of Cape Cod as far as the elbow. This place is now known as Chatham. Here the Indians were shy of the strangers, but Squanto at last induced them to sell eight hogsheads of corn and beans.
Poor Squanto! On this trip he was taken with a fever and died in a few days. Before he died he gave some of his things to his English friends as keepsakes. His last words were, ^^ Pray that the Indian Squanto may go to the white man's heaven.''
18
Ill
THE BRAVERY OF HANNAH DUSTIN
KING PHILIP, the famous Indian chief, was killed just a hundred years before the Declaration of Independence. His death put an end to the so-called King Philip's War. The settlers in New England now had a period of rest from the redskins.
Peace did not last long. Another war came. This was called King William's War. It be- gan in the year 1690, and lasted seven years. At this time William was king of England, and Louis XIV was king of France. Louis declared war against William, and ordered his people in Canada to make war on the English people who had settled along the coast of New England.
19
THE AMEKICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
Now we must keep in mind that in this war, as in the other French and Indian Wars, the Indians generally fought on the side of the French, against the English. The savages came down from Canada, sometimes on snow- shoes in the dead of winter, and did all manner of cruel deeds. They killed the settlers, burned their log cabins, and carried off the women and children to Canada, where they traded them for strong drink, muskets, and gunpowder.
The last years of King Wilham's War were dreadful. We are told that twelve hundred cabins were burned and that nearly six hun- dred persons were killed or carried away to Canada as prisoners. It was a life of constant terror.
There are many thrilling tales of those Indian attacks. Few other towns suffered so many hardships as Haverhill, Massachu- setts, now a large and prosperous city, but in those early days a little village of thirty log cabins. The redskins used to come down the 20
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
Merrimac River in their canoes and lurk in the woods for weeks to burn some lonely house or scalp the men at work in the fields. They would then paddle up the river with their captives and steal out of sight in the deep forests of New Hampshire.
One morning in the middle of March, 1697, a settler named Thomas Dustin was busy cutting firewood half a mile or so from his cabin and about two miles from Haverhill. His wife, Hannah Dustin, was sick in bed.
All of a sudden, with wild yells, a party of twenty Indians rushed out of the woods and started across the clearing toward the cabin.
^^ Indians! Indians! Here they come! '' shouted Hannah, the oldest daughter, bursting into the house.
^^ Now, Hannah, and you, Elizabeth, get the little ones out of the house as quick as you can and run down the road! " cried Mrs. Neff, who was nursing Mrs. Dustin. '^ See if you can reach the village before the Indians get you.''
21
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
There was not a moment to spare. Down the cart-road, through the woods, ran the seven Dustin children as fast as their legs could carry them. Thomas, a stout lad of fourteen, carried Timothy, only three years old, while little Jonathan and Abigail did their best to keep up with the older children.
Mr. Dustin, who was at work at the edge of the woods, had seen the Indians crossing the clearing. He seized his musket, jumped on his horse, and galloped home.
" Keep to the cart-road, children! Run for your lives! "
When he reached the cabin, the Indians were already inside. It seemed to him there was only one thing to do. He must leave his wife and try to save his children.
In another moment he was galloping down the road. He caught up with the children about a quarter of a mile from the house. For a moment he thought he would take up the little boy or the little girl; but he made up his mind to try to save them all. 22
MR. DUSTIN STOPPED HIS HORSE AND FACED THE SAVAGES. Page 23.
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
'' Run, children, run! I'll keep the Indians back; run for the blockhouse on the hill! "
Half a dozen Indians had left the cabin and were coming after them. Mr. Dustin stopped his horse and faced the savages. They fired at him. He fired back, and a savage fell. The Indians stopped for a moment, and Mr. Dustin turned and galloped after his children. The Indians came on again and fired at him. He returned the fire and again followed the children.
After a time the savages gave up the chase and ran back to the cabin. Mr. Dustin and the children soon reached the clearing in front of the blockhouse. The people rushed out to their help, and the next minute all were safe inside.
Poor Mrs. Dustin was having a hard time of it. The savages dragged the weak and trembling woman out of bed and gave her a few minutes to dress. They took from the cabin all they could carry with them, and then set it on fire. Mrs. Dustin, with Mrs. 23
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
Neff carrying the baby, together with about a dozen other captives, had to begin the long tramp to Canada. The party had gone only a little way when the baby began to cry. A savage took it and killed it.
It was a long and weary tramp through the deep forests of New Hampshire. Mrs. Dustin and Mrs. Neff fell to the lot of an Indian called Big Bear, who lived a few miles above Concord, on an island in the Merrimac River. This island has ever since been known as Dustings Island. The Indian^s family consisted of two warriors, three squaws, and seven children, besides a lad named Samuel Lenardson, captured two years before.
'^ Mary," said Mrs. Dustin one day to Mrs. Neff, " the Indians have told Sam that we are soon to start for Canada. I am not going to tramp there, to be sold hke cattle or to be tortured. I have a plan by which we may escape and perhaps get home again."
Mrs. Dustin said she would kill Big Bear with a tomahawk. Mrs. Neff was to shoot the 24
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY-BOOK
other Indian, while Sam was to kill one of the squaws. After this all three were to kill the rest of the Indians as best they could.
Long before daybreak Mrs. Dustin silently waked Mrs. Neff and the boy. The Indians were sound asleep. Still as mice, these three people stole across the wigwam and stood over the victims.
" Now! " cried Mrs. Dustin, and all did their part.
All three Indians were killed. Short work was made of seven of the others. One Indian woman, although struck several times with a tomahawk, escaped into the woods. One Indian boy, in the words of the famous Cotton Mather, to whom Mrs. Dustin told her story five years after, ^^ scuttled away from this desolation '^ into the forest.
Not a moment was to be lost. The two Indians who had escaped might carry the alarm to other redskins. With the tomahawks they made holes in all the canoes but one. They then took a few handfuls of dried corn 25
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
from the wigwam, threw some blankets into the canoe, and the next moment they were paddhng down the river.
Mrs. Dustin suddenly stopped paddhng.
'' Why, Mary! ^' she cried; ^' our people will never believe we killed ten Indians. We must go back and scalp them, and carry the scalps home with us."
So back to the wigwam the women paddled the canoe. Soon ten bloody scalps, wrapped in a piece of cloth, were laid in the bottom of the canoe. Once more the two women were paddling swiftly down the Merrimac. There was danger every moment from lurking In- dians, or from the rapids, swollen by the spring floods.
In spite of perils and narrow escapes, the tired and weary party reached Haverhill in safety. Great was the surprise when they walked into the little village. Their friends had given them up for dead. Still greater was the wonder when the settlers saw the scalps. And we can well believe that the 26
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY-BOOK
Dustin children shed tears of joy when they saw their mother home again safe and well.
The story of Hannah Dustings exploit went far and wide. The colony paid her fifty dollars apiece for the scalps. And even the governor of far-away Maryland sent her a present, with a letter praising her for her brave deed.
The famous tomahawk was lost, but the musket is still to be seen in Haverhill, while several pieces of the cloth in which the scalps were wrapped are kept as relics by the great- great-great-grandchildren of Hannah Dustin.
27
IV
A FAMOUS WRITING - DESK
THE War of the American Revolution began in 1775. Up to that time the colonies in this country were subject to England.
In 1760, George the Third, a young man of twenty-two, came to the English throne. He needed money and listened to the advice of unwise men.
^^ Tax the Americans, ^^ they urged; " make them pay on everything they receive in our ships; they are rich and will not mind it."
King George tried in another way also to
force money out of the colonists. A law was
made that every piece of paper on which
notes, deeds, and such things were written,
28
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
should have a stamp on it. Even the alma- nacs and the newspapers had to have stamps on them. These stamps cost from one cent to fifty cents each.
This law was called the Stamp Act. It made the people very angry. In Virginia a great and bold patriot named Patrick Henry told the people to use any paper they pleased, and pay no heed to the new law. The people made up their minds not to submit to such taxation. They refused to buy the stamps and burned all they could get. On the day the law went into effect shops were closed, church bells tolled, and flags were placed at half-mast.
Not long after this the English king laid a tax on glass, paper, tea, and other things.
The trouble between the king and his American subjects grew more and more bitter.
''Pay the taxes,'' King George insisted, " or I will send my soldiers and make you."
Our people rephed that it was not the 29
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY-BOOK
amount of the tax that they cared for. They claimed that King George had no right to tax them at all without their consent; and they declared over and over that they would not obey.
True to his word, King George sent soldiers to force the people to submit. Two regiments of redcoats were quartered in Boston.
This of course made our people very angry. They hated the soldiers and called them bad names. The soldiers paid back insult with insult.
One day a number of angry schoolboys complained to the British commander that the redcoats had destroyed their sledding on Boston Common.
'^ The very children here," remarked Gen- eral Gage to one of his officers, ^' draw in a love of liberty with the air they breathe.'^
Then a quarrel arose one evening in Boston between the soldiers and the people. The soldiers fired into the crowd, and five people were killed and seven wounded. 30
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
The bells of the city were rung, and the roar of angry voices filled the narrow streets. Quiet was not restored until the troops were sent to a fort in the harbor.
Three years later King George took the tax off everything except tea. He said he kept this to show the Yankees he had a right to tax them.
Ship after ship filled with tea was sent to this country, but not a pound of it was allowed to be sold. Hundreds of chests were stored in damp cellars and left to spoil. Some of the ships carried their cargoes back to England.
One winter day in 1773 two ships came to Boston, but were not allowed to unload their tea. In the night a party of men dressed like Indians rushed on board the vessel, broke open the chests, three hundred and forty-two in all, and threw their contents into the sea.
Of course the king was very angry. More troops were sent over, and affairs went rapidly from bad to worse. 31
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Wise men all over the land saw that war must come. Guns and gunpowder were made ready. Hundreds of men formed themselves in companies to fight at a minute's notice.
War broke out shortly afterwards. It began with the Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775. A few weeks later a hard-fought battle took place on Bunker Hill.
We must not forget that during all this time our people called themselves loyal British subjects. They had fought as Englishmen for their rights, and not against England.
Slowly but surely, however, the idea of independence began to grow. Men saw that they were really fighting for freedom. Public meetings were called, and the question was talked over. Some of the best men in the colonies were sent to Philadelphia to attend a meeting there. On that occasion a staunch patriot from Virginia offered a resolution, saying, '^ These united colonies are, and of a right ought to be, a free and independent state."
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THAT WILL MAKE KLNG GEORGE GNASH HIS TEETH, SAID THE GENIAL OLD GENTLEMAN. Page y^
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
Five of the ablest men of the country were selected to prepare a statement for publica- tion. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, chairman of this committee, was chosen to draw up the paper. He was not a strong public speaker, but he was known as a writer of plain and simple English.
Now Jefferson had rented rooms of a cabinet-maker named Ben Randall; and it seems that he planned a writing-desk, and had Mr. Randall make it for him. It was a plain little affair of mahogany, and stood only about three inches high from the table on which it was placed. "
Well, this desk has come to be famous, for on it Jefferson wrote that wonderful docu- ment known as the Declaration of Inde- pendence.
When Jefferson had finished the writing, he invited Benjamin Franklin to call at his room to hear what he had written.
^' That's good enough; I wish I had written it myself; that will make King George gnash 33
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
his teeth," said the genial old gentleman, when the different passages were read to him.
There was a lively debate when the Dec- laration was presented to the delegates at Philadelphia. With a few slight changes, however, it was finally adopted. It was signed on July 4, 1776.
We may be sure it was a time of deep in- terest to the hundreds gathered outside the Old State House on that hot July afternoon. The old bell-ringer had been in the belfry since morning, having placed a boy in the hall below to wait for the signal.
^' They will never do it, they will never do it! '^ cried the old bell-ringer, impatiently shaking his head.
Suddenly a shout came from below. The boy, wild with excitement, came running up the belfry stairs, calling out, ^^ Ring! ring! "
And the old man rang the bell as it had never been rung before.
Riders on the swiftest horses carried the glad news far and wide. Cannon were fired, 34
THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY - BOOK
bells were rung, patriotic music was played, flags were flung to the breeze, and bonfires were lighted on hills and mountains.
Look at a copy of the Declaration of Inde- pendence and see the big bold signature of John Hancock of Massachusetts.
^^ There! ^' exclaimed this great patriot; '^ King George can read that without spec- tacles."
Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island was sick at this time; his name is written with a shaky hand.
^' See how my hand trembles/^ he said; '^ but my heart does not."
^^ We must all hang together in this matter," were the words of John Hancock, when they crowded round the table to sign their names to the document.
^' Surely," replied the witty Benjamin Franklin; ^' we must indeed, or we shall all hang separately."
All honor to the fifty-six bold patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence. They 35
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staked ^' their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." They were chosen men of high purpose and exalted character. They were fit to become the leaders of the young nation.
Thomas Jefferson^s Declaration of Inde- pendence is now in Washington. It has become worn and faded, but is preserved as a most sacred document.
As for the little mahogany writing-desk, it too has found its way to Washington, to rest with other precious relics of colonial days. Jefferson gave it, when an old man, to his granddaughter. It remained in her family until recently, when it was presented to Congress and became the property of the nation.
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BESSIE FISHER O