A Short History of the United States for School Use Part 10

[Sidenote: La Salle on the Mississippi, 1681.]

[Sidenote: _McMaster_, 62-65; _Source-book_, 96-98.]

94. The French in the Mississippi Valley.--The Spaniards had discovered the Mississippi and had explored its lower valley. But they had found no gold there and had abandoned the country. It was left for French explorers more than one hundred years later to rediscover the great river and to explore it from its upper waters to the Gulf of Mexico. The first Frenchman to sail down the river to its mouth was La Salle. In 1681, with three canoes, he floated down the Mississippi, until he reached a place where the great river divided into three large branches. He sent one canoe down each branch. Returning, they all reported that they had reached the open sea.

[Sidenote: La Salle attempts to found a colony. _McMaster_, 79-80.]

[Sidenote: Louisiana settled, 1699.]

95. Founding of Louisiana.--La Salle named this immense region Louisiana in honor of the French king. He soon led an expedition to plant a colony on the banks of the Mississippi. Sailing into the Gulf of Mexico, he missed the mouth of the Mississippi and landed on the coast of Texas. Misfortune after misfortune now fell on the unhappy expedition. La Salle was murdered, the stores were destroyed, the Spaniards and Indians came and killed or captured nearly all the colonists. A few only gained the Mississippi and made their way to Canada. In 1699, another French expedition appeared in the Gulf of Mexico. This time the mouth of the Mississippi was easily discovered.

But the colonists settled on the sh.o.r.es of Mobile Bay. It was not until 1718 that New Orleans was founded.

[Sidenote: The French on the Ohio, 1749. _McMaster_, 82-86.]

[Sidenote: The English Ohio Company, 1750.]

96. Struggle for the Ohio Valley.--At the close of King George's War the French set to work to connect the settlements in Louisiana with those on the St. Lawrence. In 1749 French explorers gained the Alleghany River from Lake Erie and went down the Ohio as far as the Miami. The next year (1750) King George gave a great tract of land on the Ohio River to an a.s.sociation of Virginians, who formed the Ohio Company. The struggle for the Ohio Valley had fairly begun. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia learned that the French were building forts on the Ohio, and sent them a letter protesting against their so doing. The bearer of this letter was George Was.h.i.+ngton, a young Virginia surveyor.

[Sidenote: George Was.h.i.+ngton. Scudder's _Was.h.i.+ngton; Hero Tales_ 1-15.]

[Sidenote: He warns the French to leave the Ohio.]

97. George Was.h.i.+ngton.--Of an old Virginia family, George Was.h.i.+ngton grew up with the idea that he must earn his own living. His father was a well-to-do planter. But Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton was the eldest son, and, as was the custom then in Virginia, he inherited most of the property. Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton was very kind to his younger brother, and gave him a good practical education as a land surveyor. The younger man was a bold athlete and fond of studying military campaigns. He was full of courage, industrious, honest, and of great common sense. Before he was twenty he had surveyed large tracts of wilderness, and had done his work well amidst great difficulties. When Dinwiddie wanted a messenger to take his letter to the French commander on the Ohio, George Was.h.i.+ngton's employer at once suggested him as the best person to send on the dangerous journey.

[Sidenote: The French build Fort Duquesne.]

[Sidenote: Was.h.i.+ngton's first military expedition, 1754.]

98. Fort Duquesne.--Instead of heeding Dinwiddie's warning, the French set to work to build Fort Duquesne (Du-kan') at the spot where the Alleghany and Monongahela join to form the Ohio,--on the site of the present city of Pittsburg. Dinwiddie therefore sent Was.h.i.+ngton with a small force of soldiers to drive them away. But the French were too strong for Was.h.i.+ngton. They besieged him in Fort Necessity and compelled him to surrender (July 4, 1754).

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRADDOCK'S CAMPAIGN.]

[Sidenote: Braddock's expedition, 1755. _Higginson_, 152-154; _Eggleston_, 129-131; _Source-book_, 103-105.]

99. Braddock's Defeat, 1755.--The English government now sent General Braddock with a small army of regular soldiers to Virginia.

Slowly and painfully Braddock marched westward. Learning of his approach, the French and Indians left Fort Duquesne to draw him into ambush. But the two forces came together before either party was prepared for battle. For some time the contest was even, then the regulars broke and fled. Braddock was fatally wounded. With great skill, Was.h.i.+ngton saved the survivors,--but not until four shots had pierced his coat and only thirty of his three companies of Virginians were left alive.

[Sidenote: The French and Indian War.]

[Sidenote: William Pitt, war minister, 1757.]

100. The War to 1759.--All the earlier French and Indian wars had begun in Europe and had spread to America. This war began in America and soon spread to Europe. At first affairs went very ill. But in 1757 William Pitt became the British war minister, and the war began to be waged with vigor and success. The old generals were called home, and new men placed in command. In 1758 Amherst and Wolfe captured Louisburg, and Forbes, greatly aided by Was.h.i.+ngton, seized Fort Duquesne. Bradstreet captured Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario. There was only one bad failure, that of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga. But the next year Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point and opened the way to Canada by Lake Champlain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WOLFE'S RAVINE. This shows the gradual ascent of the path from the river to the top of the bluff.]

[Sidenote: Capture of Quebec, 1759. _Higginson_, 154-156; _Eggleston_, 137-139; _Source-Book_, 105-107.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Quebec.]

101. Capture of Quebec, 1759.--Of all the younger generals James Wolfe was foremost. To him was given the task of capturing Quebec.

Seated on a high bluff, Quebec could not be captured from the river. The only way to approach it was to gain the Plains of Abraham in its rear and besiege it on the land side. Again and again Wolfe sent his men to storm the bluffs below the town. Every time they failed. Wolfe felt that he must give up the task, when he was told that a path led from the river to the top of the bluff above the town. Putting his men into boats, they gained the path in the darkness of night. There was a guard at the top of the bluff, but the officer in command was a coward and ran away. In the morning the British army was drawn up on the Plains of Abraham. The French now attacked the British, and a fierce battle took place. The result was doubtful when Wolfe led a charge at the head of the Louisburg Grenadiers. He was killed, but the French were beaten.

Five days later Quebec surrendered. Montreal was captured in 1760, and in 1763 the war came to an end.

[Sidenote: Peace of Paris, 1763.]

102. Peace of Paris, 1763.--By this great treaty, or set of treaties, the French withdrew from the continent of North America. To Spain, who had lost Florida, the French gave the island of New Orleans and all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. To Great Britain the French gave up all the rest of their American possessions except two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Spain, on her part, gave up Florida to the British. There were now practically only two powers in America,--the British in the eastern part of the continent, and the Spaniards west of the Mississippi. The Spaniards also owned the island of New Orleans and controlled both sides of the river for more than a hundred miles from its mouth. But the treaty gave the British the free navigation of the Mississippi throughout its length.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

CHAPTER 8

---- 65, 66.--_a_. What government did England have after the execution of Charles I? Give three facts about Cromwell.

_b_. How did the accession of Charles II affect the colonies?

_c_. What laws were made about the commerce of the colonies?

-- 67.--_a_. How did the new government of England regard Ma.s.sachusetts?

Why?

_b_. Describe the treatment of the Quakers in Ma.s.sachusetts.

-- 68.--_a_. Describe the charters given to Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Why did Connecticut need a charter when she already had a const.i.tution?

_b_. What other colony was united with Connecticut?

---- 69,70.--_a_. Why did England wish to conquer New Netherland? Why did not the people of New Amsterdam wish to fight the English?

_b_. To whom did Charles give this territory?

---- 71, 72.--_a_. Mark on a map the position of New Jersey.

_b_. Describe the division of New Jersey and its sale to the Quakers.

_c_. Why was the colony prosperous?

---- 73, 74.--_a_. Describe the founding of Carolina.

_b_. Describe northern and southern Carolina, and note the differences between them.

---- 75, 76.--_a_. What complaints did the people of Virginia make? Was Bacon a rebel?

_b_. Describe the later government of Virginia.

_c_. Why was the founding of William and Mary College important?