The Story of American History for Elementary Schools

The morning after his arrival he was unanimously chosen a member of the Continental Congress, which was to meet in Philadelphia on the tenth of May. He now took a leading part in aiding his countrymen in their war for liberty. He was one of the five men, it will be remembered, chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence.

261. His Remarkable Service Abroad as a Diplomatist.– Shortly afterwards Franklin was chosen a special ambassador to France.

"I am old and good for nothing," said the philosopher; "but, as the storekeepers say of their remnants of cloth, 'I am but a fag end, and you may have me for what you please.'"

Two years afterwards, by his wisdom and his thorough knowledge of diplomacy, Franklin was chiefly instrumental in securing a treaty with France. By this memorable compact our independence was acknowledged, and we were recognized by France as one among the nations of the world.

The news of the treaty was received in America with unbounded joy. General Washington drew up his little half-starved army at Valley Forge to announce the event, and to offer prayers and thanksgiving to God. During the next three years Franklin rendered invaluable services in obtaining money, arms, and other means to aid his country in her life and death struggle with England.

At last, when Great Britain gave up all hope of subduing her American colonies, and was ready to make terms of peace, Franklin's diplomacy triumphed. Probably no other man in America could have guided the affair so wisely.

262. Franklin's Last Days.– Franklin was now an old man of seventy-eight. He was so feeble that he could not walk, and could only ride in a litter. Thomas Jefferson was sent over to France in 1784 as his successor.

Upon his arrival the French prime minister said, "You replace Doctor Franklin, I understand."

"No!" replied Jefferson, "I succeed him. No man can replace him!"

The long sea voyage homeward proved very beneficial to the old philosopher's health. He was chosen a delegate to the convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 to frame a new constitution. Although he was now eighty-one years of age, he was regularly in his seat, five hours a day, for four months.

Three years later, at his home in Philadelphia, in 1790, the "grand old man "died, at the age of eighty-four. The whole nation mourned his loss. No man of that period, except Washington, was held in higher esteem and veneration the world over than was Benjamin Franklin.

CHAPTER XX.

EVERYDAY LIFE ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

263. Our Country One Hundred Years Ago.– Let us now take a hasty glance backward for a century and note the vast changes that have taken place in the matter of daily living during this time. Very different was the country in which our forefathers lived from that with which we are familiar. To be sure, there was a fringe of villages along the coast from Maine to Georgia. Fifty miles back from the Atlantic the country was for the most part an unbroken wilderness.

A few hundred settlers, and perhaps a hundred log cabins, made up a village where now stands the great city of Cincinnati. Indians and buffaloes roamed over the rich plains of the West which to-day furnish grain for Europe. Only seven of the states then had well-defined boundaries. Thousands of the marvelous inventions and discoveries which have added so much to the comfort and convenience of life had at that time no existence.

264. Newspapers.– Forty-three newspapers managed to survive the war of the Revolution. Even the best of these were mean-looking, and printed on poor paper. For the most part, they contained but four small pages, and were issued not oftener than two or three times a week. As to quantity of printed matter, they could not sustain comparison for one moment with the newspaper of our time.

There was no such thing as an editorial page. All kinds of queer advertisements there were; as, for runaway slaves or stolen horses: tedious letters appeared, written to the editor from distant points: treatises on geography and morals abounded instead of news. To fill out space, the editor would occasionally reprint some standard historical work or book of travels.

That material which gives the modern newspaper its peculiar value and is now known under the general name of "news" was unknown. There were few or no facilities for gathering facts as to the happenings of events or the doings of individuals, communities, and nations; and certainly no pains was taken to forward such material for publication.

265. The Postal Service and Letter-Writing.– In the early colonial times there was no such thing as an official postal service. Up to the time of the Revolution there were certain means provided for carrying letters, but they were very meagre.

The postmen used to travel some thirty to fifty miles a day in good weather. Letters were sent from New York to Boston three times a week during summer, and twice a week in winter. Six days and even more were required to make the journey. One pair of saddlebags easily contained all the mail.

If such were the scanty mail accommodations of the chief cities, we can imagine what they were in the small country towns. Sacks of letters and papers are now easily carried in one afternoon farther than they were then transported in five weeks. After the war, Washington had an extensive and important correspondence with the influential men of the country. In many of his replies he complained of the tedious delay in receiving his mail. Well he might, for his letters were sometimes longer in going from Mount Vernon to Boston than they would now be in reaching China.

In remote sections the post-rider was often a decrepit man or some crippled soldier. One old postman used to improve his time, as his horse jogged slowly along, by knitting woolen mittens and stockings. There was no special protection to the service. Letters and packages were opened and freely read or examined by the carriers. So common was this evil that the great men of this time used to correspond in cipher.

We may be sure that when it cost much to send letters, and the difficulties of forwarding them were so many, the letter-writers of those days took special pains to write long epistles, full of news. People learned most of the news of the day from distant places, whether it pertained to politics, society, or gossip, through faithful correspondents.

Imagine a busy merchant in one of our great cities writing a business letter, but giving most of the space to the results of the last election, or the doings of the state legislature. The telegraph, the telephone, stenography, and the typewriter of our day have revolutionized business communication and much of personal correspondence.

266. The Stage Coaches.– During the war of the Revolution, stages stopped running between distant cities, and horseback traveling was resumed. When peace was declared, the "coach and four" again took the road. Boston and New York were then the two great commercial centers of the country; yet during Washington's first term two stages and twelve horses carried all the passengers by land between these two cities.

The stage coach at this time was not much better than a huge covered box mounted on springs. There were no closed sides, glass windows, steps, or doors. It was not to be compared for one moment with the far-famed Concord coaches in after years. In summer an ordinary day's journey was forty miles, but in winter only about one-half of this distance.

The stage started early each morning – often at three o'clock – and its daily time limit was about ten at night. Often the passengers were forced to get out and help lift it out of the mud or a deep rut. If there were no unusual accidents or mishaps, it reached New York, from Boston, at the end of the sixth day. Even at this snail pace the good people used to wonder at the ease, as well as the speed, with which the journey was made.

It is no wonder, then, that a journey to any remote place became a serious matter. Prudent men, when ready to set out for a distant point, arranged their business affairs for any emergency, made their wills, and, after a formal dinner at the tavern, bade their family and neighbors a solemn farewell.

267. How Fires were put out.– The law at this time compelled every man to take an active part in putting out fires. He was obliged to keep at least four leathern buckets hung up at some convenient place in his house or shop, with his name painted on them, together with a big canvas bag. When an alarm of fire was raised, either by vigorous shouts of "Fire! fire!" or the ringing of the church bell, the good citizen seized his fire buckets and his canvas bag, and, guided by the smoke or flame, started for the scene of action.

There were no idlers at an old-time fire. Some rushed into the building with their canvas bags and filled them with such movable goods as could be readily carried in them. A double line extending to the water was formed of men, boys, and even women. One line passed the full buckets to those who were nearest the fire, while the other line returned the empty vessels to the well or river.

Some of the larger towns boasted of a "fire engine." This was merely a pump mounted over a tank, which the men kept full by pouring in water from the buckets. The rich householder was allowed to send his slave or servant to the fire with the fire buckets.

When the fire was out, the buckets were left in the road, to be picked up and carried home by their owners. Persons who neglected to keep their fire buckets in good order and in their proper places, or who failed to carry them home after the fire, were fined.

268. How Sunday was passed.– The observance of Sunday began at sundown on Saturday. The early part of the evening was devoted to family worship, and shortly after eight o'clock all were in bed. No work except such as was really necessary was done on Sunday. Most of the cooking was done the day before. Each member of the family, unless sick in bed, went to church. The farmer traveled on horseback with his wife on the pillion behind.

The singers sat in the front gallery. The boys and young men had seats in the left-hand gallery, while that on the right was occupied by the young women. We have read in a previous chapter something about the tithing-man and his duties. The short noon interval was devoted to eating a cold lunch.

No meeting-house in those days was warmed. Old and feeble women were allowed to use tin foot-stoves, filled with a few hot coals. In the bitter cold months of a New England winter it was no trifling affair to endure the actual suffering that accompanied religious worship on Sunday. The story is told of a good minister in Connecticut who in the depths of winter prudently preached in overcoat and mittens, but complained that his voice was drowned by persons stamping and knocking their feet together to keep warm.

269. The Minister and the Meeting-Houses.– The minister was always held in high esteem. He was usually the most important man of the village, and was looked upon with reverence not unmingled with awe. His authority was almost supreme. If a person spoke disrespectfully of him, or even laughed at his oddities, the offender was heavily fined. The advice of the minister was often asked, and sometimes given unasked, on matters of business as well as of religion. Fearless and resolute in what they believed to be right, the influence of the ministers of that time in public affairs was deservedly very great.

The minister's salary was but a pittance. It was never the same two years in succession, and was rarely paid in cash. Donations of corn, beans, turnips, and other farm products were usually given in place of hard money.

The sermon was the one event of the week. Every well person in the village turned out to hear it. Copious notes were taken, and its various points furnished topics for fireside discussion during the week.

270. How the Doctors healed the Sick.– The village doctor, together with the minister and schoolmaster, held a high social rank. There were only two medical colleges in the country, and these were not well attended. Medical books were scarce and costly. Even the best doctors could not boast of a medical library of fifty volumes.

The future doctor served his time as a student with some well-known physician. He ground the powders, mixed the potions, rolled the pills, cleaned the bottles, tended the night bell, and otherwise made himself useful. If the young student had a good preceptor and was gifted with a keen observation and a retentive memory, he returned to his native town or went elsewhere fairly prepared to begin practice.

There were no drug stores in those days, and each doctor was his own apothecary. He ground his own drugs, made his own tinctures, salves, and plasters. Most of the medical preparations used then would not be tolerated to-day.

Then as now the country doctor used to ride night and day, year after year, whatever the weather or the condition of the roads, to attend the good people of his neighborhood. He received, as he richly deserved, the respect and affection of his patients for his life of hardship and self-denial.

271. How the Schoolmaster taught School.– Besides the doctor, minister, and lawyer, the village schoolmaster was socially and otherwise an important man. He was usually a student who was "working his way" through college, and who sought, by teaching winters and working on a farm in summer, to defray his expenses at Yale, Dartmouth, or Harvard.

In many of the school districts he was expected to "board round." That is, he lived with the parents of his pupils, regulating his stay according to the number of the children of the family who attended school.

In those days there were large families and many children, and the young schoolmaster was a welcome guest. The best room in the house, the warmest corner by the fireplace, and the choicest food were reserved for him. During the long winter evenings he discussed theology and politics with the fathers, played games with the children, and escorted the girls to "spelling matches" and "quilting bees."

272. The Everyday Home Life.– Such conveniences and comforts as are now found in almost every home were then unknown. Cooking stoves, matches, refined sugar, sewing machines, and kerosene oil had never been heard of. The mechanic's home had no carpets on the floor, no pictures on the walls, no coal in the cellar, no water faucets in the kitchen. Fruits and vegetables, now so cheap in their season, such as tomatoes, oranges, bananas, celery, and dates, were either quite unknown or beyond the reach of scanty means.

The farmers of a century ago ate plain food and wore plain clothes. Their daily fare was usually salt fish, salt pork, beef, a few vegetables, and dried apples. The numerous farm implements, which have done so much to cheapen food and to bring thousands of acres into a state of high cultivation, were not yet invented.

The well-to-do farmer managed to pick up a great deal of general information and news of the day. He was noted for an inquiring turn of mind. He could tire out the weary visitor or stranger on the road with numberless questions on current social, political, or religious topics. At times he would unbend enough to play "fox and geese" with his children, or attend "apple bees" and corn huskings.

CHAPTER XXI.

WHAT OUR NAVY DID IN THE WAR OF 1812

273. Outrages committed by the Pirates of the Barbary Coast.– A hundred years ago the ports of the nations lying on the northern coast of Africa – the Barbary States, as they were called, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli – were infested by fierce pirates. They used to rush out with their swift vessels and capture the ships of Christian nations. After plundering them of their valuables, they would hold the crews as slaves, or sell them to slave dealers.

These pirates became for years the terror of Europe. Merchants paid annual tributes of large sums of money to the Pasha to save their cargoes from seizure. Even our own nation, in 1795, paid these sea robbers for the release of American sailors captured and held by them as slaves, and also for the exemption of our ships from attack. First and last we paid these robber states not less than a million dollars to buy their good will.

It is difficult to realize that there was once a time when the President of the United States negotiated treaties, the Senate ratified them, and Congress voted tribute money to keep the peace with pirates.

In 1801 a disagreement arose about our regular payment; and the Bashaw of Tripoli, whose greed it was hard to satisfy, had the impudence to declare war against the United States and cut down the flagstaff in front of our consul's residence.

274. The Gallant Exploits of Decatur and his Brave Men.– Although we had only a small navy, President Jefferson thought it best to put a stop to this blackmail business, and settle with the pirates in a different way. So he sent some war vessels to punish them, and they did it quite thoroughly.

During one of these encounters the United States frigate Philadelphia, one of our best, under the command of Captain Bainbridge, chased a pirate craft into the harbor of Tripoli, but unluckily ran on a reef. She stuck fast, helpless either to fight or to sail. She was captured, with all her crew, by the enemy.

But a few months afterwards, Stephen Decatur, a gallant lieutenant of only twenty-five, sailed from Sicily in a small vessel, the Intrepid, which had just been captured from the Moors. He boldly entered the harbor of Tripoli one evening about dusk, and sailed quietly along close to the Philadelphia. Then pirates did not suspect harm, as the Intrepid appeared to be a Moorish vessel. With its crew of seventy men concealed under the bulwarks, the little vessel was instantly made fast to the ill-fated frigate.

"Follow me, lads!" cried Decatur.

The men from the Intrepid sprang to their feet and climbed on board the Philadelphia. The surprise was complete. In ten minutes Decatur and his bold sailors had killed or driven overboard every pirate, then set the ship afire, leaped back upon the Intrepid, and escaped from the harbor amid a storm of shot from the batteries. Not one of our men was lost in the whole affair.

This heroic adventure, which made young Decatur a captain, became common talk in Europe. England's greatest naval hero, Lord Nelson, said, "It was the most bold and daring act of the ages." There is no single naval exploit to be compared with it for boldness, except Cushing's destruction of the ironclad Albemarle in the war for the Union.

275. Outrageous Conduct of the British toward American Sailors.– During the years soon after 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte was at war with almost all Europe, and especially with England.

The British navy was very large and in constant need of sailors. To get them, English men-of-war used to stop American merchant ships wherever they met them on the high seas. They would fire a cannon shot across the bows of the American vessel to compel it to heave to. British officers would then come on board, marshal the crew in line, and pick out sailors whom they claimed to be deserters from British ships.

Very likely the ones thus singled out could prove that they were Americans by birth or adoption. No matter for that! They were needed, and, as the men-of-war had the power to take them by force, go they must. In time this dastardly business became even worse. The British sometimes stationed their war vessels off the entrance of our largest harbors, ready to search our merchantmen as they sailed out.

Now all this bid fair to destroy our commerce. None of our ships were safe. Importing, exporting, our vast fisheries, important manufactures – many kinds of business – were on the verge of ruin.

In spite of our protests the British government kept up this practice for years, until it was said that more than nine hundred American vessels had been searched, and over six thousand American sailors kidnapped from them.

276. The War of 1812 begun.– Why did we endure these insults from England so long? Perhaps the principal reason was our small navy. The English war fleets then numbered over a thousand vessels, and ours less than twenty! These outrages could not, however, be longer tolerated. England even insisted that she had a perfect right to seize our ships and to carry off our citizens.

War was declared in 1812. In this war most of our land battles were more or less failures, but the brilliant success of our naval contests more than made up for them. In fact, whenever we speak of the war of 1812, we always think of the surprising series of victories won by our splendid though small naval force against England.

277. The Great Naval Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière.– Only a few weeks after war was declared, our frigate Constitution, Captain Isaac Hull, met the enemy's man-of-war Guerrière, Captain Dacres, off the Massachusetts shore. The British vessel had been sailing proudly up and down our coast, challenging the Yankee craft to fight. The Guerrière in real British pride flings out a flag from the top of each "ocean spire." Her guns flash but the balls fall short.

"Not a cannon to be fired till I give the word," cried Captain Hull; "double shot the guns."

"May we not begin?" shouted his first officer as the shot came tearing through the rigging.

Another broadside from the Guerrière! The men are getting impatient. Captain Hull calmly waits until he can bring every gun to bear.

"Now, boys, give it to them!" he shouted at the top of his voice.

They did their work well. In twenty minutes the proud English frigate was a helpless wreck.

"I will not take your sword," said the gallant Hull to Captain Dacres as the British officer surrendered; "but I will trouble you for that hat!"

It seems that these two brave captains were personal friends, and Hull had made a bet with Dacres that his vessel would "whip" the Guerrière if there should ever be a war, and the loser was to forfeit his hat!

The Constitution was almost unhurt. The Guerrière, shattered and useless, was set on fire, and in a few minutes blew up. All that was left of the splendid vessel instantly vanished from sight forever. Hull took his prisoners to Boston, where he was received with enthusiastic welcome.

The news of this victory created equal joy in every section of the country. Its chief importance lay in the confidence it inspired among all the people, demonstrating that a first-class English battleship was far from invincible. The British government was astounded. So were the naval authorities, some of whom had sneered at the Constitution as "a bundle of pine boards."

278. Naval Battle between the Wasp and Frolic; Other Brilliant Naval Victories for the American Sailors.– A few weeks later the American sloop-of-war Wasp fell in with the British brig Frolic off Virginia. It was a sharp fight for three-quarters of an hour. Both vessels were nearly destroyed, when the Wasp came close to the Frolic and gave a tremendous broadside that carried away everything before it. Then the Wasp's crew boarded the Frolic and found not a sailor on deck – only the officers, who surrendered. The surviving sailors had gone below to escape the deadly fire.

The very next week Commodore Decatur of the frigate United States attacked the British frigate Macedonian near the Canary Islands. It was a brisk fight of two hours, when the Macedonian surrendered with a loss of over one hundred men.

Decatur's victory produced a profound impression both in this country and in England. Congress recognized its importance by a vote of thanks and a gold medal to the commodore.

279. "Old Ironsides" and her Noble Record.– In the same month occurred the famous battle off Brazil between the Constitution under Commodore Bainbridge and the frigate Java. It was a furious contest for two hours. The enemy's ship had every mast shot away, and her hull was torn with shot. Her deck was covered with more than two hundred killed and wounded. The wreck of the Java surrendered, the survivors were taken on board the Constitution, and the hull was burned. This was the fourth brilliant naval victory gained within six months.