The Beginner's American History Part 29

Tell why so many people in the South wished to leave the Union? What is said about negro slaves at the time of the Revolution? What happened in the course of eighty years? What had the North and the South come to be like? How did most of the people at the South feel about slavery? How did most of the people at the North feel about it? What did the people who held slaves at the South want to do? What did most of the people at the North think about this? What is said about Abraham Lincoln and his party? How did most of the people of the slave states feel when Lincoln became President?

What is said about the North and the South in the war? How long did the war last? What is said about it? What did President Lincoln do for the slaves? After a time what general got the command of all the armies of the North? Who became the chief defender of the South? Where were the last battles fought? What did the South do at last? What happened then? What did the success of the North do? What is said about slavery? What could the North and the South do? What was the saddest thing which happened at the close of the war? How did the North and the South feel about President Lincoln?

SINCE THE WAR.

263. How the North and the South have grown since the war; the great West.--Since the war the united North and South have grown and prospered[1] as never before. At the South many new and flouris.h.i.+ng towns and cities have sprung up. Mines of coal and iron have been opened, hundreds of cotton-mills and factories have been built, and long lines of railroads have been constructed.

At the West changes equally great have taken place. Cities have risen up in the wilderness, mines of silver and gold have been opened, and immense farms and cattle ranches[2] produce food enough to feed all America. Three great lines of railroads have been built which connect with railroads at the East, and stretch across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Into that vast country beyond the Mississippi hundreds of thousands of industrious people are moving from all parts of the earth, and are building homes for themselves and for their children.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MEETING OF THE ENGINES FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST AFTER THE LAST SPIKE WAS DRIVEN[3] ON THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC IN 1869.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PILING SILVER BRICKS. (From the silver mines in Colorado.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOW THEY USED TO SHOOT BUFFALO IN THE FAR WEST.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: INDIANS ATTACKING A STAGE-COACH IN THE FAR WEST FORTY YEARS AGO; BEFORE THE FIRST PACIFIC RAILROAD WAS BUILT.]

[Footnote 1: Prospered: to prosper is to succeed, to get on in life, to grow rich.]

[Footnote 2: Ranches (ran'chez): farms at the West for raising horses and cattle, or sheep.]

[Footnote 3: The last spikes (one of gold from California, one of silver from Nevada, and one made of gold, silver, and iron from Arizona) were driven just as the clock struck twelve (noon) on May 10th, 1869, at Promontory Point, near Salt Lake, Utah. Every blow of the hammer was telegraphed throughout the United States.]

264. Celebration of the discovery of America by Columbus; the unfinished pyramid; making history.--Four hundred years have gone by since the first civilized man crossed the ocean and found this new world which we call America. We are now about to celebrate that discovery made by Columbus, not only in the schools throughout the country, but by a great fair--called the "World's Columbian Exposition"--to be held at Chicago; and we shall invite all who will to come from all parts of the globe and join us in the celebration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIRST GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SECOND GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.]

On one of the two great seals[4] of the United States a pyramid is represented partly finished. That pyramid stands for our country.

It shows how much has been done and how much still remains to be done.

The men whose lives we have read in this little book were all builders.

Little by little they added stone to stone, and so the good work grew.

Now they have gone, and it is for us to do our part and make sure that the pyramid, as it rises, shall continue to stand square, and strong, and true.

[Footnote 4: Seals: the first great seal, having the eagle and the Latin motto "_E Pluribus Unum_," meaning "_Many in One_,"--or one nation made up of many states,--was adopted June 20, 1782. The spread eagle signifies strength; the thirteen stars above his head, and the thirteen stripes on the s.h.i.+eld on his breast, represent the thirteen original states; the olive branch, held in the eagle's right talon, shows that America seeks peace, while the bundle of arrows in his left talon shows that we are prepared for war. This seal is used in stamping agreements or treaties made by the United States with other nations, and also for other important papers.

The second great seal, adopted at the same time, was never used. It was intended for stamping the wax on a ribbon attached to a treaty or other important paper, thus making a hanging seal. The Latin motto "_Annuit Coeptis_," above the all-seeing eye looking down with favor on the unfinished pyramid, means "_G.o.d has favored the Work_." The date MDCCLXXVI, or 1776, marks the Declaration of Independence. The Latin motto at the bottom, "_Novus Ordo Seclorum_," means "_A New Order of Ages_"--or a new order of things, such as we have in this New World of America.]

What is said about the North and the South since the war? Tell about the growth of the South. What is said about the West? What about railroads? What about people going west?

How long is it since Columbus discovered America? What is said about the celebration of that discovery? What is said about one of the great seals of the United States? What does the unfinished pyramid stand for? What does it show us? What is said of the men whose lives we have read in this book? Is anything left for us to do?

A SHORT LIST OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE (_For the Use of Teachers._)

This brief list is arranged alphabetically. It consists, with a few exceptions, of small, one-volume biographies; all of which are believed to be of acknowledged merit.

A much fuller reference list will be found in the appendix to the author's larger work, ent.i.tled _The Leading Facts of American History_.

Balboa: Irving's Companions of Columbus, and Winsor's America, Vol.

II.

Baltimore, Lord: William H. Browne's Lords Baltimore;[3] G. W.

Burnap's Baltimore.[1]

Boone, Daniel: C. B. Hartley's Boone (including Boone's autobiography); J. M. Peck's Boone;[1] and see the excellent sketch of Boone's life in Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, Vol.

I.

Cabot (John and Sebastian): J. F. Nicholls's Cabot; C. Hayward's Cabot.[1]

Clark, George Rogers: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, Vol. II.

Columbus: Irving's Columbus, abridged edition; Charles K. Adams's Columbus;[3] Edward Everett Hale's Columbus.

De Leon: Irving's Companions of Columbus, and Winsor's America, Vol.

II.

De Soto: see Winsor's America, Vol. II.

Franklin, Benjamin: D. H. Montgomery's Franklin (autobiography and continuation of life);[2] John T. Morse's Franklin.[7]

Fulton, Robert: J. Renwick's Fulton;[1] R. H. Thurston's Fulton;[3]

Thos. W. Knox's Fulton.[4]

Gray, Robert: see H. H. Bancroft's Pacific States, Vol. XXII.

Harrison, William Henry: H. Montgomery's Harrison; S. J. Burr's Harrison.

Houston, Sam: Henry Bruce's Houston;[3] C. E. Lester's Houston.

Hudson, Henry: H. R. Cleveland's Hudson.[1]

Jackson, Andrew: James Parton's Jackson; W. G. Sumner's Jackson.[7]

Jefferson, Thomas: James Schouler's Jefferson;[3] John T. Morse, Jr.'s Jefferson.[7]

Lincoln, Abraham: Carl Schurz's Lincoln; Isaac N. Arnold's Lincoln; Noah Brooks's Lincoln;[4] J. G. Holland's Lincoln; F. B. Carpenter's Six Months at the White House with Lincoln.