University of Virginia Library

HISTORY OF VIRGINIA

INTRODUCTION

THE FIRST INHABITANTS

The Indians of Virginia. — When the territory now
included in Virginia was first settled by the English, it
was occupied by an Indian population numbering about
ten thousand, divided among more than forty clans or
tribes. Each of these was ruled over by a chief; and
about thirty of them were united in a loose confederacy
under a head-chief named Powhatan. There were also two
smaller confederacies and a few scattering tribes which
maintained their independence. All the Virginia Indians
belonged to the great Algonkin[1] family.

Appearance. — The Virginia Indians were manly in appearance,
being tall, straight, and well-proportioned. They
were copper-colored, had high cheek bones, piercing black

eyes, and coarse black hair. The women wore their hair
long and allowed it to hang over their shoulders. The
men cut theirs short on one side, but let it grow long on
the other. On the top of their heads, they carefully preserved
a lock or ridge, like a cock's comb, which was
called the scalp lock. This was the warrior's pride and

Virginia Indian

his token of defiance to his enemies,
whom he dared to take it.
Their clothing was made chiefly
of the skins of the deer, the
raccoon, the beaver, and the
otter. Their shoes were made
of buckskin, and were called
moccasins. They possessed in
a high degree the fondness for
ornaments and toys that has
been observed in all savages.
They tattooed their bodies with
representations of flowers, fruits,
and birds, and adorned themselves
with handsome mantles
made of curiously interwoven
feathers, which were dyed red
or blue, as fancy dictated. Their
heads and shoulders they painted
red, with the juice of the bloodroot
plant; and both men and women wore necklaces of
beads and pearls. Altogether, they were a curious and
picturesque looking race.

Their Character. — Bravery and fortitude were good
qualities which the Indians generally possessed. But they
were cruel, vindictive, and treacherous. They had no laws
to restrain evil doers; and so, when a man was wronged

by another, he had to punish the offender himself. In this
way, the spirit of revenge was so cultivated that it became
an Indian's pride never to forget an injury. He would
carefully conceal his resentment, while he waited long
years for an opportunity to wreak his vengeance; and
when it came, he would execute the penalty with interest.
Thus it happened that among them it was the custom to
return evil for evil. Their training gave them no idea
of the golden rule; and so they knew not how to render
good for evil, though at times they would repay kindness
with kindness.

Weapons. — Bows and arrows, stone hatchets, called
tomahawks, stone knives, wooden spears and clubs constituted

their chief weapons. In hunting, they depended
mainly upon the bow and arrow, which by constant practice
they learned to use with great skill. They could discharge
their arrows with so much force that they were
able to bring down their game at a distance of more than
a hundred yards. The arrows were winged with turkey
feathers and had heads made of stone. Specimens of these
arrowheads are still found in Virginia.

Wigwams. — The Indians dwelt in villages, chiefly along
the banks of the numerous rivers that flow through Virginia.
They constructed their cabins, which were called
wigwams, by driving stakes in the ground and fastening

them together at the top by means of bent poles. They
covered them with reeds, bark, and skins. These rude
houses were sometimes fifty or a hundred feet long; and
some of them exhibited a slight advance toward civilization
by being divided into separate
rooms. At the top, a small opening
was left for smoke to escape.
If the fire on the hearth went
entirely out, this was regarded
by the women as an evil omen,
and accordingly it was rarely allowed
to occur. For chairs the
Indians used mats, and for beds
they constructed raised platforms,
which were covered with mats
and skins.

Wigwams

Habits and Customs. — They engaged
in agriculture to a limited
extent, cultivating corn, beans, and tobacco. As they
possessed no iron or steel instruments to fell the forests,
where their crops were to be planted, they girdled the
trees with stone hatchets, cutting the bark away in a
ring, which stopped the flow of the sap and caused the
trees to die. This practice, which originated with the
savages, is still used in parts of Virginia. All work was
performed by women, or squaws, as they were called,
the men spending their time in hunting, fishing, and in
fighting their enemies. When the Indians went off on
long hunting expeditions, the women carried the burdens,
and when the day drew to a close cut down saplings and
built arbors, while the warriors looked complacently on,
smoking their pipes, or else practiced shooting at targets.

Indian Warfare. — The savages were usually in a state
of warfare with tribes that were hostile to them. They
never fought a pitched battle, nor did they contend in an
open field, but depended upon strategy, surprises, and silent
approaches. Their method was to entrap their enemies
in ambuscades, or else to creep upon them in Indian file,
and attack them unexpectedly. Prisoners, especially women

and children, were frequently adopted into the tribe, but
many were tortured to death.

Running the Gantlet. — A favorite method of torture,
called running the gantlet, was to compel a captive to run
between two rows of warriors, each of whom would strike
him with a club or knife, as he passed along. At times,
a prisoner would escape torture if he showed bravery in a
high degree, so much did the savages value this quality.

A marked example of this occurred in the case of General
Stark of New Hampshire. The Indians captured him,
and decided that he must run the gantlet. Stark saw
death staring him in the face; but as he started, he
snatched a club from one of the savages, and swinging it
right and left, rushed on between the lines of astonished
warriors, laying them out as he went along. Thus he
passed through the ordeal almost unhurt. The savages
loudly applauded his daring, and the old men laughed
at the young braves who had been so unceremoniously
knocked over. Instead of torturing Stark again, they
bestowed upon him the honors of a hero.

Education. — The Indians were quick of apprehension
and ingenious. They learned what they could from nature,
finding out the habits of animals and discovering the properties
of plants. Nothing escaped their notice. So well
did they train their ears and eyes, that, in the forests, they
could hear sounds and see sights which could not be perceived
by a white man; and they could travel with ease
for miles in a straight line through the thickest woods.
The boys and girls were taught how to make earthen pots,
to fashion stone hatchets and arrowheads, and to manufacture
beads out of the shells found on the seacoast.
Beyond such rude arts as these, their education did not extend.
Their idea of numbers was very limited. It is said
that some of them could count only ten, while others could
reckon a thousand. "As numerous as pigeons in the
woods or as the stars in the heavens," was the way they
expressed a large number. Some years after the English
arrived at Jamestown, Powhatan sent Tomocomo, one
of his chiefs, over to England with instructions to find
out the population of the country. Tomocomo carried
along with him a bundle of sticks, and he was ordered to

cut a notch for every Englishman he met. The story
tells us that he diligently followed his instructions till he
reached London, when, amazed by the multitude he saw
thronging the streets, his arithmetic failed him, and, throwing
away his sticks, he gave up the undertaking.

How they Looked upon Self-control. — From infancy,
they were taught to bear pain patiently and silently. The
boys played a game of "Choosing Chief," in which each
one would press a live coal to his naked body in order to
see who could hold it there the longest, and the successful
one was honored by being selected leader. A story told
by an early missionary, also illustrates the value which
the savages placed upon self-control. A great bear was
wounded by an Indian, and groaned piteously as he lay
on the ground. The Indian, hearing this, addressed him
as follows: "Bear, you are a coward and no warrior.
Your tribe and mine are at war, and yours began it. Had
you wounded me, I should not have uttered a sound, while
here you are bringing disgrace upon your tribe."

Seasons and Festivals. — They counted their years by
winters, which they called "Cohonks," from the shrill cry
of the migratory wild geese, which they heard as cold
weather approached. They held a number of feasts, such
as, one for the coming of the wild fowl, one for the return
of the hunting season, and one for the ripening of certain
fruits. But their greatest festival took place at the time
when they gathered corn. This lasted some days and
was frequently participated in by the inhabitants of several
villages. On this occasion, the warriors boasted that, as
their corn had been gathered, which furnished food enough
for the women and children, they were free to hunt, seek
new adventures, or go to war, as they fancied. So they
rejoiced, sang heroic songs, and danced. The historian,

Beverley, describes a festival dance, saying that it is
executed by the "dancers themselves forming a ring, and
moving around a circle of carved posts, that are set up for
that purpose, or else round a fire, made in a convenient
part of the town; and then each has his rattle in his hand,
or what other thing he fancies most, as his bows and
arrows, or his tomahawk. They also dress themselves up
with branches of trees, or some other strange accoutrements.
Thus they proceed, dancing and singing, with all
the antic postures they can invent, and he is the bravest
fellow that has the most prodigous gestures."

Religion. — The Indians are represented as believing
that when death came they went "beyond the mountains
towards the setting sun." One of the earliest writers[2] on
Virginia says they believed in "the immortality of the soul,
when, life departing from the body, according to the good
or bad works it hath done, it is carried up to the tabernacles
of the gods to perpetual happiness, or to Popogusso,
a great pit, which they think to be at the farthest parts of
the world where the sun sets, and there burn continually."
They held that it was unnecessary to pray to a good god,
for the reason that he would not injure them anyway, but
that with the spirit of evil it was different. He might
do them harm and so should be appeased. They called
him Kiwassa or Okee, and directed their worship to him
They had a legend that once Kiwassa had been on earth;
the foundation of the legend is as follows: Below Richmond,
about a mile from the James River, there are to be
seen on a rock some impressions of unknown origin.
They look like the footprints of a giant. To these the
Indians pointed, and claimed that they were made by
Kiwassa when he came among them.

Powhatan. — Powhatan inherited a part of the dominion
over which he ruled, and the rest he acquired by conquest.
He was among the Indians a kind of rude Napoleon,
who had, by conquering tribe after tribe, so increased his
ancestral domain that he had risen to some degree of
kingly dignity and power. He accomplished this by his
bravery, energy, and wisdom. He not only possessed
some of the better qualities of human nature, but at times
displayed touches of princely

Powhatan

magnanimity. From his
followers, he exacted many
ceremonial observances, and
he ruled over them with the
authority of a despot. A
body-guard of braves attended
him by day, and at
night sentinels guarded his
dwelling while he slept. In
1607, when the history of
Virginia really opens, this
monarch of the forest was
about sixty years old. "His
head was somewhat hoary,
which, together with his stature,
carriage, and countenance, gave him an air of savage
majesty." Naturally he viewed the coming of the English
into his domain with alarm, but he was too shrewd and
politic to make open war upon them, and so he ended his
days in the land of his ancestors. Better would it have been
for the Indians of Virginia, had Powhatan's successors followed
his example. But instead of doing this, they arrayed
themselves against the incoming civilization, and brought
on a contest which ended in the destruction of their race.

QUESTIONS

• 1. How many Indians did the English find in Virginia, and what is
  said of their clans or tribes?

• 2. To what great family did they belong?

• 3. Describe the appearance of the Virginia Indians.

• 4. Of what did their clothes consist, and how did they show their love
  of ornament?

• 5. Give an estimate of the character of the Indian.

• 6. Why was it their custom to return evil for evil?

• 7. Describe their weapons.

• 8. How did they construct their wigwams?

• 9. Why did they never allow the fire to go out?

• 10. What did they use for chairs and beds?

• 11. What products did they cultivate, and how did they clear their
  lands?

• 12. What is said of the women or squaws?

• 13. What was their method of warfare?

• 14. Explain what was meant by "running the gantlet."

• 15. What did they learn from nature?

• 16. What rude arts did they teach their children?

• 17. Did they have much idea of numbers?

• 18. On what mission did Powhatan send Tomocomo to London?

• 19. Give illustrations of how they regarded self-control.

• 20. How did they count years, and from what was the name derived?

• 21. Describe their chief festival.

• 22. Their festival dance.

• 23. What was the belief of the Indians?

• 24. Why did they pray to the evil spirit?

• 25. What legend had they as to their god, Kiwassa?

• 26. What was Powhatan's position among them?

• 27. How did he view the coming of the English?

FIRST PERIOD — THE COLONY

CHAPTER I

EARLY ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION

Importance of Virginia History. — The history of the
English race in America begins with Virginia. Much
romantic interest clusters around the first settlement of
this famous state, whose soil became the birthplace of a
great nation; and a narration of the adventures and deeds
of her people constitutes one of the most important parts
of the annals of our country.

Why Virginia was Settled. — Toward the close of the sixteenth
century, a strong desire to take part in the conquest
and settlement of America began to stir the hearts of
the English people. To increase trade, to bring heathen
peoples under the influence of the Gospel, to have a colony
where the surplus of the home population might go, and to
check the rising power of Spain were the chief reasons
that made England look with longing eyes upon America.
Then, too, to found a nation upon the virgin soil of the
New World was in itself an attractive thing to the brave,
ardent, and restless English people.

Early Explorers. — In 1492, Columbus[3] discovered the

Bahama Islands, and then later the West Indies and South
America, but he did not reach the continent of North America.
In 1497, John Cabot, who commanded an English
fleet, touched upon the mainland, and took possession of
it in the name of England. Upon this fact, England
based her claim to a part of the country; but nearly a
hundred years passed away before she made any effort to
secure it. In 1576, however, Sir Martin Frobisher made
an ineffectual effort to plant a colony; and in 1583, Sir
Humphrey Gilbert made another, in which he lost his life.

Sir Walter Raleigh's Exploring Party. — After the death
of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, his half-brother, Sir Walter
Raleigh,[4] took up the subject of colonization in earnest,

and he readily obtained from Queen Elizabeth, who was
much interested in the colonization of America, letters
patent that gave him all the authority he needed. So he
equipped an exploring party, which in April, 1584, he sent
out in two ships under

Raleigh

the command of Philip
Amidas and Arthur Barlow.
This expedition
reached the coast of
North Carolina in July;
and the adventurers
landed on an island,
called by the Indians
Wocokon, near stormy
Cape Hatteras. Several
days passed, and then
some Indians visited
them and entertained
them in the most hospitable
manner. The English discovered and explored the
island of Roanoke, and after remaining till September,
they returned to England and gave a most glowing description
of the country.

Origin of the Name Virginia. — The voyagers to the new
land said that it was the "most plentiful, sweet, wholesome,

and fruitful of all other." Marvelous stories were
told about the country in the West. There the fruits were
more luscious, the flowers more beautiful, the trees taller,
the mountains more majestic, than any ever before seen.
There, too, the rivers ran over golden beds, and the Fountain
of Youth, which removed all traces of age and disease,
poured forth its crystal waters. At last, the western paradise
foreshadowed by the myths of ancient times had been
discovered! Such were the reports of the first explorers,
fancy furnishing what facts failed to supply. When Queen
Elizabeth, who took pride in being called England's Virgin
Queen, heard such charming accounts of the new land,
she named it after herself, Virginia.

As to the boundaries of the country, these an old writer
described as follows: "The bounds thereof on the East
side are the ocean, on the South lieth Florida, on the North
Nova Francia [Canada], as for the West thereof the limits
are unknown." Since the "South Sea," which was another
name for the Pacific Ocean, was supposed to be but a few
hundred miles away, this was usually taken as the western
boundary. As time passed, the domain called Virginia was
continually made smaller, till finally the name was restricted
to what is now embraced in the two Virginias.

First Roanoke Island Colony. — Sir Walter Raleigh now
made preparations for what he intended to be a permanent
settlement. In April, 1585, he sent out a fleet of
seven ships under the command of Sir Richard Grenville,
which carried to Virginia a colony of 108 persons, Ralph
Lane being the governor. These landed on Roanoke
Island, and made a settlement. They inquired of the
Indians the name of the country, and one of the savages
exclaimed, "Wingandacon!" — "You wear good clothes!"
They understood this to mean, "the good land"; and so

the coast of North Carolina was called Wingandacon.
They also understood the Indians to say that the Roanoke
River sprang from a rock so near the "South Sea," that
storms often dashed the waves into the spring from which
it gushed, and that at this place there was an abundance
of gold and precious stones. So Lane and some of his
men set out to find the "South Sea," and continued their
quest till they were forced to eat their dogs, to keep from
dying of hunger. When they returned, they found the
colony in great need and the Indians becoming hostile.
At this critical juncture, an unexpected opportunity came
for the settlers to return to England. In May, 1586, Sir
Francis Drake touched at Roanoke Island with his fleet,
and, yielding to the solicitations of the colonists, took
them all back to England. They carried with them many
interesting particulars about the nature of the new country,
and much information in regard to the habits, manners,
and government of the Indians, which had been collected
by several learned and accomplished men who were members
of the colony; but the greatest advantage that came
from this expedition was the discovery of the Chesapeake
Bay. It was in June that the settlers departed; and in
the following August, Sir Richard Grenville came bringing
for them fresh supplies, but found the island deserted. So
he left fifteen men to hold possession of it; but these were
doubtless slain by Indians, as they were never heard of
afterwards.

The Lost Colony. — The settlement of Virginia was dear
to Sir Walter Raleigh's heart; and in May, 1587, he dispatched
another expedition, consisting of three vessels,
which carried 116 persons, among whom were a number
of men with their wives and children. Their plan was to
found on the Chesapeake Bay a city to be called Raleigh;

but they were turned from their purpose, and landed on
Roanoke Island, where they saw the bones of a man on
the shore, and deer feeding around the deserted homes of
the former occupants. They found the Indians bitterly
hostile. This caused gloomy forebodings to fill their
minds, and made them feel so strongly their dependence
upon the mother country and their need of frequent aid
from her, that, after several months had passed, they
urged their governor, John White, to go to England for
fresh supplies. To this he reluctantly consented, and in
August, 1587, set sail, telling them that if for any reason
they changed their location before his return, to carve upon
some prominent object the name of the place to which
they had gone, and above it a cross if they went away
in distress. He left his daughter, the wife of Ananias
Dare, who just a few days before his departure had given
birth to an infant, christened Virginia. This was the first
white child born in North America. He could have given
no stronger pledge of his speedy return than he did in
leaving his loved ones behind him. But in vain did the
expectant colonists look for him. He found all England
ablaze with excitement over the threatened invasion of the
Spanish Armada. An attempt was made to send relief
to the colony, but it proved unsuccessful; for the Atlantic
was swarming with Spanish ships of war; and not till
August 15, 1590, did Governor White again reach Roanoke
Island. He found some tracks in the sand, and on a
tree the word Croatan, but there was no cross above it,
and this seemed to indicate that the colonists had gone of
their own accord to an Indian town called Croatan, which
was on a neighboring island. White set out for Croaton;
but, a fierce storm coming on, the captain of the ship
refused to continue the journey and sailed for England.

Searching for the Lost Colony

When Sir Walter Raleigh learned that the colony was no
longer on Roanoke Island, he manifested much anxiety
in regard to its fate, and dispatched, it is said, five different
expeditions in quest of the colonists; but no certain
trace of them has ever been discovered. They simply
disappeared from view. Had they become lost in the
primeval forests and died of starvation? Had they been
massacred by the Indians? Or had they joined the
savages and, wandering off into the interior, become lost
to civilization? These questions have never been satisfactorily
answered; and this disappearance of over a hundred
human beings constitutes a pathetic tragedy — the
first of a long series connected with the history of our
country.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Why is Virginia history so important?

• 2. What were the chief reasons England had for settling Virginia?

• 3. When did Columbus discover America? What points did he touch?

• 4. Who first discovered the mainland of North America?

• 5. Upon what did England base her claim to Virginia?

• 6. Who first tried to plant English colonies in America?

• 7. Who afterwards took up the subject of colonization?

• 8. From whom did he obtain authority to carry out his plans?

• 9. Where did Raleigh's first expedition land?

• 10. How were the explorers treated by the Indians?

• 11. Upon their return to England, what accounts did they give of the
  country?

• 12. How did the name of Virginia originate?

• 13. How were its boundaries described by an old writer?

• 14. By what other name was the Pacific Ocean known, and where was
  it supposed to be?

• 15. Give an account of Sir Walter Raleigh's first Roanoke Island
  colony.

• 16. Why did they call the coast of North Carolina Wingandacon?

• 17. What did they understand the Indians to say about the source of
  the Roanoke River?

• 18. What was the result of Ralph Lane's attempt to find the South
  Sea?

• 19. Who took the settlers back to England, and what information did
  they carry with them?

• 20. What was the greatest advantage that came from this expedition?

• 21. Give an account of the Lost Colony?

• 22. What did they urge their governor to do, and what agreement was
  made?

• 23. What pledge did he give of a speedy return?

• 24. What traces did he find of the colony upon his return?

• 25. Has its fate ever been known?

CHAPTER II

JAMESTOWN

Renewed Interest in Virginia. — Nearly twenty years
elapsed after the planting of the lost colony before another
effort was made to settle Virginia. Then the times grew
favorable for a renewal of the enterprise, and many influential
persons became interested in it. Men, too, were
found in abundance, who were eager to make personal trial
of this new field of adventure. It seemed to offer an easy
road to fortune and to renown. Fabulous stories written
about America, its heathen peoples and "monstrous strange
beasts," were read with delight; and maps, which showed
the location of new lands, cities, and rivers, were eagerly
examined. From the pulpit, clergymen declared that "Virginia
was a door which God had opened for England."

The London and the Plymouth Companies. — Two associations
were in 1606 formed to settle colonies in the vast
domain known as Virginia. To Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, and others, who constituted what was
known as the London Company, authority was given to
found a colony in the southern part of Virginia, and it
was to be planted anywhere between the thirty-fourth and
the forty-first degrees of north latitude; that is, between
what is now the southern part of North Carolina and the
mouth of the Hudson River. Three years later, the boundaries
of the southern colony were enlarged, and made to

embrace the territory two hundred miles north and two
hundred south of what is now known as Old Point Comfort
and to extend "up into the land from sea to sea";
that is, from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. To the
Plymouth Company authority was granted to establish a
colony in the northern part of Virginia, afterwards named
New England; but no permanent settlement was made in
this territory till 1620, thirteen years after Virginia was
settled.

The First American Charter. — On April 10, 1606, King
James signed a charter, which he had himself prepared,
for the government of the colony the London Company
was to plant. The laws laid down were, on the whole,
unwise, and not calculated to advance the prosperity of
a struggling community. The chief provisions were as
follows: The colony was to be governed by a council
appointed by the king, the members of which were to
reside in England; and this council was to appoint a
subordinate one in Virginia, which was to govern according
to laws, ordinances, and instructions prescribed by the
king. The land was to be held free of any military or
other service to the king, but to him was to be given one
fifth of all precious metals that might be found. It was
also provided that for five years the settlers should have
things in common, but that after this land should descend
to the eldest son, as it did in England; that the Church of
England should be established; and that efforts should be
made to find a short and easy way to the "South Sea" and
to the East Indies. One provision is worthy of special
notice — that the colonists and their children were to have
forever the rights and privileges of native Englishmen.

The Beginners of the Nation. — One hundred men were
soon secured, who were to be the pioneers. Among them

were to be found men of every rank. There were some
carpenters, laborers, and tradesmen, but more than half
the number were gentlemen. Several of these were men
of property, but many were younger sons, who went out
from home in the hope of bettering their condition in life
by a sudden accession of wealth. On the whole, the emigrants
were not suited to bear the hardships of life in
an uncivilized land. A few, however, had the qualities
of leaders. These were Captain John Smith, who was
a man of unusual ability; Bartholomew

Captain John Smith

Gosnold, an experienced
explorer, who was one of
the most efficient promoters of
the undertaking; George Percy,
a brother of the Duke of Northumberland;
and Rev. Robert
Hunt, a minister of the Established
Church.

The Departure. — Finally all
preparations were completed,
and on December 19, 1606, the
expedition set sail from Blackwall,
below London. The event stirred the patriotic feeling
of England, and aroused great interest even in so busy
a city as London. Michael Drayton wrote a lyric poem in
honor of the argonauts, and prayers were offered up in
the churches for their success. They embarked in three
small ships, the Susan Constant of one hundred tons, the
Godspeed of forty tons, and the Discovery, a pinnace of
twenty tons. The expedition was under the command
of Captain Christopher Newport.

The Voyage. — Captain Newport sailed round by the
Canaries, following the usual route. Stormy weather made

the voyage long and dangerous. For four months the
ships were tossed and buffeted by the waves; and not till
April 26, 1607, did the adventurers reach the Chesapeake
Bay, the northern and southern capes of which they
named after the king's two sons, Charles and Henry.
Soon after passing the capes, they entered a beautiful
river, which in honor of their sovereign they called the
James, and a point of land at which they touched in entering
its mouth, they named Point Comfort. The banks of
this noble river, which the Indians called the Powhatan,
were covered with showy white dogwood blossoms, mingled
with brilliant red buds; and from either side the perfume
of spring flowers was wafted to the ships. To the storm-tossed
travelers the land looked like a veritable paradise,
and they decided that "heaven and earth had never agreed
better to frame a place for man's habitation."

The First Virginia Council. — The names of the first
Virginia Council had been put, by orders of the king, in a
sealed box, which was not to be opened till the expedition
reached Virginia. It was examined on the night of April
26; and the councilmen were found to be Bartholomew
Gosnold, John Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, Christopher
Newport, John Ratcliffe, John Martin, and George
Kendall. Wingfield was elected president. But Smith
was at first excluded from the Council on the ground that
he had conspired to usurp all authority and make himself
"King of Virginia." This charge was at a later period
proved to be untrue, and he was then admitted.

Exploring. — Seventeen days were spent in exploring.
The following quaint description tells what happened when
a small party first landed: "At night, when wee were going
aboard, there came the savages creeping from the Hills
like Beares, with their Bowes in their Mouthes, charged us

very desperately, hurt Captain Gabrill Archer in both
hands, and a Sayler in two places of the body very dangerous.
After they had spent their arrowes, and felt the
sharpness of our shot, they retired into the Woods with a
great noise and so left us."

Location of Jamestown Chosen. — On May 13, 1607, the
settlers selected a site for a city, naming it Jamestown,
which they fondly hoped would grow into a great metropolis.

The location chosen was on the western end of a malarial
peninsula, lying on the north side of the river, about forty
miles from its mouth. The peninsula has since become
an island. The landing having been effected, the Council
elected Mr. Wingfield president, who then delivered an
oration, in which he explained why John Smith had been
refused admittance to the Council. After this the colonists
proceeded without delay to pitch tents, whose white
coverings were soon seen gleaming among the green trees.
They rendered their arms and their provisions secure, and
fixed a place to hold religious services. Later, cabins were
built on the peninsula; and the place began to assume the
appearance of a settled community.

A Fort Built. — Toward the end of May, as the men
were planting corn, a shower of arrows came hurtling
upon them, followed by the shrill war whoop of the savages.
One boy was slain and seventeen men wounded
Up to this time but little preparation had been made for
defense; but now all work was stopped till a strong fort
could be built and palisaded. This was soon completed,
and the settlers felt secure from attack.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What of the renewed interest in Virginia?

• 2. For what purpose were the London and Plymouth Companies
  formed?

• 3. What parts of Virginia were given to each company?

• 4. By whom was the charter for the London Company signed?

• 5. What were the chief provisions of this charter?

• 6. Give an account of the pioneers of Virginia.

• 7. Name those who possessed qualities of leaders.

• 8. In what year did they leave England?

• 9. What interest was shown in their expedition?

• 10. Give the names of the three ships in which they embarked? By
  whom were they commanded?

• 11. Give an account of their voyage.

• 12. When did they reach the Chesapeake Bay?

• 13. After whom were the capes Charles and Henry named?

• 14. What name did they give the river they entered?

• 15. Who constituted the first Virginia Council?

• 16. Why was John Smith at first excluded?

• 17. What is said of their explorations?

• 18. How did the colonists give the peninsula the appearance of a settled
  community?

• 19. What happened towards the end of May?

CHAPTER III

A TYPICAL PIONEER

Early History of Captain John Smith. — Fortunately for
the colony, it contained one man of remarkable ability —
John Smith. He was born in Willoughby, England, his
family being connected with the Lancashire gentry. By
nature he was fond of adventure, and he lived at a period
when the world was full of excitement and stirring deeds.
Before he reached manhood he had fought in Flanders in
the wars against Spain. In 1601 he enlisted with the
Germans against the Turks. At the siege of Regal he
slew three Turks in a tournament, and was honored with
a triumphal procession. In the bloody battle of Rottenton
he was captured by the Turks and sold into slavery;
but he slew his master with a flail, and escaped into Russia.
Then he wandered through Poland, Germany, France, and
Spain, returning to England in 1604. Such, according to
his account, were the leading events in his life before he
came to America.

Visit to Powhatan. — While the settlers were trying to
make themselves comfortable at Jamestown, Newport and
Smith with twenty-three others sailed up the James to discover
its head. They went as far as the falls of the river,
and on the trip paid a visit to Powhatan, the acknowledged
head of the Virginia Indians, whom they found in his
royal wigwam, just a short distance from where the historic
city of Richmond now stands. They were hospitably

entertained by the savages; but Powhatan did not look
with favor upon his guests, though he thought it best to
hide his feelings. When one of his followers complained

Powhatan

(From an old print)

of the coming of the English,
he replied that the
strangers did not hurt
them, but only took a
little of their waste land.

An Unexpected Calamity.
— Newport returned
with his party to Jamestown
the last of May,
and in June he sailed for
England, leaving a bark
or pinnace for the use of
the colonists. He had
hardly taken his departure
before an unexpected
disaster befell the settlers.
The marshy peninsula
was full of malaria;
and when July came, the men were attacked with such an
epidemic of fever that at one time scarcely ten of them
could stand. To add to their distress, the supply of food
soon became insufficient, half a pint of wheat and as much
barley boiled in water being each man's daily allowance.
The noise of labor ceased, and no sounds were heard save
the groans of the sick. At times as many as three or four
died in a single night. Speaking of this period, Smith
says, "Our drink was water and our lodgings castles in
the air"; and George Percy wrote: "There were never
Englishmen left in a foreign country in such misery as we
were in this newly discovered Virginia." The facts show

that this statement was not exaggerated; for by September
half the men were dead, the brave Gosnold being among
the number, and the remaining fifty in a deplorable condition,
weakened by disease and by the lack of nourishment.

Half Survive. — When the supply of food had been
exhausted, and the men were about to die of starvation,
their wretched condition so moved the hearts of the savages,

that they gave them of their own fruit and provisions.
Smith also obtained additional supplies by trading
with the Indians and by intimidating them. The frosts
of autumn brought health to the fever-stricken men; and
now an abundant supply of food came from an unexpected
quarter. Wild fowl appeared in large numbers, swimming
upon the bosom of the river; and deer and other game
came near the settlement. So the men feasted and half
were saved.

Supposed Breadth of North America. — So little was
known of the dimensions of the continent at this period
that it was commonly supposed that the Pacific Ocean, or
the "South Sea," as it was called, could be easily reached
by sailing a little way up any of the rivers that ran from
the northwest. To find a way to this sea was one of the
objects set before the colonists by the London Company;
for it was believed this would open an easy route to the
East Indies, and pour out a golden tide of prosperity upon
the shores of England.

Smith a Captive. — Complaint having been made that
nothing had been done to discover the "South Sea,"
which had been the eager quest of so many of the early
explorers, Smith, who was the leading spirit of the colony,
sailed up the Chickahominy River to look for it. In the
swamps of the river the Indians captured him, after which
they set out on a march of triumph, exhibiting him to various
tribes and spending their time in feasting. Finally
they carried their captive to Powhatan, who was at Werowocomoco,[5]
his favorite resort, which was on the York
River, only a few miles from the historic field of Yorktown.
The Indians, after holding a consultation, decided
that Smith must die.

His Rescue. — Two great stones were brought, and the
head of the struggling captive forced down upon them,

while a number of warriors raised their clubs to dash out
his brains. But as they were about to strike, Pocahontas,
a dearly beloved daughter of Powhatan, then a girl about
thirteen years of age, rushed forward and, throwing her
arms around Smith, laid her head upon his to save him
from death. The stern heart of Powhatan was so touched
by his daughter's act that he spared Smith's life, and two

Rescue of Captain John Smith

days later sent him back to Jamestown, telling him that
he would in the future regard him as his son.[6]

Various Events. — When Smith returned to Jamestown,
he found the colony reduced to forty, and again in need
of food. But in January, Newport came with fifty additional
emigrants; and another ship containing seventy more
arrived in May. These ships brought supplies also, and

Newport and Smith obtained corn by trading with the
Indians. A fire at Jamestown early in the year destroyed
much that the colony possessed, and progress was further
delayed by a gold fever, which took possession of the men
because they found yellow sand near Jamestown, a shipload
of which Newport carried to England.

Smith Explores the Chesapeake Bay. — Smith's active
nature did not allow him to remain quietly at Jamestown
for a long period. On June 2, he set out, accompanied
by fourteen men, to explore the Chesapeake Bay. In an
open boat, with no instrument but a compass, he traversed
the whole of the Chesapeake on both sides. He
not only did this, but also made frequent journeys into the
interior, and opened communications with various tribes
of Indians. As a result of these researches, he constructed
a map of Virginia, which represented so correctly
the natural outlines of the country that it was not superseded
for many years; and even as late as 1873, it was
referred toas authority on the disputed boundary line
between Virginia and Maryland. When we consider the
slender resources at Smith's command, the results he
accomplished rightly place him in the highest rank among
those who have enlarged the bounds of knowledge, and
opened a way into an unknown land for colonies and for
commerce.

Change of Rulers. — The first rulers proved incompetent.
Wingfield was deposed by the people because he
tried to seize the pinnace and escape to England, and
Ratcliffe was made president. He was in turn deposed
for bad management, and, in September, 1608, Smith was
elected in his place. In times of adversity capable men
always come to the front, and Smith was virtually the
leader long before he became president. During the

autumn and winter that followed his election he had entire
control of affairs; and under his vigorous management,
everything took on a better appearance. When food was
needed he obtained it from the Indians, by fair means if
he could, and by force when nothing else availed.

Promises that Could not be Fulfilled. — About the end of
autumn, Newport came again, bringing with him another
supply of emigrants, among whom were Mrs. Forest and
her maid, Anne Burrus, the first English women that had
ever settled in the colony. This time he had promised to
do some impossibilities; for he had pledged himself not
to return to England without obtaining a lump of gold,
discovering the "South Sea," or finding one of Sir Walter
Raleigh's lost colony. He was also instructed to crown
Powhatan as a king acknowledging allegiance to England;
and this he did, putting on Powhatan's head a tinsel
crown, and giving him a scarlet cloak and other mock insignia
of royalty. The haughty Indian monarch, in return
for the presents he had received, sent King James
a robe of raccoon skins and a pair of his old moccasins.
The other undertakings Newport could not accomplish.

A New Charter. — In the summer of 1609, Captain Samuel
Argall came on a trading expedition, bringing from
England the news that Captain John Smith had been
deposed. This proved to be true. King James had
granted a new charter, which enlarged the limits of the
colony and authorized the London Company to choose the
English Council, and this Council was in turn to appoint
a governor for the colony. Virginia was to have not only
a governor, but also a lieutenant governor and an admiral;
Lord Delaware, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers
had been elected to these offices, while Captain Newport
had been appointed vice admiral.

The New Emigrants arrive, but the New Government does
not. — Under the new organization, money enough was
speedily obtained to send nine ships containing five hundred
emigrants, to Jamestown. The fleet sailed from
England in May, 1609, leaving Lord Delaware to follow,
which he expected to do in a short time. To Gates,
Somers, and Newport, commissions were given, authorizing
the first one of the three that reached Virginia to administer
the government till Lord Delaware arrived. The
leaders were jealous of one another, and to keep one from
securing an advantage over the others by a prior arrival,
they all sailed together in the Sea Venture, the flagship of
the vice admiral. In August, about three hundred of the
emigrants, inadequately provisioned, arrived at Jamestown,
bringing the news that the Sea Venture, containing the
officers of the government and the rest of the party, had
been lost in a storm.

New Settlements. — As none of the officers authorized
to take charge of the government had arrived, Smith
retained control of affairs. He induced some of the newcomers
to settle at Nansemond under the command of
John Martin, and others at the falls of the James River
under Francis West, a brother of Lord Delaware.

Smith leaves Virginia. — While Smith was returning
from a visit to the settlement at the falls of the James,
he was severely wounded by the accidental explosion of
a bag of gunpowder. Toward the end of September, when
the ships that brought the emigrants returned, his enemies
succeeded in having him sent back to England, charging
him with having instigated the Indians to attack the settlers
at the falls, because they had been insubordinate to
him, and with plotting[7] to acquire a right to Virginia by

marrying Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan. Smith
afterwards explored the coast of New England; but he
never returned to Virginia. He died in London in 1631.

His Character. — The testimony of those who knew him
shows that he was a man of action, craving restless movement,
and taking pleasure in unremitting toil. He was
fertile in expedients and full of energy, difficulties serving
only to bring out the strength of his character, while his
hopefulness under adverse circumstances enabled him to
inspire others with confidence in him and in themselves.
His researches in geography are unusually accurate for
his times, and on practical subjects and colonization he
wrote much that contains the highest wisdom. With all
these strong qualities, he was at the same time so vain
that, when he gave an account of his own exploits, his
fervid imagination led him to color his narrative too
highly. His character is paradoxical, and has to be
studied in order to be understood. He has been called
the "Father of Virginia"; and there is no doubt as to
the great value of the services he rendered the colony.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What was the early history of Captain John Smith?

• 2. Give an account of the visit of Smith and Newport to Powhatan.

• 3. How did Powhatan regard his guests?

• 4. What calamity befell the Jamestown colony?

• 5. Why did the savages give them provisions?

• 6. From what source did the settlers obtain abundant supplies?

• 7. What was the supposed breadth of North America?

• 8. Describe the capture of John Smith.

• 9. Give an account of his rescue.

• 10. Upon his return to Jamestown, in what condition did he find the
  colonists?

• 11. Why were the first rulers deposed, and who was finally elected
  

---

48





• 12. Who were the first English women that emigrated to the colony?

• 13. What had Newport promised to do?

• 14. Give an account of the crowning of Powhatan.

• 15. When Argall came to Virginia, in 1609, what news did he bring
  from England?

• 16. What changes had been made in the government of the colony?

• 17. What officers had been appointed?

• 18. Why did John Smith remain at the head of affairs?

• 19. What new settlements did he make?

• 20. Why did Smith leave Virginia?

• 21. Give an estimate of his character.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Give a general description of the Virginia Indians.

• 2. Describe their weapons, wigwams, and customs

• 3. What was their method of warfare, and how did they treat their
  prisoners?

• 4. What is said of their education?

• 5. Describe their religion

• 6. What is said of Powhatan?

• 7. Why did the English wish to settle Virginia?

• 8. Mention some early explorers and what they did.

• 9. Give an account of the early attempts at colonization.

• 10. Relate the story of the Lost Colony.

• 11. Why were the London and Plymouth Companies formed, and what
  territory was granted each?

• 12. What were the chief provisions of the first American charter, and
  by whom were they signed?

• 13. Mention some of the beginners of the nation, and describe their
  departure and voyage

• 14. When and where did they make a permanent settlement?

• 15. Give the early history of Captain John Smith.

• 16. Give an account of his capture by the Indians, and his rescue.

• 17. Describe his last years, and give an estimate of his character.

CHAPTER IV

THE STARVING TIME—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF
DELAWARE, DALE, AND ARGALL

The Starving Time. — Disasters came fast after Smith's
departure. The colony would not recognize the authority
of George Percy, the acting president, and became divided
into factions, each one of which had a leader. Francis
West and a party of men who went in a ship to procure
corn, sailed away, leaving the colony to its fate. The
Indians renewed their hostility, and, filled with the determination
to destroy the colony utterly, killed all who fell
into their hands. Ratcliffe, who attempted to trade with
the savages, was tortured to death by Indian women, and
thirty of his men were slain. When the provisions were
exhausted, the domestic animals were next consumed; and
then the horrors of what is known as the "starving time"
set in. During this period, one man deserves special mention
as being apparently the only one who devised a plan
to save the colony from utter destruction. This was Daniel
Tucker, who built a boat and caught fish in the river, which,
Percy says, "kept us from killing one another to eat." In
six months the colony was reduced from nearly five hundred
to sixty. The end was drawing near.

The Wreck of the Sea Venture. — There is no more romantic
story in history than that of the Sea Venture,
which is supposed to have suggested "The Tempest" to
Shakespeare. The ship was wrecked on the coast of

the Bermudas, which were at that time "accounted as an
inchaunted pile of rockes and a desert habitation for
Divels." "But all the fairies of the rocks were but flocks
of birds, and all the Divels that haunted the woods were
but herds of swine." This is what Sir Thomas Gates and
his companions found to be true. They fared well, notwithstanding
they had been shipwrecked, and "lived in
such peace and plenty" that some wished to spend their

Wreck of the Sea Venture

lives there. But out
of the wreck of the
Sea Venture, they
constructed with the
aid of cedar timber
found growing on the
islands, two barges,
which they christened
the Deliverance and
the Patience, and embarked
for Virginia.

The Rescue. — They
reached Jamestown
on May 24, 1610, just
in time to save the
remnant of the settlers.
There was some talk of resuscitating the colony;
but, when it was found that the provisions brought from
the Bermudas would not last more than two or three
weeks, they decided to abandon Jamestown. So on June
7 the whole party was crowded into the Deliverance, the
Patience, and two pinnaces that were at Jamestown. The
little fleet dropped down the river, and the next morning
reached its mouth, where it met Lord Delaware, whose
ships were just entering Virginia waters. The whole party

now returned to Jamestown, feeling that the hand of God
had stayed their departure.

Administration of Lord Delaware. — Lord Delaware was
the first executive officer in Virginia who bore the title
of governor, and he came commissioned to rule with the
sword of martial law. He maintained a mild but decided
authority; and his influence for good was much enhanced
by the virtues for which he was distinguished. He established
regular hours for labor, tolerating no idlers but
requiring the colonists to work during six hours of the day.
Twice each day all had to attend brief religious services
in the church, which was kept decorated with wild flowers.
In every way he proved himself an efficient governor.
He had the dwellings at Jamestown repaired, the forts
garrisoned, and taught the Indians again to fear the English.
But his health gave way under his duties, and, in
March, 1611, he returned to England.

Sir Thomas Dale. — On May 10, 1611, Sir Thomas Dale
came to take charge of the government, bearing the title
of High Marshal. He received the appointment through
the influence of Prince Henry, who took great interest in
the welfare of the colony. Dale ruled by martial law with
inhuman cruelty, putting offenders to death by torture,
and even breaking one poor criminal on the wheel. Five
men, captured in an attempt to escape to some Spaniards,
who were reported to be near the settlement, were burned
at the stake. A poor thief, for purloining a little oatmeal,
was chained to a tree and allowed to starve. During
Dale's reign of terror, no letters of complaint were allowed
to reach England; and his administration, which came to
an end in 1616, was known as "the five years of slavery."
Dale lived in a cruel age, and he was a cruel representative
of his age.

Results Accomplished by Dale. — Dale's administration
had the happy effect of causing law and order to be
properly respected, and it greatly advanced the material
prosperity of the colony, though this was done by reducing
the people to a bondage that was intolerable. He had
much corn land cleared, and largely increased the number
of horses, cattle, and hogs. One experiment which he
tried produced results that proved to be important. He
allowed each old settler to have a private garden patch
of three acres, the proceeds of which belonged to him,
while the rest of his labor went for the common good.
From this it appeared that one man working for himself
would make as much as ten men whose labor went into
the public stock. This led at a later period to the private
ownership of land, and the adoption of this system brought
about great changes for good.

Argall. — Captain Samuel Argall now becomes prominent
in Virginia history. In 1617, he was appointed
lieutenant governor, and he had no sooner entered upon
his duties than he proceeded to oppress the people under
the cover of martial law, and to rob both the colony and
the London Company, sending to England, while doing
this, favorable reports of the condition of affairs. Cattle
belonging to the colony he sold, and kept the proceeds.
The Indian trade he carried on with the men and ships
of the Company, and pocketed the profits. He plundered
everybody with a pirate's rapacity, and even robbed Lady
Delaware. When his high-handed proceedings became
known in England, the London Company ordered all his
goods and property to be seized. But Lord Rich, who
afterwards became Earl of Warwick and took a prominent
part in the Puritan movement, was Argall's partner in
England and, indeed, had secured his appointment as governor

of Virginia. Now when he found that his confederate's
downfall was certain, he dispatched a swift sailing
vessel to Virginia, in which Argall escaped with his booty
before the Company's orders could be executed.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What happened to the colony after Smith's departure?

• 2. Describe the starving time.

• 3. Who deserves special mention during this period, and why?

• 4. Give an account of the wreck of the Sea Venture.

• 5. How were the survivors of the colony saved from starvation?

• 6. Why did they decide to abandon Jamestown?

• 7. Who first bore the title of governor of Virginia?

• 8. By what means did Lord Delaware accomplish much good in the
  colony?

• 9. Why did he return to England?

• 10. Who succeeded Lord Delaware?

• 11. Give an account of Dale's administration.

• 12. What was it called?

• 13. What good results did Dale accomplish?

• 14. What experiment of his proved important?

• 15. When Argall became governor, how did he act toward the people,
  and the London Company?

• 16. How did he escape with his ill-gotten gains?

CHAPTER V

POCAHONTAS

Her Friendship for the English. — The story of Pocahontas
is one of the most beautiful connected with the early

Pocahontas

history of Virginia, and will always be
read with interest by English people.
She first appeared at Jamestown during
the winter of 1607-8, bringing food
to the colonists, who were in great need.
After this she made frequent visits, attended
by a train of Indians bringing
baskets laden with corn and venison.
In 1609, when John Smith was in her
father's country trying to secure corn,
she came at night and warned him of
a plot the Indians had formed to kill
him and his party; and when Ratcliffe and his men were
slain, she saved one man and a boy from death. Many
other acts of kindness are related of her, which show that
she had a woman's tender heart, though she was an untutored
savage.

Her Capture. — In 1612, Captain Samuel Argall went to
the Potomac country to trade for corn. While on this
mission, he learned from an old chief named Japazaws,
that Pocahontas was in the neighborhood, and he conceived
the idea of capturing her. So he bribed Japazaws
to induce her to come on board of his sloop, which lay in

Marriage of Pocahontas

the Potomac River, and carried her off to Jamestown a
prisoner, sending a messenger to Powhatan to demand, as
a ransom for her release, the restoration of all English
prisoners held by him, and the return of all arms and
tools that had been stolen from Jamestown by the Indians.

Her Marriage. — Powhatan was not disposed to accede
to these terms, and threatened war. But while negotiations
were going on in regard to the occurrence, the
matter was settled in a most unexpected manner. While
Pocahontas was at Jamestown, John Rolfe, a young Englishman,
fell deeply in love with her, and she reciprocated
his passion. She professed faith in Christ, and was baptized
under the name of Rebecca in the little church at
Jamestown, from a font made of the trunk of a tree. Then
she was married to Rolfe with the approval of her father.

The Cause of Peace. — To the colony, the marriage
brought peace; for after it had taken place, Powhatan and
the various tribes over which he had influence became
friendly to the English. Even the Chickahominies, who
were fierce fighters, were led by it to enter into an alliance,
by which they acknowledged themselves subjects of King
James, calling themselves New Englishmen.

Visits England. — Pocahontas lived happily with her
husband, and with him visited England in 1616, when Sir
Thomas Dale returned. Her arrival in London created
a sensation, and all classes did her honor on account of
her romantic history and the services she had rendered to
the colony. She was presented at court by Lady Delaware,
and was accorded the rank of a royal princess.

Her Death. — In March, 1617, she died at Gravesend,
England, just as she was getting ready to embark for her
native land, being only about twenty-two years of age
when her eventful life came to an end. She left one son,
Thomas, who was brought up in England. He married in
London, but settled in Virginia, where he became a man
of prominence, and where a number of his descendants
are to be found among the honored citizens of the commonwealth.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What is said of the story of Pocahontas?

• 2. How did she show her friendship for the English?

• 3. Describe her capture by Argall.

• 4. What ransom was demanded of Powhatan for her release?

• 5. What unexpected settlement of the matter took place?

• 6. Give an account of the marriage of Pocahontas.

• 7. What benefit did it bring to the colony?

• 8. How was Pocahontas treated when she visited England?

• 9. When and at what age did she die?

• 10. Has she any descendants in Virginia?

CHAPTER VI

THE FOUNDING OF A STATE

The Crisis of Colonization. — The real crisis of colonization
had now come. Dale's tyrannical administration and
Argall's rule of robbery and ruin, had given Virginia such
a bad reputation, that emigrants were no longer willing to
go to a land where so many woes were experienced. One
convict, who was offered the choice between transportation
to Virginia and death by hanging, promptly chose hanging.
The organizers of the London Company had hoped that
they would reap large profits, as the stockholders of the
East India Company were doing; but the colony had not
proved a success financially; and it was now seen that
commercial motives would have to become secondary, or
else the whole scheme abandoned.

Triumph of Patriotic Motives. — Higher motives prevailed.
"Divers lords, knights, gentlemen, and citizens
grieved to see this great action fall to nothing"; and patriotic
feeling was deeply stirred. The London Company
passed under the control of a body of liberal statesmen,
who put the founding of a state before the making of
fortunes, and determined to adopt such means as were
necessary to restore credit to the Virginia experiment.

The Great Charter. — Under the influence of such patriotic
men as the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's friend,
and Sir Edwin Sandys, the great advocate of popular
liberty, the London Company on November 13, 1618,

granted to Virginia a "Great Charter or Commissions of
Priviledges, Orders, and Lawes." No copy of this charter
is extant, but it is known that it limited the power of the
governor, and provided for a legislative body to be composed
of burgesses elected from the different settlements. This
was the beginning of constitutional government in America;
and the first House of Burgesses met at Jamestown on
July 30, 1619, at the call of Governor Yeardley. The
Great Charter provided also for an allotment of land to all
settlers who were in the colony when Sir Thomas Dale
took his departure; and so the oldest Virginia land titles
date back to it.

Good Results. — In the spring of 1619, the people heard
of the Great Charter and the changes it would bring, and
they were filled with joy, feeling "now fully satisfied for
their long labors, and as happy men as there were in the
world." At the close of Argall's administration, the colony
numbered not more than four hundred, but now emigrants
came in large numbers. Twelve hundred and sixty-one
arrived in the year 1619, and thirty-five hundred more
within three years. All honor to such men as Sir Edwin
Sandys, who founded in Virginia an English state with
a constitution and a representative government, before
England herself was delivered from the tyranny of the
Stuarts.

Homes in the Wilderness. — When the founding of a
state was made the first object, then the London Company
became convinced "that a plantation can never flourish
till families be planted, and the respects of Wives and
Children fix the people on the Soyle." In 1619, Sir
Edwin Sandys stated that the English in Virginia "were
not settled in their mindes to make it their place of rest
and continuance." During the same year, ninety young

women were induced to emigrate to the colony. These
found many suitors, as did others who came in later years.
In 1624, the governor felt it to be his duty to issue a proclamation,
threatening with punishment young ladies who
betrothed themselves to more than one lover at a time.
Happy marriages followed the coming of the women; and
soon men began to look upon Virginia as their home. An

Young Women come to Virginia

interesting feature of these early marriages is that a man
was required, after winning his wife's hand, to pay for
bringing her to the colony in tobacco, which was then a
costly commodity.

Introduction of Negro Slavery. — Almost simultaneously
with the birth of free government came the curse of African
slavery. In August, 1619, a Dutch man-of-war sailed
up the James River, and sold to the settlers twenty negroes,

who became the property of their purchasers and were
made permanent servants. This was the beginning of an
institution that was destined in after years to become
fraught with harm. The traffic in negroes, when it had
once begun, continued, but grew so slowly at first that
thirty years after its introduction, the white population
outnumbered the black fifty to one.

Indented Servants. — There was a class of persons in
the colony known as indented servants. The term was
applied to any one who was bound by a legal agreement
to work for a prescribed time for another person. Some
entered into an arrangement of this kind to defray their expenses
in coming to Virginia, others were prisoners taken
in war and sold by their captors into temporary servitude.
It by no means follows that all persons of this class were
of humble origin. Among them were to be found the
sons of gentlemen. Some convicts were also sent to
the colony, but the number was small compared with the
population; and the offenses committed by many of these
had been of a political nature.

Friendly Intercourse with the Indians. — After Pocahontas
married Rolfe, there had been peace between the
English and the Indians. This had continued for so long
a time that the Indians were no longer looked upon with
distrust, nor did they display any hostility to the whites;
and it seemed probable that the two races would continue
to dwell in amity.

The Massacre of 1622. — In 1618 Powhatan died, and
was succeeded by his brother, Itopatin, and he in a short
time was supplanted by Opechancanough, a chief who was
cunning, artful, and able. He at once formed a plot to exterminate
the English, and for four years he schemed and
planned, bringing tribe after tribe into the conspiracy.

To keep his design from being suspected, just before he
was ready to strike he entered into a treaty of peace with
the English. His plot was well conceived, his plan being
to fall upon all the plantations and settlements at the same
time, and by an unexpected blow to destroy the colony
utterly. The Indians manifested the greatest friendliness
for the whites up to the very time when the murderous
design was to be put into execution; and, even on the

The Massacre of 1622

morning of the fatal day, they came freely among them,
and in some cases took breakfast with the persons they
had planned to kill. At midday on March 22, 1622, they
swarmed out of their hiding places and engaged in a
wholesale butchery, sparing neither men, women, nor
children. By sunset 347 persons had been slain. But
the conspiracy met with only partial success. At some of
the plantations the settlers succeeded in beating off their
assailants. Jamestown and the places next to it received,
through a converted Indian, warning in time to get ready
for the danger that was impending, and when they were
attacked, they easily put the savages to flight.

Effects of the Massacre. — The immediate effects of the
massacre upon the colony were disastrous in the extreme.
Many of the plantations were abandoned, and the alarmed
people were crowded upon a territory so limited that it was
hardly large enough to afford them a bare subsistence,
and much sickness prevailed. In consequence of these
hardships many became disheartened and returned to
England, so that a year after the massacre, the number
of inhabitants had been reduced from about four thousand
to twenty-five hundred.

Retaliation. — The people were at first thrown into a
panic; but they soon realized that they were strong enough
to protect themselves, and entered upon a fierce though
desultory warfare, which lasted for ten years. Before
the massacre, it seemed probable that the Indians would,
for all time, occupy the land along with the English;
but by their treachery they lost the opportunity they
had of retaining a part of their heritage in the territory
of Virginia. They were now regarded by the whites as
unworthy of receiving the treatment shown to enemies in
civilized warfare, and were relentlessly pursued and shot
down whenever opportunity offered. From this time on,
the aboriginal inhabitants of Virginia were forced to retire
from their homes and hunting grounds before the ever-rising
wave of white settlers, and began, tribe after tribe,
to fade out of existence.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What brought on the crisis of colonization?

• 2. How was the London Company disappointed in its expectations?

• 3. What was the character of the statesmen who now obtained control
  of the London Company?

• 4. When was the Great Charter granted to Virginia?

• 5. What is known of its provisions?

• 6. When and where did the first House of Burgesses meet?

• 7. What good result followed the granting of the Great Charter?

• 8. Why did Sir Edwin Sandys and the men that acted with him
  deserve special honor?

• 9. Of what did the London Company become convinced?

• 10. In 1619, what was said of the English in Virginia?

• 11. What was done to help matters?

• 12. What good results to the colony followed?

• 13. What was an interesting feature of the early Virginia marriages?

• 14. When and how was negro slavery introduced into Virginia?

• 15. What were indented servants?

• 16. Were all such servants of humble origin?

• 17. After the marriage of Pocahontas, how had the whites learned to
  look upon the Indians?

• 18. Describe Opechancanough's plot to exterminate the English.

• 19. Give an account of the massacre of 1622.

• 20. What were its effects?

• 21. From this time on, what became of the Indian tribes?

CHAPTER VII

TOBACCO

How regarded by the Indians. — Tobacco was growing
in America when the first settlers came. The Indians
regarded it as the gift of their Great Spirit, and planted
it in their gardens along with their vegetables. To it
they attributed many wonderful virtues. They threw
tobacco powder into the air in a time of drouth to bring
rain; tossed it upon the water to produce a calm when a
tempest was brewing; and their priests cast it upon the
sacrificial fires to propitiate evil spirits.

Introduced into England. — Ralph Lane and his companions,
who learned to smoke it from the Indians, carried
it to England. Sir Walter Raleigh, speedily becoming
fond of it, introduced it among the nobility, and in a
short time it became popular at the court of Queen Elizabeth.
It is related that, as Sir Walter was sitting in his
library, a servant, who came to bring him some water, saw
smoke issue from his mouth, and hastened to pour the
water over him, thinking that he was on fire. King James
wrote a book against tobacco, and Parliament denounced
it, but its consumption continued to increase in England
till its smoke arose alike in the palace of the prince and in
the cottage of the peasant.

The Foundation of Virginia's Prosperity. — Tobacco became
the foundation of Virginia's prosperity. John Rolfe
began the systematic cultivation of it in 1612, and it

became in a few years the universal crop. In 1617 it was
seen growing in waste places in the streets of Jamestown,
and even in the public squares. As the demand for
tobacco increased, it became the chief source of revenue,
and all other crops were neglected for it. Many persons
of means settled in Virginia in order to raise it. It also
rendered negro labor profitable, and thus encouraged the
traffic in slaves.

Led to a Fondness for Country Life. — The cultivation
of tobacco kept the population scattered. Each planter
desired as large a farm as he could get, for it was discovered
at an early date that tobacco grew most kindly
upon virgin soil. This made it desirable that each plantation
should contain a large area covered with original
forest, so that as soon as the acres under cultivation
became somewhat exhausted, new land could be cleared
and substituted for them. This had a great effect in
shaping the life of the Virginia people, for it tended to
isolate the settlers, thus creating a fondness for the country
and causing city life to be looked upon with little favor.

QUESTIONS

• 1. How did the Indians regard tobacco?

• 2. In what ways did they use it?

• 3. Who first carried tobacco to England?

• 4. What nobleman made it popular at the court of Queen Elizabeth?

• 5. What anecdote is told of him?

• 6. How was tobacco looked upon by King James and Parliament?

• 7. Who first began a systematic cultivation of tobacco?

• 8. What was the result of its increased production?

• 9. How did it encourage slavery?

• 10. What effect did tobacco have in shaping the lives of the Virginia
  people?

CHAPTER VIII

THE COLONY UNDER THE KING

Virginia Becomes a Royal Colony. — In England the
struggle for Parliamentary freedom was going on, and
the kingdom was divided between the Royalists and the

Lord Baltimore

supporters of Parliament. As a
political measure, King James resolved
to crush the London Company,
because a majority of its
members took sides against him.
This he did, in 1624, by process
of law. When the Company was
dissolved, Virginia became a royal
colony, and the king announced
his intention of framing a code of
fundamental laws for its government, but died in 1625,
leaving this work unfinished. Charles I., who succeeded
him, introduced no radical changes.

Lord Baltimore. — In 1629 George Calvert, Lord Baltimore,
a Catholic, though in no sense a bigot, came with a
plan to establish, within the limits of the colony, a separate
plantation as a refuge for persons of his belief. The people
belonged to the Established Church, and were unwilling
to see this done. There was a good reason also why
they should be opposed to Lord Baltimore personally.
He was the enemy and rival of Sandys, and had belonged
to a faction in the London Company which had striven to

prevent the granting of the Great Charter; and now he
came desiring to establish, for the promotion of his own
interests, a colony of his people in the settled parts of the
country. The House of Burgesses informed him that
permission would be given to him to carry out his plan
only upon condition that he would take an oath acknowledging
that the king had supreme authority in religious
matters. This he refused to do, and took his departure.
But during his visit he found that there were no settlements
on the north side of the Potomac River; and he
readily obtained from Charles I., with whom he was a
favorite, the promise of a charter to found a colony in that
part of Virginia. Lord Baltimore died before the charter
was issued, but his son planted the colony of Maryland.
The Virginians made a vehement but unavailing protest
against this division of their territory.

Opposition to British Encroachment. — Even at this early
period, the Virginians began to appreciate their liberties
as only a people who have known oppression can do.
If we trace to its origin the unwavering opposition to British
encroachment, which was manifested in later years,
we find it had its beginning in 1624, when the House
of Burgesses declared that, without its consent, no royal
governor could levy taxes. In regard to other matters
also, the people claimed the right to sit in judgment upon
the acts of governors. This came out in the action they
took in the case of Sir John Harvey, who was appointed
by the Crown, in 1630, to rule over the colony. He was
heartily detested by the people because he had sided with
Lord Baltimore in the quarrel that had taken place over
Maryland; and in his administration he was tyrannical,
levied taxes that were unauthorized, and was unscrupulous
as to the means he adopted to obtain money. So in 1635,

the people shipped him back to England, sending at the
same time commissioners bearing charges against him.
The king reinstated the deposed governor; but the occurrence
deserves a place in history as being the first open
resistance to tyranny and vindication of constitutional
rights that took place in America.

Sir William Berkeley Begins his Administration. — In
February, 1642, Sir William Berkeley was appointed governor,
and entered upon his duties at a period full of stirring
events. He was about forty years of age when he came,
and was for thirty-five years, with brief intermissions, at
the head of affairs, holding office for a longer period than
any other governor. He descended from an ancient English
family, received his education at Oxford, had traveled
extensively in Europe, and was "the perfect model of an
elegant and high-minded cavalier." Soon after his arrival,
he introduced some salutary measures which were very
acceptable to the people, and thus his administration
began auspiciously.

Opechancanough Strikes once More. — Opechancanough
was still the ruler of the Virginia Indians; but he was now
very old, and so decrepit that he could not walk. Neither
could he see unless his eyelids were raised, as he had an
affection which caused them to droop. But in his enfeebled
frame the feeling of revenge still fiercely burned;
and when he heard that the English were divided in the
mother country, he decided that this was a favorable time
to try once more to free his land from them. So in
1644, he rallied his braves for the last time and, falling
upon the settlements on the upper waters of the York and
Pamunkey rivers, slew about five hundred whites. But as
soon as the English collected in force, the savages fled as
they had done in 1622. Sir William Berkeley pursued

them with a body of horse, and captured Opechancanough.
He was carried to Jamestown, where he was
kindly treated. But one of his guards basely shot him
in the back, and this caused his death. He was unsubdued
to the last, and died as he had lived, the relentless
foe of the white man.

QUESTIONS

• 1. How and why did Virginia become a royal colony?

• 2. What was Lord Baltimore's plan to establish a settlement?

• 3. Who opposed it, and why?

• 4. On what condition did the House of Burgesses give their consent?

• 5. Did Lord Baltimore accept the condition?

• 6. What grant did he secure from Charles I.?

• 7. Who carried out his plans?

• 8. Against what did Virginia protest?

• 9. To what event can opposition to British encroachment be traced?

• 10. What action did the people take in the case of Sir John Harvey?

• 11. Which did the king sustain?

• 12. Why does this case deserve a place in Virginia history?

• 13. Who was Sir William Berkeley, and when was he appointed
  governor?

• 14. Give an account of Opechancanough's last attempt to exterminate
  the English.

• 15. What was the result?

• 16. Tell of his death.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Give an account of the starving time, and tell how the colony was
  rescued.

• 2. Compare the administrations of Lord Delaware and Sir Thomas
  Dale, and give results accomplished by each.

• 3. Give an account of Argall's administration.

• 4. Relate the story of Pocahontas.

• 5. What is known of the "Great Charter," and what good results
  followed from it?

• 6. When was slavery introduced, and what were indented servants?

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• 7. Describe the massacre of 1622, and give its effects on the people.

• 8. What is said of tobacco?

• 9. How and by whom was it introduced into England?

• 10. What influence did its cultivation have on the prosperity of Virginia?

• 11. How did Virginia become a royal colony?

• 12. Why did the people refuse to allow Lord Baltimore to make a
  settlement in their midst?

• 13. When did Virginia begin to show her opposition to British encroachment?

• 14. What happened in the case of Sir John Harvey?

• 15. Who was Sir William Berkeley, and when was he appointed
  governor?

• 16. Describe the massacre of 1644.

CHAPTER IX

THE COLONY UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH[8]

Execution of Charles I. — In England the struggle between
the king and Parliament had grown so bitter that,
in 1642, civil war broke out — the Puritan

Charles I

contest against royalty. The country was
divided into two hostile parties. Those
who supported the king and the Established
Church were known as Cavaliers, while
those who took sides with Parliament in
its opposition to the king belonged
to the Puritan party, and were
known as Parliamentarians, or Roundheads.
In all the strife that went
on, Virginia had no part, but remained
quiet and prosperous, though
communication with the mother
country was interrupted. The people were, on the whole,
royalists; and, as the difficulties that surrounded the unhappy
Charles I. increased, they were filled with apprehension
as to the result that would ensue. Finally their
worst fears were realized, when the king was captured by
his enemies, sentenced to death, and on the 30th of January,
1649, executed.

The Colony Loyal to Charles II. — The Virginians refused
to recognize the authority of the Commonwealth, which
ruled in England after the death of the king. The House
of Burgesses met in October, 1649; and its very first act
was to express the greatest respect for "the late most
excellent and now undoubtedly sainted king." All reflections
on his memory were declared to be treasonable, as
were any doubts that might be expressed in regard to the
right of Charles II. to succeed him.

The Coming of the Cavaliers. — After the king's cause
had gone down in disaster, many Cavaliers fled from
England to Virginia, where they were most cordially
welcomed by the governor and by the people. Many
persons of means belonging to the nobility, clergy, and
gentry came over at this period. The importance of this
immigration is shown by the fact that in 1650 Virginia
contained about fifteen thousand inhabitants, and in 1670
forty thousand. The coming of the Cavaliers added to
the loyalty of the people; for the exiles aroused sympathy
by their misfortunes, and caused increased interest to be
felt in royalty by the accounts they gave of the war that
had been waged for the unfortunate king.

The Commonwealth Asserts its Authority. — For three
years Virginia continued to acknowledge Charles II.
as her sovereign; and, during this period, Parliament
was too busy with affairs in England to give attention
to colonies that were rebellious. But at the end of this

time, it had triumphed over its enemies at home, and it
then sent a squadron to reduce the Virginians to obedience.
The ships reached Virginia waters in March, 1652,
and found that Governor Berkeley had made preparations
for vigorous defense. But, when negotiations were
opened, the Virginians agreed to acknowledge the authority
of the Commonwealth, provided their submission was considered
as voluntary, it being understood at the same time
that their country was not to be treated as if it had been
conquered, but that the people were to enjoy all the liberties
of free-born Englishmen, and should not be subjected
to taxes without the consent of the House of Burgesses.
Upon these terms a treaty was made between the Burgesses,
who acted for the colony, and commissioners appointed by
Parliament to represent the Commonwealth. When this
took place, Governor Berkeley resigned, and was succeeded
by Richard Bennet, one of the commissioners.

The Colony Prospers during the Time of the Commonwealth.
— During the existence of the Commonwealth in
England, which lasted from 1649 to 1660, Virginia enjoyed
freedom of commerce with the whole world, and along
with it came prosperity and a rapid development of the
country. Many of the emigrants, who had poured into
the colony during the civil strife in England and after the
death of the king, were men of education and property,
who now gave their time and energies to the care of
their plantations. Virginia grew in reputation as a desirable
place in which to live. The soil was so fertile,
was so well watered by the many rivers, creeks, and brooks
that coursed through it, and responded so easily to cultivation,
that visions of limitless wealth were entertained as
the result of new products, which, it was hoped, could be
introduced. The gay-plumaged birds, the game that filled

the majestic forests, the fish that were to be found in the
waters, added to the attractions of the country, especially
to the new settlers. It was declared to be "the best poor
man's country in the world," and it was said, "If a happy
peace be settled in poor England, then they in Virginia
shall be as happy as any people under heaven."

QUESTIONS

• 1. What state of affairs in England led to civil war?

• 2. How did it affect Virginia?

• 3. What was the unhappy fate of Charles I.?

• 4. What was Virginia's attitude towards the Commonwealth?

• 5. Give an account of the coming of the Cavaliers.

• 6. What effect did it have on the loyalty of the people?

• 7. Why did the Commonwealth have to assert its authority?

• 8. Upon what conditions did Virginia agree to acknowledge its
  authority?

• 9. What did Berkeley do when the House of Burgesses signed the
  treaty?

• 10. What privileges and prosperity did Virginia enjoy under the
  Commonwealth?

• 11. Why was it declared to be "the best poor man's country in the
  world"?

CHAPTER X

THE RESTORATION TAKES PLACE AND THE LOYAL COLONY
IS OPPRESSED TILL IT IS READY TO REVOLT

The Restoration. — In May, 1660, Charles II. ascended
the English throne; and the event caused much joy in
Virginia. Even before the Commonwealth came to an
end, it is said that Sir William Berkeley invited the king;
who was living in exile in Holland, to come to the colony,
and raise his standard. From this, it is supposed, the
country obtained the name of "Old Dominion"; for it
was a place "where the king was king, or might have
been, before he was king in England." There is a tradition
that Charles II., at his coronation, wore a robe made
of silk from Virginia, in token of his appreciation of her
loyalty.

Berkeley's Return to Power. — Early in 1660, when it
became evident that the end of the Commonwealth was
drawing near, the House of Burgesses elected Berkeley
governor; and the first act of Charles II., in regard
to colonial matters, was to confirm the appointment of
the stanch old royalist by sending him a commission.

Why Attached to Royalty. — This devotion to the king
seems inconsistent with the principles of popular freedom,
which the people had so cherished that they had almost
unconsciously developed a republican form of government;
but it must be remembered that their experience with royalty
had thus far been encouraging; for under Charles I.

Coronation of Charles II

they had been practically independent, and during the
interregnum, the Commonwealth left their liberties untouched.
From Charles II. they had a right to expect
the very best treatment; but they were doomed to bitter
disappointment.

The Navigation Laws. — Parliament, in 1660, at the very
first session held after the Restoration, decided to put into
operation navigation laws to secure to England a monopoly
of the colonial trade. These measures required that
all tobacco exported from Virginia should be shipped in
English vessels going to England, and that all foreign
goods imported must be brought to Virginia in English
ships. This policy stopped the free trade which Virginia
had for some time enjoyed with the world, and worked
the greatest injustice. When it went into operation, the
result was that a ring of some forty or fifty English merchants
had the whole trade in their hands, and reaped

almost all the profit that came from the production of
tobacco, fleecing alike the rich and the poor. Tobacco fell
to a low price, while the cost of all imported goods was
greatly enhanced. The colony sent Governor Berkeley to
England to protest against the enforcement of these unjust
laws; but he returned without accomplishing his mission,
though he secured some very advantageous patents for
himself.

The Royalists in Power in the Colony. — Even in Virginia
a radical change took place after the Restoration.
During the Commonwealth, the impulses for the advancement
of the masses, which had been stirring England and
the world at large, had been quietly at work in the colony,
and had caused greater consideration to be shown to the
common people, as is evidenced by the character of the
colonial legislation that took place during this period.
Now all this was changed; and it is not hard to see why
it was so, if it be remembered that Virginia was but a part
of England transplanted, and contained the same differences
in society. The germ of an aristocracy had existed
from the first settlement, and its rising power had been
much increased by the emigrant royalists who came over
during the interregnum. With the Restoration, this aristocracy
came into power. A political revolution had taken
place in Virginia, which proved fatal to many of the rights
and privileges cherished by the people.

Oppressive Colonial Legislation. — The House of Burgesses
quietly repealed the law which conferred upon
the members a term of service extending through only
two years, and thus legislated itself into an indefinite
continuance of power. The government was now
conducted in an expensive manner. All the officers re-taxed

to pay them. Oppressive taxes were levied also
for other purposes, such as for arms and ammunition, to
provide cannon and to maintain forts. The people could
not see that the funds were always used for the purposes
for which they were raised. They did see, however, that
Governor Berkeley and his friends grew continually richer.
Not only the taxes themselves, but the method by which
they were levied caused the greatest dissatisfaction. They
were laid, not on property, but on persons. They were
poll taxes so heavy that they proved an intolerable burden
to the poor, while the rich felt them but little. Religious
intolerance came in also to increase the general discontent,
laws being enacted which punished severely all dissenters.
Finally, even political rights were abridged. In 1670,
the right of suffrage, which for fourteen years had been
enjoyed by all freemen, was restricted to freeholders and
housekeepers.

Obstinacy of Berkeley. — In vain did the people protest
that the Burgesses no longer represented them, and call
for a new election. Berkeley persistently refused to dissolve
a House which proved so subservient to his will,
saying, in explanation of his refusal, that they were more
valuable on account of their experience than new men
would be. For twelve years complaints were sent to
England against Berkeley, but they availed nothing. At
last patience ceased to be a virtue, and there were indications
enough that the people, exasperated by their
multiplied grievances, were ready to rise against their
oppressors; but Berkeley heeded not the mutterings of
the storm that was gathering.

Criminal Prodigality of Charles II. — Oppression, unjust
legislation, and robbery under the form of law were surely
enough to exasperate a people so liberty-loving as the Virginians;

but this was not all. The king, to whom they
had been ever loyal, showed himself so utterly indifferent
to their rights, that a large part of the population felt
insecure in the possession of their homes. Charles II.,
while wandering in exile, soon after the execution of his
father, had granted to a number of distressed Cavaliers
the stretch of country between the Rappahannock and the
Potomac rivers, known as the Northern Neck, by which
act he gave to his favorites much land that had been long
in cultivation. But now he committed an act that surpassed
all others in prodigality. In 1673 he gave to Lords
Culpeper and Arlington "all that entire tract, territory,
and dominion of land and water called Virginia, together
with the territory of Accomack," for the term of thirty-one
years. All rents and escheats were to belong to them,
as was the power to convey all vacant lands and, indeed,
to manage matters in general as they wished.

Ready for Revolt. — When this act of the king became
known, loud was the outcry raised against it. The whole
population rose in protest. They had been loyal to
the king in the past; but now they were only kept from
breaking out in open rebellion by the efforts of influential
men, who restrained them. The House of Burgesses in
alarm dispatched envoys to England to bring about a
change in the terms of the grant or else to buy it up for
the benefit of the colony.

QUESTIONS

• 1. How was the news of the restoration of Charles II. received in
  Virginia?

• 2. From what incident is Virginia supposed to have obtained the
  name of Old Dominion?

• 3. What tradition is given in connection with the coronation of
  Charles II.?

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• 4. By what authority did Berkeley again assume charge of the government?

• 5. Why was Virginia so attached to royalty?

• 6. Did she receive considerate treatment from the king?

• 7. What were the Navigation Laws?

• 8. How did the English merchants take advantage of these laws?

• 9. What action did the colony take, and with what result?

• 10. Under the Commonwealth, what advancement of the masses took
  place?

• 11. What change occurred after the Restoration?

• 12. Give an account of the oppressive colonial legislation.

• 13. Why did Governor Berkeley persistently refuse to dissolve the
  House of Burgesses?

• 14. What was the result of his obstinacy?

• 15. Why did the people feel insecure?

• 16. While in exile, what part of Virginia had Charles II. given away?

• 17. What was his crowning act of prodigality?

• 18. When this became known, what did the people do?

• 19. How did the House of Burgesses quiet them?

CHAPTER XI

BACON'S REBELLION

Justice too long Delayed. — The king informed the envoys
"that he was graciously inclined to favor his said subjects
of Virginia," and promised a new charter for "the settlement
and confirmation of all things," which he even
ordered to be drafted; but notwithstanding the most persistent
efforts made by the colony's representatives, it was
so much delayed that before it was issued, a new cause of
alarm furnished the people with what they desired — a
pretext for appearing in arms in an effort to resist oppression
by revolution.

Indian Troubles. — The Indians furnished the occasion
for a popular uprising. In 1675, they began committing
depredations and murders in some of the frontier
settlements, and there were rumors that all the friendly
tribes were about to break the peace that had existed
for thirty years. There appeared, too, to be sufficient
cause for such apprehension; for all along the border
plantations prowling savages in blind fury murdered men,
till the people became frenzied at the horrors of insecurity
that hung over their homes. An appeal for protection
was made to the governor; but he showed so little disposition
to take prompt action that a suspicion was aroused
that he secretly favored the Indians; and it was even
hinted in explanation of his tardiness that he feared a
war would injure the beaver trade with the savages, of

which he had secured a monopoly for himself and his
friends. Early in 1676, he did order out a force, under
the command of Sir Henry Chicheley, to pursue the
Susquehanna Indians who had slain thirty-six persons
in the upper settlements of the Rappahannock and Potomac
rivers; but as the troops were about to set out,
he suddenly changed his mind and had them disbanded.
At last the people began to organize for their own defense;
and soon after in the territory around the heads of
the James and the York rivers, the citizens, including
most if not all of the civil and military officers, tumultuously
assembled and selected Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., as
their leader.

The People's Leader. — Bacon was a native of Suffolk
County, England, and was of good descent, his family
apparently belonging to the gentry. He was a cousin of
Lord Culpeper, and his wife a daughter of Sir Edward
Duke. He was educated at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge,
where he entered in 1660, and took his M. A.
degree in 1667. Reared during the stormy period of the
Puritan contest against royalty, he had been influenced by
the spirit of his times, and was animated by an ardent
love of freedom rather than by an attachment to monarchy.
He possessed natural talents of a high order, was
eloquent as a speaker, engaging in manner, violent when
excited, and recklessly brave. He had settled about the
year 1672 on the upper James River, his plantation being
one upon which murders had been committed by the savages.
The high esteem in which he was held is attested
by the fact that, though he had been in the colony only
about three years, he had been appointed to a place in the
Council, an unusual honor for one so young, for he was
but twenty-nine. Such was Nathaniel Bacon, whom his

countrymen enthusiastically chose as their commander,
and well was he qualified for the office.

Other prominent leaders on the popular side were Richard
Lawrence, a brilliant Oxford man, and Drummond, a
Scotchman, who had been governor of North Carolina.

Declared to be Rebels. — Bacon's men collected their
arms, and asked to be led against the Indians. But their

commander, before complying with
their request, applied to the governor
for a commission, so that his acts might have the sanction
of law. Berkeley did not send the commission; and
so Bacon, in May, 1676, set out on his expedition without
it, deriving his authority directly from the will of the
people. But as he was on his way news reached him that
he and his men had been declared to be rebels by the
governor, and ordered to disperse. Some men of estates
obeyed, but the rest continued on their way to the frontier
and, after defeating the Indians, started back to the settlement.

Berkeley makes Concessions. — In the meantime the governor
had taken vigorous action. He collected troops and,
leaving Jamestown in haste, pursued Bacon; but he was
suddenly stopped by the alarming news that all the lower
counties along the James and York rivers had flamed out
in rebellion under the leadership of Joseph Ingram and
George Wakelet. Berkeley returned to Jamestown, and
in view of the difficulties that faced him, decided to make
some concessions. He accordingly dissolved the Burgesses,
dismantled the frontier forts, which were the
source of much complaint as being a useless burden, and
in other ways showed a conciliatory spirit in the hope that
he might keep the colony loyal to his authority.

A New House of Burgesses. — Berkeley ordered a new
House of Burgesses to be elected, and the result was a
surprise. The feeling of the people against the restriction
of the suffrage was shown by the election, in some of
the counties, of freedmen as burgesses. Bacon was unanimously
chosen a burgess from his county of Henrico. The
new House, which met early in June, represented the people,
and a majority of the members were in sympathy with
Bacon.

Bacon's Arrest and Apology. — When Bacon appeared
to take his seat in the House, Sir William Berkeley did the
only thing that he could do under the circumstances —
arrested him. But he speedily paroled him, and an effort
was made to harmonize matters. There was in the Council
a near relative of Bacon, Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., "a rich,
politic man." He, as was believed, induced Bacon, "not
without much pains," however, to make a written apology

for his acts. Bacon agreed to do this, his friends claimed,
on the promise of a commission to fight the Indians. After
he had thus humbled himself, he was pardoned by the governor,
and restored to his seat in the Council. When this
took place, many men from the upper country, who had
hurried to Jamestown on hearing of Bacon's arrest, returned
to their homes; and for a few days it looked as if
the trouble was at an end.

Berkeley and Bacon

Bacon's Flight and Return. — If a commission was promised
Bacon, none was ever sent to him. After waiting
several days, he grew apprehensive that the governor's
generous action in pardoning him was but a cloak to conceal
his real purpose. Fearing that he would be arrested
again after his friends had left, he fled from Jamestown,
but in a short time returned at the head of about five
hundred armed men. The House of Burgesses met in

haste. The governor and his Council came out of the
assembly room, and Bacon advanced to meet them.
"Here, shoot me, 'fore God, a fair mark — shoot!" cried
Berkeley. "No," Bacon replied, "may it please your
honor, we will not hurt a hair of your head, nor of any
other man. We are come for a commission to save our
lives from the Indians, which you have so often promised,
and we will have it before we go."

Bacon Before the Burgesses. — Bacon himself appeared
before the Burgesses, and addressed them on the Indian
troubles, on the condition of the public revenues, and
on the grievances of the country. He was the next day
appointed by the House commander in chief against the
Indians, and this Governor Berkeley ratified. An act
was passed pardoning Bacon and his followers for their
proceedings, and a letter was even drafted to the king,
highly commending them. The House also passed a
number of salutary laws that were well adapted to reform
abuses and to relieve the people; and to these Berkeley,
who was for the time completely subdued, assented.

Berkeley Takes Refuge in Accomac. — Berkeley, finding
that he could not depend on the support of the House
of Burgesses, dissolved it, and then repaired to Gloucester,
counting upon the loyalty of the planters there. He again
declared Bacon a rebel, and, raising the royal standard,
tried to rally the citizens to its defense. But he received
only a half-hearted support; for, while the people acknowledged
him as governor, they informed him that "they
thought it not convenient at present to declare themselves
against Bacon, as he was now advancing against the common
enemy." The governor did not remain long unmolested,
for Bacon, on hearing of the proclamation he had
issued in Gloucester, abandoned the expedition against the

Indians, and marched to attack him. But Sir William hastily
embarked in a small vessel and sailed across the Chesapeake
Bay to the "Kingdom of Accomac," as it was called,
which was regarded as a separate country, though it was
controlled by Virginia.

The Convention at Middle Plantation. — At the news of
the governor's flight, Bacon addressed a proclamation to
the people of Virginia, inviting all who loved their country
and their homes to assemble in convention and throw off
the tyranny of Berkeley. The call was answered with
alacrity. The most eminent men of the colony, four of
whom were members of the Governor's Council, met at
Middle Plantation, now Williamsburg, on August 3, 1676.
The convention, after a stormy session, subscribed to an
oath to make common cause with Bacon against the
Indians, to support him against Berkeley, and even to
resist any force that might be sent from England till the
people's cause could be laid before the king. This oath
was prescribed by Bacon, and it was administered by the
lawful magistrates in nearly every county.

The Indians Defeated and Dispersed. — Bacon, now feeling
sure of the support of the people, turned his attention
to the Indians. He attacked and defeated the Appomattox
tribe in the neighborhood of the present city of Petersburg,
and then scattered the savages that were on the
Nottoway, the Meherrin, and the Roanoke rivers. The
Indian power was now broken, and Bacon disbanded most
of his troops.

Berkeley's Return to Jamestown. — While Bacon was
pursuing the Indians, Giles Bland, one of his followers,
with a fleet of four ships sailed for Accomac to capture
the governor. But one of the men turned traitor to
Bacon's cause and gave up one of the ships to Berkeley,

who then captured the others. After this stroke of good
fortune, Sir William secured sixteen or seventeen sloops,
and by means of this fleet transported his soldiers, numbering
from six hundred to a thousand, across the bay;
and on September 7,
1676, he took possession
of Jamestown.

Destruction of Jamestown

Destruction of
Jamestown. — When
Bacon heard what
had happened, he
started at once for
Jamestown, with
such of his followers
as he could hastily
collect, and traveled
"with marvelous celerity,
outstripping
the swift wings of
fame." As he advanced,
reinforcements joined him; but, when he reached
Jamestown, his force was still inferior to Berkeley's. He
prepared to cannonade the town; but Berkeley, evacuating
it in haste, embarked with his troops on board the ships
which lay in the river. Bacon entered the town; and,
as his army was too small for him to leave a garrison in
the place, after consulting with his officers, he decided to
burn it so that it should no more furnish a refuge for the
royalists. This was done on September 19, 1676, Lawrence
and Drummond putting the torch to their own homes.
The destruction was complete; and now only the ruins of
the tower of the church and the graves in the adjacent
cemetery mark the site of Virginia's ancient capita'.

Death of Bacon. — Bacon now had all Virginia with him,
and he was full of hope that he could establish for the
colony a free government subject to Great Britain; but he
did not live long enough to carry out any of his plans.
During the siege of Jamestown he contracted a fatal sickness;
and in October, 1676, he died at the house of Mr.
Pate, in Gloucester. He was secretly buried by his faithful
followers, and the place of his interment has never
been discovered.

Collapse of the Rebellion. — At the news of Bacon's
death there was widespread dismay; and a momentous
change at once took place. There was

Ruins of Jamestown

no leader to succeed
him; and his followers
became broken up into
separate bands, which
Sir William Berkeley
attacked and defeated
in detail. The people
grew weary of the desultory
warfare that was
carried on, in many
cases, it appeared, only
for plunder and revenge,
and longed for
a return of peace.
Berkeley exerted
himself to encourage
this pacific spirit. Finally, he entered into negotiations
with Ingram and Wakelet, two of the most influential
leaders, offering them full pardon if they would lay down
their arms; and upon these terms they surrendered.
Thus the rebellion which, in September, 1676, was triumphant
everywhere, had, by the end of the year, fallen
to pieces for lack of a head; and Governor Berkeley was
again in authority.

Berkeley's Revenge. — Now that Sir William Berkeley
was in possession of the government again, instead of
adopting a policy calculated to heal the wounds of the
colony, he displayed a spirit of revenge, which seemed
to kill all humane feelings in his heart. He threw into
prison many who had been prominent in the rebellion;
and, knowing that when they were brought to trial they
would be cleared by juries, he established martial law, by
which men were condemned to death without fair trial,
and then hurried off to execution.[9] Thus he brought
about a reign of terror in the land, no man knowing
when he might be arrested and hanged. Finally, after
twenty-three executions had taken place, the House of
Burgesses, in February, 1677, restrained him, by voting
an address "that the governor would spill no more blood."
"Had we let him alone," said one of the members, "he
would have hanged half the country." "The old fool,"
exclaimed Charles II., on hearing of Berkeley's acts, "has
hanged more men in that naked country than I have done
for the murder of my father!"

Berkeley's Recall and Death. — Sir William Berkeley was
recalled by the king, and passed out of office on the 27th
of April, 1677. When he departed, the Virginians kindled
bonfires and fired salutes, while a wave of joy passed over
the land. On reaching England, he found that his conduct
in Virginia was looked upon with horror by his
friends, and that he was not sustained by the king. All

this is said to have broken his heart, and on July 13, 1677,
he died under a load of infamy, which dimmed the fair
reputation he had won in his youth.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What did the king promise?

• 2. Did he send a new charter at once?

• 3. What cause for alarm now demanded attention?

• 4. Give an account of the Indian depredations.

• 5. How did Governor Berkeley treat the appeal of the people for protection?

• 6. Of what did they suspect him?

• 7. Finally, what action did the people take?

• 8. Who was Nathaniel Bacon, and why was he chosen leader?

• 9. What fact attested the esteem in which he was held?

• 10. Give the names of two other men chosen.

• 11. What request did Bacon make of Governor Berkeley?

• 12. Was it granted?

• 13. By whose authority did Bacon set out, and what news reached him?

• 14. In the meantime what action had the governor taken?

• 15. By what was he prevented from carrying out his plan?

• 16. What did he do now?

• 17. What was the sentiment of the new House of Burgesses?

• 18. Tell of Bacon's arrest and apology

• 19. Give an account of his flight from Jamestown and return.

• 20. What did he demand from the governor?

• 21. On what subjects did Bacon address the Burgesses, and with what
  result?

• 22. Why did Berkeley dissolve the House of Burgesses, and repair to
  Gloucester?

• 23. What did he again declare Bacon?

• 24. What did the people inform Berkeley?

• 25. On hearing the governor's proclamation, what did Bacon do?

• 26. Where had Berkeley gone?

• 27. What proclamation did Bacon make?

• 28. Give an account of the convention at Middle Plantation.

• 29. To what did Bacon now turn his attention?

• 30. Tell of Berkeley's return to Jamestown.

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• 31. Give an account of the burning of Jamestown.

• 32. What is left to mark the site of Virginia's ancient capital?

• 33. Tell of Bacon's death.

• 34. What happened when the people heard of his death?

• 35. How did Berkeley try to pacify them?

• 36. In what way did he seek revenge?

• 37. Finally what did the House of Burgesses have to do?

• 38. What did Charles II. exclaim on hearing of Berkeley's acts?

• 39. Give an account of his recall and death.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Give an account of the struggle in England between the king and
  Parliament.

• 2. What was the Commonwealth of England?

• 3. How did it assert its authority in Virginia, and how did the colony
  prosper under its rule?

• 4. What is said of the restoration of Charles II.?

• 5. What were the navigation laws, and how did they affect the commerce
  of Virginia?

• 6. Tell of the oppressive colonial legislation, and of Berkeley's obstinacy.

• 7. What is said of the criminal prodigality of Charles II., and to what
  did it lead?

• 8. Who was Nathaniel Bacon?

• 9. Why did Berkeley declare Bacon and his men rebels?

• 10. Give the leading facts of Bacon's Rebellion up to the convention
  at Middle Plantation.

• 11. What was done at this convention?

• 12. Describe the destruction of Jamestown.

• 13. Tell of Bacon's death, and the collapse of the Rebellion.

• 14. Describe Berkeley's revenge, and his death.

CHAPTER XII

FROM BACON'S REBELLION TO THE FRENCH AND INDIAN
WAR

After Bacon's Rebellion. — The efforts of the people
under Bacon to secure better government ended in failure.
All the tyrannical legislation that had been enacted, including
the restriction of the suffrage, was put into full
operation again; and freedom in the colony depended
entirely on the royal will, except in so far as the inhabitants
enjoyed the rights of Englishmen, which the common
law accorded them. The rebellion was made a
pretext by the king for refusing the liberal charter he
had promised; and the one that was finally sent over
was unsatisfactory, and did not contain a single political
franchise.

The Tobacco Rebellion. — So dissatisfied were the people
that they would have revolted again had not the disastrous
effects of Bacon's Rebellion been fresh in their minds.
As it was, small disturbances did occur, notably one which
is known as the Tobacco Rebellion. This was partly the
result of a law passed by the House of Burgesses to encourage
the building of towns, which required ships to be
loaded at specified places on the rivers instead of at the
different plantations, the idea being that the observance of
this law would render the erection of warehouses necessary,
and that thus the foundations of cities would be laid. Many
planters refused to obey the law, and, as ships were not

allowed to touch at their wharves, they were prevented
from disposing of their tobacco. This, together with the
navigation laws, caused so great dissatisfaction that, in
1682, riotous proceedings took place; and in the counties
of Gloucester, New Kent, and Middlesex, the planters
destroyed a large part of the growing crop by cutting up
the plants. The disturbances were quelled by the militia;
and several of the ringleaders were hung. One, it is said,
agreed to build a bridge, and on this condition was pardoned.

Governors not Interested in the People. — The royal governors
who came and went during the period just after
the rebellion showed, as a rule, but little interest in the
people, and generally regarded their office as a means of
advancing their own interests. One of the most avaricious
was Lord Culpeper, who was appointed in 1675, but did
not come to the colony till 1680. He sought perquisites
of every kind, and endeavored to make the most money
in the shortest time possible. Some relief came in 1684,
when the Culpeper and Arlington grant was annulled and
Virginia again became a royal province.

Good Effects of the English Revolution of 1688. — The
English revolution, which drove James II. from the
throne, because he violated the fundamental laws of the
land, and endeavored to subvert the constitution, caused
government to be regarded as a trust to be used for
the benefit of the people, and not as an inheritance to be
abused as a sovereign might see fit. The triumph of these
ideas in England led, in a few years, to beneficial results in
Virginia. The governors became less arbitrary, approved
such legislation as was conducive to the good of the
colony, and, in general, showed more consideration for
the people. In 1690, when Governor Nicholson came to

the colony, the people were on the eve of rebelling again,
but he adopted a mild and conciliatory policy in accordance
with the new views of government, and the danger
of an insurrection gradually passed away.

The Coming of the Huguenots. — Toward the end of the
seventeenth century, the persecution of the Huguenots
on account of their religion began in France, and forty
thousand took refuge in England. A number of them

afterwards came to Virginia, where they found happy
homes. Their principal settlement was at Manakin town
on the upper James. These emigrants were brave, intelligent,
and industrious. From them descended many
distinguished families.

The Close of the Seventeenth Century. — As the century
drew to a close, the people became much interested in the
idea of having a college, where the young men could acquire
the higher education which they were forced to seek in

England. The matter was pushed with vigor, and resulted
in the founding of William and Mary College in 1693,
named in honor of the reigning sovereigns. It was located
at Middle Plantation, where five years later Governor
Nicholson also founded the city of Williamsburg, to which
he moved the seat of government. He designed that the
streets of the new city should, when laid out, form the
letters W and M as a compliment to William and Mary;
but this plan was never fully carried out. When the
century ended, Virginia had a population of seventy thousand,
and was rapidly advancing in prosperity and importance.

Alexander Spotswood. — In 1710, the illustrious Colonel
Alexander Spotswood, a gallant officer, who had served
under Marlborough, and had been wounded in the famous
battle of Blenheim, was appointed governor. He was in
the prime of manhood, courteous in manner, active and
enterprising in nature. He met with a most cordial welcome,
and he brought a formal confirmation of the writ of
habeas corpus,[10] a right cherished by the people. Governor
Spotswood had the welfare of the colony at heart, and
exerted himself to develop its resources. He established
the first iron furnaces ever located in America, and on account
of this he was called the "Tubal Cain" of Virginia.

Spotswood Crosses the Blue Ridge. — A few years after
he reached the colony, a love of adventure filled him
with the desire to penetrate the country beyond the Blue
Ridge, which had been supposed for a long time to present
a barrier forever impassable to men. In 1716, he
with a number of his companions, well mounted and attended
by "rangers, pioneers and indians," set out on a

journey of exploration. They succeeded in ascending the
range, and on its top drank the health of the king, after
which they went down into the beautiful valley, naming
the river running through it, which we now call the Shenandoah,
the Euphrates. Spotswood, to commemorate his
triumph, presented to his companions small golden horseshoes,
set with garnets and other jewels inscribed with the
motto, "Sic juvat transcendere montes."[11] From this incident
the order of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe"
originated. Spotswood ceased to be governor in 1722; but
he spent the remainder of his days in Virginia,[12] where his
memory is much honored and where many of his descendants
still live.

Richmond and Petersburg Founded. — In 1733, Colonel
William Byrd[13] laid the foundation of two new cities at
places "naturally intended for Marts." These he named

Richmond and Petersburg; and they soon grew into substantial
towns. The Virginia Gazette, the first newspaper
that appeared in the colony, was issued in Williamsburg in
1736; and its columns contained an advertisement inviting
everybody to come and live at Richmond.

Settlement of the Valley. — The people of Virginia made
their homes first near the seacoast, along the lowland rivers.
Up these they gradually extended their settlements till,
about a hundred years after the founding of Jamestown,
they had reached the mountains. These, Spotswood had
shown were not impassable; and so some years later a
wave of population from the lowlands began to cross the
mountains and to pour itself into the fertile Shenandoah
valley. Just before this happened, a tide of immigration
from Pennsylvania had come into the lower valley. This
consisted of Scotch-Irish and Germans, who had been
drawn to the country by rumors of its many advantages.
These early settlers of the valley were of excellent material
to make good citizens. The history of the Scotch-Irish
in America has never been fully written. When
this is done, it will appear that their immigration was next
in importance to the coming of the Cavaliers to Virginia
and the Puritan migration to New England, so great has
been its influence.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What was the condition of the colony after Bacon's Rebellion?

• 2. What was the Tobacco Rebellion?

• 3. How did the royal governors regard the people?

• 4. In what manner did Lord Culpeper treat the people?

• 5. Relief came in what way?

• 6. How was the English revolution of 1688 beneficial to Virginia?

• 7. What policy did the government adopt, and with what result?

• 8. Who were the Huguenots, and why did they come to Virginia?

• 9. When and where was William and Mary College founded?

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• 10. What city was founded at the same place?

• 11. Describe Governor Nicholson's design for the streets.

• 12. What population did Virginia have at the close of the seventeenth
  century?

• 13. Who was Alexander Spotswood, and how was he received?

• 14. What legal right did he bring to the people?

• 15. What did he establish in Virginia?

• 16. Give an account of Spotswood's crossing the Blue Ridge.

• 17. What did they do on reaching the summit, and how did they commemorate
  the event?

• 18. When and by whom were the cities of Richmond and Petersburg
  founded?

• 19. What invitation did the Virginia Gazette give to the public?

• 20. Give an account of the gradual settlement of the valley of Virginia.

• 21. Of what nationality were its settlers?

CHAPTER XIII

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR

The Question of Supremacy. — The rivalry existing between
France and England, which had caused so many
bloody wars in Europe, was transferred also to America.
Both had planted extensive colonies; and, as these grew,
their interests came into conflict. Which nation was to
rule in the New World? This question had to be decided;
and as the middle of the eighteenth century drew near,
it was evident that the settlement was not far off.

The Plan of France. — The French had secured possession
of the two great rivers of the country, the Mississippi
and the St. Lawrence. They had Canadian France
in the north and Louisianian France in the south; and
they conceived the bold idea of connecting these settlements.
So they built a line of forts which ran from
Quebec to the Great Lakes, and then down the Illinois
and the Mississippi rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. Thus
they planned to hem the English colonies in on the Atlantic,
and not to allow them to extend themselves further
toward the west.

The English Plan. — The English suddenly awoke to the
fact that they were about to lose the heart of the continent,
and decided to colonize the rich country west of the
Alleghany Mountains. For this purpose the Ohio Company
was formed; and in 1752, it received a grant of half
a million acres of land on the east bank of the upper

Ohio — the territory now contained in West Virginia and
southwest Pennsylvania.

Protest from Virginia. — The French watched the movement
the English were making, and decided to stop it by
building a new line of forts from Lake Erie to the head of
inland navigation — the point where the Alleghany River
joins with the Monongahela to form the Ohio. In carrying
out this plan, they proposed without ceremony to possess
themselves of territory that belonged to Virginia.
When this design was suspected,

Robert Dinwiddie, who
was then governor, resolved to
send a messenger to M. de St.
Pierre, the French commander,
who was at a fort about fifteen
miles south of Lake Erie, to
inform him that the territory
on the Ohio belonged to Virginia,
and to protest against
any invasion of it.

The Envoy Selected. — For
the discharge of this duty,
Governor Dinwiddie selected a
native Virginian, George Washington, who was destined to
fill a prominent place in the history of his country. He
was born in Westmoreland County on February 22, 1732,
and descended from a family that belonged to good English
stock. His father died when he was but ten years
old, and so he had learned at an early age to rely upon
himself. Though he had received but a common school
education, yet he had made the best use of his opportunities;
and when sixteen years old had been engaged by
Lord Fairfax to survey land he owned across the Blue

Ridge. This led to a lifelong friendship between the two
men; and Washington doubtless derived much benefit
from his association with Fairfax, who had grown up in
the most elegant society in London. Washington in all
his actions during his boyhood and early manhood had
borne the highest reputation for judgment, administrative
ability, and integrity of moral character. He was just
twenty-one when he set out on his dangerous mission.

The Journey and the Result. — The journey was full of
perils and hardships; but finally Washington reached his
destination. M. de St. Pierre received him most courteously;
but, when he read Dinwiddie's letter, he sent back
the reply that, in all he had done, he had been acting
under the instructions of the governor of Canada, and that
he should continue to obey orders, as was the duty of a
soldier. With this unsatisfactory answer, Washington
was forced to return. His journal giving an account of
his expedition, which was published both in Virginia and
in England, first unfolded the hostile intentions of the
French. It was now seen that their encroachments could
only be stopped by an appeal to arms, which would involve
a contest with the Indians also, for they had formed an
alliance with the French.

The Opening of Hostilities. — In January, 1754, a company
of Virginia pioneers, less than fifty in number, took
possession of the forks of the Ohio River, where Pittsburg
now stands, which was the strategic point of the whole
disputed territory, and commenced building a fort. But
in April they were dispersed by the French, who completed
the stronghold, and named it Fort Duquesne, in
honor of the nobleman who was governor of Canada. In
the meantime Virginia had equipped a small force which,
under the command of Washington, was pushing on

toward the forks of the Ohio. But, on the way, Washington
learned that the French had already secured possession
of the coveted position. He continued his march,
however, till he reached a place called Great Meadows,
about forty miles distant from Fort Duquesne, where he
met and defeated a small French force. He then halted
and built Fort Necessity. This the French besieged and
captured, but allowed Washington and his men to march
back to Virginia.

England sends General Braddock to Virginia. — The affair
at Great Meadows caused the English government to take
vigorous action. Early in 1755, one thousand of the king's
regular troops were sent over, first to capture Fort Duquesne
and after this other French forts toward the Great Lakes.
These were under the command of General Edward Braddock,
who was a brave man; but he made the fatal mistake
of supposing that war could be carried on with success in an
American wilderness on the same plan as upon the plains
of Europe. Warnings were repeatedly given him that he
had to fight, not only the French, but also the Indians,
whose peculiar method of warfare, added to the wild character
of the country, gave them an advantage over regular
troops, and made them an enemy to be feared. To Benjamin
Franklin, who spoke to him of the danger he would
have to guard against from this source, he replied impatiently,
"These savages may be indeed a formidable
enemy to raw American militia, but upon the king's
regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible to make
any impression."

Braddock's Defeat. — Some time was consumed in preparations;
but finally the army, reinforced by about one
thousand colonial soldiers, began to move toward Fort
Duquesne, Braddock confident that an easy victory was

before him. In July the army crossed the Monongahela
River, at a point about ten miles from the fort, where it
was attacked by a force of Canadians and Indians, and
literally cut to pieces. Half the English fell, killed or
wounded, and the remainder fled panic-stricken toward
Virginia. General Braddock received a mortal wound,
from the effects of which he died. Washington, who had
accompanied the expedition as a member of Braddock's
staff, put himself at the head of the colonial troops, and
covered the retreat of the regulars as far as was possible.
Thus the campaign that was to accomplish so much ended
in dire disaster.

Predatory Inroads on the Frontier. — The whole western
frontier of Virginia was now unprotected. The Indians in
the country toward the Ohio, encouraged by the success
that attended their arms in the contest with Braddock,
began boldly to attack the frontier, and even advanced as
far as the neighborhood of Winchester, their line of march
being always marked by murders and outrages of the most
blood-curdling kind.

Virginia Defends her Frontiers. — The House of Burgesses
raised and equipped additional forces which were
put under the command of Washington, who was so much
distressed by the conditions confronting him that, while
at Winchester, he wrote Governor Fauquier a letter in
which he said: "The supplicating tears of the women
and moving petitions of the men melt me into such deadly
sorrow that I solemnly declare, if I know my own mind, I
could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butchering
enemy, provided that would contribute to the people's
ease." He exerted himself to the utmost to stop the
atrocities of the savages, building a fort at Winchester and
others along the border, to which the distressed inhabitants

could fly for refuge; and he met with a wonderful degree
of success in his efforts, when the limited supply of men
and means at his command are taken into consideration.

End of the War. — For some time, in the struggle that
was going on, success seemed about to rest with the
French; but in 1758, the English began to prosecute the
war more vigorously. During this year another expedition,
under the command of General John Forbes, was
sent against Fort Duquesne. His army numbered about
six thousand, sixteen hundred of whom were Virginians
under Washington. This time the Virginians led the advance.
On the approach of the army, the French blew
up the fort and retreated. This event brought the worst of
the border troubles to an end, though the Indians continued
to commit occasional outrages for some time. The following
year, the English captured Quebec, which virtually
decided the contest. A few years later France yielded her
possessions east of the Mississippi River to England.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Give an account of the rivalry existing between France and
  England.

• 2. What was now the question to be decided?

• 3. Give the plan adopted by France.

• 4. The English plan

• 5. How did the French decide to stop the English?

• 6. What message did the governor of Virginia send the French
  commander?

• 7. Who was George Washington, when and where born?

• 8. What led to a lifelong friendship between Washington and Lord
  Fairfax?

• 9. What is said of his character?

• 10. Give an account of his journey, and of its result.

• 11. Tell of the opening of hostilities

• 12. What happened at Great Meadows?

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106





• 13. Whom did the English send to capture Fort Duquesne, and what
  fatal mistake did he make?

• 14. On being warned by Benjamin Franklin, what was his reply?

• 15. Tell of Braddock's defeat.

• 16. Who then took the head of the colonial troops?

• 17. Encouraged by this victory, what did the Indians do?

• 18. What was the letter Washington wrote to Governor Fauquier?

• 19. In what way did he try to stop the atrocities of the savages?

• 20. In what year did Fort Duquesne fall into the hands of the English?

• 21. How did the war end?

CHAPTER XIV

COLONIAL LIFE

Its Golden Age. — In the eighteenth century, colonial
life had passed through the formative period, and reached
the full flower of its development.

A Pioneer

The settlers
in the Valley, it is true,
were still undergoing
the hardships of pioneer
life; but in eastern
Virginia, along the
rivers, a prosperous
people lived in luxury
and security. Before
entering upon the stirring
events of the Revolution,
it will be interesting
to take a brief
glance at Old Dominion society
in the good old days when
life was easy and men were happy.

Classes that formed Society. — Society was
composed of a number of classes. There
were the large planters and the small planters, both owning
land and slaves. The line between these classes was
not clearly marked, for they shaded into one another.
They dwelt harmoniously together, and stood shoulder to

shoulder in any time of public need. There was also, to
some extent, a separate class, made up of men who were
called overseers, because they were employed by large
land owners to overlook their servants and their property.
Many of these became themselves land owners and the
holders of slaves. Mention must also be made of still
another class, composed of the descendants of indented
servants and of convicts. They were ignorant, indolent,
and turbulent, but were few in number, and were unimportant
both socially and politically. These various
classes, with the negroes, who were rapidly increasing in
numbers, constituted the different elements of Old Virginia
society.

Life on a Large Plantation. — Each large plantation
was a little community, which produced nearly everything
needed for its own use. It furnished not only food
for all who dwelt upon it, but also the raw materials out
of which clothes, shoes, and the various articles for common
use were manufactured. All the work was done by
negroes, under the supervision of their masters, mistresses,
or overseers.[14]

Life of the Planter. — It is evident that the planter, who
had such varied interests to look after did not, as a rule,
live a life of idleness and ease, as has often been stated.
It is true that he had his amusements, horse-racing, fishing,

hunting, and chasing the fox, being his favorite
sports; but the greater part of his time, he spent in
superintending the different operations which took place

Virginia Hospitality

upon his estate, and in looking
after the welfare of all
the people who lived on it.
He dispensed a most generous
hospitality to his
friends and to strangers,
keeping open house for all
who came. This was rendered
easy by a large retinue
of servants and by the
abundant supplies of food
which the plantation furnished.
The free entertainment
of guests was so
common that, in the seventeenth
century, a law was
passed requiring even an
innkeeper, if he wished to
charge for food and shelter, to notify a guest upon his
arrival; otherwise he could not make him pay anything.

Life of a Planter's Wife. — Domestic affairs occupied to
a great extent the time of the mothers and daughters of a
household. Needlework that knew no end, the training
of servants, and looking after the general affairs of the
establishment, were the monotonous but useful occupations
of the Virginia women. Toward the end of the
eighteenth century, a visitor to Mount Vernon says that
she found Mrs. Washington in a room nicely fixed for all
kinds of work. She then continues: "On one side, sits
the chamber maid, with her knitting; on the other, a little

coloured pet, learning to sew. An old, decent woman is
there, with her table and shears, cutting out the negroes'
winter clothes, while the good old lady (Mrs. Washington)
directs them all, incessantly knitting herself. She
points out to me several pairs of nice coloured stockings
and gloves she had just finished, and presents me with

In a Virginia Home

a pair half done, which she begs I will finish and wear
for her sake."[15] Bishop Meade, in commenting on this
description says: "If the wife of General Washington,
having her own and his wealth at command, should thus
choose to live, how much more the wives and mothers
of Virginia with moderate fortunes and numerous children."

The "Great House." — The dwelling house on a large
plantation was known as the manor house, or the "great
house." It was not necessarily large, but its name originated
from the contrast it presented to the other buildings
on the place. In the seventeenth century, the typical
dwelling was a framed building of moderate size, possessing

more width than depth, and having usually a chimney
at each end. Many houses were, however, built of brick,
and some of stone. For a long time, the dwellings displayed
but little architectural beauty; but, during the
eighteenth century, when the planters had grown wealthy,
a number of elegant residences, resembling those of the
English gentry were erected. Some of these were square
or nearly so, two stories or more high, had deep cellars,
large rooms, broad halls, and rejoiced in great fireplaces.
If there was an overseer on the plantation, he dwelt in
a separate house, which was less pretentious than the
"great house" in appearance.

Furniture. — The furniture was generally imported, and
that used by the better classes was usually of mahogany,
or else made of less costly material, covered with thin strips
of mahogany called veneer. The bedsteads were so high

Colonial Furniture

that frequently steps were needed
to reach them. They had tall
posts, and were inclosed by
curtains. Underneath them,
trundle-beds, which were
used for the children of
the family, were kept
during the day. These
were hid from view by
narrow curtains. The
rich man's spoons
were of silver, those of
the poor man of iron or
pewter. Dishes and plates
were made of earthenware or
pewter. Knives were of steel,
but forks were not in general use till the eighteenth century.
A treadle wheel for spinning flax, a large wheel for
spinning wool, and a hand-loom for weaving cloth were
common household articles.

The Kitchen. — The kitchen was some distance from the
"great house," and its most striking feature was a fireplace,
sometimes twelve feet wide. The cooking utensils
were iron pots, gridirons, kettles, saucepans, frying pans,
etc. As each article of food was cooked in a separate

vessel, it possessed an individual flavor that is unknown
in cooking that comes from the stoves and ranges of the
present day.

Food. — The hardships of pioneer days were gone; and,
in no part of the world was a more bountiful supply of
food of various kinds to be found than in Virginia. There
were beef, pork, venison, mutton to a limited extent, game
of all kinds, vegetables and fruits to suit every taste. Such
viands as they were, prepared in the homes of the better
classes, could not fail to please the most fastidious.

The Negro Quarters. — The negroes dwelt together in a
settlement which presented the appearance of a village,
the houses of which were of the plainest kind, built of logs
or undressed planks. Each cabin, however, contained
furniture enough to make the occupants comfortable. As
a rule the negroes were well fed and well clothed; and it
cannot be said that they were an unhappy race. Free
from all the responsibilities of life, they brought up large
families, and enjoyed to the fullest extent such blessings
as came to them.

Relation of Master and Servant. — In the olden times,
the negroes were usually called servants, not slaves.
They were generally kindly treated, though there were
exceptional cases of cruelty to them; and it was by no
means uncommon for genuine affection to exist between
a master and his servants. Bruce, in his Economic History
of Virginia,[16] says: "There is no reason to doubt that
the planters were as a body just and humane in their treatment
of their slaves. The solicitude exhibited by John
Page of York was not uncommon; in his will he instructed

his heirs to provide for the old age of all the negroes who
descended to them from him, with as much care in point
of food, clothing, and other necessaries, as if they were
still capable of the most profitable labor."

Dress. — The wealthy planter showed a child's fondness
for ornamentation; and he had an opportunity to gratify
his taste when the frequent gatherings of friends took
place at his home, at Christmas, at weddings, and when
he attended services at the parish church. On such occasions,
with his bright-colored coat and breeches, made frequently
of plush, with his embroidered waistcoat, his long
silk stockings, silver buttons and shoe-buckles, his ruffled
shirt, and his head adorned with a flowing wig, he presented
an appearance that was truly gorgeous. But his
wife was fully his equal; for she was apt to appear in
crimson satin bodice trimmed with point lace, a petticoat
of rich, black oriental silk, costly shoes, and silk hose.

Education. — Primary education was given in the "old
field" schools, where the three R's were taught, and perhaps
something more. There were some private academies
also; but the higher education had to be sought in
England till William and Mary College was founded, and
so was denied to all except the sons of the rich in the early
days.

Roads. — For a long time the numerous creeks and
rivers, which traverse the country, furnished the only
highways for trade and also for travel. There were but
few roads till late in the eighteenth century. Travel
across the country had to be done on horseback along
bridle paths, which were frequently so indistinct that the
way would be lost. When a traveler reached a stream,
he rarely found a bridge across it, and he would have
to ford it or else swim over, in order to continue his

journey. Toward the end of the seventeenth century,
some coaches, chaises, and chariots began to be seen;
but not till the eighteenth century did even the wealthy
use them generally.

Advantages of the Plantation Life. — Though the Virginia
social system had its elements of weakness, yet it
possessed also its strong points. In it were to be found
gallantry, chivalry, and love of honor. It was adorned
by the gentler virtues of life, and it developed a broad
manliness of character in the people. When the Revolution
came, it brought many changes in habits and customs,
but disturbed in no radical way plantation life, which
preserved its distinctive features till the system went down
in the wreck that followed the Civil War.

QUESTIONS

• 1. In what century was colonial life at its best?

• 2. Of what classes was society composed?

• 3. Describe the life on a large plantation.

• 4. What is said of the life of a planter?

• 5. Give a description of Mrs. Washington's home life.

• 6. What is Bishop Meade's comment?

• 7. Describe the "Great House."

• 8. What of the architecture of this period?

• 9. What is said of the overseer's house?

• 10. Tell of the furniture.

• 11. Describe the kitchen, and the method of cooking.

• 12. Tell of the negro quarters.

• 13. How were the negroes generally treated by their masters?

• 14. What does Bruce say of this?

• 15. Describe the planter's dress, and that of his wife.

• 16. What of the roads, and how was traveling done?

• 17. What were the advantages of plantation life?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. What is said of the governors who ruled after Bacon's Rebellion?

• 2. When and where was William and Mary College founded?

• 3. Who was Alexander Spotswood, and when was he appointed
  governor?

• 4. Give an account of his crossing the Blue Ridge.

• 5. When and by whom were the cities of Richmond and Petersburg
  founded?

• 6. What caused the French and Indian War?

• 7. Why did Virginia send a protest to the French commander?

• 8. Whom did she select to carry her protest, and what is said of his
  early life?

• 9. Describe his journey, and its result.

• 10. How did the hostilities begin?

• 11. Who was General Braddock, and how was he defeated?

• 12. Tell of the close of the war, and what possessions were yielded
  by France to England?

• 13. What is said of colonial life at its golden age, and of the classes
  that formed society?

• 14. Describe the life on a large plantation, the life of the planter, and
  that of his wife.

• 15. What is said of the "Great House," and other buildings of this
  age?

• 16. Describe the furniture, kitchen, and negro quarters.

• 17. What is said of the relation of master and servant?

• 18. Describe the dress of a wealthy planter and that of his wife.

• 19. Tell of the educational advantages of this period, and how traveling
  was done.

• 20. What advantages had plantation life?

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS (1492-1763)

                                                             

1492.	Columbus discovered America.
1497.	John Cabot discovered Labrador.
1585.	Sir Walter Raleigh's first Roanoke colony.
1587.	Sir Walter Raleigh's second Roanoke Island colony.
1606.	First charter granted to Virginia.
1607.	The English made a settlement at Jamestown; the first permanent English settlement in America, May 13.
1609.	Virginia received her second charter.
1610.	The Starving Time.
1612.	Virginia received her third charter.
1612.	Culture of tobacco commenced.
1613.	Pocahontas married John Rolfe.
1617.	Death of Pocahontas.
1618.	The Great Charter issued.
1619.	First Colonial Assembly convened at Jamestown, July 30.
1619.	Slavery introduced into Virginia.
1622.	Indian massacre.
1624.	Virginia becomes a royal piovince.
1644.	Second Indian massacre.
1649-60.	Virginia under the Commonwealth.
1653.	Virginians establish a settlement on Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
1660.	Navigation Acts put into operation.
1673.	Culpeper and Arlington grant.
1676.	Bacon's Rebellion.
1693.	William and Mary College founded.
1732.	Washington born, February 22.
1733.	Founding of Richmond and Petersburg.
1754.	The French and Indian War begun.
1754.	Battle of Great Meadows.
1755.	Braddock's defeat.
1758.	Fort Duquesne captured.
1763.	End of the French and Indian War.

SECOND PERIOD—FROM THE REVOLUTION
TO THE CIVIL WAR

CHAPTER XV

CAUSES THAT LED TO THE REVOLUTION

Condition of the Colony after the War with France. — After
the termination of the war between England and France,
Virginia enjoyed a period of peace, during which she increased
rapidly in population, and was

George III

blessed with abundant prosperity. The
people, as their country grew and developed
began to feel more and more strongly
that they were able to take care of themselves,
and so they were more disposed
than they had ever been, to resist any
encroachment upon their rights and privileges.
The time soon came when they
felt justified in resisting by force of arms even the mother
country, to which they had so long acknowledged allegiance.

Opposition to the King's Prerogative. — George III.,
who ascended the English throne in 1760, was a man
of strong convictions, but very narrow and bigoted; and
he determined to enjoy all royal prerogatives to the fullest
extent, and if possible, to increase them. One of the

rights that had been exercised by the king was that of
vetoing colonial legislation; but in England he dared not
veto an act of Parliament. As time passed, this prerogative
of the king began to be called into question more and
more; for it was held that acts of the House of Burgesses
should be as supreme for Virginia in regard to all local
matters, as those of Parliament were for Great Britain.

The Parsons' Case. — The opposition to the veto power
of the king, which came out in 1763 in the famous Parsons'
Case, gave one of the first indications of an approaching
conflict. Briefly stated, the case was as follows:

Patrick Henry

Tobacco was used as money; and
the House of Burgesses, at a time
when a failure in the crop made
the settlement of obligations press
heavily upon the people, passed an
act that all debts which were to be
paid in tobacco could be settled in
money, at the rate of twopence per
pound for tobacco. The clergymen
had been receiving sixpence per
pound. They appealed to the king, and he annulled the
law. Thereupon Rev. James Maury brought suit in the
county court of Hanover to obtain what was due him.
When the case, which was regarded as a test one, came
up for final trial, Patrick Henry[17] appeared in behalf of
the people, and leaving out of consideration the technicalities
of the case, boldly denied the right of the king to
annul legislation that was for the good of the people, declaring
in regard to this particular act of the Burgesses
that "a king who annulled and disallowed laws of so salutary
a nature instead of being the father of his people,
degenerated into a tyrant, and forfeited all right to obedience."
His eloquence won the case; for though the jury
was compelled, as the law stood, to decide in favor of the
plaintiff, yet a verdict was returned after a few minutes'
deliberation, awarding one penny damages. The announcement
was received with a shout of applause, and
Henry's friends, in token of their appreciation of his
matchless effort, carried him round the court green upon
their shoulders.

Power of Parliament. — The theory held by the people
as to the allegiance they owed to Great Britain was, that
Virginia constituted an integral part of the king's dominions,
subject to the king but not to Parliament. They,
therefore, denied the right of Parliament to legislate for
them in regard to local matters, or to exercise jurisdiction
over the House of Burgesses. While much irritation was
caused when the king annulled acts of the Burgesses, yet
more serious trouble arose when Parliament, under the
influence of George III. and his party, decided to lay a
direct tax upon the people without the consent of the
House of Burgesses, a thing that Charles II. had promised
should not be done.

The Stamp Act. — The first attempt thus to levy taxes
was in 1765, when Parliament passed the Stamp Act,
which required that the colonies should use upon all documents,
pamphlets, newspapers, and almanacs, revenue
stamps costing from a half penny up to fifty pounds. As
a result of this law, it was expected that a handsome sum
would be raised annually for the Crown, which would help
Great Britain to pay off the heavy debt she had incurred
in her wars in Europe.

Patrick Henry's Resolutions. — When the Stamp Act
came up for discussion in the House of Burgesses, Patrick
Henry, who was now a member and a popular leader,
offered resolutions declaring that only the House of Burgesses,
together with the king or his substitutes, had the
right to levy taxes, and that any attempt to take this power

from the House of Burgesses was unconstitutional. He
urged the adoption of these spirited resolutions with an
ardor that alarmed the more conservative members of the
House. Suddenly, while speaking against the Stamp Act,
he exclaimed, "Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles the First
his Cromwell, and George the Third" — cries of "Treason!"
"Treason!" here interrupted him. But fixing his eye upon
the Speaker of the House, he added, "and George the
Third may profit by their example. If this be treason,
make the most of it."

Repeal of the Stamp Act. — The resolutions went through;
and the news of what had happened in Virginia was carried
with wonderful quickness all over the country. Other
colonies adopted similar resolutions, and everywhere such
a determined spirit of opposition was manifested to the
Stamp Act, that it was found to be impossible to put it
into execution, the people absolutely refusing to use the
stamps. Finally Parliament yielded, and in 1766 repealed
the Stamp Act, but at the same time declared that it had
legislative supremacy over the colonies.

A Second Attempt at Taxation. — There was much rejoicing
in Virginia when the repeal of the Stamp Act became
known, but it was of short duration; for Great Britain had
by no means abandoned her plan of taxing the colonies.
The year following, Parliament laid duties on tea, paper,
glass, and painter's colors. Against this, complaints were
heard on all sides; and the loyalty of the people was
much weakened by the irritation caused by Great Britain's
policy.

The Virginia Resolves. — In 1769, the House of Burgesses
passed the famous Virginia resolves, in which they boldly
affirmed that the colonies alone had the right to tax themselves,
and protested against having persons who were
accused of treason carried to England for trial, as Parliament
proposed to do on account of the disturbances in
America.

The Non-Importation Agreement. — When Lord Botetourt,
who was governor at this time, heard what had happened,
he felt that, as the king's representative, he could not
indorse such rebellious proceedings, and so he at once
dissolved the Burgesses; but they met again at the Raleigh

Tavern in Williamsburg, reaffirmed their action, and, in
addition, unanimously adopted an agreement not to import
commodities from England till the duties were taken off.
The Non-Importation Agreement was presented to the
Burgesses by George Washington, but it was drawn up

George Mason.

by George Mason,[18]
who was one
of the greatest
men of the revolutionary
epoch.

The Duties repealed
except the
one on Tea. — The
other colonies,
animated by the
spirited course
with which Virginia
contended
for her rights,
passed similar resolutions, and in some cases adopted hers
as their own. The Non-Importation Agreement became
quite general; and the British government, finding the
colonies on the verge of rebellion, repealed all the duties
except one of threepence per pound on tea, which was
retained for the purpose of establishing a precedent for
taxation. The colonies, however, decided that they would
purchase no tea till the duty was taken off. Thus for a
time matters stood.

Committee of Correspondence. — It became evident, as
the dispute with Great Britain continued, that there

must be some way of securing united action. To bring
about this desirable object, the House of Burgesses appointed
a committee of correspondence, the duty of which
was to give the people news of what was taking place in
Great Britain, and to keep up communication with the
other colonies. Lord Dunmore, who had succeeded Botetourt
as governor, on hearing of what had happened,
hastily dissolved the Burgesses; but the important action
they had taken led to the formation of similar committees
by the thirteen colonies that afterwards constituted the
United States. The meaning of this was that henceforth
there would be unity of action.

Destruction of the Tea at Boston. — In the other colonies,
as well as in Virginia, the people, actuated by a love of
freedom, made vigorous resistance to the policy pursued
by Great Britain. Massachusetts, though not more determined
than Virginia to contend for her rights, had been
so open in her opposition that British troops had been
quartered in Boston. This led to a collision between the
soldiers and the citizens, which inflamed the passions
of the people to the highest pitch; and now an event happened
which gave them an opportunity to display their
defiance of British authority. The East India Company
shipped supplies of tea to different American ports to be
sold in the colonies. Three vessels brought cargoes to
Boston. An organized party, disguised as Indians,
boarded the ships, and threw the tea into the sea. When
news of these bold proceedings reached England, Parliament
ordered that the port of Boston should be closed
on the 4th of June 1774, and the city cut off from all
trade.

Virginia Espouses the Cause of Massachusetts. — The
House of Burgesses was in session, when the action of

the British government against Boston became known in
Williamsburg. The consideration of all other business
was at once postponed, and a protest was passed against
what had been done on the ground that it was subversive
of liberty. The 1st of June was appointed a day of
fasting, humiliation, and prayer. Again Lord Dunmore
dissolved the Burgesses, but the next day they met, regardless
of him, at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg,
and issued a call for a general congress. Massachusetts
had already done the same thing; and the measure met
with approbation, all the colonies appointing delegates except
Georgia.

The First Congress. — The first Congress met at Philadelphia,
on September 5, 1774. Its proceedings were calm and
moderate. A declaration of rights was drawn up, and two
addresses issued, one to the people of Great Britain, and
the other to the people of the colonies. At this time there
were but few men who wished the colonies to renounce
their allegiance to Great Britain.

The wise action of this representative assembly won
many friends in England for the cause of the colonies.
"I know not," said Lord Chatham in the House of Lords,
"the people or Senate, who, in such a complication of
difficult circumstances, can stand in preference to the
delegates of America assembled in General Congress in
Philadelphia."

QUESTIONS

• 1. What was the condition of the colony after the war with France?

• 2. What kind of a man was George III, and what right did he claim?

• 3. How did the people of Virginia regard this?

• 4. Give an account of the Parsons' Case.

• 5. Who appeared in behalf of the people, and what were his words?

• 6. What was the verdict, and what is said of Patrick Henry?

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129





• 7. What was the theory held by the people as to their allegiance to
  Great Britain?

• 8. Hence what right did they deny Parliament?

• 9. What did George III. now do?

• 10. What was the Stamp Act, and what was England's object in passing
  it?

• 11. Give the resolutions of Patrick Henry.

• 12. While speaking against the Stamp Act, what did he exclaim?

• 13. Why was it found impossible to put the Stamp Act into execution?

• 14. What was Parliament forced to do?

• 15. The following year a tax was laid on what articles?

• 16. This led to what action on the part of the Burgesses?

• 17. When the governor heard this, what did he do, and with what
  result?

• 18. What was the Non-Importation Agreement, and by whom drawn
  up?

• 19. Did the other colonies follow Virginia's example?

• 20. What did England agree to do, and how was this received by the
  colonies?

• 21. What did the House of Burgesses decide to appoint?

• 22. What important action did this bring about?

• 23. What was happening in the other colonies?

• 24. What became of the tea that was sent to Boston?

• 25. What order did Parliament give on hearing of this?

• 26. How did Virginia show her sympathy for Massachusetts?

• 27. What happened at Raleigh Tavern?

• 28. When and where did our first Congress meet?

• 29. What is said of its proceedings?

• 30. What did Lord Chatham say with regard to its action?

CHAPTER XVI

THE LAST EVENTFUL YEARS OF LORD DUNMORE'S ADMINISTRATION

Lord Dunmore's War. — While the colonies were on the
eve of war with Great Britain, Virginia was called upon
once more to defend her western frontier from the savages,
who rose in arms to drive the settlers out of the territory
south of the Ohio River. The struggle which followed was
called Dunmore's war, because the governor was charged
with having brought it on through his agent, Dr. Conolly,
who made statements which the backwoodsmen understood
to be equivalent to a declaration of hostilities. The trouble
began with the killing of some friendly Shawnees by a
party of whites. This unprovoked act was followed by the
murder of the entire family of a friendly chief named
Logan. These and other outrages committed by the
whites, caused a number of western tribes to unite under
the leadership of a famous chief called Cornstalk, and begin
a war of extermination on the settlers west of the mountains.
Lord Dunmore hastily collected an army to meet
the impending danger, and proceeded to the seat of war.

Battle of Point Pleasant. — As one wing of Dunmore's
army, which was commanded by General Andrew Lewis,[19]

was about to cross the Ohio River, it was suddenly attacked
by the savages in great numbers. A hard-fought battle
then took place, which lasted from sunrise till nearly sunset;
but in the end the Virginians won a complete victory,
though at the loss of a number of brave men. The Indians
then made a treaty with Lord Dunmore, promising that
they would no more hunt south of the Ohio nor disturb
voyagers on the river. This battle was important, because
it opened the way for the settlement of Kentucky, and
enabled Virginia a few years later to conquer her western
territory, and thus make good her title to it.

The Prophetic Words of Patrick Henry. — The Indian
war being over, the contest with Great Britain occupied
the attention of the public to a greater extent than ever.
The situation had now become alarming, and the people
began to arm themselves. On the 20th of March, 1775,
a convention for the consideration of public affairs
met at Richmond in St. John's Church. Patrick Henry
promptly introduced a measure for arming and drilling a
body of militia; and, in advocating its adoption, he made his
famous speech, the closing words of which were: "If we
wish to be free, we must fight. It is too late to retire from
the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and
slavery. The war is inevitable, and let it come. The next
gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the
clash of resounding arms. I know not what course others
will take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."

The First Clash of Arms. — His words seemed almost
prophetic; for on April 18, 1775, a detachment of British
troops was ordered by General Gage, the British commander
at Boston, to proceed to Concord and destroy some
military stores which the Americans had collected. When
the soldiers reached Lexington, they encountered a body

St. John's Church, Richmond

of Massachusetts minutemen, and a collision occurred in
which the first blood of the Revolution was shed. This was
followed by a second engagement at Concord; and, with
these skirmishes, the struggle that had so long been impending
commenced.

The Gunpowder. — The day after the battle of Lexington,
Lord Dunmore had a quantity of gunpowder removed from
the old powder magazine at Williamsburg, and put on
board a British man-of-war lying off Yorktown. When
this became known in Williamsburg, the people flew to
arms and were with difficulty restrained from attacking the
governor's palace. In other parts of Virginia also, the
incident caused the greatest excitement. In Fredericksburg,
more than six hundred minutemen assembled to
march against the governor; but George Washington and

Edmund Pendleton induced them to disband. This they
did after signing a paper in which they pledged themselves
to defend "Virginia or any sister colony." The paper
closed with the words: "God save the liberties of America,"
which now took the place of "God save the King." But
Patrick Henry thought the time for action had come. He
put himself at the head of a Hanover company, and set

Removing Powder from the Magazine at Williamsburg

out for Williamsburg.
As he drew
near, he was met by
a messenger from
Lord Dunmore with
an offer to pay for
the powder, and he
accepted this settlement
of the matter.

Flight of Lord Dunmore.
— About two
months later, Lord
Dunmore, not deeming
it safe for him to
remain in Williamsburg
longer, took
refuge on the Fowey,
a man-of-war, which
was anchored near Yorktown. Before taking his departure,
he addressed a communication to the Burgesses, stating
that he deemed it advisable for the safety of himself
and family to leave Williamsburg. In reply, the Council
and the House of Burgesses jointly invited him to return to
the head of affairs, assuring him that they would unite in
carrying out any plan that might be deemed necessary for
his personal safety. But he declined to leave his place of

refuge, though he offered to continue to discharge his
functions as governor on board the man-of-war. After
this, the Burgesses had no further communications with
him; and thus the royal government in Virginia came to
an end, after it had existed for more than a hundred and
fifty years.

Flight of Lord Dunmore

Provisional Government organized. — The Burgesses now
saw that it was necessary to provide an executive for Virginia,
and so a convention was called, which met in Richmond
on July 17, and committed the supreme authority
not to one person, but to the famous Committee of Safety.[20]
This body was endowed with absolute power, being responsible
only to the convention. It was fortunate that this

provisional government was organized so promptly, for the
people had soon to protect themselves from the governor
they had renounced.

Dunmore's Ravages. — Lord Dunmore, incensed at his
expulsion from his government, decided to make war on
Virginia with such forces as he could collect. He had at
his command a fleet of several ships and two companies of
regulars. With these he commenced a series of predatory
incursions along the shores of the Chesapeake. He made
his headquarters in Norfolk. From there, he proclaimed
martial law and offered freedom to all slaves who would
join him and fight against their masters. By such means
as these, he collected a mixed force sufficient to enable
him to do much damage. But, in December, he was defeated
at Great Bridge near Norfolk by a company of Virginians
under Colonel William Woodford, and forced to
embark on his ships. On the 1st of January, 1776, he
bombarded Norfolk, and under cover of the cannonade,
a body of marines landed and at his command set fire to
the town. After this exploit Dunmore carried on for
some months along the shores of the various rivers of
eastern Virginia, hostilities that bore more resemblance to
the incursions of pirates than to open, honorable war, affording
the melancholy spectacle of a governor plundering
the people whom he had come to rule over and protect.
Finally, he fortified himself at Gwynn's Island at the head
of the Piankatank River in Mathews County. From this
retreat he was driven by General Andrew Lewis, of Point
Pleasant fame, and this was the last of Dunmore in Virginia.
He retired first to New York, and then in a short
time went back to England, where he entertained royalists
who fled from Virginia, and continued to manifest the bitterest
hostility to the American cause.

QUESTIONS

• 1. While the colonies were on the eve of war, what was Virginia
  called to do?

• 2. How did the trouble begin, and by what was it known?

• 3. What did the Indians now do?

• 4. Who was General Andrew Lewis?

• 5. Tell of the battle of Point Pleasant.

• 6. What treaty did Lord Dunmore make with the Indians?

• 7. Why was this battle so important?

• 8. What contest now occupied the people?

• 9. When and where was a convention held?

• 10. What measure was introduced by Patrick Henry?

• 11. Give his prophetic words.

• 12. When and where was the first clash of arms?

• 13. What act of Governor Dunmore's enraged the people?

• 14. What did they attempt to do?

• 15. Who induced them to disband?

• 16. What was the nature of the paper signed?

• 17. What action did Patrick Henry take, and with what result?

• 18. Give an account of the flight of Lord Dunmore.

• 19. What action did the Burgesses take, and with what result?

• 20. How long had the royal government lasted in Virginia?

• 21. Tell of the provisional government organized.

• 22. What did Lord Dunmore now decide to do?

• 23. Where did he make his headquarters, and what did he proclaim?

• 24. What occurred at Great Bridge?

• 25. How and where did he continue his depredations?

• 26. What was the last of Dunmore in Virginia?

CHAPTER XVII

THE REVOLUTION—FROM ITS BEGINNING TO BURGOYNE'S
SURRENDER

Operations at the North. — While Virginia was defending
herself from Lord Dunmore, stirring events had
been taking place at the North. The skirmishes at Lexington
and Concord were followed a few weeks later by
the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point by the
Americans. Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne came
from England with reinforcements for General Gage,
while an American army of some fifteen thousand collected
around Boston and laid siege to the city. The hotly
contested battle of Bunker Hill, which was fought on June
17, 1775, settled the question that there would be a war.
It proved, too, a source of much encouragement to the
Americans; for though they were driven from the field,
they had, by their gallant defense of their position, shown
that they could measure arms with the disciplined troops
of England.

Washington Appointed Commander in Chief. — In view
of the public need, Congress met in Philadelphia and,
after declaring that hostilities had commenced with Great
Britain, appointed George Washington, who was a delegate
from Virginia, commander in chief of the army at Boston.
He accepted the position, but refused to receive any pay
for his services. On his way to his post of duty, he heard
of the battle of Bunker Hill, and at once asked, "Did the

militia stand fire?" Receiving an affirmative answer, he
replied, "Then the liberties of the country are safe."

Washington's Appointment a Political Necessity. — Washington
well deserved the honor of being put at the head of
the army; for he was the only soldier in any of the colonies
of more than a local reputation, the one able leader of men
who had been tried and found to be competent. At the
same time, his appointment was a political necessity. The
Northern colonies recognized the importance of enlisting

Washington

Virginia actively in the war,
for it was known that all the
Southern colonies would follow
her. As she was the most
ancient, the most populous,
and the most influential of the
colonies, and the devotion of
her people to the cause of popular
liberty commanded respect
everywhere, her influence was
absolutely necessary to bring
about a union of all the colonies
into one political body,
without which nothing of importance could be accomplished.

Virginia takes an Active Part in the War. — Now that
hostilities had actually commenced, Virginia did not hesitate
as to her duty. She threw herself into the struggle
with all her strength, and responded promptly to the call
of Congress for troops, her quota being fixed at fifteen
battalions. Volunteers formed themselves into companies,
and set out for the seat of war, even while their own homes
were threatened with destruction by Lord Dunmore. Upon
every battlefield of the war, Virginia was well represented.

She was in her structure and temper more thoroughly English
than any of the colonies; and the soldiers she put in
the field were the equals of any Great Britain could bring
against them.

First Period of the War. — At first the war was waged
for a redress of grievances, not for separation from Great
Britain. The colonies were not ready for the contest;
and Washington, who well knew what an army ought to
be, occupied himself for some time in drilling and equipping
the main army, which he had to do in the face of
great difficulties, and while thus engaged he kept up the
siege of Boston.

Virginia takes Action for Independence. — Virginia had
ever shown herself most jealous of her constitutional rights.
In their defense she had, under Bacon, risen in open rebellion
in 1676; and now, one hundred years later, she
took a step in the cause of freedom which proved to be far-reaching
in its effects upon the destinies of America. On
May 15, 1776, she, through her convention which met in
Williamsburg, instructed her delegates in Congress to propose
that the United Colonies should be declared independent.
This action was on the next day read to the
troops at Williamsburg, and was received by them and by
the people generally with loud acclamation.

Bill of Rights. — After instructing the delegates in
Congress, the convention on the same day adopted a Bill
of Rights which contained a clear exposition of the American
theory of government; for it declared the equality of
men politically, that they possessed certain inherent rights,
such as "the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means
of acquiring and possessing property and pursuing and
obtaining happiness and safety," of which they could not
by any compact deprive their posterity; that government

Thomas Jefferson

was derived from the people and was to be used for the
benefit of all, and that when not so used the majority had
the right to alter or abolish it; that the press should be
free, and that men should have the right to follow their
consciences in religion.

Adoption of a Constitution. — The Bill of Rights was
followed on June 29 by the adoption of a constitution,
which made the government consist of a House of Delegates
and a Senate, and provided that these should elect
annually a governor and a privy council to assist him.
This constitution, which was the first written one in the
world, contained also a declaration of independence. Thus
Virginia proclaimed herself an independent commonwealth
amid the universal rejoicing of her people. Her new government
went into operation at once, Patrick Henry being
elected governor and Edmund Randolph attorney general.

Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence. — When
the Virginia delegates in Congress received the instructions
from the convention,

Jefferson's Desk

Richard Henry Lee
brought in a motion,
"That these United Colonies
are and ought to
be free and independent
states, and that all political connections between them and
the State of Great Britain is and ought to be dissolved."
After a three days' debate the motion was adopted, and a
committee was appointed to draw up a Declaration of
Independence. The Declaration was written by Thomas
Jefferson;[21] and Congress, after making a few changes,
adopted it as written by him, on July 4, 1776.

Virginia among the First. — Virginia was first among
the foremost in the resolutions condemning the Stamp
Act, in the formation of the Committee of Correspondence,
in the movement for a Continental Congress, and in the
decisive steps that led to the independence of America.
More considerate treatment by the British government
would have kept her loyal; but, under a sense of oppression,
the revolutionary impulse
caused her to renounce utterly
an allegiance of which she had
in former days been proud to
boast.

A Seal Adopted. — After declaring
herself independent, Virginia
adopted a new seal, devised
by George Wythe,[22] which expressed
the spirit that animated
the people. It represents Virtue, the tutelary goddess of
the commonwealth, draped as an Amazon, bearing in one

hand a spear and in the other a sword, trampling under
foot tyranny, symbolized as a prostrate man, having near
him a broken chain and a scourge, while his crown has
fallen from his head. Above the figure of Virtue is the
word "Virginia," and underneath the motto — "Sic semper
tyrannis."

Religious Liberty. — The Episcopal Church had been
the established church in Virginia, as it is in England
to-day; and at times, harsh laws had been enacted against
those who dissented from its doctrines. But one form of
belief does not satisfy all people; and at the time of the
Revolution, Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists
had gained a strong foothold. In her Bill of Rights,
Virginia was the first state in the world to separate absolutely
Church and State, declaring as she did that her
government should be built upon the foundation stone of
religious liberty; and when the General Assembly met
in October, 1776, all persons who did not accept the doctrines
of the Established Church were determined to see
that laws should be enacted to carry out the principles
of religious freedom that had been announced. A great
struggle ensued, which lasted for nearly two months.
Edmund Pendleton[23] and John Page[24] defended the Episcopal
Church, while Thomas Jefferson was the champion

of the dissenters. Religious freedom finally won a complete
triumph. Penalties for nonconformity to the Protestant
Episcopal Church were abolished, and all men were
left free to worship God according to the dictates of their
own consciences.

The Law of Primogeniture. — In England, when a man
dies, his property is not distributed equally among his
children, but it goes to his eldest son, and in this way the
aristocracy is kept up. This Law of Primogeniture, as it
is called, had been in full force in Virginia; but now an
attack was made upon it by Thomas Jefferson, who wished,
as he himself stated, to "eradicate every fiber of ancient
and future aristocracy." Edmund Pendleton, who was
the most conservative of the Revolutionary leaders, defended
it with great skill; but the bill for its repeal passed
the General Assembly without amendment, and it ceased
to be a law.

A Dictator Proposed. — The first military operations after
the Declaration of Independence were disastrous to the
Americans. In the summer of 1776, General Howe, who
had succeeded General Gage as commander in chief of the
British troops, defeated the American army at Long
Island, in consequence of which Washington was forced
to abandon New York and New Jersey, and retire across
the Delaware into Pennsylvania. To the General Assembly,
the outlook seemed so gloomy that it was
proposed to appoint a dictator for Virginia, who should
have absolute power, both civil and military, over persons
and property, the precedent for such action being sought
in the history of Rome. The discussion of this measure
created feelings so bitter that its advocates and its opponents
would not walk on the same side of the street
together. To Patrick Henry, who was to receive the

appointment, Archibald Cary,[25] the leader of the opposition,
sent the message that on the day he became dictator, he
should fall from a thrust of his dagger. There is no
evidence that Patrick Henry either knew of or approved
the scheme. The plan was suddenly dropped, and it
appears to have been but a desperate measure that was
considered to meet a desperate need.

Washington crossing the Delaware

Washington restores Confidence — A few weeks later,
Washington restored confidence by recrossing the Delaware,
and winning the brilliant victories at Trenton and
Princeton. The people now began to realize his greatness
and to esteem him the equal of any commander of
antiquity, for he showed that along with a cause full of
grandeur, he possessed the genius needed to defend it.

Burgoyne's Invasion. — The next summer General Burgoyne
left Canada with a part of the British army and
marched by way of Lake Champlain into New York, his
plan being to seize the line of the Hudson and cut New
England off from the Middle and Southern states. All
went well with him till he reached the upper Hudson,
where the American army under General Gates had taken
a stand to oppose his further progress. Burgoyne had in
his army a number of Indians; and these ferocious allies

Daniel Morgan

so harassed the Americans
that Gates wrote Washington
that they almost produced a
panic.

Morgan and his Riflemen.
— Washington had among
his troops a corps of picked
Virginia riflemen from the
Shenandoah valley and the
upper James, commanded by
the distinguished Colonel
Daniel Morgan. These he
sent to reinforce Gates. It is
said that the aim of these men
was so accurate "that any one of them could toss up an
apple and shoot all the seeds out of it as it fell." Accustomed
to the Indian method of warfare, they soon struck
terror into the breasts of the savages, who said that the
rifles of these sharpshooters "were more terrible than the
lightnings of the Great Spirit." They certainly contributed
much to turn the tide of battle against Burgoyne. At
Bemis Heights, near Saratoga, where Burgoyne fought a
desperate battle in an unsuccessful attempt to drive the
Americans from their position, the Virginia riflemen dispersed

the Canadians and Indians, who covered the flanks
of the right wing of Burgoyne's army and were brought
to a stand only when they encountered the British line
of battle. A few weeks later, when Burgoyne made a
reconnaissance with fifteen hundred picked men, drawn
up in three columns, Morgan's corps fell upon the right
column, which was commanded by General Frasier, and

Burgoyne's Surrender

forced it to fall back, Frasier himself being mortally
wounded by one of the riflemen.

Burgoyne's Surrender. — After these reverses Burgoyne
retired to Saratoga, where, on October 17, 1777, he surrendered
his entire army to General Gates. The political
effect of this victory in Europe was very great. France
had favored the Americans from the first, and had rendered
them some aid. This she had done secretly; but,

after the surrender of Burgoyne, she acknowledged the
independence of the thirteen United Colonies and on February
6, 1778, entered into a treaty, promising to help
them with money, men, and war supplies. Saratoga is
put down by Sir Edward Creasy as one of the fifteen
decisive battles of the world; and much of the credit
of winning it justly belongs to the Virginians.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What events were occurring in the North?

• 2. What battle had decided the question of war, when and where
  fought?

• 3. Who was chosen commander, and on what condition did he accept?

• 4. What is said of Washington, and why was his appointment a
  political necessity?

• 5. Tell what active part Virginia took in the war, and what of her
  soldiers?

• 6. Was the war waged at first for separation from Great Britain?

• 7. What was Virginia's action for independence?

• 8. What was the Bill of Rights, and what followed its adoption?

• 9. What was the Constitution, and what did it contain?

• 10. Who was elected first governor under this Constitution?

• 11. What motion did Richard Henry Lee bring up in Congress?

• 12. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

• 13. Who was Thomas Jefferson?

• 14. Virginia was foremost in what decisive steps?

• 15. Describe Virginia's new seal. By whom was it devised?

• 16. Give the controversy as to religious liberty in Virginia.

• 17. Who defended the established church, and who the dissenters?

• 18. What was the result?

• 19. What was the Law of Primogeniture?

• 20. Who made an attack upon it, and with what result?

• 21. Why was a dictator proposed for Virginia?

• 22. What feelings did this arouse?

• 23. How did Washington restore confidence?

• 24. Tell of Burgoyne's invasion.

• 25. What is said of his Indian allies?

---

149





• 26. Give an account of Morgan and his riflemen.

• 27. Where was a desperate battle fought, and with what result?

• 28. When and where did Burgoyne surrender?

• 29. What did France do after the surrender of Burgoyne?

• 30. What does Sir Edward Creasy say of the battle of Saratoga?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Why did the colonists object to the veto power of the king?

• 2. Relate the Parsons' Case.

• 3. What was the Stamp Act, and why was it repealed?

• 4. What was the Non-Importation Agreement, and why was it adopted?

• 5. Why was the tea destroyed at Boston?

• 6. When and where did the first Congress meet?

• 7. Give an account of Lord Dunmore's war.

• 8. When and where was the first clash of arms that marked the
  beginning of the Revolution?

• 9. How did the royal government come to end?

• 10. Describe Dunmore's ravages.

• 11. What battle settled the question as to war?

• 12. Who was appointed commander in chief of the colonial troops,
  and why was his appointment a political necessity?

• 13. What was the object of the colonists at first, and what active part
  did Virginia take in the war?

• 14. Tell of Virginia's action for independence, of her Bill of Rights, and
  her Constitution.

• 15. What was the Declaration of Independence, by whom written, and
  when adopted?

• 16. In what ways did Virginia take the lead for independence?

• 17. Describe the seal adopted.

• 18. Give an account of the controversy for religious liberty.

• 19. What was the Law of Primogeniture, and through whose influence
  was it abolished?

• 20. Why was a dictator proposed, and with what result?

• 21. Give an account of Burgoyne's invasion.

• 22. What is said of Morgan and his riflemen?

• 23. When and where did Burgoyne surrender, and what is said of it?

CHAPTER XVIII

THE LAST YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION

The War in the South. — After the battle of Saratoga,
the British transferred the war from the North to the South.
They reduced Georgia and South Carolina to submission;
and then Lord Cornwallis, one of their ablest generals,
undertook the conquest of North Carolina. The need of
troops in the South was so great that Virginia exerted herself
to the utmost in gathering recruits and in hurrying
them off to the seat of war.

The British attack Virginia. — During the first years of
the war, the central position of Virginia had protected her
from invasion; but the British now decided to attack her
in earnest to keep her from sending so much aid to the
South. A fleet was first sent under General Matthews,
who took possession of Portsmouth, burned Suffolk, and
destroyed at Norfolk and Gosport great quantities of military
stores. The British soldiers also made incursions into
the country, carrying destruction far and wide, while British
men-of-war ruined the coasting trade of the state by destroying
more than one hundred ships.

Benedict Arnold in Virginia. — The British followed their
first attack by a determined effort to subjugate Virginia,
believing that, if she was conquered, this would ensure the
permanent subjugation of the Southern states. Early in
January, 1781, Benedict Arnold, who a few months before
had turned traitor to the American cause, sailed up the

James with an army of nine hundred men, and the invasion
began in earnest. Thomas Jefferson, who had succeeded
Patrick Henry as governor, called out the militia to
defend Richmond. But Baron Steuben, who had general
command of military matters in Virginia, had just sent all
the men he could raise to the South. Arnold accordingly
captured Richmond without opposition. He held possession
of the city for a few days, destroyed her archives,

Marquis de Lafayette

plundered her stores, and
then returned to Portsmouth,
ravaging the
country on his way.

Lafayette. — In the
spring, the British sent
General Phillips with
two thousand additional
troops to Virginia. He
captured Petersburg after
a skirmish with a body
of militia under Steuben,
and then proceeded to
Richmond. But here he
found a body of regular
troops drawn up ready to give him battle. They were
under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette, an ardent
young French nobleman who had come to serve in the
American army as a volunteer and without pay; but Congress
had commissioned him a major general, and Washington,
whose confidence he had won, had sent him to
cooperate with Steuben in the defense of Virginia. General
Phillips decided not to attack Lafayette, but retreated
to Petersburg, where he died from fever a few days after
his arrival.

The Virginians at King's Mountain. — While these events
had been occurring in Virginia, the war had been prosecuted
energetically further South. In conducting the campaign
in North Carolina, Cornwallis sent Colonel Ferguson,
one of his ablest partisan leaders, with a force of eleven
hundred to invade the mountain region. This caused the
pioneers of Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas to rise

in arms, and soon fourteen hundred assembled, four hundred
coming from Washington County, Virginia, under the
command of Colonel William Campbell, who was chosen
leader of the entire force. Ferguson, finding that he was
in danger, retreated to King's Mountain, upon the top of
which he took what he regarded as an impregnable position.
But the frontiersmen took his camp by storm and all
his followers were either killed or captured, he himself
being among the slain.

Morgan at Cowpens. — Daniel Morgan and his men were
always to be found where fighting was going on, and they
were now in the South, where they proved so troublesome
to the British that Cornwallis sent Colonel Tarleton with
eleven hundred men against them. Tarleton pursued Morgan
and coming up with him at Cowpens, a grazing ground
not far from King's Mountain, at once attacked him. But
Morgan displayed wonderful skill in the way he managed
the battle. In an open field he surrounded and nearly
annihilated the British forces, which were superior to his
own, Tarleton escaping with only two hundred men.

Virginia becomes the Seat of War. — Cornwallis's army
was much depleted by the battles he had fought, and so
he decided to march northward, unite his forces with the
British troops in Virginia, and complete the subjugation of
the Old Dominion before he undertook any further operations
in the Carolinas. Acting upon this resolution, he
reached Petersburg soon after the death of General Phillips,
and at once took command of the British troops in Virginia.

Maneuvers of Cornwallis and Lafayette. — Lafayette
was at this time below Richmond with about four thousand
men, and Cornwallis, with nearly double that number,
looked forward to an easy victory over him. "The boy
cannot escape me," he wrote in a letter to England. But
Lafayette though young had prudence, and was unwilling
to risk a battle till he was reinforced by General
Wayne, who was coming with eight hundred Pennsylvanians
to join him. So as Cornwallis advanced, Lafayette
retired till he reached Culpeper County, where he met
Wayne. Cornwallis followed as far as Hanover County,
where he halted, camping on the North Anna River.
While these maneuvers were going on, his cavalry under

Tarleton was laying waste the whole James River country
with fire and sword, destroying what they did not need.
They made a raid on Charlottesville, hoping to capture the
legislature, which was in session in that place, and also
Governor Jefferson, who was at Monticello, but failed in
this attempt.

Cornwallis Entrapped. — Cornwallis finally selected Yorktown
as the basis of his operations, where he fortified himself
strongly. Washington, learning through Lafayette
that the Count de Grasse was coming with a French fleet
to take part against the British, at once decided to combine
the French and American armies, and capture Cornwallis
before he could be reinforced. The plan was kept a
secret, the movement being covered under an apparent
design of laying siege to New York. This deceived the
British till it was too late to relieve Cornwallis, who did
not realize his danger till the French fleet appeared in the
waters of the Chesapeake, and landed three thousand
troops to reinforce Lafayette, followed a few days later
by the arrival of Washington and the Count de Rochambeau
with land forces. The combined French and American
armies amounted to sixteen thousand, and the British
army numbered eight thousand. Cornwallis now saw that
he was hemmed in both by land and by sea; but he prepared
to make a desperate defense.

Siege of Yorktown. — The siege of Yorktown now began.
For more than a week a vigorous cannonade was kept up,
and then the outer lines of Cornwallis's works were carried
at the point of the bayonet. The British still held the
inner fortifications; but these were swept by the fire of
the American batteries. The situation of Cornwallis becoming
desperate, on the 19th of October, 1781, he surrendered.
On this memorable occasion, the American

Surrender of Cornwallis

and French troops were drawn up in two columns, Washington
and Rochambeau being at their head; and between
them the conquered British marched out and laid down
their arms, the bands playing "The world's upside down."

Peace at Last. — A great victory had been won; and
Congress set apart a day for thanksgiving and prayer,
while Washington ordered that all persons under arrest
should be set free so that they, too, might share in the general
rejoicing. The surrender at Yorktown was virtually
the closing scene of the war, and it was fitting that it should
occur in the Old Dominion, where the prelude to the Revolution
had taken place.

Governor Nelson. — Among the Virginia patriots of the
Revolution, Thomas Nelson, who succeeded Jefferson as
governor, stands preeminent. He was a man of great

wealth, all of which he sacrificed to his country's needs.
When two Virginia regiments were ordered to the Carolinas,
before the soldiers started, he gave them all that was
due them as back pay out of his own private fortune. At
a time when the public credit was in a very depressed condition,
the state tried to borrow two million dollars to aid

Nelson at the Siege of Yorktown

in carrying on the war, but the amount could not be
obtained on the security of the commonwealth. Seeing
this, Nelson added his personal security to that of the
state, and in this way a large proportion of the sum was
raised. At the siege of Yorktown, Nelson noticed that
the American gunners refrained from firing at his house,
which had become a refuge for the British. Thereupon
he directed the first gun at it himself, and offered five
guineas to the cannoneer who would put the first ball
through it. He was for some time before the end of
the war commander in chief of the Virginia forces; and
Washington made special mention of the services rendered
by him in bringing the siege of Yorktown to a successful
issue. Nelson has many honorable descendants
living in Virginia.

QUESTIONS

• 1. After the battle of Saratoga, where was the seat of war transferred?

• 2. Why did the British decide to attack Virginia?

• 3. What did they do in Portsmouth and elsewhere?

• 4. In subjugating Virginia, what did they believe would follow?

• 5. What depredations did Benedict Arnold commit?

• 6. What did the British do in the spring?

• 7. Who was Marquis de Lafayette?

• 8. How had the war progressed in the Carolinas?

• 9. What was the result of the battle of King's Mountain?

• 10. Describe the battle of Cowpens.

• 11. What was Cornwallis's plan after these battles?

• 12. Give an account of the maneuvers of Cornwallis and Lafayette.

• 13. Why did Tarleton make a raid on Charlottesville?

• 14. How did Washington entrap Cornwallis?

• 15. Describe the siege of Yorktown.

• 16. When and where did Cornwallis surrender?

• 17. Describe the situation of the armies at the time.

• 18. What did Congress order to be done?

• 19. What is said of the surrender of Cornwallis?

• 20. Who was Thomas Nelson?

• 21. In what ways did he show his patriotism?

CHAPTER XIX

VIRGINIA'S CONQUEST OF HER NORTHWEST TERRITORY

British Occupation of the Northwest Territory. — The
vast domain north of the Ohio River, Virginia claimed
belonged to her by the terms of the charter of 1609, in
which her territory was said to reach "up into the land
from sea to sea." But the British had taken possession
of this country, and had captured from the French the
military forts at Kaskaskia and Vincennes. Still, in sentiment,
the people were anti-English, and were ready to
acknowledge the authority of Virginia.

The "Hannibal of the West." — Before the Revolution
ended this territory was brought under the jurisdiction of
the Old Dominion, as the result of a most daring enterprise,
which was successfully carried through by a native
Virginian, George Rogers Clark, whose exploits gave
him the title of the "Hannibal of the West." He had
moved to Kentucky, which had been made a county of
Virginia, and, finding that the Ohio Indians, instigated
as he believed by the British, were invading the country,
he conceived the daring project of protecting it by
conquering the Northwest Territory for Virginia. So he
journeyed back to Virginia, and unfolded his plan to Governor
Henry, who enthusiastically indorsed the scheme,
and took steps to equip an expedition to carry it out.
Clark was commissioned colonel, supplied with money,
and authorized to enlist men in any county of the commonwealth

till he had raised seven companies of fifty
each. After much difficulty he equipped three companies,
and with these he started; but on his way he was
joined by some Kentuckians, which raised his force to
nearly two hundred.

Capture of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes. — After a
long march through the wilderness, he reached Kaskaskia,
and attacked the place by night. He thus describes the
result. "I immediately divided my little army into two
divisions; ordered one to surround the town; with the
other, I broke into the fort, secured the governor, Mr.
Rocheblave, in fifteen minutes had every street secured;
sent runners through the town, ordering the people on
pain of death to keep close to their homes, which they
observed; and before daylight, had the whole town disarmed."
The people, after being assured by Colonel
Clark that their rights would be respected, readily took
an oath of allegiance to Virginia. They even organized a
company of volunteers, who marched to Cahokia, a French
town sixty miles north of Kaskaskia, and this settlement
gave in its submission. Vincennes, having grown weary
of British rule, now surrendered without a struggle, the
inhabitants agreeing to garrison the fort, which Clark left
in charge of one of his men.

Clark gets Control over the Indians. — The Indians were
amazed at what had happened, and their chiefs, within a
circuit of five hundred miles, hastened to Cahokia to see
the big warrior of the "Long Knives," as they called the
Virginians. Clark met them in council, and, showing them
a peace belt and a war belt, bade them take their choice,
manifesting at the same time no concern as to which they
might select. One after another declared for peace; and
thus Clark obtained control over them.

Clark at the Indian Council

The British recapture Vincennes. — Clark made this conquest
in 1778; but toward the end of the year, Colonel
Hamilton, governor of Canada, descended the Wabash
River with eight hundred men, and recaptured Vincennes.
After this he made preparations for a grand campaign
when the spring opened, his plan being to take Kaskaskia
from Clark, subdue Kentucky, and then, coming further
into Virginia, overrun the settlements west of the Alleghanies.
This alarming news Clark obtained from Colonel
Vigo, a Spanish merchant of St. Louis, who also informed
him that for the winter Hamilton had with him at Vincennes
only eighty men to garrison the place, having sent his other
troops away until he should need them in the spring.

Clark surprises Hamilton. — Clark decided, as he himself
stated, that he would take Hamilton before Hamilton

could take him, and so he at once set out for Vincennes
with his little army. In midwinter he made a march of
two hundred and fifty miles, which for hardship has rarely
been paralleled. The rivers were swollen by the winter
rains, and the Illinois prairies were full of water and ice.
For miles in the low grounds of the Wabash River, the
troops were compelled to wade through water breast high;
but under the influence of their intrepid leader, they persevered
in spite of all obstacles. Great was Governor
Hamilton's surprise when Clark appeared and demanded
his surrender. He made the best defense he could, but
finally was forced to submit. Clark sent him to Virginia,
a prisoner of war.

Civil Government Organized. — As soon as Virginia had
established her claim to her Northwest Territory, Governor
Henry appointed Colonel John Todd to administer the
civil government. Courts of justice and military companies
were organized at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes; and
the machinery of a complete civil government set into
operation.

Importance of the Conquest. — For the conquest of the
country north of the Ohio, Congress never furnished a
dollar nor a soldier. The glory of the undertaking belongs
exclusively to Colonel Clark and to Virginia. Its
importance can hardly be overestimated; for the fact that
Virginia was in possession of the country at the close of
the Revolution enabled the United States to hold it when
peace was made with England. Had it not been conquered
by Virginia, it would doubtless be Canadian territory
to-day.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What was the extent of Virginia's Northwest Territory?

• 2. Who took possession of this territory?

• 3. What was the sentiment of its people?

• 4. By whom was it restored to Virginia, and by what title was he
  known?

• 5. Who was George Rogers Clark, and what was his plan?

• 6. Give an account of the capture of the three forts.

• 7. What did the inhabitants agree to do?

• 8. How did Clark get control over the Indians?

• 9. What happened soon after he made this conquest?

• 10. How did Clark surprise Governor Hamilton?

• 11. What was the result?

• 12. What did Virginia do as soon as her claim was established?

• 13. To whom does the glory of this conquest belong, and why was it
  such an important one?

CHAPTER XX

VIRGINIA IN THE UNION

Virginia Cedes her Northwest Territory. — The colonies
had won their independence by united action; but at the
close of the Revolution many rivalries existed between
them. The claims which seven of the thirteen states made
to western lands, caused so many disputes that the Articles
of Confederation, adopted by Congress during the
Revolution, were not signed by all the states till 1781.
Maryland would not agree to them unless the states owning
western land would cede it to the United States. Virginia,
earnestly desiring union, surrendered her territory[26]
north of the Ohio to bring this about. Her patriotism in
this act becomes conspicuous when the greatness of her
possessions is considered and the soundness of her title,
which was based both upon her charter and upon conquest.

Boundary Dispute between Virginia and Pennsylvania. —
The territory beyond the western boundary of Maryland
was claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania; and in

their contest over the matter, they almost went to war.
But commissioners, appointed by the states to settle the
quarrel, agreed to begin at the Delaware River and to extend
Mason and Dixon's line[27] due west five degrees of
longitude for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and
then to draw a meridian from the western extremity of the
state to its northern limit for its western boundary. The
"Pan-Handle" is the part of Virginia that was left north
of Mason and Dixon's line and east of the Ohio River.
The extension of the line was not completed till 1785.

Virginia Leads the Movement for a more Perfect Union.
— After the Articles of Confederation had been signed
they proved insufficient for the government of the country.
The states soon began to quarrel in regard to commerce,
and some laid taxes on articles imported from others. So
great were the difficulties which confronted the Confederation
that the legislature of Virginia invited the states to
hold a convention to consider the regulation of the trade
and commerce of the United States. This convention met
in Annapolis in 1786; but, as only five states were represented,
the delegates adjourned after passing a resolution
requesting the states to call a convention in order to
revise the Articles of Confederation. This body met in
Philadelphia, and after a discussion which lasted for four
months, on September 17, 1787, adopted the present
Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution Ratified. — There was great opposition
to the Constitution in Virginia; and in every county
speeches were made for it and against it. The people
were divided into two great parties, and much bitterness
was manifested in the discussions that took place. On
June 2, 1788, a convention met at Richmond, which was
now the capital, to consider the adoption of the new plan
of government. A vehement struggle occurred, as is
shown by the reports of the speeches that were made
on this occasion. Patrick Henry led the opposition, and
James Madison the party in favor of ratification. Finally
on June 25, the Constitution was adopted by a vote of
eighty-nine to seventy-nine. The result was largely due to
the influence of Washington, which was exerted in favor of
the Constitution. It was ultimately signed by all the states.

Virginia Proposes another Revision. — Though Virginia
had adopted the Constitution, yet she was far from being
satisfied with it. So strong was her belief that some
essential changes should be made in it that, in 1788, her
legislature addressed a communication to Congress, asking
that a new convention should be called to revise it.
Fortunately for the permanence of the Union this was not
done; but Congress at its first session adopted a number
of amendments to the Constitution, which did much to
remove the discontent. Notwithstanding this, Virginia
was for a long time prominent in her dissatisfaction with
the Constitution, her people fearing that under it a strong
central government would be formed which would impair
the sovereignty of the states.

The Alien and Sedition Laws. — In 1798, during the
administration of President Adams, who succeeded Washington,
Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Laws, the
first giving the President power to banish any foreigner

who was regarded as dangerous to the peace of the country,
while the second laid heavy penalties upon persons who
should resist government officials in the discharge of lawful
acts, and upon those who might speak or publish anything
that would bring the government or its officers into
bad repute. These laws met with a most vigorous opposition

Mt. Vernon, Washington's Home

in Virginia, on the ground that they were an exercise
of powers not granted in the Constitution. On December
2, 1798, the legislature passed resolutions, in which it was
affirmed that the powers of the government were limited
to such as were specially mentioned in the compact between
the states, and that, if the Federal government should go
beyond the authority given to it, the states had a right to
declare such action unconstitutional. The excitement that
had been aroused by the obnoxious laws led to no serious
result at the time; but the strict interpretation of the
Constitution, as expressed in the famous resolutions of
1798, became the fundamental principle of the State-Rights
party in Virginia.

Washington's Tomb

The Great Virginian. — Washington was the first President
elected under the Constitution. He took the oath
of office in New York on April 30, 1789. Of all the great
men of Virginia and of the United States, he stands first
for ability and distinguished service. His management
of the American army during the Revolution places him
high in the rank of the world's greatest commanders;

and the wisdom he displayed during his presidency, in
carrying the country safely through the dangers that
threatened to subvert it after independence had been
won, gave him a reputation for statesmanship of the highest
order. Truly he was "first in war, first in peace, and
first in the hearts of his countrymen." He died at his
home, Mount Vernon, in 1799, beloved by all.

Period of Prosperity. — At the end of the Revolution the
people of Virginia were very poor. The war had taxed
their resources to the utmost, and during its last years much
of their property had been destroyed by the British soldiers.
But in a few years, a great change for the better set in; and
toward the close of the eighteenth century, Virginia entered
upon an era of prosperity which extended through more
than half of the nineteenth century. Her tobacco found
ready sale in Europe at high prices, and was the source of
much wealth. So the people lived in plenty and contentment.
Under the influence of liberal laws, labor had its due
reward; and but few paupers were to be found in the state.

"The Mother of States and of Statesmen." — A few
years after the Revolution, Kentucky, which was a part of
Virginia, was admitted into the Union as a separate state.
This was done with the consent of Virginia, whose limits
were thus reduced to what is now contained in the two
Virginias. At a later period, out of the magnificent territory
north of the Ohio, which Virginia had given to the
United States, the great states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan,
Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota were successively
carved; and thus the Old Dominion became known
as the "Mother of States." She was also called the
"Mother of Statesmen," because so many distinguished
men were nurtured on her soil. She furnished four of the
first five presidents — Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and

Monroe, each of whom served two terms. Tyler was also
from Virginia, and Harrison and Taylor were born in Virginia,
though they were residents of other states when
elected. Thus she has given to the Union more presidents
than any other state.

Burning of the Richmond Theater

Burning of the Richmond Theater. — A domestic calamity
that occurred on the night of December 26, 1811, claims a
place in history. This was the burning of the Richmond
theater, when it was filled with a fashionable audience of
about six hundred, who had assembled to witness a drama

called the Bleeding Nun. During the performance a
spark fell on the curtain of the stage, and from this the
building was speedily enveloped in flames. A panic ensued,
and seventy persons lost their lives, many of whom
belonged to the most influential families in the state.
This memorable disaster filled the city with mourning.
Throughout the state, and indeed all over the country, it
caused the deepest sorrow. The Assembly of Virginia
by resolution requested its members to wear crape for
thirty days, and the same action was taken by Congress.
The next year, Monumental Church was erected where the
theater had been. The church still stands, and at the door
there is a marble monument, upon which are the names of
a number of those who perished in this disaster.

War of 1812.[28] — In the war which the United States
waged against Great Britain in 1812, volunteers enlisted
from all parts of Virginia in the service of their country;
and the state patriotically sustained the Federal government.
Only once during the war was the territory of Virginia
invaded. This was just a few months before the
termination of hostilities, when Admiral Cockburn, who
commanded a British fleet, entered the waters of the Chesapeake
and laid waste its banks. He captured Hampton;

and, during the short time he occupied the place, rendered
himself infamous by allowing his soldiers and negroes that
followed them to commit outrages of every kind upon
the defenseless inhabitants.

What Virginians did for the Union. — During the first
half of the nineteenth century, the territory of the United
States was nearly quadrupled; and Virginians were instrumental
either directly or indirectly in bringing about the
greater part of this tremendous increase of area. The
territory of Louisiana was purchased by Thomas Jefferson
while he was President. This province, which had been
ceded by Spain to France, extended from the Gulf of
Mexico on the south to Canada on the north, and from the
Mississippi River on the east to the Rocky Mountains on
the west; in securing this, Jefferson more than doubled the
area of the United States. Nor was this all that he did to
extend the dominion of the Union. In 1804 he sent Captains
Lewis and Clark of Albemarle County, Virginia,
with a party of men to explore the territory of Louisiana.
They ascended the Missouri River as far as they could in
boats, and proceeded on foot till they came to its source.
After this, making their way across the Rocky Mountains,
they explored the valley of the Columbia River, till they
reached the Pacific Ocean. The discoveries which were
made by Lewis and Clark proved to be important, as
they aided the United States, at a later period, in establishing
her title to Oregon. President Monroe, during his
administration, purchased Florida from Spain, thus adding
another large area to the public domain. General Sam
Houston, a native of Rockbridge County, led the Texans to
victory in their struggle for independence from Mexico;
which resulted in the admission of Texas to the Union.
In the war with Mexico which followed, two Virginians,

Generals Taylor and Scott, commanded the United States
armies, when they achieved that wonderful succession of
victories, which led to the submission of Mexico and to the
dismemberment of her territory, a large part of which came
to the United States.[29]

"The Pathfinder of the Sea." — To the scientific investigations
of a Virginian, Matthew Fontaine Maury, not only
the United States but the whole civilized world is indebted.
He entered the navy in 1825, and in 1842 was
appointed Superintendent of the Depot of Charts and
Instruments at Washington. At this time the sailing
maps in use were very inaccurate, and but meager information
had been obtained in regard to ocean currents.
Maury soon published a chart, which he called a "Fair
Way to Rio." This proved to be so accurate and valuable
that Congress authorized him to make systematic observations
of winds and currents. This he did, and as a result
originated a system of "Wind and Current Charts," which
was speedily adopted by mariners of all nations. By its
use thousands of lives were annually saved and millions of
dollars in the cost of voyages. Maury also instituted deep
sea soundings,[30] which convinced him that the bottom of
the ocean between Newfoundland and Ireland was a
plateau, the surface of which was not disturbed by either

waves or currents. He suggested that the wires of a submarine
telegraph could be safely laid upon this. His idea
was followed up, and in 1858 Europe and America were
connected by the first Atlantic cable. Upon Maury the
principal nations of Europe conferred many honors in
recognition of his services to mankind. His Physical
Geography of the Sea, which has been translated into many
languages, is an enduring monument to his genius.

Virginia's Influence upon other States. — The Old Dominion,
whose hardy pioneers began at an early period to
push their way out into the South and West, has done her
full part in bringing about the settlement and development
of the United States. As early as 1653, ten years before
the profligate Charles II. granted North Carolina to "lord
proprietors," Roger Greene, with one hundred men from
Virginia, settled on the northern shore of Albemarle
Sound, and thus laid the foundation of the colony that
grew into North Carolina. In 1750, Dr. Thomas Walker
and a company of Virginians explored a part of Tennessee
and discovered the Cumberland River and Mountains,
which they named after the Duke of Cumberland. John
Sevier and James Robertson, both Virginians by birth,
were the leaders in founding the earliest settlements in
Tennessee, and Sevier was elected first governor of the
state. In such enterprises as these Virginia has borne a
prominent part. Her influence has been great in some
states of the West, and the beginning of nearly all government
in the South can be traced to her. Her University,
which was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, and may
justly be called the noblest work of his life, was for a long
time the educational center of the whole South. Its halls
are still filled with students from many states, and its
alumni are to be found all over the country.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Why did Virginia cede her Northwest Territory to the Union?

• 2. What is said of her patriotism in this act?

• 3. Give an account of the disputed boundary line between Virginia
  and Pennsylvania.

• 4. What was Mason and Dixon's line?

• 5. Why did Virginia invite the states to hold a convention?

• 6. What resolution did this convention pass?

• 7. When and where did a second convention meet to revise the
  Articles of Confederation, and what was done?

• 8. How was the Constitution regarded in Virginia?

• 9. When did she ratify it?

• 10. Why did she propose another revision?

• 11. What were the Alien and Sedition Laws, and why did Virginia
  oppose them?

• 12. What resolutions did the legislature adopt in 1798?

• 13. What is said of George Washington?

• 14. What is said of Virginia's prosperity?

• 15. Why was Virginia called the "Mother of States"?

• 16. Why the "Mother of Statesmen"?

• 17. Give an account of the burning of Richmond theater.

• 18. What action was taken by the legislature and Congress in regard
  to it?

• 19. What has been erected on the spot?

• 20. What was the War of 1812?

• 21. How did Virginia suffer in this war?

• 22. How much did the territory of the United States increase during
  the first half of the nineteenth century?

• 23. What purchase did Jefferson make while President?

• 24. Describe the Lewis and Clark expedition.

• 25. What territory did President Monroe purchase from Spain?

• 26. Who led the Texans in their war for independence?

• 27. State the cause of the Mexican War.

• 28. What part did Virginians take in this war?

• 29. Who was Matthew Fontaine Maury?

• 30. How did he benefit mankind?

• 31. What is said of Virginia's influence upon other states?

CHAPTER XXI

SLAVERY

Encouraged by England. — After the first negroes were
brought to Virginia in 1619, so profitable did the slave
trade become that England encouraged it in every way.
There was at this time no moral sentiment against slavery,
as is shown by the fact that Queen Anne herself owned a
large part of the stock of the Royal African Company.

Attitude of Virginia. — While the Virginians could use
negroes with profit in agriculture, yet the wisdom of
making this system of labor the corner stone of the prosperity
of the people was early called into question, some
of the wisest men foreseeing that it was likely to prove
the cause of much disaster. During colonial days over a
hundred petitions were sent from Virginia to the king and
to Parliament, asking that the further importation of negroes
from Africa should be stopped; but these proved unavailing.
After the Revolution the feeling against the slave
trade continued; and in 1787, when Congress passed the
Ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory,
one clause of which prohibited slavery, Virginia fully
approved this action. Many of her ablest statesmen regarded
the system as a bad one, and hoped the time would
come when she herself would be free from it.

New England's Connection with Slavery. — When the
Revolution began, slavery existed in all the colonies; but
in the North it was dying out, because it was not profitable.

For some time before the Revolution, the people of New
England began to engage in the business of importing
negroes from Africa to sell to the people of the South, and
this soon became to them a money-making employment.
So during the Revolution, when a bill, which was favored
by Virginia and other states, was brought before Congress
to put an end to the slave trade, it was opposed by New
England and the cotton states—by New England, because
she had so much money invested in slave ships, and by the
cotton states because they wished more negroes for their
cotton fields. For this reason not till early in the nineteenth
century was the trade forbidden by law; and even
after this it was for a time carried on secretly.

Change of Feeling in the North in regard to Slavery. —
So long as the New England people were engaged in the
slave trade, they did not take an active stand against
slavery; but soon after the importation of negroes was
stopped by law, the belief that slavery was an evil that
should not exist in the country at all began to win adherents.
The inhabitants of the North had nothing to lose by
the destruction of the institution; for it had never gained
any foothold among them, and had practically been
abolished by the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Gabriel's Insurrection. — The negroes in Virginia were
kindly treated by their masters, and as a rule gave but
little trouble from insubordination. Several servile insurrections,
however, mar the history of the commonwealth.
The first occurred in 1800, and was instigated by a negro,
named Gabriel, who belonged to a farmer near Richmond.
He formed a plot to capture Richmond, kill the citizens,
and plunder the place. He collected his followers, armed
them with scythe blades, and set out on his nefarious expedition
on a dark summer night. But he was doomed to

disaster from the beginning. A violent storm made a
creek in his front impassable, which delayed his operations.
Before he could make his proposed attack, he
learned that his plot had been discovered; and thereupon
he and his deluded companions at once fled to the woods
and swamps for refuge. Gabriel was captured, and with
a number of others was condemned to death.

Nat Turner's Insurrection. — Thirty-one years later the
tranquillity of the state was disturbed by a second insurrection,
which resulted more seriously. A negro preacher by
the name of Nat Turner, who belonged to a Mr. Travis
of Southampton County, succeeded in persuading his
people that he was a prophet. He appealed to their
superstitions by tracing on a sheet of paper in blood a
crucifix, a representation of the sun, and other mystic
signs, which he claimed indicated the approach of the
most remarkable events. As a result of his intriguing, the
negroes all through the South Side fell under his influence
and became frenzied with excitement. When his plot was
ripe, he started the insurrection in Southampton County,
by killing his master and family with an ax. Next a
lady and ten children were slain, and then a number of
school children. Now reveling in blood, and half crazy with
excitement, the negroes marched to Jerusalem, now called
Courtland, where they were dispersed by a party of armed
citizens. They hid in the woods and swamps, where some
were killed and the rest captured. Twenty-one were
brought to Jerusalem for trial, and thirteen of them, Nat
Turner among the number, were hanged. Fifty-five white
persons, nearly all of whom were women and children,
were the victims of this uprising.

Sentiment in Virginia in Later Times. — The feeling
which Virginia had repeatedly manifested against slavery

continued. In 1832 an emancipation bill was introduced
in the legislature. The measure did not pass; but a
resolution, postponing the consideration of the matter till
public opinion had further developed, was adopted. Had
Virginia been let alone and no attempt been made to interfere
with her domestic matters, she would doubtless have,
in due time, set her slaves free in a manner that would
have been best for them and for her own welfare.

Fugitive Slaves. — The Federal Constitution recognized
slavery fully, and it contained a provision that negroes
who might escape from their homes and go into another
state should be returned to their masters. To carry out
this provision effectually, Congress passed a special law
that all runaway negroes found in the Northern states
should be arrested and, without trial by jury, be sent back
to their masters. But the execution of this law was resisted
in the North, and in a number of states Personal Liberty
Laws were passed which nullified the act of Congress.

John Brown's Raid. — The excitement over slavery was
greatly intensified by an attempt that was made to bring
about the emancipation of the negroes of Virginia by inciting
them to raise an insurrection. This was the act of
John Brown, a native of Connecticut, who had taken part
in the struggle in Kansas to keep that state from adopting
a constitution authorizing slavery. On the night of October
16, 1859, he, with twenty followers, took possession of
Harper's Ferry, captured a number of citizens whom he
held as hostages, and seized the United States arsenal at
the place, intending to obtain from it arms for the negroes
whom he expected to join him. But in this he was mistaken,
for none of them came to his support.

Brown Captured and Executed. — Governor Wise called
out a force of volunteers and militia to put down the disturbance.

Capture of John Brown

But before the state troops could reach Harper's
Ferry, a number of Brown's gang had been killed
and the rest captured by Colonel Robert E. Lee[31] and a body
of United States marines, who had been dispatched to the
scene of action. Several citizens and one negro were killed
by Brown's party before the termination of the affair.
Brown was among those captured, and he with six of his
followers were tried and hung for treason, insurrection, and
murder.

Report of the Senate Committee. — A committee of the
United States Senate looked into the matter, and made a
report in which it was stated that Brown's attack upon
Virginia "was simply the act of lawless ruffians, under the
sanction of no public or political authority, distinguishable
only from ordinary felonies by the ulterior ends in contemplation
by them, and by the fact that the money to maintain
the expedition and the large armament they brought with
them had been contributed and furnished by the citizens
of other states of the Union under circumstances that
must continue to jeopard the safety and peace of the
Southern states, and against which Congress has no
power to legislate."

Political Significance of Brown's Attack. — Brown brought
with him to Harper's Ferry a number of muskets, pistols,
and about fifteen hundred pikes which were made expressly
for him in Connecticut, and which he thought would be
effective weapons in the hands of the negroes. An investigation
of the insurrection showed that Brown had the
sympathy and the help of a number of persons at the
North in this plot to raise a servile war. This fact convinced
Virginia that the Constitution and the laws of the
Union were not sufficient to protect her, and it hastened
the breaking out of the Civil War.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Why did England encourage the traffic in negroes?

• 2. What did Virginia do to prevent its growth?

• 3. What was New England's connection with slavery?

• 4. Why was it encouraged both by the New England and cotton
  states?

• 5. What change of feeling in regard to slavery had taken place in the
  North?

• 6. Give an account of Gabriel's Insurrection.

• 7. Of Nat Turner's Insurrection.

• 8. What was the sentiment in Virginia in later times?

• 9. What is said of fugitive slaves?

• 10. Who was John Brown, and what is said of his raid?

• 11. By whom was he captured?

• 12. Give the leading facts in the life of Robert E. Lee.

• 13. What was Brown's fate?

• 14. Give the report of the Senate Committee on this raid.

• 15. What weapons did John Brown bring, who were they for, and
  where made?

• 16. What did an investigation show?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the battles of King's Mountain and Cowpens.

• 2. Give an account of the maneuvers of Cornwallis and Lafayette.

• 3. How was Cornwallis entrapped?

• 4. Describe the siege of Yorktown and Cornwallis's surrender.

• 5. Who was Governor Nelson, and what is said of his patriotism?

• 6. Give an account of the exploits of George Rogers Clark, by which
  Virginia recovered her Northwest Territory.

• 7. What generous spirit did Virginia show in order to bring about a
  union of the states?

• 8. Why was the present Constitution formed to take the place of the
  Articles of Confederation?

• 9. Describe the Alien and Sedition Laws, and tell of the resolutions
  adopted by Virginia in regard to them.

• 10. Why is Virginia called the "Mother of States and of Statesmen"?

• 11. Describe the burning of Richmond theater.

• 12. What was the cause of the War of 1812?

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• 13. What important services did Virginians render the Union?

• 14. What was Virginia's attitude toward slavery?

• 15. Give New England's connection with slavery, and tell about the
  change of feeling at the North in regard to it.

• 16. What is said of fugitive slaves?

• 17. Give an account of John Brown's Raid, his capture and execution.

• 18. What was the report of the Senate Committee, and the political
  significance of this raid?

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS (1763-1860)

                                                     

1765.	Stamp Act passed by Parliament.
1766.	Stamp Act repealed.
1767.	A tax imposed on tea and other articles.
1769.	Famous Virginia resolves passed by the House of Burgesses.
1770.	All duties except on tea repealed.
1773.	The tea thrown overboard at Boston Harbor.
1774.	The first Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, September 5.
1775.	Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19.
1775.	End of royal government in Virginia.
1775.	Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17.
1776.	Declaration of Independence signed, July 4.
1777.	Burgoyne's surrender, October 17.
1778.	American independence acknowledged by France.
1779.	Clark's conquest of the Northwest Territory.
1780.	Battle of King's Mountain, October 7.
1781.	Richmond captured by Arnold.
1781.	Battle of Cowpens, January 17.
1781.	Surrender of Cornwallis, October 19.
1787.	Constitution of the United States adopted in convention, September 17.
1788.	Virginia ratifies the Constitution.
1789.	Washington inaugurated, April 30.
1799.	Washington died at Mt. Vernon, December 14.
1803.	Louisiana purchased from France, April 30.
1811.	Richmond theater burned, December 26.
1812.	War declared against England.
1846.	Mexican War.
1859.	John Brown's Raid, October 16.

THIRD PERIOD — FROM THE CIVIL WAR
TO THE PRESENT TIME

CHAPTER XXII

APPROACH OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Constitution Ambiguous. — The Constitution of the
United States was the result of a series of compromises;
and at the time of its adoption, was not entirely satisfactory
to any one. No sooner had it been ratified by the
states than the people became divided into two parties,
one holding that the language of the Constitution should
be construed strictly so that the sovereignty of the states
would never be impaired, the other claiming that the
powers of the Federal government ought to be enlarged,
and that the Constitution should be interpreted so as to
allow this to be done. Out of these antagonistic views
there grew, as time passed, two opposing theories of the
nature of the Union. These must now be stated in order
to make clear the cause of the secession movement, which
involved Virginia and all the other states in a long and
bloody war.

The State-Rights Theory. — On this theory the Union
which the states created was one of limited powers, all
powers not named in the Constitution as specially surrendered
to the Federal government being reserved by the

states. Accordingly, the United States was not a nation
like England, but a league or confederacy between thirteen
separate peoples. The Union being thus in the nature of
a partnership, not limited in time, it followed, by the law
governing such agreements, that the right to withdraw
remained with each state.

The National Theory. — The advocates of the second
theory, called the National theory, held that the states in
ratifying the Constitution had surrendered their statehood
and had formed a nation. According to this view, the
Union was indissoluble, and no state had a right to withdraw
without the consent of the other states.

Which was the True Theory? — The interpretation that
was given to the Constitution at the time of its formation
is not historically uncertain. The evidence, if carefully
examined, is convincing that the Union was regarded as a
league. Mr. Lodge, a Northern writer, who has made a
careful study of the subject, says: "When the Constitution
was adopted by the votes of States at Philadelphia,
and accepted by the votes of States in popular conventions,
it is safe to say that there was not a man in the country,
from Washington and Hamilton on the one side to George
Clinton and George Mason on the other, who regarded
the new system as anything but an experiment entered
upon by the States, and from which each and every State
had the right peaceably to withdraw, a right which was
very likely to be exercised." The above quotation states
correctly the view taken of the Union when it was made.
It was considered a league formed by independent states,
each one of which retained the attribute of sovereignty.[32]

The First Threats of Secession. — The first threats of
secession came, not from the South, but from New England;
and during the latter part of the eighteenth century
and early in the nineteenth, movements were projected to
bring about the withdrawal of New England from the
Union. In 1796 Governor Wolcott of Connecticut declared
that he wished the Northern states, the moment
Jefferson was elected President, would separate from the
Southern. The War of 1812 was very unpopular in New
England, and while it was going on secession from the
Union was openly urged in public meetings by prominent
men.

Virginia and the South. — From the beginning Virginia
had adopted the State-Rights theory of the Union, and
she held to it unwaveringly. She formed no new political
theories, but continued to look upon the Union as a league

between independent states. The South, without exception,
under the teaching of John C. Calhoun, held to the
same conception of the Federal tie. To Virginia and the
South, therefore, the right to withdraw from the Union
was one of the reserved rights of the states. Indeed,
Virginia adopted the Constitution with the express understanding
that she could reassume the powers she had
delegated to the Federal government whenever these
powers should be perverted to the injury or oppression of
her people. Thus before she entered the Union she made
clear her right to leave it.

The North and the West. — As times changed, the North
changed its conception of what the Union was, and gave to
the Constitution a meaning which no one attached to it in
the early days of the republic. At first those who wished
a strong government only held that the United States
ought to be a nation. But under the influence of Daniel
Webster the people of the North adopted the belief that
the United States was a nation. Thus they changed the
original conception of the Federal tie, and held that the
states, in ratifying the Constitution, had formed a Union
that could not be broken. The people of the West generally
held the same political belief. It was natural that
they should do this; for the Western states were created
out of the public domain by the government of the United
States, and for this reason, in them state lines did not have
the same meaning as they did in the South, nor did state
pride have the same influence. There was, it is true, much
difference of opinion at the North and West upon the
question of state sovereignty, many eminent statesmen
and jurists viewing the matter as the South did; but on
the whole the mass of the people at the North and West,
under the influence of the new theory they had formed,

regarded secession as unlawful and as constituting rebellion.

Reasons why the South wished to Secede. — The South
and the North had not only grown apart in their political
beliefs, but their interests had become different. The South
was agricultural, while the North was largely engaged in
manufacturing. Laws that suited one section did not suit
the other, and this led to much irritation. The great cause
of difference, however, was slavery, which had made the
sections hostile to each other. The South, since slavery
had become her peculiar institution, demanded that property
in negroes should be as securely guaranteed as other
forms of property, and desired to have slavery further
extended. Adequate protection for this form of property
the North was unwilling to give, as was shown in the way
some of the states refused to allow the execution of the
Fugitive Slave Law. This rendered the South uneasy.
The Federal government had been created by the states
to give security against domestic, as well as foreign dangers.
But the time had come when it no longer brought
domestic peace. The rights, guaranteed to the South in
regard to her slaves, had already been violated, and were
threatened with further invasion in the future. It could
no longer be said that the Constitution was a Magna
Charta that preserved rights. The realization of this
made the South desire to leave the Union. Under the
same government, the people of the South and of the
North had lived together as brothers for many years;
but the state of feeling between them had now become
very different from what it was in the days of the Revolution.
It must ever be considered most deplorable that the
people of the two sections should have become enemies
ready to take each other's lives.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Was the Constitution of the United States satisfactory to all?

• 2. What two parties sprang up, and what was the result?

• 3. Give the State-Rights theory of the Union.

• 4. The National theory.

• 5. Which was the true one?

• 6. What does Mr. Lodge say on the subject?

• 7. From what section did the first threats of secession come?

• 8. What did the governor of Connecticut declare?

• 9. Which theory did Virginia hold of the Union?

• 10. With what express understanding had she adopted the Constitution?

• 11. By whose influence did the North change the original conception
  of the Federal tie?

• 12. Why did the people of the West hold the same opinion as the
  North?

• 13. In what ways were the interests of the North and South opposed?

• 14. What was the chief cause of the difference in the sections, and
  what is said of it?

• 15. Why did the South now feel uneasy in the Union?

• 16. What is said of the Constitution?

CHAPTER XXIII

THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR

Secession of the Cotton States. — In 1860 Abraham Lincoln[33]
was elected President by the Republican party, which
was opposed to any extension of slavery, and whose extreme
members wished to abolish it in the territory where
it then existed. When this occurred, the cotton states
gave up hope of enjoying longer fraternal union with the
North, and decided to exercise their reserved right of
secession, thinking that this course of action was best for
their peace and prosperity. South Carolina acted first,
passing an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860.
She was followed by Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas. The movement proceeded
quietly, due observance being paid to legal form. The
seceded states then formed a new union, called the Confederate

Abraham Lincoln

States of America, with Jefferson Davis[34] of Mississippi
as president.

Virginia's Effort for Peace. — For a time there was a
prospect of bringing the sections together again, and Virginia
earnestly desired to do this. She believed in the right
of secession, but she doubted the expediency of the act.
In addition to this, she was deeply attached to the Union
for whose establishment she had done so much. Animated
by her love for it, she, through her General Assembly,
recommended the holding of a Peace Conference to be
participated in by all the states, to settle "the present unhappy
controversy in the spirit in which the Constitution
was originally formed." This convention met in Washington,
but failed in its efforts to restore harmony.

Diplomacy — After the inauguration of President Lincoln,
the Confederate government sent commissioners to
Washington to arrange for a peaceable settlement of all
questions at issue between the two governments. One
thing asked for was the evacuation of all the forts in the
territory of the seceded states that were still in possession
of the United States. Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor
was one of these; and Mr. Seward, Secretary of State
under Lincoln, gave assurance[35] that the fort would be

speedily given up. But this was not done; and after some
delay Governor Pickens of South Carolina was notified
from Washington that the fort would be reenforced
"peaceably if permitted, forcibly if necessary," by a fleet
that was then on its way.

Capture of Fort Sumter. — The Confederate government,
accepting the message to Governor Pickens as a
declaration of war, ordered General Beauregard, who was
in command of the Southern troops at Charleston, to demand
the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson,
the commander of the Federal garrison, refused to evacuate

the fort; and thereupon Beauregard bombarded it and
captured it on April 14, 1861.

War now Inevitable — The crisis had at last come. The
Confederates held that the North had acted in regard to
Fort Sumter so as to render the use of force by the South
necessary, and was for this reason the real aggressor,
while the North contended that the South had by firing on
the fort begun the war. Thus each section charged the
other with bringing on the conflict. The cotton states had
already made some preparations for war; and now all over
the South the cry, "To arms! To arms!" was heard. The
people of the North on their part came strongly to the support
of the new Republican administration, and responded

Jefferson Davis

with alacrity to a call made by President Lincoln, during
the excitement following the bombardment, for seventy-five
thousand troops to reestablish the Federal authority
in the Southern states.

Secession of Virginia. — When President Lincoln called
for troops, Virginia had to decide whether she would remain
in the Union or join the Southern Confederacy. Up
to this time she had steadily refused to secede. A convention,
which had been called in view of the impending crisis,
had refused to pass an ordinance of secession by a vote of
eighty-nine to forty-five; but two days after Lincoln called
for troops, this same convention passed the ordinance by a
vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five. When the ordinance was
submitted to the people, it was ratified by a large majority,
and the state took her place in the Southern Confederacy.

Her Heroic Action. — This was Virginia's decision when
called upon to help make war upon the states further south.
She took her action deliberately, well knowing that she
would be attacked on the north, east, and west, and would
be the battlefield of a war which, if long continued, would
be most destructive to her prosperity, let the end be what
it might. There is recorded in history no greater act of
self-sacrifice than that of Virginia in withdrawing from
a Union she did not wish to leave, in order to help other
states defend what she had always maintained was her
right and theirs.

Actions of Other States. — Virginia's example in leaving
the Union was followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and
North Carolina Kentucky wished to remain neutral, but
was overrun by Federal troops. So altogether eleven states
seceded and twenty-three remained in the Union.

Return of Virginians. — In the Federal army and navy
there were a number of distinguished Virginia officers,

who, at the opening of the war, had to determine to which
side they should render allegiance. There were but few

Joseph E. Johnston

who did not decide that
after their state had left
the Union they no longer
owed fealty to the United
States. So there was a
return of Virginians to defend
their native land.
Some had already distinguished
themselves in the
service of the United
States, but were destined
to win yet greater military
renown in the Civil War.

Distinguished Leaders
who came to Virginia. —
Among those who resigned
commissions in the United States army were General
Albert Sidney Johnston,[36] the commander of the military
district of the Pacific, and that able and cautious soldier,
General Joseph E. Johnston,[37] who became the first commander

of the Confederate army in Virginia. But the
greatest of all the men who came to the help of Virginia
in her hour of need was Colonel Robert E. Lee, a son of
Light Horse Harry Lee of Revolutionary fame. In resigning
his commission in the United States army, he
used the often-quoted expression, "Save in the defense
of my native state, I never desire again to draw my
sword." In speaking of his decision in a letter, written
to his sister, he says, "With all my devotion to the Union
and the feeling of loyalty and duty as an American citizen,
I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my
hand against my relatives, my children, my home." When
Colonel Lee reached Richmond, he was at once made commander
of the Virginia forces.

Military Ardor. — All through the part of Virginia east
of the Alleghany Mountains the people gave themselves up
to preparations for war. Everywhere military companies
were organized and equipped. Drill masters soon became
so much in demand that Major Thomas J. Jackson, a professor
in the Virginia Military Institute, was ordered to
bring a number of cadets to Richmond to assist in the
work of drilling recruits at Camp Lee. Jackson never
returned to his quiet professorial duties. He was appointed
a colonel of volunteers by the governor of Virginia and
soon after entered upon a career of fame second only to
that of General Lee.

Virginia Dismembered. — Western Virginia was opposed
to leaving the Union, and refused to be bound by the action

of the convention that passed the ordinance of secession.
So the people of this section in a convention held on June
11, 1861, organized a government of their own; and at a
later period this part of the Old Dominion was admitted
by Congress into the Union as a separate state, though
a strained interpretation[38] had to be put upon the Constitution
to bring this about. Thus the Virginia that took part
in the War of Secession was in area about the same as the
Virginia that helped to carry on the Revolution.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Who was elected President by the Republican party in 1860?

• 2. Give the leading facts of his life, and state the policy of his party.

• 3. After his election, what did the cotton states decide to do?

• 4. What union did they form, and whom did they elect president?

• 5. Give the leading facts in the life of Jefferson Davis.

• 6. Why did Virginia earnestly desire peace, and what action did she
  take to bring it about?

• 7. For what purpose did the Confederate government send commissioners
  to Washington after Lincoln's inauguration?

• 8. What particular request did they make? Was it granted?

• 9. What notification was sent to Governor Pickens in regard to Fort
  Sumter?

• 10. How did the Confederate government accept this notification, and
  what happened?

• 11. On what grounds did each section charge the other with beginning
  the war?

• 12. Why did Lincoln issue a call for seventy-five thousand troops?

• 13. Why did Virginia secede?

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• 14. What is said of her heroic action in so doing?

• 15. Name the states that followed her example.

• 16. What is said of the return of Virginians?

• 17. What distinguished generals of the Federal army came to Virginia?

• 18. Give the leading facts in the life of Albert Sidney Johnston.

• 19. Of Joseph E. Johnston.

• 20. What did Robert E. Lee say on resigning his commission in the
  Federal army?

• 21. Describe the military ardor throughout Virginia.

• 22. When and why was the state of West Virginia formed?

CHAPTER XXIV

THE FIRST MOVEMENT AGAINST RICHMOND

Events that will be Recorded. — The military operations
in the Civil War were on a very extensive scale. The
struggle was prosecuted vigorously on both sides, not only
in Virginia, but also in the South and West. In this short
history, only a brief account of the leading military operations
that took place in Virginia can be given.

"On to Richmond!" — On May 21, the capital of the
Southern Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Alabama,
to Richmond; and at once in the North the cry
of "On to Richmond!" was raised. The formation of
Federal armies for the invasion of Virginia went on at
different points. One gathered at Washington under
General Scott, with General McDowell in immediate command,
a second at Chambersburg under General Patterson,
a third in West Virginia under General McClellan, and
a fourth at Fortress Monroe under General Butler. To
capture Richmond and bring the war to a speedy end
was the plan of the Federals.

Preparations for Defense. — The Confederates collected
troops for the protection of Virginia, and able plans for
defense were adopted. General Beauregard[39] organized an

army at Manassas Junction to guard the direct approach
from Washington to Richmond; General Joseph E. Johnston
a second at Harper's Ferry to cover the Shenandoah
valley; Generals Huger and Magruder a third to bar the
route to Richmond by way of the peninsula between the
James and the York rivers, while General Garnett was
sent with troops to West Virginia to operate against the
Federals in that part of the state.

Opening of Hostilities in Virginia. — The first invasion of
the state occurred on May 24, 1861, when Federal troops
took possession of Alexandria, where there were a number
of strong secessionists. For some days before the occupation,
a Confederate flag flying from the top of a hotel had
been plainly seen from the President's house in Washington.
This, Colonel Ellsworth of the Fire Zouave Regiment,
U. S. A., hastened to take down with his own hand.
But as he descended from the top of the building, holding
the flag, he was shot dead by the owner, Mr. Jackson, who
was himself killed a moment later by Ellsworth's soldiers
This was the first bloodshed in Virginia, and the next took
place in a skirmish at Big Bethel, near Fortress Monroe,
on June 10, when fourteen hundred Confederates under
General John B. Magruder defeated three thousand Federals,
belonging to the army of General Butler. These
events mark the opening of the great struggle that took
place in Virginia.

Battle of Manassas. — But the first important battle of
the war took place at Manassas, where an army of thirty
thousand Federals under General McDowell, which had
set out from Washington for Richmond, encountered the
Confederate army under General Beauregard. As the left
wing of the Federal army attempted to cross Bull Run,
a little stream that flows along the plains of Manassas, a

skirmish occurred in which the Federals were driven back.
This was but the forerunner of a general engagement
which took place on July 21, 1861. In this battle success
was at first with the Federals. Their right wing drove
back the left wing of the Confederates, which rendered

Stonewall Jackson in the Battle of Manassas

the situation full of peril. Seeing this General Bee of
South Carolina rushed up to General Thomas J. Jackson,[40]
and exclaimed, "General, they are beating us back!" "Sir,
we will give them the bayonet," was Jackson's prompt
reply. Bee went back to his men and rallied them, saying,
"Look, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let
us determine to die here, and we will conquer." From that
day General Jackson became known to fame as Stonewall
Jackson.

The Confederates rallied after the day seemed about
lost, and checked the advance of the Federals till Kirby
Smith, who had been sent by General Johnston from the
Valley, arrived with reenforcements which made Beauregard's
army nearly equal in numbers to McDowell's.
Then the tide of battle turned, and the Federals began a
retreat which ended in a rout and a panic. The soldiers
threw away their arms and fled toward Washington.

The Victory not Followed up. — The Confederates did
not follow up their great victory. Indeed, they did not
realize its completeness till the day after the battle. Had
they pushed on with all speed after the terror-stricken
Federals, they might perhaps have followed them over the
bridge across the Potomac, for the destruction of which no
preparations had been made, and taken possession of
Washington. In not doing this, they lost an opportunity
which never came to them again.

Situation at the End of 1861. — As the year drew to a
close, it became evident that the war would not end in a
short time as many had supposed. Both sides now prepared

for a prolonged contest. The Federal army at
Washington, which was known as the Army of the Potomac,
was greatly increased. General George B. McClellan
was made its commander in place of General Scott; and
during the autumn and winter his forces numbering nearly
two hundred thousand lay around Washington. He was
confronted by the Army of Northern Virginia about sixty
thousand strong under General Joseph E. Johnston. After

Gen. George B. McClellan

Manassas the Confederates
had advanced as far
as Fairfax Courthouse,
and the flags at their
outposts were visible in
Washington.

Resources of the Two
Sections. — A brief comparison
of the resources
of the two sections is
necessary to show the unequal
character of the
struggle in which the
South was engaged. In
round numbers the states
that remained in the
Union had a population of twenty-three millions, while
the territory of the Confederacy contained only nine
millions, of which three and a half millions were negroes.
So the North could put in the field more than three times
as many soldiers as the South. Besides this, the North
had factories of all kinds, and could manufacture all the
war supplies, arms, and clothes that the soldiers would need.
The South was almost without factories; and soon after
the opening of hostilities, her ports were blockaded by the

North. Thus all help from abroad was cut off. But the
victory at Manassas made the South believe that, in spite
of her inferior resources, success would crown her arms.
She had faith in her own prowess; and she hoped too that
she would not have to contend against the United States
unaided. England and France had promptly accorded her
belligerent rights; and it seemed probable, early in the
war, that these powers might even acknowledge her independence.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What action on the part of the Confederacy caused the cry of "On
  to Richmond!" to be raised by the North?

• 2. What preparations did the Federals make to invade Virginia?

• 3. How did the Confederates prepare to defend the state?

• 4. What incident caused the first bloodshed on her soil?

• 5. When and where did the first skirmish take place?

• 6. Give an account of the battle of Manassas.

• 7. How did Jackson receive the name of Stonewall?

• 8. Give the leading facts in the life of Stonewall Jackson.

• 9. What was the result of the battle of Manassas?

• 10. Had the Confederates followed up this victory, what might have
  been the result?

• 11. What was the condition of the two armies at the end of 1861?

• 12. Compare the resources of the two sections.

CHAPTER XXV

CAMPAIGNS OF 1862

The Virginia. — After the secession of Virginia, the
Federal navy yard at Norfolk fell into the hands of the
Confederates. Before the Federals left it, however, they
burned and sunk a number of vessels. Among these was
a frigate, called the Merrimac, which was only partly
destroyed. This the Confederates raised and covered
heavily with iron, thus converting the wooden ship into a
most formidable ironclad, the first that was ever made.
On March 8, 1862, just before the land campaign opened,
this strange-looking craft, which had been renamed Virginia,
steamed into Hampton Roads and attacked the
Federal fleet. The heaviest guns were brought to bear
upon her, but they produced no impression whatever on
her iron sides. She speedily sunk the Cumberland and
the Congress, while the Minnesota, in trying to escape,
ran aground. The rest of the fleet scattered.

Battle between the Virginia and the Monitor. — The
Virginia, having won a complete triumph, went back
to Norfolk when night came on, returning the next day
to renew her attack on the Minnesota. But this time
she was met by a formidable enemy that had arrived
in the night. This was Ericsson's Monitor, an ironclad
gunboat that looked like "a cheese box on a raft." A
fierce engagement took place between the ironclads, but
neither could seriously damage the other, and so the battle

The Cumberland and the Virginia

was a drawn one. The appearance of the Monitor,
however, was most opportune for the Federal cause; for
had the Virginia been unopposed for a short time, she
might have ascended the Potomac and destroyed Washington.

A little later the Confederates evacuated Norfolk; and
the Virginia was blown up to keep her from falling into
the hands of the Federals. Thus her career came to an
end. The battle between the Virginia and the Monitor
showed that in the future naval conflicts would be decided
by ironclads, and it caused all the great powers to reconstruct
their navies, thus producing a revolution in naval
warfare.

Plan of the Peninsular Campaign. — When the spring
opened, instead of attacking Johnston where he was,
McClellan decided to transport his army by water to the

peninsula between the James and the York rivers, and to
approach Richmond from that direction. He was to be
supported by reenforcements that were to proceed by
land from Washington. The Confederates on their part
arranged to have General Johnston march down from
Manassas to oppose McClellan.

Jackson's Valley Campaign. — But Stonewall Jackson
was left in the Valley of Virginia, where he carried on a
campaign which for daring and brilliancy is surpassed by
none recorded in history. He proved himself so active
that he completely disarranged the Federal plans. His
presence in the Valley put Washington in danger; and the
Lincoln government decided that it was necessary to dislodge
him or capture him before reenforcements could be
sent to McClellan. But victory remained with Jackson.
In three months — from the last of March to the last of
June — he defeated and scattered four Federal armies under
Milroy, Fremont, Banks, and Shields, winning every battle
except one at Kernstown. With an army that never numbered
more than seventeen thousand, he threw the whole
North into a panic, and kept sixty thousand men from
joining McClellan down on the peninsula. All this he
accomplished with a total loss of less than two thousand.
Jackson's exploits in this campaign won for him the admiration
not only of America, but also of Europe.

Battle of Seven Pines. — While Jackson was operating
in the Valley, McClellan started on his peninsular campaign.
With a magnificent army of one hundred and ten thousand,
a large number of transports, men-of-war, and vessels loaded
with supplies, he landed at Old Point. General Magruder,
with an army of eleven thousand, delayed his progress till
Johnston came down from Manassas and threw his army
between McClellan and Richmond. On May 31, 1862, at

Seven Pines, while the two wings of the Federal army
were separated by the Chickahominy River, Johnston
attacked McClellan, and defeating the left wing of his
army, drove it back with heavy loss. The right wing of
the Federal army held its ground, and this rendered the
battle indecisive; but McClellan's advance was for the
time stopped. In this engagement, Johnston was severely

The Seven Days' Battles

wounded; and he was succeeded by General Lee, who
remained at the head of the Army of Northern Virginia
till the end of the war.

The Seven Days' Battles. — General Lee called Jackson
and his men who were flushed with their victories in the
Valley to his aid, and from June 26 to July 2 fought the
series of battles known as the Seven Days' Battles, in
which he struck McClellan blow after blow. As a result
of these engagements, the Federal commander was forced

to withdraw his army from the vicinity of Richmond to
the James River. The last of these battles was fought at
Malvern Hill, where McClellan had taken a strong position.
Here on July 1, the Confederates rashly attacked
him, and were repulsed with heavy loss. They did not
retire, however, when night came on, but remained close
to the Federal fortifications, intending to renew the battle
in the morning; but two hours after the Confederates had
withdrawn from the attack, the Federals, under cover of
darkness, made a hasty retreat to Harrison Landing, where
the presence of their fleet rendered them safe from attack.
In this campaign Lee's effective strength was eighty thousand,
and McClellan's one hundred and five thousand.
The result was a complete Confederate triumph. Richmond
was saved and the North discouraged.

Second Manassas. — The peninsular campaign having
proved a failure, the Federal army was transferred to
Acquia Creek, and joined with the army in front of Washington.
General Pope was put in command of the whole.
He, when he entered upon his campaign, issued a proclamation
in which he announced that success and glory were
in the front, and that "his headquarters would be in the
saddle." He did not, however, make much progress in his
effort to capture Richmond. At Manassas, on August 2930,
he was defeated by Lee, and his army retreated in confusion
to the defenses of Washington. The unfortunate
Federal general was, after his defeat, sent off on an expedition
against the Indians, and McClellan was restored to
the command of the Federal army.

Invasion of Maryland. — While McClellan was engaged
in reorganizing his army, Lee moved north into Maryland.
When he reached Frederick, he divided his army and sent
Jackson back to capture Harper's Ferry, which was strongly

garrisoned by the Federals. Unfortunately, a lost copy of
Lee's orders, directing the movements of the Confederates
on the Maryland campaign, fell into McClellan's hands,
who, with the information he thus obtained, moved rapidly
in the hope that he could crush Lee's forces while they
were divided. But Jackson promptly captured Harper's

Harper's Ferry

Ferry and rejoined General Lee before McClellan could
carry out his plan.

Battle of Sharpsburg. — At Sharpsburg, on September
17, 1862, the Confederate army, numbering less than forty
thousand, was attacked by McClellan with eighty-seven
thousand men. The Confederates fought magnificently,
and throughout the entire day repelled every attack made
upon them. They maintained a defiant front all the next

day, but neither side renewed the conflict, and when night
came General Lee recrossed the Potomac into Virginia.
Some Federal brigades followed the Confederates across
the river, but these were attacked by General A. P. Hill,[41]
who commanded Lee's rear guard, and driven back.
Sharpsburg, or Antietam, as the engagement is named by

A. P. Hill

Northern writers, is frequently
called a drawn battle, but it had
the effect of bringing the Confederate
invasion of Maryland
to an end, and of relieving the
Federal authorities of the fears
they entertained for the safety
of Baltimore and Washington.
The Confederates had crossed
the Potomac singing "Maryland,
my Maryland," and Lee expected
that the Marylanders
would come to him in large
numbers, but in this he was
disappointed, for but few recruits joined his standard.

Distinguished Englishmen Visit Lee. — General Lee remained
for a few days in the neighborhood of Shepherdstown,
and then took a position near Winchester, where he
allowed his war-worn army to rest for a few weeks. During
this period several distinguished British officers, among
whom was Lord Wolseley, visited him at his headquarters.

Battle of Fredericksburg. — Toward the end of October,
General McClellan crossed the Potomac and began another
invasion of Virginia. But he had not given satisfaction
to the government at Washington, and so he was retired
and General Burnside succeeded him. The new commander,
at the head of one hundred and thirteen thousand men, made
his advance toward Richmond by way of Fredericksburg,
where he encountered Lee's army, numbering sixty-five
thousand. On December 13 he attacked the Confederates
and sustained a crushing defeat. In the "Horror of
Fredericksburg," as the battle was called, the Federals lost
nearly thirteen thousand and the Confederates about five
thousand men. Burnside was now replaced by General
Hooker, "Fighting Joe Hooker" he was called, and the
Federals went into winter quarters at Falmouth.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Give the early history of the ironclad Virginia.

• 2. Describe the battle between the Virginia and the Monitor.

• 3. What was the fate of the Virginia?

• 4. What radical change in the navies of the world did this battle
  produce?

• 5. Give the plan of the Peninsular Campaign.

• 6. Give an account of Jackson's Valley Campaign.

• 7. How did Johnston check McClellan's advance at Seven Pines?

• 8. Who succeeded Johnston after this battle?

• 9. Describe the Seven Days' Battles.

• 10. What was the effective strength of the two armies?

• 11. What was the result of this campaign?

• 12. What proclamation did General Pope make?

• 13. What was the result of the second battle of Manassas?

• 14. What state did Lee now invade?

• 15. Describe the battle of Sharpsburg, and give its result.

• 16. Who visited Lee while his army was encamped near Winchester?

• 17. Describe the battle of Fredericksburg.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. What two theories were held in regard to the Constitution?

• 2. From what section did the first threats of secession come?

• 3. How did Virginia and the South look upon the Union?

• 4. How did the North and West regard it?

• 5. Give the reasons that made the South desire to leave the Union.

• 6. Who was elected President in 1860, and what followed his election?

• 7. What efforts did Virginia make for peace?

• 8. What request did the Confederate States make of the Federal government?

• 9. Give an account of the capture of Fort Sumter, and of the effect it
  had in the North and South.

• 10. What caused Virginia to secede, and what states followed her
  example?

• 11. Name some of the distinguished officers who resigned their commissions
  and came to Virginia.

• 12. What led to the formation of West Virginia?

• 13. What plans did the Federals make for invading Virginia, and how
  did the Confederates prepare to defend her?

• 14. Give an account of the opening of hostilities in Virginia.

• 15. Describe the battle of Manassas.

• 16. What was the situation in 1861, and how did the North and South
  compare in resources?

• 17. Describe the battle between the Virginia and the Monitor.

• 18. Give an account of Jackson's Valley Campaign.

• 19. Tell of the battle of Seven Pines.

• 20. Describe the Seven Days' Battles.

• 21. Tell of the second battle of Manassas.

• 22. What is said of Lee's invasion of Maryland?

• 23. Describe the battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam.

• 24. Give an account of the battle of Fredericksburg.

CHAPTER XXVI

FROM CHANCELLORSVILLE TO GETTYSBURG

Chancellorsville. — Not till April, 1863, was General
Hooker ready to begin his campaign. Then he put in

Stonewall Jackson

motion his army, numbering
one hundred and
thirty-two thousand men,
"the finest army on the
planet," he called it. He
crossed the Rappahannock
about twenty-five
miles above Fredericksburg.
Lee opposed him
with sixty thousand men,
and the two armies met
at Chancellorsville on the
2nd of May. Jackson
marched rapidly across
the front of the Federal
army, and falling unexpectedly upon Hooker's right wing,
drove it back in utter rout to Chancellorsville. The next
day Lee forced Hooker back over the Rappahannock, and
then turning on General Sedgwick, who with twenty-five
thousand men had captured Marye's Heights, drove him
likewise across the river. The result of the operations
of four days from May 2 to May 5 was a total defeat of
the Federal army, with a loss of seventeen thousand to
twelve thousand of the Confederates.

Death of Stonewall Jackson. — But Chancellorsville was
a dearly won victory to the Confederates, for on May 2,
Stonewall Jackson, at the moment of victory, was accidentally
shot by his own men as he returned from a
reconnoissance. His injuries were so serious as to render
the amputation of his arm necessary. After this had been
done, pneumonia set in, and he died on May 10. "Let us
cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees,"
were the last words of this renowned soldier. "I have
lost my right arm!" General Lee exclaimed, when he
learned that Jackson was dead. For daring, swiftness
in execution, untiring energy, and moral influence, Jackson
stood preeminent. Never for a moment did he doubt
that the Southern cause was righteous, or lose faith

J. E. B. Stuart

in its ultimate triumph.
In his death the Confederates
sustained an irreparable
loss. His place
could not be supplied.
There was but one Stonewall
Jackson.

Brandy Station. — When
Lee's army began to move
after the battle of Chancellorsville,
Hooker sent
his cavalry across the Rappahannock
River to penetrate
the designs of the
Confederates. At Brandy
Station, where the Federals
encountered General Stuart,[42] the fiercest cavalry battle

of the whole war took place. Each side was about ten
thousand strong. The engagement lasted all day, but
ended in the defeat of the Federals, who, after sustaining
a heavy loss, were forced to recross the river.

Battle of Gettysburg. — After the victory at Chancellorsville,
Lee assumed the offensive and invaded Pennsylvania
with an army seventy thousand strong. The Federal
army, numbering one hundred and two thousand, under a
new commander, General Meade, followed the Confederates.
The foremost divisions of the opposing forces
came together at Gettysburg. The Federals secured a
position on some hills called Cemetery Ridge, where they
fortified themselves strongly. Here General Lee attacked
them, and for three days (July 1-3) a fierce battle raged.
The turning point came on the third day when three Confederate
divisions, Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Pender's,
numbering fifteen thousand in all, made a desperate charge
on the Federal left center under a fire more severe than
that which opened on the Old Guard at Waterloo. The
divisions of Pettigrew and Pender recoiled under the terrible
cannonade to which they were subjected; but Pickett's
division, composed mostly of Virginians, kept on as steadily
as men on parade, broke through the Federal lines and
planted their colors within them. Had they been properly
supported, they would have won a decisive victory. But
no support came, and the gallant division, after holding
on alone for ten minutes, was cut to pieces and forced to
retire, after having made a charge that surpassed that of
the famous Light Brigade at Balaklava. Both armies

suffered severely, the Confederate loss being twenty thousand
and the Federal twenty-three thousand men. General
Lee, having failed in his attempt to drive the Federals
from their fortified heights, took a position a few miles
from Meade's army, where he remained for ten days, and
then retired across the Potomac into Virginia.

The Turning Point in the War. — Gettysburg, though not
a decisive victory like Waterloo, marks the turning point
in the Civil War. Had Lee been able to overthrow
the Federal army on that hard-fought field, it might
have brought peace. Gregg, the English historian, says
he was assured on what seemed to be sufficient authority,
that if Lee had been victorious at Gettysburg, the government
of England was prepared to join with France in
recognizing the Confederate States as an independent
power. There was now, however, but little hope of foreign
intervention. Serious disasters had already befallen the
Confederate armies in the South and West. The day after
Gettysburg the fall of Vicksburg gave the Federals control
of the Mississippi River, and by the end of the year,
1863, much of the territory of the Confederacy had fallen
into the hands of the Federals. Still there was hope of
ultimate success as long as the Army of Northern Virginia
was in the field. By this time Lee had become the
idol of the South. He had won the confidence and love
of the people, and to him and his army they looked for
deliverance.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the battle of Chancellorsville.

• 2. Why was it a dearly won victory for the Confederates?

• 3. Give an account of the death of Stonewall Jackson.

• 4. What did General Lee exclaim on hearing of it?

• 5. What is said of Jackson?

---

218





• 6. Who was J. E. B. Stuart, and what fierce cavalry battle did he win?

• 7. What Northern state did Lee invade after the battle of Chancellorsville?

• 8. By whom was he followed, and what was the relative strength of
  the two armies?

• 9. Describe the battle of Gettysburg.

• 10. What is said of Pickett's division at Gettysburg?

• 11. What was the result of this battle?

• 12. Why is Gettysburg regarded as the turning point of the war?

• 13. What disasters had befallen the Confederacy in the South and West?

• 14. To whom did the South look for ultimate success?

CHAPTER XXVII

LEE AND GRANT

The Raid of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren. — In March 1864,
the Federal authorities dispatched General Kilpatrick with
four thousand cavalry on a raid around Lee's lines, the
object of which was to capture Richmond by a dash, and
to release the prisoners confined there. Kilpatrick planned
to make his attack from the north, and he sent Colonel
Ulric Dahlgren with a detachment of his troops to approach
the city from the south. But the expedition came
to nothing. Dahlgren[43] was killed by the Confederates,
and his command scattered, while Kilpatrick was forced
to retreat. This bold attempt was made just before the
opening of the spring campaign, in which Virginia was
destined to become the battle ground of one of the most
remarkable series of engagements recorded in history.

General Grant[44] — During the first years of the war General
Ulysses S. Grant, a resident of Illinois, rose to distinction

in the operations that were carried on in the West
and South. He was noted for his great ability to handle
armies under difficult circumstances, and for the energy
with which he threw himself into the contest. In March,
1864, he was put in command of all the forces of the
United States, and took charge in person of the military
operations in Virginia.

The "Hammering Campaign." — Grant became commander
in chief of the Federal army at a time when the
strength of the South was nearly exhausted. Realizing
this, he decided to adopt the method of continuously hammering
at the Confederates and their resources till the
South should be compelled to submit. Thus his policy
was to trust to force rather than to strategy. The Hammering
campaign for Virginia, planned by Grant, was very
extensive. The Army of the Potomac was to advance
from the north on Richmond. General Butler was to
move up the James with a fleet and some thirty-five
thousand men, capture Petersburg, and attack Richmond
from the south, while Generals Crook and Sigel were to
operate in the Valley, and, after taking Staunton and
Lynchburg, to attack the Confederates in the rear. The
movements of the Army of the Potomac General Grant
directed himself, though General Meade was left in immediate
command.

Battles of the Wilderness. — When the campaign opened,
the Army of the Potomac numbered one hundred and

U. S. Grant

eighteen thousand, and it was opposed by General Lee
with about sixty-four thousand, according to the highest
estimates. Grant crossed the Rapidan on his march
southward, and entered a region of country covered with
scraggy oak and pine trees and full of tangled underbrush,
known as the Wilderness. Here, not far from
Chancellorsville, the hostile armies came into collision,
and for five days a terrible contest went on; but Grant
was unable to drive Lee back. By moving to the left,
however, he reached Spottsylvania Courthouse where
much heavy fighting took place. A flank movement
brought Grant to Cold Harbor, where, early in June, in
attempting to carry the Confederate works by assault, he
lost thirteen thousand men in a half hour, and his men
refused to renew the attack. Grant again moved to the
left and crossed the James, having resolved to lay siege to
Petersburg.

Lee's Generalship. — General Lee's management of this
campaign alone would have rendered him famous. In the
long series of engagements that took place from the Wilderness
to the James, he had defeated his powerful antagonist
again and again, and inflicted on him a loss that
exceeded the total number of his own forces. Not only did
he do this, but in spite of all the difficulties that surrounded
him, he succeeded in keeping the expeditions that
were to cooperate with the Army of the Potomac from
rendering any very effective aid. The chief results of
these minor campaigns were as follows.

Butler Imprisoned. — Butler landed at Bermuda Hundred,
a bottle-shaped piece of land made by a bend in the
James. This he fortified and made the base of his operations.
But the Confederates under Beauregard defeated
him at Drury's Bluff, and forcing him within his defenses

R. E. Lee

imprisoned him by building a line of strong fortifications
across the neck of his bottle, thus for the time
rendering him harmless. General Grant said that "his
army was as completely shut off as if it had been in a
bottle strongly corked."

Defeat of Sigel at New Market. — Early in May, General
Sigel with seven thousand men advanced up the Valley;

but at New Market, General John C. Breckenridge defeated
him and forced him to retreat. Just before the
battle, a battalion of cadets from the Virginia Military
Institute, two hundred and thirty strong, came under the
command of Colonel Ship to aid the Confederates in driving
Sigel back, and in the engagement behaved with distinguished
gallantry. The cadets occupied a position in
the Confederate line just in front of Sigel's artillery battery,
which they charged with the steadiness of old veterans
and captured, bayoneting some of the cannoneers who
stood to their guns. When the battle was over, forty-six
of the brave boys lay upon the field wounded and eight
were dead. This incident shows that even the boys were
filled with the determination to fight the war out to its
bitter end.

Early defeats Hunter and threatens Washington. — On
the first of June, 1864, General David Hunter, who after
the battle of New Market had succeeded Sigel, was commanded
by the Federal authorities to begin another campaign
in the Valley, the special object of which was to
capture Lynchburg. Near Port Republic he defeated
General W. E. Jones, whom General Lee had ordered from
southwest Virginia to defend the Valley. After doing this
he was reenforced by cavalry under Generals Crook and
Averill, which raised his force to eighteen thousand, and
now for a time he went his way without serious opposition.
His march was marked by the most wanton destruction of
property. At Lexington he burned the Virginia Military
Institute, the residence of Governor Letcher, and other
private property. On reaching Lynchburg he encountered
General Early,[45] whom Lee, after defeating Grant at
Cold Harbor, had sent with a detachment of troops to defend
the city. Hunter now retreated precipitately towards
West Virginia. In July, Early marched into Maryland,
and, though he had but twelve thousand men, he approached
within cannon shot of Washington, but found
the city too strongly garrisoned to venture to attack it
with his small force. Later he made a raid into Pennsylvania

and burned Chambersburg in retaliation for Hunter's
vandalism in the Valley.

Sheridan's Devastation of the Valley. — Early's operations
in the Valley proved so troublesome to the Federals that,
in August, General Grant sent Sheridan with forty thousand
men to dislodge him. After much maneuvering,
Sheridan finally defeated Early, and then by Grant's
orders he laid the Valley waste, killing cattle and sheep,
carrying off horses, and burning barns, mills, farming implements,
grain, and hay. The work of destruction was
so complete in this most fertile part of Virginia, that
Sheridan, it is said, asserted that "a crow, flying across
the Valley, must carry its own rations."

Siege of Petersburg — Grant crossed the James the middle
of June and hoped to capture Petersburg before Lee's
army could come to its defense. But in this he was disappointed.
The first assaults that were made were repulsed
by Beauregard's troops, who succeeded in holding the city
for three days; and then the torn battle-flags of the Army
of Northern Virginia were seen floating above the hastily
constructed fortifications. Lee's army had arrived. On
the very day that Lee's veterans reached Petersburg,
Grant made two desperate attempts to take the Confederate
works by storm; but his troops were driven back
with a loss of nine thousand. Lee continued to improve
the defenses of the city till they were impregnable from
assault. A separate chain of fortifications provided for the
defense of Richmond; but General Grant's main efforts
were directed against Petersburg, as a capture of this city
would lead to the fall of Richmond.

Battle of the Crater — The first attempts to capture
Petersburg having ended in failure, Grant now tried to
get possession of the beleaguered city by a novel expedient.

Burnside's Ninth Corps lay intrenched within
one hundred and fifty yards of an angle in the Confederate
works, which was covered by a fort. Under this
point General Grant, at a suggestion of Burnside, had a
mine dug in which was stored eighty hundredweight of gunpowder.
On July 30 the mine was exploded, blowing the
fort and its garrison of two hundred and fifty-six men high

Battle of the Crater

into the air, and leaving a crater thirty feet deep, sixty feet
wide, and one hundred and seventy feet long. The Federal
batteries at once opened on the Confederate works, while
an assaulting column moved up to storm them. But the
Confederates speedily regained their self-possession, and
turned their guns upon the besiegers, who, having rushed
through the opening, found themselves enfiladed from the
right and the left by artillery and fusilladed from the front
by musketry. The end came when Lee sent General
Mahone with two brigades of Hill's corps, who drove
the stormers back and retook the whole line. The crater
was for the Federals a hideous slaughter pen. Their loss
was four thousand, and Grant said the affair was a
"stupendous failure."

Situation at the End of 1864. — In November, 1864,
President Lincoln was elected for a second term, which
showed that the North intended to continue to carry on
the war vigorously. By the end of the year, the power of
the Confederacy in the West had been almost entirely
destroyed. The eleven states she started with had been
practically reduced to three — Virginia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina. Sherman had marched through
Georgia, and was preparing to cross the Carolinas and
enter Virginia with an army of sixty thousand men. Lee,
it is true, had defeated Grant again and again; but his
victories had been fruitless; for he had not been able, with
the slender resources at his command, to destroy the Federal
army, nor to drive it out of Virginia. The Confederacy
had about come to the end of her resources. Her money
was nearly worthless,[46] and her credit was gone. The brave
men that had fallen in battle she could not replace. The
soldiers that remained in her armies were veterans that
could be relied on; but they were opposed by four times
as many men on the Federal side. The course of events

had been such as to indicate the speedy collapse of the
Confederacy from exhaustion; but neither the South nor
the North realized how near this was at hand, so wonderful
had been the defensive warfare waged by General Lee.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the raid of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren.

• 2. Who was Ulysses S. Grant, and for what was he noted?

• 3. What was Grant's "Hammering Campaign"?

• 4. Describe the battles of the Wilderness. Give relative strength of
  the two armies.

• 5. What occurred at Cold Harbor?

• 6. What is said of Lee's generalship?

• 7. How did Beauregard render Butler harmless?

• 8. What did Grant say of Butler's army?

• 9. Describe the gallant conduct of the cadets of the Virginia Military
  Institute, at New Market.

• 10. Describe Hunter's campaign in the Valley.

• 11. What vandalism did he commit at Lexington?

• 12. By whom was he met, and defeated?

• 13. Why did not Early continue his march, and attack Washington?

• 14. Whom did Grant send to defeat Early, and with how many men?

• 15. What did Sheridan do in the Valley, and what assertion did he
  make?

• 16. What did Grant hope to do on crossing the James?

• 17. How were his first assaults repulsed?

• 18. Give an account of the Petersburg mine.

• 19. How did it recoil upon the Federals?

• 20. What did Grant say of it?

• 21. What did the reelection of Lincoln show the South?

• 22. To what limits had the Confederacy been reduced at the end of
  1864?

• 23. What was Sherman now preparing to do?

• 24. What is said of the resources of the Confederacy?

CHAPTER XXVIII

END OF THE WAR

Evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg. — During the
autumn and winter (1864-'65) General Grant fortified his
position; and, while his cavalry laid waste the country that
furnished supplies to the Confederates, his infantry gradually
extended their lines westward, till Lee was forced to
guard fortifications thirty-five or forty miles in length. To
do this, in March, 1865, he had about forty thousand half-starved
and half-clothed men, while in front of him lay
Grant's well-equipped army of three or four times that number.
Grant received a continual stream of reenforcements
to make good any losses he might sustain. Lee could get
none. The crisis came in the spring of 1865. On April 2,
Grant pierced Lee's thin lines in several places, and thus
rendered the evacuation[47] of Richmond and Petersburg

necessary. On the night of the 2nd, General Lee withdrew
his troops from the fortifications they had so long and so
gallantly defended, and began to retreat toward Danville,
his plan being to reach North Carolina and unite his army
with that of General Joseph E. Johnston.

The Conflagration in Richmond. — On the morning of
April 3 the Federals took possession of Richmond, which
they found to be on fire, the conflagration having its origin
in the burning of some public buildings by the Confederates
as they retreated. The city presented a scene of the
wildest confusion. Bands of men were plundering the
stores, while the streets were full of homeless people,
whose cries of distress were heard on all sides. Nearly
one third of the city was laid in ruins before the progress
of the flames could be arrested, but this was finally done
by the combined efforts of the citizens and Federal
authorities.

Surrender of General Lee. — Lee had ordered rations to
be sent to Amelia Courthouse for his army; but, owing to
some mistake, this was not done. His forces reached this
point on April 4. They were without food, and in endeavoring
to get provisions from the country they lost
nearly twenty-four hours. On the evening of April 4th,
Sheridan's cavalry reached Jetersville on the Richmond
and Danville railroad, which caused Lee, when he resumed
his retreat, to leave the line of the railroad and turn toward
Lynchburg. When he reached Appomattox Courthouse,
he found Sheridan's cavalry in his front and also an infantry
line of battle, while the main body of the Army of the
Potomac was in his rear. His forces were surrounded, and
he realized that further resistance would but lead to the
sacrifice of the remnant of the brave army, which under
his leadership had proved itself invincible on so many hard-fought

fields. Accordingly on the 9th of April he surrendered
to General Grant the shattered remnant of his
noble army, numbering about twenty-eight thousand men,
but of these only eight thousand bore arms.

Grant's Generous Spirit. — General Grant in this hour of
triumph showed no disposition to exult over his great
antagonist. Instead of this he treated him with the most

delicate consideration. He did not demand Lee's sword,
and it was not offered to him. He only required that the
men should lay down their arms. Those that had horses
were allowed to retain them. "They will need them for
their spring plowing," General Grant said.

General Lee taking Leave of his Army. — It was a sad
sight when General Lee took leave of his army. His soldiers
crowded up to him, anxious to touch him, or even his
horse. In bidding them farewell their great commander

said: "Men, we have fought through the war together; I
have done my best for you; my heart is too full to say
more."

Downfall of the Confederacy. — The surrender of Lee
was followed by that of General Joseph E. Johnston to
General Sherman, which took place in North Carolina on
April 26. Then in rapid succession the Confederate
armies in other parts of the South laid down their arms.
The South was fighting for independence, and the overthrow
of the Army of Northern Virginia convinced her that
she could not succeed. When this became evident, the
Confederacy went down at once; and the great contest
came to a sudden end.

No Trials of Confederate Leaders. — President Davis was
captured on May 10, in Georgia, and imprisoned in Fortress
Monroe. Mr. Stanton, Secretary of State under President
Lincoln, endeavored to bring the illustrious captive to trial
for cruelty to Federal prisoners, who had suffered at Andersonville
for supplies which the South was unable to give
them; but in this effort he failed. For two years, however,
Jefferson Davis remained a prisoner, and was then released
on bail; but neither he nor any other Confederate
leader was ever tried for taking part in the secession
movement.

Supremacy of the Nation. — The war accomplished the
object for which the North fought — the restoration of
the Union. The result proved that a majority of the citizens
of the United States had decided that the Union
should be a nation and not a confederacy of sovereign
states as it was when the Constitution was adopted. No
amendment embodying this was made to the Constitution;
but the right of secession had been submitted to the arbitrament
of arms and the decision had been that it must be

given up, and thus the supremacy of the nation was established.

Abolition of Slavery. — The course of events was also
such as to bring about the abolition of slavery.[48] President
Lincoln, in 1863, issued an emancipation proclamation as
a war measure to help bring about the defeat of the South;
and while this was immediately effective only in territory
occupied by the Federals, yet once published, it was never
recalled; for, as time passed, it became a settled conviction
all through the North and the West that slavery should
not survive the war. Accordingly, after the struggle was
over, amendments, which gave the negro his freedom,
made him a citizen, and secured to him his rights, were
made to the Constitution.

The Army of Northern Virginia. — The rank and file of the
Army of Northern Virginia was made up largely of gentlemen
of birth, fortune, and education. In the Rockbridge
artillery there were twenty-eight college graduates, and in
a company of infantry that went from the Northern Neck
of Virginia, there were sixteen graduates of the Virginia
Military Institute. The heroic deeds of the army were due
to the fact that each private soldier, whether rich or poor,
of high or low estate, felt that he was fighting for a principle,
and so each one entered into the contest with the
spirit that animated the European noblesse in the wars of
the Middle Ages.

A Northern Tribute to Virginia. — During the war the
Washington Republican, an organ that advocated the abolition
of slavery, published the following handsome tribute
to Virginia: "If there has been any decadence of the
manly virtues in the Old Dominion, it is not because the
present generation has proved itself either weak or cowardly
or unequal to the greatest emergencies. No people
with so few numbers ever put into the field, and kept
there so long, troops more numerous, brave, or more
efficient, or produced generals of more merit in all kinds
and grades of military talent.[49] It is not a worn-out and
effete race that has produced Lee, Johnston, Jackson,
Ashby,[50] and Stuart. It is not a worn-out and effete race

which for two years has defended its capital against the
approach of an enemy close upon their borders and outnumbering
them thirty to one. It is not a worn-out and
effete race which has preserved substantial popular unity
under all the straits and pressure and sacrifice of this
unprecedented war."

QUESTIONS

• 1. What did Grant do in the autumn and winter of 1865?

• 2. What was the condition of Lee's army at this time, and what were
  its numbers?

• 3. Give the steps that led to the evacuation of Richmond and
  Petersburg.

• 4. Describe the conflagration in Richmond.

• 5. Give an account of the surrender of Lee. When did it take
  place?

• 6. What was the respective strength of the two armies at the time?

• 7. How did Grant show a generous spirit?

• 8. Describe Lee's farewell to his army.

• 9. What followed Lee's surrender?

• 10. When and where was President Davis imprisoned?

• 11. Was he or any other Confederate leader ever tried?

• 12. What did the war establish in regard to the nation?

• 13. Why had Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863?

• 14. After the war, what amendments were made to the Constitution?

• 15. What was the character of the men that composed the Army of
  Northern Virginia?

• 16. Give the tribute paid to Virginia by the Washington Republican.

• 17. What do European critics say of Jackson's Valley Campaign and
  the Army of Northern Virginia?

• 18. Who was Turner Ashby, and what is said of him?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the battle of Chancellorsville.

• 2. Give an account of the death of Stonewall Jackson.

• 3. Describe the cavalry battle of Brandy Station.

• 4. Tell of the battle of Gettysburg, and what is said of this battle.

• 5. What plan did Grant form for subjugating the South?

• 6. Describe the battles of the Wilderness.

• 7. What is said of Lee's generalship?

• 8. Describe Butler's imprisonment.

• 9. Tell of the bravery of the cadets at New Market.

• 10. Give an account of Hunter's march through the Valley, and Early's
  defeat of him.

• 11. Of Sheridan's devastation of the Valley.

• 12. Describe the siege of Petersburg.

• 13. The battle of the Crater.

• 14. What was the situation at the end of 1864?

• 15. Tell of the evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg.

• 16. When and where did General Lee surrender, and what was the
  respective numbers of the two armies?

• 17. What is said of Grant's generous spirit?

• 18. Give Lee's farewell words to his army.

• 19. Tell about the downfall of the Confederacy, and the results of the
  war.

• 20. Describe the Army of Northern Virginia, and give the tribute paid
  to the state by a Northern paper.

CHAPTER XXIX

RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION

Condition of Virginia after the War. — Virginia had
poured out her resources in a lavish stream to meet the
ever-increasing needs of the Confederate government.
She had borne the brunt of the war; and great was the
devastation brought upon her by the conflict through which
she had passed. When the end came, her condition was
deplorable. Her slaves had been forcibly freed, and, all over
her territory, houses had been burned, fences destroyed,
cattle killed, and farms devastated. Worse than all this,
her fields had been drenched with blood; and the land was
filled with mourning for fathers, brothers, husbands, and
sons, who had gone forth to battle and had never returned.

Suspension of Civil Government. — When Richmond was
evacuated, the state government, as it existed under the
Confederacy, came practically to an end. Governor Smith,
it is true, moved the seat of the government to Lynchburg;
but, becoming convinced after the surrender of General
Lee that any further effort on the part of the state to continue
the war would be useless, he gave himself up to the
Federal authorities and received his parole.

On April 6 President Lincoln issued an order which authorized
the legislature to assemble at Richmond, but this
he recalled[51] before a formal meeting of the body was held.

Provisional Government Established. — Unfortunately
for Virginia, President Lincoln was assassinated[52] by John
Wilkes Booth soon after the evacuation of Richmond. Had
Lincoln lived, the people believed that the state would have
been speedily restored to her place in the Union, and this
his successor, President Johnson, tried to bring about, but
he was unable to control the dominant party in Congress.
One month after Lee's surrender, Johnson, in following
out his plan for the restoration of the state, appointed
Francis H. Pierpont provisional governor.

Refused Readmission into the Union. — Governor Pierpont,[53]
in taking charge of affairs, showed a patriotic

spirit in his efforts to reestablish the state government.
On October 12, 1865, elections were held for members of
the General Assembly and of Congress. But when the
representatives of Virginia appeared in Washington, Congress
refused to allow them to take their seats, and, before
its adjournment, decided not to readmit into the Union any
state that had formed a part of the Confederacy, till it
would ratify the fourteenth amendment to the Federal
Constitution. This made the negro a citizen and put the
political and military leaders of the Confederacy under
disability to hold office. Virginia refused to take the action
required of her, and so was not readmitted. Governor
Pierpont continued to administer the provisional government
established by President Johnson, and the people
displayed a law-abiding spirit. The state government was
theoretically independent, but the military authorities frequently
interfered with the operations of the civil law.

Under Military Rule. — Finally, in 1867, Congress passed
over the President's veto the Reconstruction Acts, which
put Virginia under military rule. By these measures the
government existing in the state was made entirely subordinate
to a military commander, who had authority to administer
all the powers of the state, life and liberty being
subject to such military commissions as he might create.
The courts of the state could sit, but only by permission of
the commander. During this period no one was allowed
to vote or hold office unless he could take an oath[54] that he

had never borne arms against the United States, and had
never given aid to the Confederacy, nor held an office
under its authority.

The Rule of "Carpet-baggers"[55] and "Scallawags"[56] . —
Under the test oath required but few white men could take
part in politics, and so the government of the state fell into
the hands of "Carpet-baggers," "Scallawags," and negroes.
For a time there was a reign of ignorance, fraud, and robbery,
during which the state debt, already a very heavy
one, was increased over thirteen millions. Two of the
military commanders complained to the authorities at
Washington that it was impossible, under the test oath
required, to find enough competent persons to fill the
offices in the state.

In the Union again. — In 1870 the state was readmitted
into the Union under a constitution which accepted all the
legislation that had been made in regard to the negro, but
without any clause disfranchising the citizens who had
taken part in the War of Secession. After this the government
came into the hands of those competent to administer
it, and soon law and order prevailed throughout the
commonwealth. President Grant aided in rescuing the
state from the rule of the "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags,"
by using his influence in getting the disfranchising
clause submitted to a separate vote which resulted in its
rejection.

The Freedmen's Bureau. — An account of the Reconstruction
period would be incomplete without a notice of
the Freedmen's Bureau. As the war drew to an end, the
number of negroes dependent upon the Federal government
had become so great that Congress established in
connection with the War Department a bureau, which was
to have control of all matters relating to refugees and
freedmen from the territory that had been in the Confederacy.
It was authorized to issue provisions, clothing,
fuel, and medical supplies to the destitute. It had power
also to take charge of abandoned or confiscated land, and
to rent it to refugees and freedmen in forty-acre tracts for
a term of three years. At the end of this time, the bureau
could sell the land to the occupants. This provision gave
rise to a widespread belief among the negroes that it was
the purpose of the government to give each one of them
"forty acres and a mule." The hope of this expected
legacy, which was for a long time cherished, had the effect
of increasing idleness. It was used, too, by unscrupulous
adventurers from the North to extort money from the
negroes, on the promise that the land would be divided
out among them as soon as they all paid a small fee.

The establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau was due
to sectional prejudice, which ran high in 1865, and to a
mistaken idea that it would prove a benefit to the negro
race. In Virginia and elsewhere its operations ended in
failure.

Wreck of the Plantation System. — The plantation system
that had existed from the earliest period came to a sudden
end with Lee's surrender. After this event, the conditions
of country life were practically revolutionized. The obligation
that had rested upon a master to feed, clothe, take
care of, and protect his slaves for life-time services was

changed at once to a business contract between master
and servant, which could be easily terminated. For a
short time, in most parts of the state, the negroes remained
upon the land of their former masters. Then the desire
to enjoy their newly acquired freedom caused them to
move from place to place, and to seek busy centers.
Soon the deserted and roofless cabins that were seen all
over the country were unmistakable and melancholy signs
that the plantation system, as it existed in the olden times,
was no more.

Spirit of the People. — The Virginians have always been
known as a sanguine people; and this phase of their character
came out prominently in the way they accepted the
issues of the war without repining. They addressed themselves
resolutely to the difficult task of restoring their
ruined homes, when they were without capital, without
credit, and in many cases hopelessly involved in debt.
Men, who had never done a day's work in their lives but
had lived in comfort upon the labor of their slaves, began
at once to cultivate the land with their own hands; and
fair women, brought up in luxury and accustomed to all
the refinements of life, performed without a murmur household
drudgery, to which they had been strangers. The
heroic spirit the people had displayed when tried in the
fiery ordeal of war was not more admirable than the patient
endurance and self-control they manifested in adjusting
themselves to the new conditions that confronted them.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the condition of Virginia after the Civil War.

• 2. What is said of the suspension of civil government?

• 3. Give an account of President Lincoln's assassination.

• 4. What did President Johnson wish to do for the state, and what
  kind of governor did he appoint?

---

244





• 5. Give the history of "Restored Virginia"

• 6. What happened when Virginia's representatives appeared in
  Washington?

• 7. Why was she refused readmission into the Union?

• 8. Describe the military rule under which the state was put by Congress.

• 9. Who were the "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags"?

• 10. What was the ironclad oath?

• 11. When and under what conditions did Virginia enter the Union
  again?

• 12. What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

• 13. How did it prove an injury to the negro?

• 14. When and in what way was the plantation system wrecked?

• 15. Describe the spirit of the people in adjusting themselves to the
  changed condition of affairs.

CHAPTER XXX

RECENT TIMES

Capitol Disaster. — A few months after the civil government
of Virginia had been restored, an unexpected catastrophe
spread sorrow throughout the state. A great crowd
had assembled in the chamber of the Court of Appeals to
hear a decision which would determine whether Ellyson,
who had been elected mayor of Richmond, had a right to
the office, or Chahoon, who had been appointed under the
military authorities. While the people were waiting for
the verdict, which was in favor of Mayor Ellyson, the floor
gave way, and the crowd was precipitated into the legislative
hall below. Sixty-five persons were killed and more
than two hundred sustained injuries. A number of the
most prominent citizens were among the killed and
wounded.

Last Days of General Lee. — General Lee spent his last
days in Virginia, which he loved so well. After the war
was over he believed that it was the duty of all who wished
to take part in the restoration of their state to render
allegiance to the Federal government; and so he applied
to President Johnson for amnesty under the terms of the
proclamation issued by him. His example kept many
Virginians from hastily abandoning their state in the hour
of defeat. In the autumn of 1865 Lee accepted the presidency
of Washington College, where for the remainder of
his life he devoted himself as conscientiously to the work

of education, as he had formerly done to the prosecution
of the war. He died in 1870, at the age of sixty-three.
His ability, with the high and noble virtues of his character,
mark him as one of the greatest Americans that the nineteenth
century has produced. Lord Wolseley says he has
met but two men who filled his ideal of what a true hero
should be, and one of these was Robert E. Lee.

Public School System. — Virginia has had much to contend
with in regard to public schools. In colonial days
education was not encouraged except among the higher
classes, Governor Berkeley going so far as to say: "I
thank God there are no free schools nor printing, and
I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning
has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into
the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels
against the best government. God keep us from both."
After the Revolution much interest was manifested by
Thomas Jefferson and others in public education; but the
state did not make adequate provision for its maintenance
till 1870, when the present public school system was
established. This system, since it went into operation,
has, year by year, grown in favor and in usefulness. The
people value the public schools highly, and are thoroughly
alive to the importance of sustaining them.

Higher and Technical Education. — Among the institutions
for higher and technical education that have contributed
greatly to the literary advancement of the state
are the University of Virginia, Washington and Lee University,
Randolph-Macon, Hampden Sidney, Roanoke
College, Richmond College, Emory and Henry, College
of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, Randolph-Macon Woman's College,
State Female Normal School. In addition to the institutions

named above, in every part of the state are to be
found high schools, academies, and female colleges of high
grade which are doing excellent work.

Yorktown Centennial. — The hundredth anniversary of
the surrender of Cornwallis was celebrated at Yorktown
in 1881, and the occasion brought to Virginia visitors from
all over the country and from Europe. The United States
sent a large number of soldiers to Yorktown; and her war
ships gathered in the neighborhood, while from Europe
came representatives of France and Germany and descendants
of the foreign officers who were with the Americans
when the surrender took place. The celebration lasted for
six days, and was characterized by military and naval reviews,
which were witnessed by thousands of the inhabitants
of the state.

The State Debt. — The public debt at the close of the
Reconstruction period was over forty-five million dollars,
one third of which was set aside to West Virginia. The
remainder proved a heavy burden to the state in her
impoverished condition, and was the cause of much discussion
and division among the people. But, happily, in
1892 an agreement was reached between the legislature
and the bondholders by which the debt was adjusted, and
the matter is not likely again to disturb the politics of the
state.

Virginia at the World's Fair. — At the great Columbian
Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 to commemorate the
four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America,
the Virginia exhibit was displayed in a building which was
an exact representation of the home of Washington at
Mount Vernon, and contained much of the furniture of
that historic structure. It was filled with a rare collection
of relics of the colonial and Revolutionary periods. The

novelty of the building and interesting character of its
contents caused it to attract greater attention than many
others that were far more costly and magnificent.

The White House of the Confederacy. — The mansion in
Richmond formerly occupied by President Davis, and
known as the White House of the Confederacy, is now a
museum for the preservation of Confederate relics, and also
the repository of the records of the Southern Historical
Society. Each state that belonged to the Confederacy has
a separate room in which it places its valued relics. In the
Virginia room are to be found memorials of Lee, Jackson,
Johnston, Pickett, Stuart, A. P. Hill, and of other illustrious
sons too numerous to be mentioned here. Among
the documents, preserved in the building by the Southern
Historical Society, are valued autograph letters of the
leading Confederate generals and the copy of the "Paroles
of the Army of Northern Virginia" that was made out for
General Lee. This museum of Confederate relics is not
designed either to arouse or to keep alive sectional feeling,
but to perpetuate the deeds, the hardships, and the self-denial
of a patriotic people. Virginia is thoroughly loyal
to the restored Union, but at the same time she is true
to her past and cherishes tenderly the memory of the
Confederacy.

Patriotism of Virginia Women. — No history of Virginia,
which does not chronicle the influence women have exerted
in shaping the destiny of the state, would be complete.
During the uncertain years of the Revolution and also in
the trying days of the Civil War, they sent their loved
ones to battle for their country with the same heroic spirit
that animated the Spartan mother when she bade her son
farewell with the injunction, "Come back with your shield
or upon it." Nor did they remain inactive at home, but

ministered to the sick and wounded with the most unremitting
care, taking charge of hospitals and sustaining them
largely by their own contributions. At the same time they
encouraged those who were bearing arms in the field, and
rendered them aid in every way that ingenuity could devise.
When all this is taken into consideration, it is evident that
they deserve a share in the state's heroic achievements as
truly as do the most valiant soldiers.

Patriotic Societies. — Such patriotic societies as the
"Colonial Dames," "Daughters of the American Revolution,"
and "Daughters of the Confederacy" are enthusiastically
sustained by Virginia women, who thus in times
of peace keep alive in the memory of the people the
deeds of their forefathers. Though Virginia is the oldest
settlement of English people outside of England, she for
a long time did but little toward saving from destruction
relics of her early history. But in recent years the women
of the state have become interested in the matter, and have
formed a "Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities,"
which is doing much valuable work.

Governors since the War. — The first governor elected by
the people after the war was Gilbert C. Walker, of New
York. Then Governors Kemper, Holliday, Cameron, Fitzhugh
Lee, McKinney, O'Ferrall, Tyler, Montague, and
Swanson have been successively the executive heads of the
Old Dominion. Andrew J. Montague was the first governor
under the present constitution, which went into effect in 1902.

Resources. — The resources of the state, if developed,
would produce wealth enough to enrich an empire. The
Alleghany region abounds in gold, silver, copper, granite,
marble, and coal. Iron ore is found in at least half the
counties, and zinc, lead, and tin exist in quantities that indicate
profitable investment for capital. These are but a

few of the state's mineral resources, which appear to be
almost boundless. The climate and soil present conditions
favorable to the production of nearly all the useful and
profitable agricultural crops of the world. Matthew Fontaine
Maury, Virginia's great scientist, who was well acquainted
with her resources, said: "The more I search the
old state, the more she reminds me of the magic sheaf of
wheat, which the more it was threshed the more it yielded;
for the longer I study her valleys and mountains, her
waters, climate, and soils, the more I am astonished and
impressed at the variety, abundance, and value of her undeveloped
treasure. And the vastness of the wealth which
lies dormant in her borders, waiting for capital and labor
to develop and utilize it, fairly dazzles the imagination."

Progress. — The people are still mainly engaged in
agriculture, but at the same time they realize that this is
not the only source of wealth and advancement, and so
they are paying attention to other branches of industry.
Manufactures are being established, factories are springing
up, blast furnaces are being reared, and mines developed.
Cattle raising and fruit growing are becoming profitable
pursuits, and the newly developed business of truck farming
is giving most encouraging results. Virginia wheat is
of such excellent quality that flour made from it is in great
demand outside of the state, which renders the milling
interest a flourishing one. Many of the cities and towns
have large tobacco factories, the products of which are to
be found in nearly all civilized countries. The machine
shops at Richmond and Roanoke are equal in capacity and
in the work done to any in the United States. Newport
News has unsurpassed facilities for shipbuilding, as was
amply proved in March, 1898, when the Kearsage and the
Kentucky, two formidable battle ships for the United

States Navy, were launched from her shipyard. Small
industries, such as the making of staves, tubs, etc., are
steadily increasing. The shipment of furniture and ornamental
woods is rendering the products of the forests
valuable. All these and many other industrial enterprises
that are being developed mark a new era of progress for
the Old Dominion.

Development of Literature. — American literature had its
beginning in accounts of travel and adventure written by
Captain John Smith and other early settlers. But during
colonial days, and indeed up to the time of the Civil War,
the conditions of life in Virginia were not favorable to the
development of literary activity. The plantation system,
which rendered personal effort unnecessary, encouraged
the educated classes to lead lives of leisure and to regard
literature as an accomplishment rather than as a serious
calling. There was, too, a lack of towns and cities to furnish
centers of literary life, and without these writing as
a profession is never profitable. The ambitious turned to
law and politics as offering easier avenues to distinction.
"Literature stood no chance, because the ambition of
young men of the South was universally turned in the
direction of political distinction, and because the monopoly
of advancement held by the profession of law was too well
established and too clearly recognized to admit of its claim
being contested."[57] The eloquent orations of Patrick
Henry, the able state papers of Washington, Jefferson,
and Madison, the writings of Chief Justice Marshall,[58] and

other productions that might be cited, prove that the lack
of progress in literature was not due to want of intellectual
ability.

The Civil War brought changes in the social, industrial,
and educational conditions. Hardly had the state solved
the most difficult problems that followed the breaking down
of the old régime than it became apparent that literature
had experienced a quickening impulse. One by one Virginia
writers obtained a hearing from the public and won
distinction. The time has not yet come to make an estimate
of the work of these writers, most of whom are still
living. But indications are that as a result of the new
movement the Virginia of the past will be seen again in
memory's soft light, and that the Virginia of the future will
not lack for literary representatives.

Virginia honors her Great Men. — Virginia does not forget
her distinguished men as is shown by the large number
of monuments that have been erected in the state. In
the Capital Square at Richmond there is an equestrian
statue of Washington, and upon its pedestal are grouped
statues of the leaders of the Revolutionary period — Mason
holding the Bill of Rights, Jefferson with the Declaration
of Independence, Thomas Nelson as the representative of
finance, John Marshall, the great jurist with a book of law,
Patrick Henry with his sword drawn, and Andrew Lewis,

rifle in hand. A little distance from this group there is a
statue of Stonewall Jackson, which was presented to the
state by his English admirers; and, in other parts of the
city, an equestrian statue of Lee, a statue of A. P. Hill,
also one in honor of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.
A monument to Stuart stands at Yellow Tavern
where he fell, and in many other parts of the state memorials
have been erected to our heroic dead. The private
soldiers, who are in need, the state pensions as liberally
as her revenue will permit.

Conclusion. — While but few stirring events have occurred
since Virginia resumed her place in the sisterhood
of the states, yet during this period the commonwealth
has been steadily increasing in prosperity. In character
the people are unchanged. They continue to display the
same devotion to duty and principle that has ever characterized
them, and they cherish their rights as strongly
as they did in former years. Whatever changes may
come, it is safe to predict, in the light of the past, that,
when the future history of the free, noble, high-minded
people of the Old Dominion is written, it will contain a
record of deeds that will be worthy of the countrymen
of Washington and Lee.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the Capitol disaster.

• 2. What did General Lee believe to be the duty of all who wished to
  take part in the restoration of the state?

• 3. What position did he accept at the close of the war?

• 4. When did he die, and what is said of him?

• 5. Was education encouraged in colonial days?

• 6. What did Governor Berkeley say in regard to free schools?

• 7. When was the present public school system established, and what
  is said of it?

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• 8. Mention some of the schools and colleges for higher education.

• 9. What was the Yorktown Centennial, and when was it held?

• 10. What is said of the state debt?

• 11. How was Virginia represented at the World's Fair?

• 12. What was the "White House of the Confederacy," and for what is
  it now used?

• 13. What is said of the patriotism of Virginia women?

• 14. Name the patriotic societies that are sustained by them.

• 15. Give the names of the governors since the war.

• 16. Mention some of the resources of the state.

• 17. What does Matthew Fontaine Maury say of the state?

• 18. Mention some of the branches of industry which indicate her
  progress.

• 19. What is said of the development of literature?

• 20. How did the plantation system retard its growth?

• 21. To what professions did the young men turn, and why?

• 22. What proves that there was not a want of intellectual ability?

• 23. When did Virginia receive a quickening impulse as to literature,
  and what is said of it?

• 24. Who was John Marshall?

• 25. How does Virginia show that she holds her great men in remembrance?

• 26. Mention the names of some of these to whom monuments have
  been raised.

• 27. What can be safely predicted in regard to the future history of
  Virginia?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Give an outline of the condition of Virginia after the Civil War,
  and of the steps that led to the appointment of a provisional
  governor.

• 2. Why was she refused readmission into the Union, and under what
  rule was she placed by Congress?

• 3. Why did the administration of the government fall into the hands
  of "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags," and what is said of their
  rule?

• 4. When did Virginia reënter the Union, and what change did this
  bring in the administration of her government?

• 5. What object did the United States government have in establishing
  

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  the Freedmen's Bureau, and what false expectation did it
  cause among the negroes?

• 6. How long had the plantation system existed, and what caused its
  destruction?

• 7. What spirit have the Virginians always shown, and how did it
  manifest itself during the Reconstruction period?

• 8. How did General Lee, by his example, keep many Virginians from
  leaving the state? How and where did he spend his last years?

• 9. Give an outline of the progress of education from colonial days to
  the present time.

• 10. What did the state debt cause among the people, and when was it
  finally settled?

• 11. Give the history of the present Confederate museum at Richmond.

• 12. Give the resources of the state, and tell what Matthew Fontaine
  Maury says.

• 13. In what ways is the progress of the state shown?

• 14. Explain the reason why literature did not flourish before the Civil
  War, and give its present outlook.

• 15. In what does the Old Dominion especially honor some of her
  distinguished sons?

• 16. What qualities do the Virginians continue to display, and what is
  predicted of their future?

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS (1860-1898)

                                                                                                     

1860.	Abraham Lincoln elected President.
1861.	Southern Confederacy formed at Montgomery, February 8.
1861.	Jefferson Davis inaugurated President of the Confederacy, February 18.
1861.	Lincoln inaugurated President of the United States, March 4.
1861.	Fort Sumter captured by the Confederates, April 14.
1861.	Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, April 15.
1861.	Secession of Virginia, April 17.
1861.	Confederate capital changed from Montgomery to Richmond.
1861.	Battle of Big Bethel, June 10.
1861.	West Virginia organized a separate government, June 11.
1861.	Confederate Congress assembled at Richmond, July 20.
1861.	First battle of Manassas, July 21.
1862.	Battle between the Virginia and the Monitor, March 9.
1862.	Jackson's Valley Campaign, March-June.
1862.	Battle of Seven Pines, May 31-June 1.
1862.	General Lee made commander of the Army of Northern Virginia in June.
1862.	The Seven Days' battle around Richmond, June 25-July 1.
1862.	Second battle of Manassas, August 29-30.
1862.	Harper's Ferry captured by Jackson, September 15.
1862.	General Lee invaded Maryland in September.
1862.	Battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, September 17.
1862.	Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13.
1863.	Emancipation Proclamation, January 1.
1863.	Battle of Chancellorsville, May 2-3.
1863.	Death of Stonewall Jackson, May 10.
1863.	West Virginia admitted into the Union, June 20.
1863.	Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3.
1864.	Battles of the Wilderness, May 5-6.
1864.	Battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse, May 8-12.
1864.	Battle of New Market, May 15.
1864.	Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3.
1864.	Siege of Petersburg begun, June 15.
1864.	Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by Early in July.
1864.	Mine explosion at Petersburg and battle of the Crater, July 30.
1865.	Richmond evacuated, April 2.
1865.	General Lee surrendered, April 9.
1865.	Provisional government established in Virginia, May 9.
1865.	Assassination of President Lincoln, April 14.
1865.	President Davis taken prisoner, May 10.
1865.	Slavery abolished in the United States.
1866.	Memorial Day instituted.
1867.	Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress.
1870.	Virginia readmitted into the Union.
1870.	The Capitol disaster.
1870.	Public school system established.
1870.	Death of General Robert E. Lee.
1881.	Yorktown Centennial.
1892.	State debt adjusted.
1893.	World's Columbian Exposition, May-October.
1898.	Kearsarge and Kentucky launched at Newport News, March 25.
1902.	New Constitution adopted.