boisterous way. They had their house raisings and house warmings, quiltings and corn huskings; and these meetings were occasions for athletic sports, and trials of strength of all kinds among the young men. There was often a very rough side to their games, for the community was made up of men who lived in the open air and fought wild beasts and Indians. There were few schools, and only the simplest things were taught. Meeting houses also were rare, but the people were a religious people and read their Bibles with great earnestness. The preachers who visited them went from settlement to settlement by turn, and their coming was a great event. One result of this common life of the pioneers was seen in the social equality of the people. Where all worked and helped each other, it was not possible to keep up distinction. of rank; whereas, in the seaboard settlements, there still survived signs of the earlier days when the distinctions of society in Europe had passed over into the colonies. QUESTIONS. What was it What was the population of the United States in 1790? a hundred years later? What was the order in population of the eight most populous? Which were the largest towns? What was the chief occupation of the people? What primitive modes of cultivation were used? Describe the raising of cotton, and state what gave a great impulse to its cultivation. What effect did the invention of the cotton gin have on Southern life? Describe the series of steps by which the South came to raise cotton and the North to manufacture cotton cloth. What other manufactures were there? When did the school system begin to come into use? Who was Noah Webster? What did the Constitution have to do with religious societies? What has been the effect of voluntary support of churches? Name the three main lines of movement to the West. Mention one of the race elements in the Western movement. What were some of its characteristics? What influence did the Indians have on the early Western settlements? Narrate the beginning of Kentucky. How was the Southwestern Territory formed, and who were prominent men in it? Narrate the incident connected with the organization of the State of Tennessee. How were they clothed and fed? and to what did it lead ? How did the early pioneers live? What was the social life of the settlers, SEARCH QUESTIONS. How is the census taken ? When was steam applied to machinery in England, and by whom? Name the chief libraries in the country in 1783. What led to the planting of the Scotch in Ireland? Were there Presbyterians in New England, and if so, where? SUGGESTIONS FOR LITERARY TREATMENT. COMPOSITIONS: The tracing of a piece of cotton cloth from the first planting of the seed. An account of a newspaper of the last century. A comparison of a Western pioneer with a colonist who came over in the Mayflower. DEBATE: Resolved, That it is better for government that members of the legislature should serve without pay. CHAPTER IX. THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. Bastile (bas-tēl'). Genet (zhě-nā'). Neutral. In time of war, belong ing to neither party to the war. Wabash (wa'bash). Maneuver (må-noo'ver). The French word thus made English is manœuvre. An adroit movement. Alien (al'yĕn). Belonging to another country. 85. America and the Old World. -The New World was still a part of the Old. It was indeed no longer a political part of it; the people living on the western shore of the Atlantic had declared and won their independence as a nation, but they were still very dependent on Europe. Many lived by the commerce which they carried on with European ports. All were deeply interested in what was going on in the Old World. On the other hand, the United States was an object of great interest to Europe. The alliance with France brought Frenchmen to America, and increased the communication between the two countries. The French officers and soldiers who had helped the new nation to acquire its independence returned home, and everywhere spread accounts of the republic. The Federal Constitution and the constitutions of the States were translated into French. A great number of books, pamphlets, and papers about America were scattered through the country.1 The French Revolution and American Parties. It is not strange that when a revolution in France broke forth, there 1 See, for a full treatment of this interesting subject, Lewis Rosenthal's America and France: the Influence of the United States on France in the XVIIIth Century. should have been a strong sympathy between France and the United States. The French Republic was formed shortly after the establishment of the Union. There was an 1789. enthusiasm among the French people for America. There was an eagerness in America for the success of the French people. Many of the officers who had been in America took part in the French Revolution. Lafayette was Vice President of the National Assembly; and when the people destroyed the Bastile, the old prison house of Paris, he sent its key to Washington. It was a sign that France, too, was free. Clubs sprang up all over the United States in imitation of French republican clubs. French fashions of speech and dress were imitated. The American newspapers printed everything that could be learned about the progress of the French Revolution. Celebrations of victories by the French people were held, at which speeches were made by Americans who were in sympathy with France. The Federalist party, headed by Hamilton, looked with distrust on the Revolution in France; the Anti-Federalist, or Republican party, as it now began to be called, headed by Jefferson, was enthusiastic in its support of the revolutionary party; and thus these two American parties divided on European politics. 86. The War between France and England. But it soon ceased to be a question of political sentiment. Early in 1793 the French Republic declared war against England, and it became necessary for the United States to take some action. By the treaty she had made with France when engaged in the war for independence, the United States was to defend the French West Indies against Great Britain. Jefferson maintained that this treaty was still binding; Hamilton, that the change of government in France had annulled the treaty; but both agreed that it was all important for the United States to keep out of this European war. Washington accordingly issued a proclamation of neutrality. It was an important act, the first in a series of acts by which the United States has kept free from entanglement with European affairs. But this was not what France wanted. That country wanted to draw the American people into the war, and sent out an agent, named Genet, who began issuing commissions to privateers and told them to bring their prizes into ports of the United States. The French consuls in those ports were to act as judges. Genet finding himself at every step opposed by the United States government, undertook to ignore its authority and appealed to the people; but Washington compelled France to recall her imprudent agent. 87. Jay's Treaty.—The rash performance of Genet served to cool the enthusiasm for France and to strengthen the hands of the English party, but England unfortunately followed a course which incensed the Americans and almost brought on a renewal of war. She claimed the right to lay hold of any provision for the enemy which she might find in a neutral vessel; to seize the produce of French colonies wherever found; and to board any vessel, make search for seamen of British birth, and carry them off for her own service. The humiliation of having vessels searched, and the injustice often done by carrying off American seamen on the plea that they were British, led Congress into taking steps of retaliation. Non-intercourse with England was proposed, and the country was hurrying into war when Washington made a final attempt to bring about a better understanding between the two countries. He appointed Chief Justice John Jay to be Envoy Extraordinary 1 to England. Jay was instructed to form a treaty, in which the points in dispute between the two countries should be settled. He carried out his instructions, and returned to the United States, where the treaty was ratified by the Senate. 1795. It was not an entirely satisfactory treaty. It provided for the removal of the English garrisons which still held the posts on the lakes; it made rules for the regulation of the com 1 The title given to an ambassador sent by one nation to another on a special mission. |