Читать книгу The Story of American History for Elementary Schools - Albert F. Blaisdell - Страница 13

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81. The Search for a Shorter Route to India.—We must not forget that during all these years the European nations in their desire for riches were often searching for a shorter route to China and the East Indies. They hoped to succeed in this either by sailing to the north of Europe or America, or by finding some opening across the newly discovered continent. For more than a hundred years after the time of Columbus many a daring navigator came forward to undertake this business.

82. Sir Henry Hudson, the Bold and Skillful Mariner.—Several years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a bold and skillful mariner named Henry Hudson, a friend of Captain John Smith, was hired by some London merchants to search for the imaginary northern passage. For this purpose he made two perilous voyages. Once he sailed along the eastern coast of Greenland until the ice stopped him. After three months he returned to England. The next year he tried it again, and sailed farther north, but as before was turned back by the ice.

Hudson tells us that on one of these voyages two of his sailors saw a mermaid swimming close to the ship's side. The upper parts of her body were those of a woman, but below she was a fish, and as big as a halibut! Probably the creature was a seal, an animal with which English sailors were not at that time familiar.

83. Hudson enters the Dutch Service.—At last, in 1609, Hudson, who had now become famous, entered the service of the Dutch East India Company and sailed from Amsterdam to find the long-sought route. Living near the ocean, the Dutch at this time were great sailors and traders. They owned more ships than all Europe besides. Their sails whitened every ocean. They were glad to hire "the bold Englishman, the expert pilot, and the famous navigator," as they called Hudson, to brave the perils of the Arctic seas.

Again this intrepid sailor, "the Nansen of the year 1608," went too far north, and again he found himself caught in the ice of the desolate Arctic regions. He now made up his mind to go farther west. He coasted along Greenland, passed southward to Newfoundland, sighted Cape Cod, and then sailed as far south as Virginia. Finding the English settlers there ahead of him, he turned about and steered north again, keeping close to the wild and unknown coast.

84. Hudson sails up the Hudson River in the Little "Half Moon."—In September, 1609, Sir Henry found himself not far from the mouth of a broad river, and dropped anchor near what is now Sandy Hook. The Indians here were kind to their strange visitors, and came on board the vessel to trade. They brought grapes, furs, and pumpkins, and traded them for beads, knives, and hatchets.

The "Half Moon" on the Hudson.

After a few days the anchor of the little "Half Moon" was raised, the sails were spread, and Hudson was slowly wafted past the Palisades and far up the noble river which still bears his name. Because for many miles the water at high tide was salt, he thought that he had surely found the long-wished-for passage to India.

No white man had ever before sailed up this, perhaps the most beautiful of American streams. With what wonder and hope must the captain and his men have gazed on the lovely scenery, rich in the gorgeous hues of autumnal foliage! In fact Hudson, in the story of his voyage, says that the lands on both sides were "pleasant with grass and flowers and goodly trees,—as beautiful a land as one can tread upon."

85. Kindly received by the Indians.—The Indians, filled with curiosity, flocked from far and near to the banks of the river to see the "great white bird," a name they gave the "Half Moon" on account of its white spreading canvas wings. As they peeped out from the rocks and woods along the shore, they had the same feelings of curiosity and awe as did the natives that gazed in wonder upon the vessels of Columbus more than a hundred years before.

Hudson sailed north until he reached a point near where Albany now stands. As the river now became narrower and its water fresh, he was convinced at last that he could never find his way to India by this route.

86. Hudson returns Home; his Sad Fate.—After a time, disappointed at his failure to reach India, Hudson sailed out of the river and across the ocean to England, and afterwards to Holland. The stout-hearted mariner never saw his "great river" again. On his next and last voyage he sailed farther north and entered the immense land-locked bay that now bears his name. He thought that he had this time surely discovered the long-sought opening to the Pacific. Imagine his dismay when, after coasting around its sides for nearly three months, he was forced at last to believe that this inland sea had no western outlet!

The long Arctic winter came. Hudson's men were nearly starved. They had endured so many hardships that in a frenzy of despair and wrath they at last bound their captain hand and foot, thrust him on board a small boat with his son and some sick sailors, and set them adrift. This was the last ever seen or heard of Hudson.

Probably, like De Soto, the bold navigator found his grave in the vast waters that he was the first to discover.

87. The Dutch claim the Territory; Manhattan Island bought of the Indians.—The Dutch now laid claim to all the territory along the Hudson River, and in 1614 they took possession of it under the name of New Netherland. In a few years they began to establish trading posts, where they might buy of the Indians the skins of bears, beavers, and otters.

After a time the Indians sold the Dutch the island of Manhattan for the sum of twenty-four dollars. This settlement, then called "New Amsterdam," was the beginning of what is now one of the largest and richest cities in the world—Greater New York.

88. The Dutch Settlers prosper.—For the first few years the settlers in New Amsterdam were poor; but after a time richer and more influential men made homes for themselves in this colony. They secured from the Dutch East India Company the right to own by purchase from the Indians a tract of land sixteen miles in length and extending an unlimited distance into the interior, and to establish there a colony of fifty people. The rich landholders were called "patroons," and their great estates laid the foundation of the wealth of many of the leading families of the Empire State.

Dutch Windmill.

89. How the Dutch People lived.—As the Dutch prospered, they built better houses. These were of wood. Each house had on its roof one weathercock, and often many of them. The gable ends were built of various-colored bricks brought over from Holland.

A Dutchman of New Amsterdam.

The Dutch women were excellent housekeepers. We owe to them the doughnut, the cruller, cookies, and many other delicious articles of skillful cookery. Many a pleasant custom had its origin with these genial Dutch settlers, such as the Christmas visit of Santa Claus, the display of colored eggs at Easter, and the friendly visiting on New Year's day. The floors in these thrifty homes were covered with white sand, on which quaint figures were sketched with a broom. There were huge fireplaces with Dutch tiles of different colors, on which were represented scenes from the Bible. The Dutch men were fond of good food and of their pipes. They used to have in front of their houses a porch or "stoop," sometimes called a "bowerie," on which they could sit and smoke and tell stories and take their ease generally. The men wore several pairs of knee breeches at once, one over another, with long stockings, and with huge buckles at the knees and on the shoes. Their coats, too, were adorned with great buckles of silver or brass.

The women were neatly dressed, usually wearing several short petticoats of many colors. Their stockings were of their own knitting, and had as many hues as the rainbow. Their shoes had very high heels.

90. Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor; New York surrenders to the English.—The last Dutch governor was Peter Stuyvesant, brave and honest, but a very stubborn man. He was so obstinate that he was nicknamed "Headstrong Peter." He was also known as "Old Silverleg," because, having lost a leg in war, he used a wooden one adorned with strips of silver. He was a tyrant in his way, and at length his people would not endure his tyranny, especially as the English settlers in the same region enjoyed more liberty and had increased more rapidly in numbers and riches than they.

Peter Stuyvesant.

And so it happened that when an English fleet sailed into the harbor in 1664, the people did not come to the help of "Headstrong Peter," but gladly surrendered the town to the English in spite of "Old Silverleg's" wrath! The name of the colony was changed to New York in honor of the Duke of York, the brother of King Charles II.

91. How the Quakers were persecuted.—About forty years after the Pilgrims had built their homes in Plymouth, the members of a peculiar religious sect, the Society of Friends, were bitterly persecuted in England. In spite of their ill-treatment, which lasted for many years, they greatly increased in numbers. A few men and women of wealth and of high social position joined them.

These Friends, or Quakers as they were commonly called, were singularly blunt in speech and plain in dress. But they were an honest, sober, God-fearing people. They wished to treat all men as friends, brothers, and equals. They did not approve of war and would not serve as soldiers. As they believed all men equal, they recognized no superiors: they would not doff their hats to any one, not even to the king, for they thought "the Lord forbade it." They said they would acknowledge no master, king, or lord, save only Him who was their "Master in heaven," the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."

Naturally enough, in those days of bigotry and intolerance the doctrines and behavior of the Quakers made the king and his great men very angry. They threw hundreds of them into prison. Consequently, many of the Quakers left their homes, came to this country, and settled in Massachusetts. But the stern sons of the Old Pilgrim Fathers would not endure them. They drove them away or put them in prison. The Boston Puritans even hanged four Quakers who had repeatedly come back after having been several times punished and driven into exile.

William Penn.

92. William Penn becomes a Quaker.—About the time King Charles II was restored to the throne of England (1660) there lived in that country a handsome young man of noble birth and talents of the highest order. William Penn was his name. There is a portrait of him in the dress of an English cavalier, with flowing curls over his shoulders, and a face of manly tenderness and beauty. This man, the founder of Pennsylvania, was the only son of a brave English admiral who had won signal victories for his country during the Dutch war, and was held in high favor by the king and the royal family. While Penn was a boy and in college, his heart was stirred within him by listening to the Quaker preachers. He believed they were right. He was convinced that he ought to join them, and did so in spite of the ridicule of his rich and titled friends.

93. Young Penn falls into Disgrace with his Family and is sent from Home.—Young Penn was expelled from college and sent home. The old admiral, in his anger because his only son would disgrace his family by uniting with the despised Quakers, drove him from his door. The mother, however, interceded, and the stubborn youth was allowed to travel for a time on the Continent to divert his mind from what they called his foolishness.

Alas for the old admiral's ambitious plans for his gifted son! William was out-and-out a Quaker; and no title, honors, or favor could induce him to give up his faith. He pleaded with the king to allow the English people freedom of conscience, so that they might worship God as they deemed best. He tried in vain to procure the release of the Quakers from the prisons where hundreds of them were then confined. For a time Penn was himself shut up in the Tower of London, the prison of offenders of high rank. While there he wrote his best known work, No Cross, no Crown. The king's brother, the Duke of York, however, soon brought about his release.

94. Penn inherits Wealth; secures a Grant of Land from the King.—Penn's father was after all a generous man and regretted his treatment of his son. On his death, in 1670, he left him all his estate. Penn made a good use of his wealth. He devoted his time, money, and talents to secure legal protection in England for the persecuted Quakers. The task was almost hopeless.

In his despair Penn longed to build a quiet home for his people in the wilderness of America. He had heard of the happiness and prosperity of the Pilgrim settlements, and he now planned to lead his brethren across the Atlantic. The gallant admiral at his death had a claim against the government of about eighty thousand dollars. Now King Charles was a spendthrift and always in debt. Penn told the king that he would accept lands in America instead of money in payment of this claim. The easy-going monarch was only too glad to take up with this offer, for he had plenty of land in America but very little silver and gold.

On condition that he should be paid two beaver-skins every year, the king granted Penn a large tract of land on the western bank of the Delaware river, and named it Pennsylvania, or "Penn's Woodland."

A Prosperous Quaker.

95. A Colony of Quakers established in Pennsylvania.—Penn now planned to send his Quaker colony to the new home in America. He came over in person in the fall of 1682, and landed at New Castle, Delaware. Penn sailed in an open boat up the broad and beautiful Delaware River until he came to the place on which his chief city or capital was soon to be laid out. The "Quaker King," for thus he was called, was received with great joy by the people. They knew that he would keep his promise to secure full freedom of conscience and speech for all. He called it a "free colony for all mankind."

No person was compelled, as were the Pilgrims of New England, to attend any church or practise any form of religious worship. Only murder and treason were punished with death. Before this Penn had written to the colonists, saying, "You shall be governed by laws of your own making; I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person."

96. Penn selects a Location for his Capital; Philadelphia, "the City of Brotherly Love."—On a neck of land between the Schuylkill and the Delaware, Penn selected a site for his "faire and greene country towne"—a city of refuge and a home of free speech and conscience. And he generously bought the land from some Swedes, who had bought it from the Indians.

Penn now laid out his city and gave it the Bible name of Philadelphia, which means "brotherly love." As he stood with his friends on the high ground and beheld the country in its autumn foliage, the good man said: "I have seen the finest cities of Europe, but I never saw so beautiful a place for a city as this."

97. His Kind Treatment of the Indians.—Penn knew how cruelly some of the other colonies had treated the Indians. This should not be done in Pennsylvania. The Indians must be fairly dealt with. Their lands were not to be taken away by force, but must be openly bought and honestly paid for. If a settler wronged an Indian, he was to be punished. In short, in this Quaker colony they were all to live together as brothers.

That everything might be done in a business-like way, Penn sent word to various tribes of Indians that he would meet them on a certain day to make a treaty. He wanted them to hear what he had to say. He sent word to them that he was a man of peace, and no firearms would be brought to the meeting. The Indians gladly accepted Penn's invitation.

98. The Celebrated Treaty with the Indians.—On the chosen day they came from far and near. They met under the branches of a great elm tree a little north of Philadelphia. This giant son of the forest, called ever afterward "The Treaty Tree," became an object of deep interest. It was protected with extreme care. During the Revolutionary war, even the British officers posted guards around it to prevent its branches from being used for firewood. The venerable tree blew down some ninety years ago. Its rings proved it to be two hundred and eighty-three years of age. A monument with a suitable inscription now marks the spot where Penn and the Indians met to pledge in "unbroken faith."