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CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
With 650 Illustrations and Maps VOLUME IV. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1912 COPYRIGHT, 1894 AND 1903, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS PERIOD IV CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION (Continued) 1860–1868 CHAPTER V. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY Three Great Lines of Campaign.—Confederate Posts in Kentucky.—Surrender of Fort Henry.—Siege of Fort Donelson.—Capture.—Kentucky Cleared of Armed Confederates.—Pope Captures Island No. 10.—Gunboat Fight.—Memphis Ours.—Battle of Pittsburg—Landing.—Defeat
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PERIOD IV. CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
PERIOD IV. CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
( Continued ) 1860-1868...
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CHAPTER V. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
CHAPTER V. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
The North conducted the war upon three great lines of campaign: 1. The Western campaigns, to clear the Mississippi River and thus divide the Confederacy. 2. The campaigns in the centre, to reach the sea at Mobile, Savannah, or Charleston, cutting the Confederacy a second time. 3. The Eastern campaigns, to take Richmond, and capture or destroy the main Confederate army, ending the Confederacy. This chapter deals with the Western campaigns alone. The opening of 1862 found the Confederates in posse
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CHAPTER VI. THE WAR IN THE CENTRE
CHAPTER VI. THE WAR IN THE CENTRE
We have seen that the fall of Donelson had driven the Confederates out of Kentucky. In the following September, 1862, Bragg invaded the State from Tennessee with 40,000 men. Buell hurried north from Nashville, and after an exciting race headed him off from Louisville. Bragg slowly fell back, first east, then south. Kentucky was rich in food and clothing, and his army plundered freely, coming out, it was boasted, with a wagon-train forty miles long. At Perryville Bragg turned upon Buell fiercely.
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CHAPTER VII. THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGNS OF 1862-63
CHAPTER VII. THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGNS OF 1862-63
The Army of the Potomac lay inactive all through the winter of 1861-62. The country cried “Forward,” but it was March before McClellan was ready to stir. Then he sailed down Chesapeake Bay to attack Richmond from the south, with Fortress Monroe as base. The splendidly disciplined and equipped army, 120,000 strong, began embarking March 17th. Fortress Monroe lies at the apex of a wedge-shaped peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers, which converge as they flow toward the coast. April 4th, M
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CHAPTER VIII. COLLAPSE OF THE CONFEDERACY
CHAPTER VIII. COLLAPSE OF THE CONFEDERACY
Gettysburg was the last general engagement in the East during 1863. The next spring, as we have noticed, Grant was appointed Lieutenant-General, with command of all the northern armies, now numbering over 600,000 effectives. This vast body of men he proposed to use against the fast-weakening Confederacy in concerted movements. Sherman’s part in the great plan has already been traced. The hardest task, that of facing Lee, the hero of Vicksburg and Chattanooga reserved for himself. Greek thus met
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CHAPTER IX. THE WAR ON THE SEA
CHAPTER IX. THE WAR ON THE SEA
Naval operations during the war fall into three great classes: Those upon inland waters, the Mississippi especially; those along the coast; and those upon the high seas. The first class has already been touched upon in connection with the Mississippi campaigns. The naval work along the coast and upon the high seas is the subject of the present chapter. Only the more important features can be sketched. At the outbreak of the Rebellion our navy was totally unprepared for war. Forty-two vessels wer
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CHAPTER X. FOREIGN RELATIONS—FINANCES—EMANCIPATION
CHAPTER X. FOREIGN RELATIONS—FINANCES—EMANCIPATION
A civil war of vast proportions in the world’s greatest republic naturally aroused deep interest among the monarchies of Europe. Russia evinced warm friendliness to the United States. The rest of the world, save England and France, showed us no ill-will. England, with unfriendly haste, admitted the belligerent rights of the Confederacy before Mr. Adams, our minister, could reach the British court. The North was surprised and shocked that liberty-loving, conservative England should so far side wi
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CHAPTER XI. RECONSTRUCTION
CHAPTER XI. RECONSTRUCTION
Though arms were grounded, there remained the new task, longer and more perplexing, if not more difficult, than the first, of restoring the South to its normal position in the Union. It was, from the nature of the case, a delicate one. The proud and sensitive South smarted under defeat and was not yet cured of the illusions which had led her to secede. Salve and not salt needed to be rubbed in to her wounds. The North stood ready to forgive the past, but insisted, in the name of its desolate hom
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CHAPTER I. POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE LAST TWO DECADES
CHAPTER I. POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE LAST TWO DECADES
The presidential election of 1868 was decided at Appomattox. General Grant was borne to the White House on a floodtide of popularity, carrying twenty-six out of the thirty-four voting States. Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, became Vice-President. The Democrats had nominated Horatio Seymour, of New York, and F. P. Blair, of Missouri. Reconstruction was the great issue. The democratic platform demanded universal amnesty and the immediate restoration of all the commonwealths lately in secession, and i
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CHAPTER II. THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON
CHAPTER II. THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON
The year 1871 was marked by the conclusion of an important treaty between England and the United States. Besides settling certain questions which threatened the friendly relations of the two countries, the treaty enunciated important principles of international law, and afforded the world a shining instance of peaceful arbitration as a substitute for the horrors of war. Ever since 1863 the United States had been seeking satisfaction from Great Britain for the depredations committed by the Alabam
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CHAPTER III. THE FISHERIES DISPUTE
CHAPTER III. THE FISHERIES DISPUTE
Our glance at the Treaty of Washington introduces us to an international complication which has been transmitted from the very birthday of the nation, and is, alas, still unsettled, spite of the earnest efforts to this end made since 1885. Article 3 of the treaty of 1783 was as follows: “It is agreed that the people of the United States shall continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every kind on the Grand Bank and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also in the Gulf of St. Law
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CHAPTER IV. THE SOUTH
CHAPTER IV. THE SOUTH
It cannot be denied that the radical method of reconstruction resorted to by Congress occasioned dreadful evils. Among other things it ignored the natural prejudices of the whites, many of whom were as loyal as any citizens in the land. The South, subjected to a second conquest after having laid down its arms, felt outraged and grew sullen. To most people in that section, as well as to very many at the North, this dictation by Congress to acknowledged States in time of peace seemed high-handed a
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CHAPTER V. THE WEST
CHAPTER V. THE WEST
Aside from West Virginia, made during the war from the loyal part of Virginia, the new States created between 1860 and 1900 were Kansas, 1861; Nevada, 1864; Nebraska, 1867; Colorado, 1876; North Dakota, 1889; South Dakota, 1889; Montana, 1889; Washington, 1889; Idaho, 1890; Wyoming, 1890; and Utah, 1896. The whole number of States had thus become forty-five. We had also, in the year 1896, three organized territories, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, the last carved out of Indian Territory in t
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CHAPTER VI. THE EXPOSITION OF 1876
CHAPTER VI. THE EXPOSITION OF 1876
It was fitting that the one hundredth anniversary of a great industrial nation should be celebrated by a World’s Fair. Such a plan was first publicly proposed for the United States in 1870, by an association of Philadelphia citizens. It was adopted by Congress in the following year, when an act was passed creating a Centennial Commission, to consist of a delegate and an alternate from each State and Territory. The commission organized for the great and difficult work before them by choosing Gene
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CHAPTER VII. ECONOMIC POLITICS
CHAPTER VII. ECONOMIC POLITICS
The enormous strides with which we paid off our war debt amazed the world. The debt had reached its highest point in August, 1865. At that date the figure was $2,844,649,626, or, for the interest-bearing part alone, $2,381,530,294, The total interest-bearing debt on April 30, 1888, was only $1,038,199,762. At the end of that fiscal year, June 30, 1888, the debt, less cash in the treasury, amounted to $1,165,584,656. Its items at this time were $222,207,050 in bonds at 4-1/2 per cent., payable in
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CHAPTER VIII. THE MARCH OF INDUSTRY
CHAPTER VIII. THE MARCH OF INDUSTRY
We can give but little idea of the advance in industrial artifice and appliances of all kinds made in the United States in the two decades after the Civil War. Take it first in textile manufacturing. A century earlier one person in every family had to work incessantly at spinning and weaving to keep the whole of them in clothing. Now one day’s work a year per person sufficed for this. The speed of spindles had risen since 1860 from 5,000 to 7,500 revolutions a minute. Looms had gone from 120 pic
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CHAPTER IX. END OF THE PERIOD
CHAPTER IX. END OF THE PERIOD
It is a long way that we have taken the reader, from the days of Columbus to where we can espy the dawn of the twentieth century. Yet, in comparison with the times which our narrative has here reached, those of three decades earlier would seem almost as remote as Columbus’s own, so swiftly did the wheels of progress turn. Everything declared that a new age had opened. In addition to the signs of this which have been set down in the preceding chapters, we have only space for the bare mention of a
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CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
With 650 Illustrations and Maps VOLUME V. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1912 COPYRIGHT, 1903 AND 1905, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS PERIOD VI EXPANSION 1888–1902 CHAPTER I. DRIFT AND DYE IN LAW—MAKING General Revision and Extension of State Constitutions.—Introduction of Australian Ballot in Various States.—Woman Suffrage in the West.—Negro Suffrage in the South.—Educational Qualification.—“The Mississippi Plan.”—South Carolina Registration Act.—The “Grandfather” Clause in Louisiana Constitutio
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CHAPTER I. DRIFT AND DYE IN LAW-MAKING
CHAPTER I. DRIFT AND DYE IN LAW-MAKING
Race war at the South following the abolition of slavery, new social conditions everywhere, and the archaic nature of many provisions in the old laws, induced, as the century drew to a close, a pretty general revision of State constitutions. New England clung to instruments adopted before the civil war, though in most cases considerably amended. New Jersey was equally conservative, as were also Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. New York adopted in 1894 a new constitution which became opera
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CHAPTER II. THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1888
CHAPTER II. THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1888
Grover Cleveland. Photograph copyrighted by C. M. Bell. In looking forward to the presidential campaign of 1888 the Democracy had no difficulty in selecting its leader or its slogan. The custom, almost like law, of renominating a presidential incumbent at the end of his first term, pointed to Mr. Cleveland’s candidacy, as did the considerable success of his administration in quelling factions and in silencing enemies. At the same time reform for a lower tariff, with which cause he had boldly ide
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CHAPTER III. MR. HARRISON’S ADMINISTRATION.
CHAPTER III. MR. HARRISON’S ADMINISTRATION.
The new President, of course, renounced his predecessor’s policy upon the tariff, but continued it touching the navy. He advocated steamship subsidies, reform in electoral laws, and such amendment to the immigration laws as would effectively exclude undesirable foreigners. A chief effect of the Kearney movement in California, culminating in the California constitution of 1879, was intense opposition throughout the Pacific States to any further admission of the Chinese. The constitution named for
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CHAPTER IV. NON-POLITICAL EVENTS OF PRESIDENT HARRISON’S TERM
CHAPTER IV. NON-POLITICAL EVENTS OF PRESIDENT HARRISON’S TERM
President Harrison’s quadrennium was a milestone between two generations. Memorials on every hand to the heroes of the Civil War shocked one with the sense that they and the events they molded were already of the past. Logan, Arthur, Sheridan, and Hancock had died. In 1891 General Sherman and Admiral Porter fell within a day of each other. General Joseph E. Johnston, who had been a pall-bearer at the funeral of each, rejoined them in a month. This presidential term was pivotal in another way. Th
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CHAPTER V. THE WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
CHAPTER V. THE WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
Columbian Celebration, New York, April 28, 1893. Parade passing Fifth Avenue Hotel. The thought of celebrating by a world’s fair the third centennial of Columbus’s immortal deed anticipated the anniversary by several years. Congress organized the exposition so early as 1890, fixing Chicago as its seat. That city was commodious, central, typically American. A National Commission was appointed; also an Executive Committee, a Board of Reference and Control, a Chicago Local Board, and a Board of Lad
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CHAPTER VI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT
CHAPTER VI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT
The century from 1790 to 1890 saw our people multiplied sixteen times, from 3,929,214 at its beginning, to 62,622,250 at its end. The low percentage of increase for the last decade, about 20 per cent., disappointed even conservative estimates. The cities not only absorbed this increase, but, except in the West, made heavy draughts upon the country population. Of each 1,000 people in 1880, 225 were urban; in 1890, 290. Chicago’s million and a tenth was second only to New York’s million and a half
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CHAPTER VII. MR. CLEVELAND AGAIN PRESIDENT
CHAPTER VII. MR. CLEVELAND AGAIN PRESIDENT
In the special session beginning August 7, 1893, a Democratic Congress met under a Democratic President for the first time since 1859. The results were disappointing. Divided, leaderless, in large part at bitter variance with the Administration, the Democrats trooped to their overthrow two years later. During his second Administration Mr. Cleveland considerably extended the merit system in the civil service. Candidates for consulships were subjected to (non-competitive) examination. Public opini
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CHAPTER VIII. LABOR AND THE RAILWAYS
CHAPTER VIII. LABOR AND THE RAILWAYS
In March, 1894, bands of the unemployed in various parts of the West, styling themselves “Commonweal,” or “Industrial Armies,” started for Washington to demand government relief for “labor.” “General” Coxey, of Ohio, led the van. “General” Kelly followed from Trans-Mississippi with a force at one time numbering 1,250. Smaller itinerant groups joined the above as they marched. For supplies the tattered pilgrims taxed the sympathies or the fears of people along their routes. Most of them were well
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CHAPTER IX. NEWEST DIXIE
CHAPTER IX. NEWEST DIXIE
The reader of this history is already aware how forces and events after the Civil War gradually evolved a New South, unlike the contemporary North, and differing still more, if possible, from ante-bellum Dixie. By 1900 this interesting situation had become quite pronounced. The picture here given is but an enlargement of that presented earlier—few features new, but many of them more salient, and the whole effect more impressive. Harmony and good feeling between the capital sections of our countr
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CHAPTER X. THE MEN AND THE ISSUE IN 1896
CHAPTER X. THE MEN AND THE ISSUE IN 1896
Early in 1896 it became clear that the dominant issue of the presidential campaign would be the resumption by the United States of silver-dollar free coinage. Agitation for this, hushed only for a moment by the passage of the Bland Act, had been going on ever since demonetization in 1873. The fall in prices, which the new output of gold had not yet begun to arrest; the money stringency since 1893; the insecure, bond-supplied gold reserve, and the repeal of the silver-purchase clause in the Sherm
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CHAPTER XI. MR. McKINLEY’S ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER XI. MR. McKINLEY’S ADMINISTRATION
The Nestor of the original McKinley Cabinet was John Sherman, who left his Senate seat to the swiftly rising Hanna that he himself might devote his eminent but failing powers to the Secretaryship of State. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish War he was succeeded by William R. Day, who had been Assistant Secretary. In 1898 Day in turn resigned, when Ambassador John Hay was called to the place from the Court of St. James. The Treasury went to Lyman J. Gage, a distinguished Illinois banker. Mr. Gage w
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CHAPTER XII. THE WAR WITH SPAIN
CHAPTER XII. THE WAR WITH SPAIN
How early Cuban discontent with Spain’s rule became vocal is not known. An incipient revolt in 1766 was ruthlessly put down. Though the “Ever Faithful Isle” did not rebel with the South American colonies under Bolivar, it was never at rest, as attested by the servile revolts of 1794 and 1844, the “Black Eagle” rebellion of 1829, and the ten-years’ insurrection beginning in 1868. In 1894-1895, just as “Home Rule for Cuba” had become a burning issue in Spain, martial law was proclaimed in Havana,
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CHAPTER XIII. “CUBA LIBRE”
CHAPTER XIII. “CUBA LIBRE”
As if Santiago had not afforded “glory enough for all,” some disparaged Admiral Sampson’s part in the battle, others Admiral Schley’s. As commander of the fleet, whose routine and emergency procedure he had sagaciously prescribed, Sampson, though on duty out of sight of the action at its beginning, was entitled to utmost credit for the brilliant outcome. The day added his name to the list of history’s great sea captains. Admiral William T. Sampson. Schley had the fortune to be senior officer dur
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CHAPTER XIV. THE UNITED STATES IN THE ORIENT
CHAPTER XIV. THE UNITED STATES IN THE ORIENT
PHILIPPINES AND FILIPINOS The Philippine Archipelago lies between 4 degrees 45 minutes and 21 degrees north latitude and 118 and 127 degrees east longitude. It consists of nineteen considerable and perhaps fifteen hundred lesser islands, an area nearly equal that of New Jersey, New York, and New England combined. The island of Luzon comprises a third of this, that of Mindanao a fifth or a sixth. The archipelago is rich in natural resources, but mining and manufactures had not at the American occ
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CHAPTER XV. THE UNITED STATES IN THE ORIENT
CHAPTER XV. THE UNITED STATES IN THE ORIENT
WAR, CONTROVERSY, PEACE It was wholly problematical how long Aguinaldo unaided could dominate Luzon, still more so whether he would rule tolerably, and more uncertain yet whether centre or south would ever yield to him. The insurgents had foothold in four or five Visayan islands, but were never admitted to Negros, which of its own accord raised our flag. In Mindanao, the Sulu Islands, and Palawan they practically had no influence. Governor Taft was of opinion that they could never, unaided, have
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CHAPTER XVI. POLITICS AT THE TURNING OF THE CENTURY
CHAPTER XVI. POLITICS AT THE TURNING OF THE CENTURY
McKinley and Bryan were presidential candidates again in 1900. It was certain long beforehand that they would be, even when Admiral Dewey announced that he was available. The admiral seemed to offer himself reluctantly, and to be relieved when assured that all were sorry he had done so. McKinley was unanimously renominated. Unanimously also, yet against his will, Governor Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, was named with him on the ticket. The Democratic convention chose Bryan by acclamation; his
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CHAPTER XVII. THE TWELFTH CENSUS
CHAPTER XVII. THE TWELFTH CENSUS
The plan for a permanent census bureau was not realized in time for the 1900 enumeration, but the act authorizing this provided important modifications in prior census procedure. Among several great improvements it made the census director practically supreme in his methods and over appointments and removals in his force. Initial inquiries were restricted to (1) population, (2) mortality, (3) agriculture, and (4) manufactures. Work on these topics was to be completed not later than July 1, 1902.
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CHAPTER XVIII. THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, 1901
CHAPTER XVIII. THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, 1901
The time had come for North and South America to unite in a noble enterprise illustrating their community of interests. United States people were deplorably ignorant of their southern neighbors, this accounting in part for the paucity of our trade with them. They knew as little of us. Our war with Spain had caused them some doubts touching our intentions toward the Spanish-Americans. An exposition was a hopeful means of bringing about mutual knowledge and friendliness. But the fair could not be
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CHAPTER XIX. MR. MCKINLEY’S END
CHAPTER XIX. MR. MCKINLEY’S END
Upon invitation President and Mrs. McKinley visited the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. September 5, 1901, the first day of his presence, the Chief Magistrate delivered an address, memorable both as a sagacious survey of public affairs and as indicating a modification of his well-known tariff opinions in the direction of freer commercial intercourse with foreign nations. “We must not,” he said, “repose in fancied security that we can forever sell everything and buy little or nothing.” ... “T
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