A School History of the United States

A School History of the United
States

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A School History of the United States
by John Bach McMaster This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere
at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: A School History of the United States
Author: John Bach McMaster
Release Date: February 26, 2004 [EBook #11313]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY
OF THE U.S. ***

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner and PG Distributed
Proofreaders

A SCHOOL HISTORY
OF THE
UNITED STATES
BY
JOHN BACH McMASTER

PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA
1897

PREFACE
It has long been the custom to begin the history of our country with the
discovery of the New World by Columbus. To some extent this is both
wise and necessary; but in following it in this instance the attempt has
been made to treat the colonial period as the childhood of the United
States; to have it bear the same relation to our later career that the
account of the youth of a great man should bear to that of his maturer
years, and to confine it to the narration of such events as are really
necessary to a correct understanding of what has happened since 1776.
The story, therefore, has been restricted to the discoveries, explorations,
and settlements within the United States by the English, French,
Spaniards, and Dutch; to the expulsion of the French by the English; to
the planting of the thirteen colonies on the Atlantic seaboard; to the
origin and progress of the quarrel which ended with the rise of thirteen
sovereign free and independent states, and to the growth of such
political institutions as began in colonial times. This period once passed,
the long struggle for a government followed till our present
Constitution--one of the most remarkable political instruments ever
framed by man--was adopted, and a nation founded.
Scarcely was this accomplished when the French Revolution and the
rise of Napoleon involved us in a struggle, first for our neutral rights,
and then for our commercial independence, and finally in a second war
with Great Britain. During this period of nearly five and twenty years,
commerce and agriculture flourished exceedingly, but our internal
resources were little developed. With the peace of 1815, however, the
era of industrial development commences, and this has been treated
with great--though it is believed not too great--fullness of detail; for,
beyond all question, the event of the world's history during the
nineteenth century is the growth of the United States. Nothing like it
has ever before taken place.
To have loaded down the book with extended bibliographies would
have been an easy matter, but quite unnecessary. The teacher will find
in Channing and Hart's Guide to the Study of American History the best

digested and arranged bibliography of the subject yet published, and
cannot afford to be without it. If the student has time and disposition to
read one half of the reference books cited in the footnotes of this
history, he is most fortunate.
JOHN BACH McMASTER.
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTENTS


CHAPTER
I. EUROPE FINDS AMERICA II. THE SPANIARDS IN THE
UNITED STATES III. ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND SWEDES ON THE
SEABOARD IV. THE PLANTING OF NEW ENGLAND V. THE
MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES VI. THE FRENCH IN THE
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY VII. THE INDIANS VIII. THE STRUGGLE
FOR NEW FRANCE AND LOUISIANA IX. LIFE IN THE
COLONIES IN 1763 X. "LIBERTY, PROPERTY, AND NO
STAMPS" XI. THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE XII.
UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION XIII. MAKING
THE CONSTITUTION XIV. OUR COUNTRY IN 1790 XV. THE
RISE OF PARTIES XVI. THE STRUGGLE FOR NEUTRALITY
XVII. STRUGGLE FOR "FREE TRADE AND SAILORS' RIGHTS"
XVIII. THE WAR FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE XIX.
PROGRESS OF OUR COUNTRY BETWEEN 1790 AND 1815 XX.
SETTLEMENT OF OUR BOUNDARIES XXI. THE RISING WEST
XXII. THE HIGHWAYS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE XXIII.
POLITICS FROM 1824 TO 1845 XXIV. EXPANSION OF THE
SLAVE AREA XXV. THE TERRITORIES BECOME SLAVE SOIL
XXVI. PROGRESS IN THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1840
AND 1860 XXVII. WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861-1865 XXVIII.
WAR ALONG THE COAST AND ON THE SEA XXIX. THE COST
OF THE WAR XXX. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH XXXI.
THE NEW WEST (1860-1870) XXXII. POLITICS FROM 1868 TO
1880 XXXIII. GROWTH OF THE NORTHWEST XXXIV.
MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS XXXV. POLITICS

SINCE 1880
APPENDIX
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES STATE CONSTITUTIONS INDEX
LIST OF IMPORTANT MAPS
DISCOVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA EUROPEAN
CLAIMS AND EXPLORATIONS, 1650 FRENCH CLAIMS, ETC.,
IN 1700 BRITISH COLONIES, 1733