Four Great Americans: Washington, Franklin, Webster, Lincoln

Four Great Americans:
Washington, Franklin, Webster,
Lincoln

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Franklin,
Webster, Lincoln, by James Baldwin This eBook is for the use of
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Title: Four Great Americans: Washington, Franklin, Webster, Lincoln
A Book for Young Americans
Author: James Baldwin
Release Date: February 20, 2004 [EBook #11174]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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GREAT AMERICANS ***

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FOUR GREAT AMERICANS
WASHINGTON FRANKLIN WEBSTER LINCOLN
A BOOK FOR YOUNG AMERICANS

BY JAMES BALDWIN, PH.D.

CONTENTS
THE STORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

CHAPTER
I WHEN WASHINGTON WAS A BOY II HIS HOMES III HIS
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS IV GOING TO SEA V THE
YOUNG SURVEYOR VI THE OHIO COUNTRY VII A CHANGE
OF CIRCUMSTANCES VIII A PERILOUS JOURNEY IX HIS
FIRST BATTLE X THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR XI THE
MUTTERINGS OF THE STORM XII THE BEGINNING OF THE
WAR XIII INDEPENDENCE XIV THE FIRST PRESIDENT XV
"FIRST IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN"
THE STORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

CHAPTER
I THE WHISTLE II SCHOOLDAYS III THE BOYS AND THE
WHARF IV CHOOSING A TRADE V HOW FRANKLIN
EDUCATED HIMSELF VI FAREWELL TO BOSTON VII THE
FIRST DAY IN PHILADELPHIA VIII GOVERNOR WILLIAM
KEITH IX THE RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA X THE FIRST VISIT
TO ENGLAND XI A LEADING MAN IN PHILADELPHIA XII
FRANKLIN'S RULES OF LIFE XIII FRANKLIN'S SERVICES TO
THE COLONIES XIV FRANKLIN'S WONDERFUL KITE XV THE
LAST YEARS
THE STORY OF DANIEL WEBSTER

CHAPTER

I CAPTAIN WEBSTER II THE YOUNGEST SON III EZEKIEL
AND DANIEL IV PLANS FOR THE FUTURE V AT EXETER
ACADEMY VI GETTING READY FOR COLLEGE VII AT
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE VIII HOW DANIEL TAUGHT SCHOOL
IX DANIEL GOES TO BOSTON X LAWYER AND
CONGRESSMAN XI THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE XII
WEBSTER'S GREAT ORATIONS XIII MR. WEBSTER IN THE
SENATE XIV MR. WEBSTER IN PRIVATE LIFE XV THE LAST
YEARS
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

CHAPTER
I THE KENTUCKY HOME II WORK AND SORROW III THE NEW
MOTHER IV SCHOOL AND BOOKS V LIFE IN THE
BACKWOODS VI THE BOATMAN VII THE FIRST YEARS IN
ILLINOIS VIII THE BLACK HAWK WAR IX IN THE
LEGISLATURE X POLITICS AND MARRIAGE XI
CONGRESSMAN AND LAWYER XII THE QUESTION OF
SLAVERY XIII LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS XIV PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES XV THE END OF A GREAT LIFE

THE STORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
[Illustration of George Washington]

THE STORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
* * * * *
I.--WHEN WASHINGTON WAS A BOY.
When George Washington was a boy there was no United States. The
land was here, just as it is now, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Pacific; but nearly all of it was wild and unknown.
Between the Atlantic Ocean and the Alleghany Mountains there were
thirteen colonies, or great settlements. The most of the people who

lived in these colonies were English people, or the children of English
people; and so the King of England made their laws and appointed their
governors.
The newest of the colonies was Georgia, which was settled the year
after George Washington was born.
The oldest colony was Virginia, which had been settled one hundred
and twenty-five years. It was also the richest colony, and more people
were living in it than in any other.
There were only two or three towns in Virginia at that time, and they
were quite small.
Most of the people lived on farms or on big plantations, where they
raised whatever they needed to eat. They also raised tobacco, which
they sent to England to be sold.
The farms, or plantations, were often far apart, with stretches of thick
woods between them. Nearly every one was close to a river, or some
other large body of water; for there are many rivers in Virginia.
There were no roads, such as we have nowadays, but only paths
through the woods. When people wanted to travel from place to place,
they had to go on foot, or on horseback, or in small boats.
A few of the rich men who lived on the big plantations had coaches;
and now and then they would drive out in grand style behind four or six
horses, with a fine array of servants and outriders following them. But
they could not drive far where there were no roads, and we can hardly
understand how they got any pleasure out of it.
Nearly all the work on the plantations was done by slaves. Ships had
been bringing negroes from Africa