title: History of the United States of America, designed for schools.
text: raffW m m | LIBRARY O F CONGRE SS. \ I ^' <&& f ♦UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA.J ' \ ;> \ BEVISED EDITIOIT, 1 ^ HISTORY v OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DESIGNED FOR SCHOOLS. EXTENDING FROM THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS TO THE PRESENT TIME; WITH NUMEROUS MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS, TOGETHER WITH A NOTICE OF AMERICAN ANTI- QUITIES, AND THE INDIAN TRIBES. BY EGBERT GUERNSEY, A.M. 1 Our history takes as its guiding star the simple and pregnant truth that GOD IS IN HISTORY." PHILADELPHIA: MOSS & CO., 418 MARKET STREET, 1869. Mo, ;, Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1847, BY EGBERT GUERNSEY, A.M., In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for .ne Southern District of New York. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by MOSS AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by MOSS AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. .1 PREFACE To commune with the great and mighty dead — to turn our thougnts backward along the path of time, and call from their silent gravef the buried heroes of the past, and people with their living iorms thosa old battle fields where freemen, under the protection of the God of Hea- ven, fought, not for a crown, but for liberty — is an employment both pleasing and instructive. All history is instructive, but that of our own country is peculiarly interesting. The actors in its earliest periods, and in its revolution- ary struggle, were meo of patriotism, virtue, and religion. Rising above the selfish feelings of human nature, they planned and acted, not tor themselves alone, but for their country, and the unborn millions who were yet to tread its soil. Believing in the overruling provi- ience of God, they were not ashamed to look to Him for direction, nor to lean on his arm for support. Convinced that no people could flou- rish without a proper training of the mind, they early turned their at- tention to schools and colleges, believing them to be the nurseries o! freedom. The study of American history not only unites us more closely, and with stronger love to our free institutions, but it ennobles the mind by tne lessons of virtue and patriotism which are given in the teachings and examples of our fathers. The whole course of the American Revo- lution shows but one traitor. The infamy which is forever attached to the name of Arnold, is a sufficient warning to youth not tc follow in his footsteps. There are a few points, which I think have been neglected, or too lightly passed over, in all the histories of our country with which 1 am acquainted. One of these is, a particular notice of the direct interpo- sition o*. Providence, so often displayed in our history. This fault I have endeavored to shun. While it has been my object VI PREFACE. to present a correct historical chain of events, in a style pleasing to iae young, I have also endeavored to impress on them the important fact, that their fathers were working out the great designs of God, and were aided by him in their glorious consummation. As undoubted remains of a civilized people, inhabiting America be- fore the Indians, are scattered over the country, I have thought proper to devote an introductory chapter describing their appearance, locality, and the various opinions respecting them. In another chapter is given an epitome of the different Indian fami- lies, with a notice of their languages, manners, and customs. As this history has been compiled for educational purposes, I have endeavored to make the plan striking and simple, and to adapt my style to the minds and feelings of intelligent youth. In selecting my plan, three great epochs presented themselves as pro- per to be noticed particularly. The first presenting a picture of our country from its discovery by Columbus, during its colonial history. A clear outline is here given ; but much matter of a dry and prolix character, usually introduced in school histories with little effect, has been omitted. A dislike to an entire book has sometimes been produced, by crowding into this epoch a collection of isolated facts, which the young mind has struggled in vain to connect. If we succeed in enlist- ing their feelings in the commencement, the grand events which follow will surelv enchain them, and our point is gained. The second epoch presents the story of the Revolutionary War. fi ,m the Declaration of Independence, until the adoption of the Federal Con- stitution. I have endeavored faithfully to describe the most important of those thrilling events which cluster around this period. It is strange, that while in many school histories the colonial period is tediously minute, the long struggle of a whole people for liberty, with a mighty nation, is briefly recorded. In the third and last epoch, each administration is separately noticed, from the commencement of the Federal Government until the year 1806. A. concise biographical sketch of each President is given, that our American youths may know, who were their rulers, and associate kind and noble thoughts of them, w r ith the story of their public acts while in office. This has never been introduced in any of our school books, and, as a body, our children are strangely ignorant of the character of those great men. This is evidently a de r ect which should be remedied; for American children, above others, should early be taught, m connection with the principles of a republican government, the fact, that most of these ven- erable and beloved men, were once children in humble life, and that they PREFACE. Vll under Providence, by their own exertions and their virtues, arose to th«» highest station in the gift of their country. The eyes of the civilized world are on America. They are nar- rowly watching all her operations, and scanning her motives of action. Prom this land of freemen an influence pervades the globe. Much is expected from the American youth, and a deep responsibility rests on their guardians and instructors. Next to the Bible, no book is better adapted to teach lessons of impor- tance, both to the heart and intellect, than a faithful history of God's dealings with our countrymen. A strange iadifference to the study of American history is manifested throughout our land; and it is time that a better state of things existed. It is surprising how many schools of high standing entirely exclude it from their classes. Histo- ries of classic Greece and Rome are mastered, those of England and France are not forgotten, but American history is regarded as a simple elementary subject, unworthy the study of an advanced scholar. This is a fact beyond dispute. In relating the history of the Americans, our ancestors, I do not wish to throw into the shade the merits of any other nation. I would have all history faithfully studied and remembered. It is worthy the time and talent of every immortal mind. History is a harp whose strings are swept by the hand of Time. It tells us of the birth of creation — the uprising of empires — the passing away of mighty nations — it sounds in our ears the events which lie scattered along the path of life. Its notes tremble mournfully over the graves of greatness and virtue entombed. Its tones are ever varying, and will be heard until Time severs the strings, as they are sounding the requiem of the world, and historv is ao more ! NOTE TO TEACHERS. The questions on the margin are only intended as leading ones, to answer which, however, a knowledge of the whole subject is necessary. These questions can be altered and others suggested, at the pleasure of the teacher. Great pains have been taken to make the Chronology as correct as possible. To avoid confusion, all the dates have been given in New Style. This History is not only intended for a recitation book, but to be used in reading classes. The events forming a connected chain, a habit of attention will be elicited, and much historical knowledge gained. A plan similar to this, I have pursued in a long course of teaching, with decided advantage. CONTENTS. Pase American Antiquities 13 — io Indian History 45 — 68 Division of the Work 70 PAKT I. CHAPTER I. EARLY DISCOVERIES. Columbus— Sebastian Cabot — Alonzo de Ojeda — Contereal — Cartier— Ponce de Leon— Ferdinand de Soto— Coligni— Gilbert— Sir Walter Raleigh— Bartholomew Gosnold— Capt. John Smith — London Company 70—84 CHAPTER II. COLONIAL HISTORY Virginia — Under the first charter — Under the second charter — Under the third charter — From the dissolution of the Lon- don Company until the French and Indian War 84—99 CHAPTER III. Massachusetts. — Massachusetts Bay Colony — King Philip's War — King George's and dueen Anne's Wars 99 — 123 CHAPTER IV. New Hampshire 123 — 125 CHAPTER V. Connecticut 125 — 133 CHAPTER VI. Rhode Island 133—135 viii CONTENTS. ix Page CHAPTER VII. New York.— Dutch West India Company — Swedish Colony Grant to the Duke of York— Leisler and Milborne 135—149 CHAPTER VIII. New Jersey 149 — 152 CHAPTER IX. Delaware 152 CHAPTER X. Pennsylvania 154 — 158 CHAPTER XI. Maryland 158— i62 CHAPTER XII. North Carolina 162 — 16G CHAPTER XIII. South Carolina 1 66 — 170 CHAPTER XIV. Georgia 170—174 CHAPTER XV. French and Indian War 174 — 191 CHAPTER XVI. Causes of the Revolution 191 — 20« CHAPTER XVII. Revolutionary War — Campaign of 1775 208 — 224 CHAPTER XVTI1. Campaign of 1776 224—235 PART II. CHAPTER I. ^Conclusion of Campaign of 1776 235—266 CHAPTER II. Campaign of 1777 266—302 CHAPTER III. Campaign of 1778 302—313 CHAPTER IV. Campaign of 1779 313—324 x CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Page Campaign of 1780 3-24—336 CHAPTER VI. Campaign of 1781 336— 350 PART III. CHAPTER I. Washington's Administration 350— 35S CHAPTER II. Adams' Administration 358—363 CHAPTER III. Jefferson's Administration 362 — 368 CHAPTERS IV., V., VI., VII. Madison's Administration — War with England — Campaigns of 1812, '13, '14 368—396 CHAPTER VIII. Monroe's Administration 396 — 400 CHAPTER IX. J. Gt. Adams' Administration 400 — 403 CHAPTER X. Jackson's Administration 403 — 409 CHAPTER XI. Van Buren's Administration 409 — 413 CHAPTER XII. Harrison's Administration 413 — 416 CHAPTER XIII. Tyler's Administration , 416—419 CHAPTER XIY, Polk's Administration— War with Mexico. . . ., 419 — 447 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XV. page Taylor's Administration 451- -456 CHAPTER XVI. Fillmore's Administration — Death of Webster 456 — 459 CHAPTER XVII. Pierce's Administration 460 — 46V CHAPTER XVIII. Buchanan's Administration 468 — 488 CHAPTER XIX. Lincoln's Administration — Rebellion 488 — 497 CHAPTER XX. Events of 1862 : 497—511 CHAPTER XXI. Events of 1863 511—518 CHAPTER XXII. Events of 1864 518—529 CHAPTER XXIII. Events of 1865 529—541 CHAPTER XXIV. Events of 1866 541—546 CHAPTER XXV. Events of 1867 546—554 CHAPTER XXVI. Events of 1868 554—563 Constitution of the United States 565 Chart of American History....,- 572 LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Bancroft's History of the United States Thatcher's Military Journal ; Robertson'3 History sf America; Botta's War of the Independence ; Holmes' Annals of America ; Irving's Life of Columbus; Marshall's History of the American Colonies ; Marshall's Life of Washington; Sparks' Writings of Washington.; Pitkin's History of the States; Perkins' History of the Late War with Great Britain ; Belknap's History of New Hampshire ; Trumbull's Civii and Eccle- siastical History of Connecticut; Life of Capt. John Smith ; Hutchinson's History of Massa- chusetts Bay ; Smith's History of New York and New Jersey ; Proud's History of Pennsylva- nia ; Hewitt's Histories of Card\ina and Geor v sia ; Ramsay's Revolution of South Carolina ; Dwight's Journal ; Stewart's Travels; Willard's History of the United Stares ; Hale's History of the United States ; Goodrich's History of the United States ; Stone's Life of Brandt ; Vol- ney's View of America; Schoolcraft's Travels; Rafinesque ; Mitchell ; American Antiqua- rian Researches ; Clavigero's History of Mexico; Humboldt; Morse's Universal Geography ; Jefferson's Notes; Gazetteer of Missouri ; Vater ; Grimshaw's United States; Colden's His- tory of the Five Nations ; Encyclopedia; Brackenbridge's History of the Last War ; State Papers; Niles' Register; Priest's Antiquities of America; Lossing's 1776 ; Life of Jackson ; Life of Harrison ; Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence ; Lives of the Presi- ients ; Head'p.y's Washington and his Generals ; Make Brun's Geography : De Tocqueville'a Democracy in America : Trumbull's Indian Wars ; Prescott's Conquest of Mexico; Life of General Houston ; Taylor and his Generals ; life of General Scott; Robinson's Mexico and her Military Chieftains ; Longacre and Herring's National Gallery. Ijistorn of tl)c Unitco States. AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. HE leading incidents in the & What if \ history of the old world have ^j,' 1 ,^,, been recorded by the pen of dentaTn" faithful historians, either sa- to^ of ' the old cred or profane. The Bible, world? the only book that has moved gf bl * h , e along upon the great stream of time and not been ingulphed in its eddying whirlpools, has thrown upon the earlier nations the bright light of inspiration. It commenced a clear and historical chain of events, stretching from the birth-day of Creation to the deluge, and from the deluge to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. 2. In looking at the old world, we have spread ° . What 13 out before us a grand panorama of six thousand gjjj 1 ^ years. We can trace its events, witnessing the wo ' lin different nations, which have stepped upon the theatre of life and then passed away, while the 14 AMERICAN ANTIQ.L TIES. finder of time has written ruin and desolation orr the proud temples and monuments of art. which they vainly deemed to be eternal, and scattered dust in the halls and palaces of their kings. The events which cluster so thickly around each point in the career of these ancient nations, make theii history full of peculiar interest. 3. As the antiquarian wanders among the broken columns and scattered fragments of their ruined cities, the very small portions of their history with which he is acquainted give double interest to the scene. He stands by the broken gates of Thebes, upon her shattered walls, and gazes upon the stu- pendous ruins of that now silent and pulseless city. The veil is lifted from the past, his mind glances back through the long, dim vista of buried centuries, and he hears the throbbings of her mighty heart, the thundering tramp of her men- at-arms, as they sweep with waving crests, and burnished arms, in battle array through her broad gates. He listens, as the rays of the sun stream over the hills, and light up those shafts and domes. He hears strains of sweetest music, filling the air with its rich melody, pouring out from Memnon's temple, as if its tones were instinct with life. 4. There, by its base, stands the sightless, bald- headed Homer, striking the harp of poesy with so bold a hand, as to fill all Greece with music, and send its immortal strains onward through all time. He stands upon the site of ancient Troy, and there pass before his vision the armed hosts of Gveece- Ajax, Agamemnon, and the god-like Achilles, bat- ANTIQUITIES FULL OF INTEREST. 16 (ling with Trojan Hector and Priam for the beau- tiful Helen. He enters the ruined cities of the Pharaohs, wanders through the three thousand chambers of her mighty pyramids, descends into the sepulchres of her dead, and drags out from their long rest of thousands of years, the bodies of the kings and great men of Egypt, who sat upon the tli rone, and moved in splendor in those days when Israel groaned beneath their heavyweight of bond- age, slaves to their oppressors. As he stands on the cast-up mounds of what was once Babylon, and looks around him upon the wide scene of desola- tion — the waters of the Euphrates rolling over a what of portion of the city — he sees the fulfilment of a auaaan, 1 J as he prophecy of God, pronounced thousands of years [^ the before, when that nation was glorying in its strength Sfijkmi and power. " I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water ; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of Hosts." 5. Wander where he will through those ancient cities, and over the graves of those buried na- tions, scenes constantly start up before his eyes, made sacred by the pen of inspiration, the fulfil- ment of prophecy, the tongue of the orator, or the harp of poesy and song ; and every crumbling city, every hill and mountain, every stream of water has its own peculiar tale to tell. Hence, we have grown more familiar with those ancient nations than with thai 1 w« the antiquities and earlier history of our own coun- ha grown more try, Indeed, travelers seem never to have known, Siti?'" these 31* to have forgotten, in their enthusiastic researches ancient and admiration of the ruins of the old world, that ,h; nati than awn; 16 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. What do there exists a vast continent, far beyond those lands seem e to of poesy and song- — beyond the broad bosom of have for- *\ / . . . , .„ gotten in tlie Atlantic — containing hills and mountains, rivers their ;ul- O C/ Iri the n an d lakes, far more stupendous and magnificent Ehe n8 o?d than any thinsr of which either Asia or Europe can woild? . f ■ i i • • boast: that here, on tins western continent, we are living — are moving over the tombs of nations, as ancient, and as far advanced in civilization as the Roman, the Persian, Chaldean, or Egyptian — that we are surrounded by the ruins of cities and fortresses, which bear evident marks of having been constructed hundreds of years before the landing of Columbus upon our shores, and by a race of men cotemporary with the Egyptians and Romans. 6. No country in the world presents so broad a What is J r of re ou? ld ne ld f° r stu dy as does our own : none so rich in an- c-mntry? cient ruins, in mineral wealth, in internal resources, bold, majestic mountains, in vast inland seas, and in rivers, forming channels of communication with the ocean, thousands of miles in every direction into the interior of the country. 7. North America stretches from north to south, tent?" through a part of three zones, and covers an ex- tent of about 7,800,000 square miles. The middle portion comprises the United States, to the his- tory of which our attention will be more par- ticularly directed. It contains about 3,221,000 square miles. The eastern shore is washed through- out the whole extent by the waves of the Atlantic, and its western resounds with the roar of the Pa- cific. 8. It has Niagara thundering on its northerr boundaries, connected with the great Lakes, whose RIVERS OF THE WEST. 1 waters it pours into the river St. Lawrence, through Whax i» said of which great arter) they are conveyed 1,900 miles to the (he ocean. From the western face of the Allegha- Jivem nies, a range of mountains presenting some of the most sublime scenery in the world, the Ohio takes its rise, and flows for 1,250 miles, until it empties itself into the Mississippi, the great father of waters, whose source is found at the extreme northern frontier of the United States, and winds on its ser- pentine course through every variety of climate and soil, 2,600 miles, until it discharges its swollen and turbid waters into the Mediterranean of the West, the Gulf of Mexico. 9. Far back, toward the setting sun, on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, formed by the trickling streams which flow down its channeled sides, the Missouri, another mighty river, takes its rise, and sweeps on through a country teeming with the most luxuriant vegetation, 2,500 miles, until it pours its dark volume into the Mississippi. These are some of the great streams which, like arteries, pervade every part of the country, causing it to bud and blossom like the rose, and teem with life and vegetation. On our northern shores lie vast inter- nal seas, many hundred miles in extent. 10. What nation, or what country in the world, can boast of mountains, lakes, and rivers like our own ? But we are not to suppose that this country has remained quiet and undisturbed during the ter- rible commotions of nature which have shaken the eastern world. The same great causes which plowed a channel for the Black Sea to the Medi- •e ranean, opened a passage through the Straits of 2 IP AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. Gibraltar for its waters to the ocean, overwhelmed with a flood of fire Pompeii and Herculaneuni, hurled up from the bottom of the sea vast islands, and rolled its waves over others, have been at work here. 11. The whole land, from north to south and Wliat is ' said of f rom eas t t0 we st, plainly shows the change which SSkff has been produced by these great agents. Many produced of the vales of our rivers were once the bottoms of in the country? immense lakes ; and now, where the tops of the tallest forests wave, or where the towering spires of many a Christian temple make glad with their sight the heart of civilized man ; and where are the smoking chimneys of his wide-spread habitations ; once sported (long, perhaps, before the advent of our Saviour) the monstrous lake-serpent and finny tribe, or birds of bright plumage passed along the horizon. 12. We look to the soil, where grazes the peace- ful flock — to the fields, where wave a thousand har- vests — to the air above, where play the wings of the low-flighted swallow — and to the roads, where the passing wheels denote the course of men — and say, can this be so ? Yes ; where the waves once rolled is now fixed the foundation of many a state- ly mansion, the dwelling of man. Such the muta- tion of matter and the change of habitation. 13. The principal ridges of the Alleghany, Blue W hit Ridge, &c, run in a transverse direction to most '" M evf- of the great rivers, so that their mounds must have the sua been broken through, to make a way to the sea from quehan- nah, tomac, Jamt 1°' the bosom of the valleys. This is evident in the umFSbI- Potomac, Susquehannah, Delaware, James rivers, and others, where they issue from the confines of the mountains to enter the lower country ANCTENT LAKES. 19 14. The Potomac, three miles below the mouth what lf of the Shenandoah, gives a striking example of this S ie of fact. It here dashes and foams along upon its toman? rocky bed, through what is evidently a breach in the Blue Ridge, about twelve hundred yards wide, and three hundred and fifty yards high. This chasm plainly displays traces of an ancient wall, composed of grey quartz, which once dammed up the river, forming immense lakes, that stretched far back over a great extent of territory. 15. The valley of the Shenandoah and Conigo- What clieague must have been the basin of a single great vwh-luui lake, extending from Staunton to Chambersburg. a f. r rc;;t. Like The upper branches of the James river would have {j ™^ swelled it with their waters, and finding no obsta- dSa'Vd cie below, must have extended not only to the Sus- cheaguei quehannah and Schuylkill, but even to the Delaware. The outlets to these vast lakes must have been over the rocky walls of the mountain barriers, which have since broken : thus they would have formed falls of the most magnificent description, which had thundered in their descent from the time of Noah's flood till the rupture of the ridge took place, and the immense lake, drained of its waters, laid open a tract of rich soil to the genial warmth of the sun. 16. There is every reason to suppose that the what Hudson was checked in its passage to the sea, by a hav" g08 chain of rocks stretching across the present chan- m e a e "e in ° . l the Hud- nel, at the Highlands, causing the waters to extend S0I1? over a considerable surface of the country, in the form of a large lake. A strong argument favoring What this theory exists in the presence of alluvia, petri- Sw/tiiii fied shells, &c, found along the banks, in different 20 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. parts of the valley of the Hudson, and in fact, in the valleys of most of our large rivers, what 17- These ancient lakes, now drained by the supposed breaking awa)^ of their mounds, explain very beau- [} a ™ tifully the appearance observed in the valleys of lakes 7 gucn r ivers as are supposed to have been once lakes, as the Tennessee, the Kentucky, the Missis- sippi, the Kanhaway, and the Ohio. This appear- whatap- ance is the several stages or flats, observed on the in l these banks of these rivers, and most of the rivers of rivers is 7 by pl this d America, showing that subsequently the waters of theory? tne r i verg were higher, but as the mounds which dammed up their course became gradually broken away by the weight of the mass above them, the waters being thus drained off, new marks of em- what of bankment would be formed, far below the original the banks . .. . . ,. .. ohiof ones > circumscribing, by a large distance, the chan- nel of the river. This is very perceptible on the Ohio, at Cincinnati, where the original bank is nearly 50 feet above the present level of the river. 18. When we examine the arrangement of these faTther 18 flats, we are furnished with indubitable evidence this 6 h°v- that the place where the city of Cincinnati now stands was once, not only the seat of waters, but the primitive bed of the river, which appears to have had three different periods of decline, till it has sunk to its present bed or channel. The level of the second flat of the Ohio, which is the general surface of the country, is no more than 70 feet below Lake Erie ; consequently, a mound of two hundred feet at Silver Creek, six hundred miles down the Ohio from Pittsburg (where there is every reason to sup- pose that a cliB'it of hills stretched across the pre- ANCIENT LAKES. 21 ten-ce hese ncient sent bed of tlie river), would have been sufficient to keep back its waters, not only as far as Lake Erie, but even to spread them from the last slopes of the Alleghanies to the north of Lake Superior. 18. The existence of ancient lakes explains why, what is r J ' farther in every part of the basin of the Ohio, the land is fonT'th! always leveled in horizontal beds of different heights, of and why we find in various places, remains of trees. kk ^ of osier, and other plants. The vast amount of drift wood carried down by the various streams which discharged their water into the lakes, would be de- posited on the bottom near the shores, as the surface of these internal seas became lowered by the new outlets. 19. The lower part of the Mississippi river gives what is us many evidences that the waters were once dam- JJ^Jj?* med up, forming above them a lake which filled up f a |K a large portion of its valley. The West India ley of the ° r J Missis- islands are supposed by naturalists to have been 8ippi? the Atlantic coast of the continent; the breaking away of the mound confining the immense body of water, which once covered an almost boundless portion of the West, must, beyond doubt, have raised the Atlantic so as to submerge in its increase many a sunny spot along its coasts, leaving only the more elevated tracts above the surface of the water, in which we now see the numerous islands on our eastern shore and on the Gulf of Mexico. What 20. Though the northern parts of North America gj™* 68 have been known to us but about two centuries, yet, dSTi during that time, no less than forty-five earth- 9^ 3 quakes have occurred, many of them so severe as to North? prostrate houses, dry up wells and streams of water. 22 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. What eviden- ces of VolCKIIIC action taiio.' The shocks of these earthquakes extended north- east, and south-west, particularly affecting the direc- lX'um ^ on °f I^ake Ontario, and were attended by a fetid smell of sulphur. Volney supposes, from the singu- lar structure of this lake, that it was once the crater of a vast volcano. Another reason for this supposi- tion is the great depth of the lake, being generally upward of three hundred feet, and in many places the bottom cannot be found with a line of forty rods. Volcanic productions are found in vast quantities on its shores. Whether this idea of Volney is correct, or not, the northern part of this country, especially in the vicinity of Lake Ontario, bears strong marks of having been exposed to the action of those two powerful agents, fire and water, which are constantly producing such mighty changes in the universe of matter. 21. We have now glanced briefly at the general face of the country, the changes which have been produced by the draining of the vast internal lakes, by the breaking away of their barriers, &c, and shall now touch upon those ancient ruins of cities, mounds, and fortifications, in which this country is so peculiarly rich. 22. Foreign travelers complain that America pre- sents nothing like rams within her boundaries ; no ivy-mantled towers, nor moss-covered turrets, as in other quarters of the earth. Old Fort Putnam, on the Hudson, rearing its lofty decayed sides high above West Point ; or the venerable remains of two wars at Ticonderoga, upon Lake CL&mplain, they sny, afford something of the kind. But what are mouldering castles, falling turrets or crumbling MOUNDS AND FORTIFICATIONS. 23 abbeys, in comparison with those ancient and arti- ficial aboriginal hills which have outlived genera- tions, and even all tradition — the workmanship of unknown hands ! Here are skeletons of strange forms, unknown to the Indians ; preserved bodies, fortifications, immense mounds and tumuli, which, from their number, obscurity of origin and magni- tude, are to be ranked among the wonders of ancient things. It remains for America to tell the story of her antiquities — to arouse her virtuosi and anti- quarians to the search ; for here, beyond a doubt, are traits of nations coeval with ancient, and pro- bably with the oldest works of man, this side the flood. 23. These mounds and fortifications are generally where found on fertile bottoms, and near rivers. Several mounds, hundreds have been discovered along the valley of f™n5i the Mississippi ; the largest of which stands not fir from Wheeling, on the Ohio. This mound is fifty rods in circumference, and ninety feet in per- pendicular height. It is filled with thousands of wheel- human skeletons, and was probably situated near some great city, and was a general deposit of the dead for ages — where they were placed in grada- tion, one layer above another, till they reached the top. 24. Judging from the large trees growing on the mound, amid old and decayed timber covered with mould and leaves, showing them to be of the second or third growth, it must have been at least twelve hundred years since it was deserted. 25. In the lower part of Wisconsin are found mounds exceedingly curious in their form and struc- What of the mound mg] AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. ture. They consist of elevations of earth of diversi- fied outline and various size, for the most part con- sisting of effigies of beasts, birds, reptiles, and of the human form, but often circular, quadrangular, 01 oblong in shape. None of these works exceed fifteeu feet in height. In Dade county, Wisconsin, the figures generally resemble the bear or buffalo, and vary in size from ninety to one hundred and twenty feet. In the midst of one group is a representation of a human figure, placed with its head toward the west, and having its arms and legs extended. Its length is one hundred and twenty-five feet, and it is one hundred and forty feet from the extremity of one arm to the other. The body is thirty feet in breadth, the head twenty-five feet in diameter, and its elevation, greater than that of the others, being about six feet. The human figure is not uncommon among the effigies, and. is always characterized by the unnatural length of the arms. Half a mile west of this group stands a solitary mound, ninety feet long, representing an animal with its head toward the south-west. This class of mounds are scattered to a considerable extent throughout this portion of the country, and are generally found in groups in a fertile country, and near streams of water. They form a class unlike those in the southern part of the valley of the Mississippi, and in the vicinity of the Ohio and the Lakes. 26. At Marietta extensive fortifications are found, consisting of walls and mounds of earth, eukr* running in straight lines, from six to ten feet high, and nearly forty broad at their base. There is What of le forti- fications at Muri Of Hu- man ori- gin? FORTIFICATIONS IN OHIO. 25 also at this place a fort of this ancient description, which incloses nearly fifty acres of land. There are openings in this fortification, supposed to have been, when thronged with its own busy multitudes, used as gateways, with a passage from one of them, formed by two parallel walls of earth, lead- ing toward the river. This fort gives us some- thing of an idea, not only of the power of the builders, but the strength of their enemy. These whal fortifications correspond, in almost every respect, SLTwi with the Roman forts and camps ; and it is highly P*fe U 'hat 17 O J the>e lor probable, as we shall hereafter show, that they were 8S" aii constructed by that nation. 27. Any one, on looking at the account given by Joseph us of the forms of the Roman camps, in his Book 5, chap. 5, page 219, will be surprised at the striking similarity between the two ; a similarity which could not have been the result of chance. Dr. Morse says the forts of the Romans in Eng- land were universally square; and those of the ancient Danes, Belgse and Saxons, were distinguish- ed by being round. Here, too, are the parallel walls, the ditch, the elevated squares at its corners, the parapets and gateways, like those of the Romans. At the time that the Romans held Britain as a province, their character was a martial and a mar- itime one. They possessed a sufficient knowledge of navigation to traverse the ocean, by means of the stars and the sun. Their ships, as early as the year 55 before Christ, were large and heavy ; and it was equally in their power to have found Ame- rica by chance, as well as other nations — the Welsh or the Scandinavians, who made a settlement 20 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. at the mouth of the St. Lawrence in the year 1000. \\h ,< re- 28. In the month of December. 1827, a planter [JSyjf discovered in a field, a short distance from Monte fca/'/i 1 " Video, a sort of tomb-stone, upon which strange, and to him unknown characters were engraved. He caused this stone, which covered a small exca- vation formed with masonry, to be raised, in which he found two exceedingly ancient swords, a helmet, and shield, which had suffered much from rust ; also an earthen vessel of large capacity Greek words were easily made out upon them, which, when translated, read as follows : " During the dominion of Alexander the son of Philip, King of Macedon, in the sixty-third Olym- piad, Ptolemais " it was impossible to decypher the rest, on account of the ravages of time on the engraving of the stone. 29. On the handle of one of the swords is the portrait of a man, supposed to be Alexander the Great. On the helmet there is sculptured work, that must have been executed with the most ex- quisite skill, representing Achilles dragging the Towhai corpse of Hector round the walls of Troy, a scene *"».'! 'lire taken from Homer's Iliad. From the discovery of f™m these relics it is quite clear that the soil of Brazil has been dug by some of the old Greeks, who lived near the time of Alexander. It is highly probable that some of the Grecian navigators, in their voy- ages of discovery, of which they made many, were driven upon the southern coast, and left behind them this monument to preserve the memory of their vovage to so distant a country. relics GREEK DISCOVERIES. 2/ 30. Eratosthenes, a Greek philosopher, mathe- matician and historian, who flourished two hundred ^i" 1 ' years before Christ, mentions the name of Pytheas, thc,ies? who lived in the time of Alexander the Great, as being a Greek philosopher, geographer and astron- omer, as well as a voyager, if not an admiral, as he made several voyages into the Atlantic Ocean. There was a great liability of these adven- turers being driven off in a western direction, not only by the current which sets always toward America, but also by the trade-winds, which blow in the same direction for several months in the year. 31. In 1821, on the bank of the river Desperes, what in Missouri, was found by an Indian a Roman have J been din coin, which was presented to Gov. Clark. A Per- ooveret1 ' sian coin was also discovered near a spring in the Ohio some feet under ground. The remains of former dwellings, hearths and what of fire-places, and bones of animals in immense quan- maihsof tities, are found along the banks of the Ohio, many dweii- feet under ground ; while above these former habi- tations of men are found growing trees, as large as any in the surrounding forest. Surely, this car- ries us back into the dark past, and tells us a mournful tale of the overthrow of mighty nations, and the final extinction of their name from the earth. 32. Lexington, in Kentucky, stands nearly on w the site of an ancient town, of great extent and [^"1 magnificence, which is amply evinced by the wide &d range of its works covering a great quantity of u-«u»nj ground. 28 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. There is connected with the antiquities of this place a catacomb, formed in the bowels of the limestone rock, about fifteen feet below the surface of the earth. This was discovered in 1775 b} some of the first settlers, whose curiosity was ex , cited by the singular appearance of the stones the cma- which covered the entrance to the cavern. They rd he?/? removed the stones, when was laid open to their view the mouth of a cave, deep, gloomy, and terri- fic, as they supposed. Providing themselves with lights and companions, they descended and entered without obstruction a spacious apartment. The sides and extreme ends were formed into niches and compartments, and occupied by figures, repre- senting men. When their alarm had sufficiently subsided to permit them to pursue their investiga- tions, they found these figures to be mummies, preserved, by the art of embalming, in as great a state of perfection as any that have been dug out of the tombs in Egypt, where they have remained more than three thousand years. Unfortunately for antiquity and science, this inestimable discov- ery was made by an ignorant class of people, at a period when a bloody and inveterate war was car- ried on between the Indians and whites. 33. The whites, indignant at the many outrages "ot committed by the Indians, wreaked their hatred and revenge upon every thing connected with them. Supposing this to be a burying-place for their dead, they dragged them out to the open air, tore open their bandages, kicked the bodies into dust, and made a general bonfire of the most an- cient remains antiquity could boast. The descent W hat b& came 'he aium CATACOMB NEAR LEXINGTON. 2V* to this cavern is gradual — the width four feet, the whaf o , height seven, and the whole length of the catacomb [Si of was found to be eighteen rods and a half, and the er»V width six and a half; and calculating from the niches and shelvings on the sides, it was capable of containing at least two thousand subjects. 34. Here they had lain, perhaps, for thousands of years, embalmed and placed there by the same race of men with those who built the Pyramids of Egypt, and who excavated their tombs in the earth, or in the rocky mountain sides. What changes had passed over the world since they were deposit- ed there in their quiet resting-place by the hands of affection ! Over the ruins of their cities a new race flourished. Earth had grown old and hoary, and time had crumbled their monuments into dust. 