Helen Wall Pierson

“ We are one flesh and blood."
So our land grew, and State by State was laid out, and towns were built, and all this time the King of Eng-land was at the head of the whole. There were more In-di-an wars; for the red men gave the new folk no peace. They would come down from the depths of the woods of Can-a-da on their snow shoes, and drag men and their wives from their beds and scalp them and set their homes on fire. Many a child, too, had to fly with the rest in the cold night, with bare feet and few clothes on, to seek a place to hide from this fierce foe. ”

“ On the birth day of Wash-ing-ton, men would meet to dine in all the large towns; and those who made rhymes would write odes to the great man. There were some who did not like all this state and form and show. They thought it was too much like the style of kings in the old land, and they would have been glad to have a new mode here. ”

“ He had read a great deal, and found out more than those round him knew. You have seen the sharp light play in the dark clouds in a storm. You know that it strikes at times; it may be a house or a barn or a man, and that the one who is struck is apt to die. ”

“ There are some who think that all trade should be free; and that ships should sail here with what they choose and land it, with no one to see what it is, and put a tax on it.
Ad-ams, in his time, was for a high tax, and for this cause he did not have but one term as our chief. Those who did not want the tax had the most votes, and they chose An-drew Jack-son for the next man. He had been well known in the war, and had built up those breast works in New Or-leans of which we have told you, from which our men beat the Brit-ish. ”

“ Men would help the slaves, spite of the law; and in some States they made laws of their own, that no one could claim a slave if he did not bring the case in to court, that they might see if he had a just claim. ”

“ Some of these men went back 52 to their old homes, and came here in the troops of the King to fight their old friends. Some stayed and came round to new views, and took part in the wars that came to pass in time. All knew that the ranks of the King would be made of men who had fought in wars, and were known to be brave; while on our side they would be raw men, who did not know the art of war. But still our men were brave, and they said, with strong hearts, "The strife may be long, but the end is sure. We will fight for our homes, for our lands, for the right. ”

“ In each town, at this time, men thought but of war, and how to train for it; so that in case of need each one could spring to arms at once. Guns were put in a safe place, and stores of food were bought. The Brit-ish in their turn kept watch on all, and more troops were brought in.
Our men made a plan, that when it should be known that a large force of the Brit-ish were to move out of Bos-ton at night, a light should be hung out of the North Church by way of a sign. One night the watch by the Charles saw the light gleam high on the church, and they knew some move was on hand. ”

“ When Wash-ing-ton came out where all could see him, and the oath was read to him, and he took it, a great cheer rent the air, and a cry rang out, "Long live George Wash-ing-ton, Pres-i-dent of the U-nit-ed States." There was a flag flung out from that Hall, a peal of bells rang, and a blast was sent out from the guns, to show the joy and the love with which they took him for their chief. This was on April 30, 1789.
War is bad for all folks; for it is hard, when it is past, for men to learn the arts of peace. Wash-ing-ton found the whole land in debt. ”

“ When men heard of his brave deeds, more came to help him. The most of them were from Vir-gin-ia, and brought their slaves with them.
The In-di-ans were in a rage at all this new force, and made the best fight they could to drive them from the soil; so that whole land came to be known as the "Dark Land of Blood." In time, peace was made, and the land grew to a State by the name of Ken-tuck-y.
Wash-ing-ton held his post for two terms, or eight years, and he did not wish to serve more. So John Ad-ams was the choice of all, for the next chief of our land. ”

“ You do not know what stocks are in these times, but if you had stood in a New Eng-land town then, you would have seen a strange thing made of wood, by the road near the church. This queer frame of wood would hold a man fast so that he could not move, and you may think a day in the stocks would be hard to bear, and would make one's bones ache. ”

“ And just at this time, to make things worse, and stir up great fear in the land, a slave in Vir-gin-ia, got a mob of black men, and they went from house to house and put all to death who came in their way. ”

“ He drew all troops out of the South, that those States might put their own laws in force, with no help from Wash-ing-ton; so that if their own folks had wrongs, their own courts must set the thing right.
Time has shown that this course was wise. The 147 States at the South have grown in peace and good will to us since that time, and the white men there now seem quite glad to have the black men vote. Rail ways have been built so fast that it is thought in a few years there will be four or five of these great lines through the whole length and breadth of the land. ”

“ They did not believe in wars, and would not bear arms. They would not hire a man to preach for them; but when they met, each one spoke as he felt the thought come in his heart. They kept the laws, and did to all men as they wished them to do to them. ”

“ Once more the talk on free States and slave States was heard on all sides, and Hen-ry Clay had made more than one great speech to try and keep the peace. Cal-i-for-nia came in as a free State; but a bill went in force which made it a crime to help or keep a slave who had run off from his home. A man could go in to a free State and take back his slave by force, and no court or Judge in the land could stop him. In fact, they were bound to help him. This was thought harsh and wrong by most of the men at the North ”

“ Some few of the band got off to the free States. All this made the talk of North and South on the slave trade more and more fierce; and when a new man was to be made Pres-i-dent, those who went for free soil, that is, no slaves, chose their own man, and he got the most votes. These Free Soil men had grown to be a large throng, and they had a new name. The man they chose was A-bra-ham Lin-coln. ”

“ But this, you know, hurt us more 98 than it hurt Eng-land; and, for a time, Jef-fer-son came in for a share of the hard thoughts, as though it were all his fault. Those whose trade had been hurt by the law felt as if he had been to blame, and the cause of loss to them. There were, too, on the sea a band of sea thieves, as we might call them. They were men who came from a wild race, far off, who would seize ships when they could, and take all the crew and hold them for slaves, till their friends would pay a good price for them. ”

“ But those who were brave enough to come and live in this new land, had a hard life at first. There were no snug farms as now, with fields of green corn and wheat. At times the poor men could not get much to eat, and one wrote home: "The crumbs that fall from your meals would be sweet to me. When I can get a cup of meal and boil It with a pinch of salt, I give thanks as for a great feast. The In-di-ans at times bring corn and trade it for clothes or knives. ”

“ At New York and Bos-ton they did not try to land the tea when they heard of this, but took it back. At one time the tea was set on fire. All this made our men more and more set on their own 50 way; and the King grew in a rage with them. He made some strong laws, sent troops to Bos-ton, and put in force a bill called a Port Bill, which would not let a boat go in or out the port, save that it brought food or wood. One of their own men stood up and said this was a "bill to make us slaves." ”

“ Each tribe had its head man, called a chief, and their great joy was in war. When their foes took them, they would not pray for their lives. They were brave in their own way, and would show no fear at the sight of the fire that was to burn their flesh. ”

“ King Phil-ip and his men made their camp in a great swamp, where it was hard for the white men to reach them. Here they laid up a store of food, and had great tribes of red men. They would not fight in the wide fields, but would skulk in nooks, and rush out and hold all the land in fear, for the foe would seem to be on all sides. ”

“ While Wash-ing-ton had the rule of the land, more new States came in. The first of these was Ver-mont. This State was full of green hills and strong brave men, who had cut down the trees and made homes there. Once New York laid claim to this land, but they could not drive these brave men out. They thought they had a right to the soil, and they sent a man, by name E-than Al-len, to talk with the men of New York. ”

“ He spoke with such grace and force that he could sway men's minds and thrill their hearts. He has said, "I owe all I have won in life to one fact, that when I was a boy, and for some years, as I grew up, I would learn and speak what I read in books. ”

“ Once he went to fight the Turks. He is said to have been sold as a slave. It may be all these tales are not true; but it is true he taught his own friends in Vir-gin-ia how to live. He got them to build a fort and log huts for the cold times. He made friends as far as he could of the In-di-ans, so that he could get boat loads of food from them. He said that "he who would not work might not eat;" so no man could be a drone in the hive. Each one must learn to swing the axe in the woods or to hunt and to fish. ”

“ When the day came, and the sun rose, the earth works were seen from the ships, and at once they sent out a fire on them. So in Bos-ton the troops woke to see the true state of things, and were not slow to do their best. But our men went on with their work, spite of the shots. One of the foe had a glass through which he could see each move of our men round the works. "Will they fight?" ”

“ They had drills of their young men, and got arms, and had made choice of a man to lead them. His name was John C. Cal-houn, and he was to be their first chief. But Jack-son said that "if a State could go out of the band of States when it chose, we would come to naught;" and he sent troops and ships of war to the South, and put a stop to all the stir in a short time.
Tribes of the red men had gone out to the far West, but there were those who would not move. There was a tribe in Flor-i-da who fought for a long time in the swamps of that land. ”

“ In those days our land was the home of the In-di-ans, or red men, as we call them, from their dark skins. The red man does not live in a house, but in a sort of tent or hut. The tribes of red men had all this land for their own when Co-lum-bus was born. ”

“ At last Con-gress let Mis-sou-ri come in as a 109 slave State, but made a law that a line should be drawn in the land. North of this line there could be no slaves. South of it men could keep slaves or not, just as they chose; men look on this now as a weak move. At that time the slaves were few, and the trade not great, so it might have been put down with more ease. But with time it grew so strong that it took long years and a great war to crush it out. Five new States came in while Mon-roe was at the head of the land. ”

“ Once he had his camp at the head of some men at West Point, and he made up his mind to give this place, which was strong with forts, to the Brit-ish. This he would have done, and the whole land would have come to grief, but for a chance that brought the vile plan to light.
One day a young man rides down the path by the stream. There is a wood of oak near. On the ground, by the trees, there are three young men. They have a game of cards. They have been out all night, and have sat down to rest. ”

“ In 1675, a war, known as King Phil-ip's war, broke out in Mass-a-chu-setts. King Phil-ip was an In-di-an chief who saw that the white man would soon own all the land, and he knew that 32 meant death to his race. He made a plan to kill all the white men. ”

“ All such omissions have been made from the fear of rendering the task of reading the book too difficult for many, who, as they grow older, can add to the list that fame has made illustrious, and take wider views of the history of this land. ”

“ At times our men would make a good fight, and then there would be dark days when the foe had things all his own way. The Eng-lish had paid some tribes of In-di-ans to fight on their side; and once there was a sad scene, where men and their wives and babes were put to death by these fierce wild men. ”