History4U

Lived: 1/29/1843 - 9/14/1901
Served: 3/4/1897 - 9/14/1901
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

When the time for a new election drew near, the silver men, including most of the Democratic party, proposed Bryan, while the Republicans, in favor of gold, nominated William McKinley. Both parties were greatly excited, there were huge processions everywhere, but McKinley was finally elected by the citizens in favor of sound money.

Shortly after his inauguration, the Wilson tariff was set aside in favor of the Dingley Bill. The wheat crops having been unusually large in the West, the farmers earned much money, and newspapers showed that business was doing better day by day.

As you have read in this book, our country is made up of different pieces of land which came into our hands one after another. First, you know, we had only the thirteen colonies with the land to the Mississippi. Next, we bought Louisiana, or most of the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. To this we added, little by little, Oregon, Florida, Texas, New Mexico and California, the Gadsden Purchase, and then Russian America, or Alaska. During McKinley’s term we also added several distant islands to our possessions, as you shall soon hear.

It seems as if there must always be war somewhere. While all was going on smoothly with us, the newspapers told harrowing tales of the suffering in Cuba, where the people were fighting to win their independence from Spain.

Spain not only refused to part with this choice possession, but went on treating the Cubans so unjustly that in 1868 they again rebelled, and began a ten years’ war. During this long struggle the Cubans did wonders; but they were so few, compared to the Spanish forces, that they could not win their freedom. In their despair they called upon the United States for aid, but Congress refused it.

[On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolosz in Buffalo, New York—two years after publication of this book.]

Lived: 3/18/1837 - 6/24/1908
Served: 3/4/1893 - 3/3/1897
Party: Democrat
Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Cleveland’s second election took place two years after the centennial census had been taken, showing that our nation had grown from about four million to about sixty–three million inhabitants. The voting process was carried on in a different way this time, because most of our states used the Australian system of balloting.

As you perhaps do not know what Australian balloting means, I must try to make it clear to you. Each voter receives a paper, called ballot, at the voting place, or polls. On this paper are printed the names of all the different candidates. The voter then goes into a little closet or booth, where no one can see him, marks and folds his ballot, and brings it out to be put into the ballot box. As no one knows how he has voted unless he chooses to tell, this system has served to check bribery, for politicians know that a man who is dishonorable enough to sell his vote is likely to lie, and they do not care to waste their money.

Cleveland is, so far, the only President whose two terms have not come together; he is the twenty–fourth, as well as the twenty–second, President of the United States.

You have probably heard so much about Columbus that you will not be surprised to learn that after celebrating all the centennials of the Revolutionary War, Americans began to think it would be right to do something grand to keep the fourth centennial of his discovery of America.

After much thought, they decided to have a monster World’s Fair at Chicago; but as the plans were made too late to have it ready for 1892, the real celebration was put off till the next year. Still, in 1892, President Cleveland went to Chicago to dedicate the World’s Fair, and in the spring of 1893 it was thrown open to the public. The newspapers had been telling so much about the coming fair, the vast preparations, and the beautiful buildings, that every one wanted to see them. But no one ever imagined anything half so beautiful as the Great White City really was.

Several million people passed through its gates to view its wonders, and although many had seen fine sights before, all agreed that nothing could compare with the Chicago Exposition.

Not only were there exhibits of all kinds, from all parts of the world, but grounds and buildings were decorated with flowers and statues, and illuminated by electricity, until the place looked like fairyland.

Among the beautiful pictures and statues seen on all sides, were many showing some part of the life of Columbus. Besides, all the visitors were particularly interested by four queer–looking ships anchored in the lake. They had been sent from Norway and from Spain. One was an exact model of an old Viking boat, and the others of the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria, the vessels with which Columbus had first crossed the Atlantic.

Here, too, were exhibited many new inventions, and besides the wonderful things made by Edison, people admired the work of Tesla, another genius in electricity. To show Americans how times had changed, the first and last locomotives stood side by side, Indian canoes, gondolas, and naphtha launches flitted about the lakes, and savages from some of the uncivilized parts of the world mixed in the crowd of loyal Americans and courtly foreigners.

In the year of the famous Chicago World’s Fair, more strikes occurred, and in the course of the next year the workmen in some cities grew so unruly that the troops had to be called out. Many people thought that the business panic of 1893 was caused by the monthly coinage of silver; so Congress decided to stop coining that metal.

But this decision did not please everybody, and people took sides on the question. Some were in favor of the unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, although sixteen pounds of silver were now worth much less than one pound of gold. They were hence called “silver men,” or “free–coinage” men. But those who did not believe in the unlimited coinage of silver, and insisted that gold was the best kind of money, were called “gold bugs,” or “sound money” men.

Meanwhile, as Cleveland and the Congress thought that the McKinley tariff was partly to blame for the trouble, it was changed in favor of another suggested by Wilson.

Lived: 8/20/1833 - 3/13/1901
Served: 3/4/1889 - 3/3/1893
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Leo

Our twenty–third President (1889–93) was Benjamin Harrison, a grandson of “Old Tippecanoe,” the ninth President. He, too, served in the Civil War, where his men loved him dearly. After the war, Harrison practiced law, served as a senator, and was chosen to fill the highest position in our country.

Six new states were admitted during his term: North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming. The United States then had forty–four stars in its “field of blue.” In two of the new Western states, Wyoming and Idaho, and also in Colorado and Utah, women are allowed to vote as well as men, the people there having decided in favor of “woman suffrage.”

New land was open to settlers under Harrison, for the territory of Oklahoma, or the “Beautiful Land,” had been bought from the Indians. As Oklahoma once formed part of the Indian Territory, the President had forbidden any white man to set foot in it until he gave permission to do so. But when it became known that the rich lands of Oklahoma would be open to settlers on April 22, 1889, hosts of people prepared to go there.

To make sure they would have a fair chance, they came on foot and in wagons, on horseback and muleback, and camped along the border. When the bugle gave the signal at twelve o’clock on the appointed day, they made a mad rush into the country. Before night more than fifty thousand persons had crossed the line, and by the next morning several “mushroom” towns had sprung up, newspapers had been printed and were ready for distribution, and all kinds of business had begun.

Of course, towns such as Oklahoma city and Guthrie were at first only a collection of tents, clapboard shanties and huts, or prairie wagons, but before many months were over, banks, churches, and town buildings arose, and the people began to plan for street cars and electric lights. Since then the growth of Oklahoma Territory has been so rapid that before long it will probably be ready to join the Union as a state.

The centennial celebration of Washington’s inauguration was held in New York in 1889. There was another grand procession on this occasion, which passed under the Washington Memorial Arch, erected in honor of the centennial of the inauguration of America’s greatest man as our first President. The places made famous by Washington’s presence were all visited; and to commemorate his arrival, President Harrison, too, was rowed to New York in a barge manned by thirteen sailors. Not only did the army and navy figure in this procession, but all the trades and industries of our land were represented by picturesque floats, and there were large deputations of citizens and workmen.

This joyful celebration was soon forgotten, however, for, about one month later, a fearful calamity befell Johnstown in Pennsylvania. The dam of a reservoir burst after long rains, and a wall of water, forty feet high and about half a mile wide, rushed down the Conemaugh valley faster than any express train. A few moments before, seeing the dam was giving way, Engineer Parks rode madly down the valley, calling to all the people to flee. But, in spite of this warning, the waters followed him so closely that more than two thousand persons perished.

Houses were dashed to pieces, locomotives carried away like chips, and millstones weighing a ton apiece rolled along like pebbles. “Trees, brush, furniture, boulders, pig and railway iron, corpses, machinery, miles and miles of barbed wire, and an indescribable mass” of wreckage rushed down the valley, formed a big whirlpool which crushed everything to pieces, and, sweeping on once more, made a jam at the railroad bridge.

Here, as the waters went down, the mass caught fire, and although there were still some living creatures caught in the ruins, they could not be saved. Money, food, clothing, physicians, and nurses were sent on as rapidly as possible, but the flood of Johnstown will never be forgotten by any who saw or heard it.

During that same month another misfortune visited the United States. This was a huge fire at Seattle, which destroyed nearly all the business part of the town; but fortunately, in this case, very few lives were lost.

IN 1889 was held the “Pan–American Congress,” or assembly of delegates from the principal governments of North, South, and Central America. After meeting in Washington, where they settled a great deal of business concerning trade, the strangers visited about forty towns in our Union. They also examined many of the large mines and factories, and went home delighted with their journey and full of admiration for all they had seen.

While Harrison was President, Congress made laws granting more pensions to soldiers, and said that goods coming from abroad would have to pay duty as proposed in the McKinley tariff bill. A new copyright law was also made, whereby foreign artists and writers can be protected by American copyright, provided the conditions of the law are complied with and copies of their works are sent to the Congressional Library (1890).

In 1890 there were more Indian troubles among the Sioux in North Dakota. When told by their chiefs that the Messiah was coming to avenge their wrongs by killing all the white men, these red men grew so excited that an attempt was made to quiet or disarm them. They resisted fiercely, and were not subdued until a small battle had been fought, in which about two hundred Indians were killed.

That same year, a great change took place in Utah. When it belonged to Mexico, our government had gladly seen the Mormons go there, and did not care whether they had several wives or not. But when Utah was handed over to us it became a different matter. The laws of the United States allow a man to have only one wife, so the Mormons were told that they would never be allowed to join the Union until they made laws forbidding polygamy.

For a time they would not consent. But when they found they could not hold office, or sit on a jury, if they had more than one wife, they made up their minds to end polygamy. Some of the best men among them had never approved of it, and the Book of Mormon does not mention it. All Mormons still consider their book as sacred as the Bible, but they no longer follow the example given by Brigham Young, or allow any of their people to have more than one wife. Six years after the Mormons gave up polygamy, Utah was admitted to the Union as the forty–fifth state (1896).

In 1890, the chief of police in New Orleans found that a few Italians in the city belonged to a secret society called Mafia, whose object was to rob and murder. While he was trying to secure the wrongdoers they watched him closely, and, seeing that he suspected them, murdered him one night while he was walking home alone. Eleven Italians were therefore seized and nine of them brought to trial. But the jurymen were afraid or unwilling to condemn the criminals, though there was no doubt they were guilty. This so angered some of the citizens that they decided to take the law into their own hands.

Collecting at the foot of the Clay statue,—they evidently forgot he was the great peacemaker,—a few men began to make speeches which greatly excited the crowd. Before long, the mob marched off to the prison, seized a huge beam, and, rushing forward, battered in the door.

Warned of what was coming, and knowing they were not strong enough to protect the prisoners from the people’s fury, the policemen set the Italians free, bidding them save themselves if they could. But it was too late; the mob came pouring in, and in a few minutes either shot or hung all the men. This was very wrong; for while the criminals deserved death, they never should have received it through lynch law. Every one who thus takes the punishment of a crime into his own hands shows that he does not respect our Constitution, which says that every man accused is to have the right to be tried by a jury.

Besides, this act of violence made trouble for the country. The king of Italy, hearing that several of his subjects had been murdered, suddenly asked for damages. Although our government explained just how the matter had happened, the Italian government insisted until the United States gave the men’s families $25,000. But if people had quietly waited until the case was again tried, the criminals would have been punished by the law, no fault would have been found with us, and no money need ever have been paid. You see by that how much wiser it always is to respect the laws, and never to allow one’s self to be carried away by speeches made by mob leaders.

In the year 1891, some of our sailors, walking through the streets of Valparaiso, were attacked by the people there, although they were doing nothing wrong. But there had been civil war in Chile, and Chileans on both sides had asked for our help. They felt so angry because it had been refused that they attacked our sailors, killing two and wounding eighteen of them.

When our government heard of this it was justly angry. Chile was called upon to apologize and pay damages. At first, the South American republic refused to do so, but finally the affair was quietly settled to our satisfaction.

Lived: 3/18/1837 - 6/24/1908
Served: 3/4/1885 - 3/3/1889
Party: Democrat
Zodiac Sign: Pisces

In 1885, Grover Cleveland became the twenty–second President of the United States. He was the first Democratic President seen in the White House for twenty–four years. Even some Republicans voted for him in preference to Blaine, their own candidate, because they knew he would uphold the civil–service reform.

Cleveland, the son of a minister, was left alone at sixteen, without any money at all. But he was strong and very ambitious, and studied so hard in his leisure moments that he became a successful lawyer.

He practiced in Buffalo, took an interest in politics, and after being governor of New York, became President of the United States. Shortly after his inauguration, people were greatly interested to hear that he was engaged to a young lady noted for her charming manners and kind heart. Their marriage took place in the Blue Room, in the White House, and although there had been eight weddings there before, this one was considered the grandest of all, because the President himself was the bridegroom. When he and Mrs. Cleveland came home from their wedding trip, the bride was “the first lady of the land,” and soon won the hearts of all who saw her.

The year after Cleveland’s inauguration is known as “Strike Year,” because many laboring men, who had joined a union called the “Knights of Labor,” refused to work unless they received more pay and had shorter hours. Although the strike began in New York, it soon spread all over the country, north and south.

In some places, the men grew so excited that there were riots, and the troops had to be called out to suppress them. The worst disturbance of all, however, was at Chicago, where some anarchists—men who wanted to overthrow all the laws—not only excited the people, but threw a dynamite bomb when the police came to scatter them.

Several men were killed and wounded, and as pistol shots were heard in the mob, the police had to resort to force. Many of the strikers were killed, and others were seized, tried, and punished. But when the Chicago workmen found out later that their ringleaders were foreigners who wanted to upset all laws, they ceased to listen to them.

The strikes were hardly ended when a terrible earthquake occurred, which extended from Florida to Cape Cod (1886). At Charleston the earth heaved so violently that tall buildings were shaken down like toy houses. Many people were crushed in the ruins, while the rest fled for their lives to the open fields and squares, where they knelt in prayer while the earth shook beneath them.

There were several distinct shocks, and when all was over, many of the buildings in the city lay in ruins. All hearts were touched by the news of this calamity, and as soon as telegraph wires were up again, and trains could run into the city, help was sent from all parts of the country. While Cleveland was President, our nation received, as a present from France, Bartholdi’s statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World.” It is one of the largest statues ever made, and represents a woman holding aloft a lighted torch. The torch is more than three hundred feet above the water. It is reached by a staircase built inside of the statue.

Sent over from France in sections, this statue was set up on Bedloes Island, in New York Bay, where a pedestal was prepared for it. Many people now go out to see this wonderful statue, and, after climbing up the stairs, stand near the windows set all around the statue’s crown, and watch the ships pass to and fro in the harbor.

Among the laws passed during Cleveland’s rule is one forbidding the Chinese emigrants to come into our country. Laws had already been made to stop their coming over in large numbers, but they were not well kept. The Americans did not want any Chinamen in the country, because those who came over here merely wanted to earn as much money as they could to carry back to China. They did not try to learn English, would not wear ordinary clothes, and had no wish ever to become American citizens. Besides, they worked for such small wages that they took work away from Americans. Most of them knew nothing of American laws or Christian religion, so they were greatly disliked, and one California politician hated them so that he began and ended every one of his speeches with the words: “The Chinese must go.”

It was while Cleveland was President that Congress began to carry out the plan made by Secretary Whitney of the navy. He said that our ships had long been out of date, and that we ought to have a better navy. Since then many fine war ships have been built, and we now have a fleet of some of the strongest war vessels in the world.

Another important engineering event took place while Cleveland was President. This was the blasting of a great rock which had caused many a shipwreck in the part of the East River, in New York city, called Hell Gate. Engineer Newton tunneled this rock, and arranged dynamite and electric wires in such a clever way that when his baby daughter touched an electric button, the whole rock was blown to pieces. This made the passage safe for ships of all kinds, and put an end to sad accidents on that spot.

Lived: 10/5/1830 - 11/18/1886
Served: 9/20/1881 - 3/3/1885
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Libra

Very soon after Garfield’s funeral, and during Arthur’s term, there was a grand procession at Yorktown, to celebrate “Surrender Day,” or the centennial of Cornwallis’s surrender, October 19, 1781, in the Revolutionary War. Visitors came thither from all parts of the country, and descendants of the three illustrious Frenchmen, De Grasse, De Rochambeau, and De Lafayette, were invited to be present, as well as those of the German Von Steuben.

On that occasion, the corner stone of a beautiful monument was laid, and speeches were made in English, French, and German. One of the guests present was the widow of President Tyler, who came forward to shake hands with President Arthur. Many other noted people were there, and the crowd loudly applauded such heroes as Sherman, Hancock, and Fitzhugh Lee, who, having taken part in the Civil War, had many admiring friends among their former soldiers.

Besides illuminations, there was also a grand naval review, and when an English vessel came up, flying the Union Jack at its masthead, the whole American fleet fired a salute. This showed very plainly that none but friendly and courteous feelings now existed between the two nations which had twice been face to face in war.

Lived: 11/19/1831 - 9/19/1881
Served: 3/4/1881 - 9/19/1881
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

In 1880 there was a new and very exciting election. The different parties were all eager, as usual, to have their candidates elected; but the Republicans had had much trouble in choosing theirs. While some wanted Grant for a third time, others cried, “Anything to beat Grant,” because they thought it wrong to let a man serve more than eight years, Washington and Jefferson having both refused to do so. Blaine, who had been Hayes’s chief rival in the Republican party four years before, and whom his friends called the “Plumed Knight,” was again suggested, but his friend, James A. Garfield, was finally chosen, and when the election was held he was successful.

The new President was a great favorite, and every one respected him very much. Although so poor that he was once a “mule boy” on a canal towpath, Garfield nevertheless managed to educate himself. By dint of great efforts, he became the head of a college, and for this reason he has sometimes been called the “Teacher President.” Later on he won great praise in the Civil War. He took part in the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga, where he shone by his bravery; and he was then elected a member of Congress.

Garfield had barely been inaugurated (1881), when, as usual, office seekers began to make his life a burden. Still, sharing Hayes’s feelings, he said he would not remove men who were doing their work well; and he thus made some people who wanted places very angry.

One morning in July, the President’s son came bouncing into his room, and, taking a flying leap over the bed, merrily cried, “There! you are President of the United States, but you can’t do that.” The President laughed at the boy’s challenge, and a few seconds later proved he could not be beaten, even in jumping: That same day, while in the best health and spirits, Garfield set out for a train which was waiting to take him east.

Suddenly, an obscure man who had tried in vain to get a government position stepped up behind him in the depot and shot him twice in the back. Garfield fell to the floor. His friends rushed to help the wounded President, and carefully carried him home. But, in spite of the utmost skill, the doctors could not save the President, who daily grew worse.

He was such a strong man, however, that he lingered on until the middle of September. All through this long illness Garfield gave a most noble example to the whole country by his patience and courage in great suffering. Hoping that sea air would help him rally, his friends finally carried him to Elberon, New Jersey. Silent crowds collected at every station to see his car speed past, and the bulletin board was anxiously watched to find out how the President was standing the journey, for all hoped he would soon get better. But he was not to recover, and after a little more suffering passed quietly away.

After lying in state in the Capitol in Washington, the body of this “Martyr President——for Garfield shares that name with Lincoln—was carried to Cleveland, Ohio, where an imposing funeral took place, and where his grave is often visited.

Garfield’s murderer was caught very soon after he had fired those fatal shots; and while people were so angry that they wanted to lynch him, the police took charge of him and brought him before a jury. There were so many who had seen the crime that he could not have denied it, even if he had wished to do so.

At the trial, people found out that the murderer was such a wicked and stupid man that he fancied it would be a fine thing to commit a crime which would make his name known everywhere and prevent its being ever forgotten. His wicked wish has come true, but his name now stands in our history even lower than that of Arnold or Booth in the eyes of all good Americans.

It is true that Arnold was a base traitor, but for many years before that he had been a noble patriot, and he lived to repent of the wrong he had done. The murderer of Lincoln was the vile assassin of a good man, but he had thought so long over the sufferings of the Confederates that he was half insane when he killed the President.

When the murderer of Garfield was tried, his lawyer attempted to prove that this criminal did not deserve punishment because he was out of his right mind; but it was shown that he had been sane enough to plan the murder some time before. When the jury heard this, they decided that the law should take its usual course, and he was hanged.

All through Garfield’s illness, Vice President Chester A. Arthur was in a very delicate position. By our Constitution he was to take the President’s place only in case of the latter’s death, resignation, or inability to discharge his duties.

But it was at first impossible to decide whether the President would recover or not, and as no great event took place at that time to make it necessary, Arthur firmly refused to take Garfield’s place. But a few hours after Garfield had breathed his last, Arthur, who was known as “the first gentleman in the land,” on account of his kind, true feelings and courteous manners, took the presidential oath.

While Garfield lay hovering between life and death, Arthur himself was also taken very ill. For a time it seemed as if the country would be left without any President at all. To prevent such a thing ever happening, Congress made a law (1885) saying that if President and Vice President both died, the President’s place was to be taken by a certain member of the Cabinet. Therefore it is only in case the President, Vice President, and seven Cabinet members die, that our country can be without a head.

Congress also said it was high time to put an end to the “spoils system,” by which each new President was annoyed by office seekers. So it was decided that a great many of the positions in the government offices were to be given only to such as proved themselves most capable, by passing civil–service examinations (1883).

Lived: 10/4/1822 - 1/17/1893
Served: 3/4/1877 - 3/3/1881
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Libra

Grant was succeeded in the White House by Rutherford B. Hayes, the nineteenth President of the United States (1877). Hayes had taken a brave part in the Civil War, had been governor of Ohio, and was greatly respected for his many good qualities.

When called to be President, Hayes frankly said that in government positions there should be “no dismissal except for cause, and no promotion except for merit.” Besides, he always thought and openly said that the South would get along much better if the United States troops were withdrawn. Still, owing to a dispute about the counting of votes, no one knew at first whether he or his rival Samuel J. Tilden had been elected. As the quarrel could not be decided otherwise, a commission of five congressmen, five senators, and five judges was chosen to settle the matter, and their decision was in favor of Hayes.

True to his principles, Hayes immediately called back the troops, an order which most people in the country considered very wise. Southerners were now left to settle their own affairs, and they have done it so wisely that no one has ever regretted Hayes’s action, although some of his enemies had predicted that it would make trouble.

During Hayes’s one term there were several great strikes among coal miners and railroad employees. These strikes spread all through New York and Pennsylvania, and even in the West. At one time there were more than one hundred and fifty thousand men out of work; and the strikers grew so unruly at Pittsburg that they destroyed much property, and ceased rioting only when the troops were called out to subdue them.

Already in 1868 our minister Burlingame had made a trade treaty with China, but when Hayes became President, Congress passed a bill to prevent the Chinese from coming over here. Hayes vetoed this bill and in 1878 received the first real Chinese embassy in the White House. There, their jewels, gorgeous costumes of finest silk, and gay peacock feathers caused a great sensation.

The most important event during Hayes’s term was that the government said it was ready to pay gold in exchange for every “greenback” issued during the war. But now that the people knew they could get gold in exchange for the paper money whenever they wanted it, they decided to keep on using bills, because they are so much easier to carry than coin. At the same time, Congress passed a Silver Bill, providing that the government should buy and coin a certain amount of silver every month, using sixteen times as much silver in a silver dollar as of gold in a gold dollar.

Before Hayes’s term ended, a dispute about fisheries between Canada and the United States was settled in a friendly way, by our paying Great Britain five and a half millions for the right to fish along the Canadian coast.

Hayes and his wife helped the cause of temperance and set a good example for the whole country, by refusing to have any kind of wine or strong drink on their table in the White House.

Lived: 4/27/1822 - 7/23/1885
Served: 3/4/1869 - 3/3/1885
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Two questions arose with Great Britain while Grant was President, which might have made trouble. But, instead of fighting, some of the best statesmen of both countries made a treaty at Washington (1871), saying that the difficulties should be decided by arbitration.

A board of distinguished men, therefore, met at Geneva, in Switzerland, to settle what are known as the “Alabama claims.” You remember that during the Civil War a vessel of that name and other ships were built in England,—a neutral country,—and handed over to the Confederates, who used them to destroy many Union vessels.

After weighing both sides, of the question, this board decided that a neutral country should not furnish vessels and arms to nations at war. As Great Britain had clearly been in the wrong in this case, she was condemned to pay the United States fifteen and a half million dollars as damages for property destroyed.

The second question—the water boundary between the United States and British Columbia in Puget Sound—was left entirely to the Emperor of Germany, who drew the line on the map where it now stands.

While Grant was President there was much talk about the Indians. The greater part of them had, little by little, been removed to the Indian Territory, where the Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminoles had houses and schools, and were fast learning to be very good farmers.

But, besides the orderly and industrious Indians, there were others who were as wild as their ancestors. The food furnished to these tribes by the government agents was not fit to eat, for most of the money devoted to this purpose was stolen by dishonest men. But the President had no idea of this until a Yale professor went to a Sioux Reservation to get specimens for the college museum. The Indians there called him “The–Man–who–came–to–pick–up–Bones,” and their chief, Red Cloud, gave him samples of the food dealt out to the savages, making him promise to show them to the “Great Father” (the President).

The professor kept that promise; and when Grant saw the samples, and heard from some of the officers that the Indians had a right to complain in many cases, he decided that a change must be made.

Since then matters have gone on a little better. Various improvements have been made, and in the government schools you can now see many Indian boys and girls learning to be teachers, so they can help their people to become good American citizens.

Among the worst of the savage Indians, there were the wild Apaches in Arizona, and the Modocs in Oregon, who, unable to agree with the settlers, and refusing to stay in their reservations, were finally forced to obey by the United States troops. This, however, was not accomplished until many Indians and a number of white men had been slain.

The worst Indian war at this time was with the Sioux in the Black Hills in Dakota. Gold having been found there, miners invaded the Indians’ reservation. As the miners and Indians both drank, quarrels and fights soon arose, and, hoping to save bloodshed, the government tried to make a treaty with the Sioux to sell their land and go elsewhere.

The principal chiefs were Sitting Bull and Rain–in–the–Face, who refused to stir. They were then told that they must obey or the troops would force them to do so. But the Indians retreated into the Big Horn valley, where they got ready to fight.

General George A. Custer, who had fought bravely all through the Civil War, set out in June, 1876, to attack them. But he divided his force, so as to strike them from two sides at once, and when he and his two hundred and sixty–two men came suddenly upon the Indians’ camp he found that the Sioux had been joined by many others of their tribe, and now, instead of a few hundred, were five thousand strong!

Lived: 12/29/1808 - 7/31/1875
Served: 4/15/1865 - 3/3/1869
Party: National Union (comprised of Republicans and War Democrats)
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth President of the United States, who took Lincoln’s place, meant to do what was right; but he had never expected to be President, and was thrust into that position at a very uncomfortable time. He had been a poor boy, and was forced to work so hard at his trade as tailor that he had little time left to spend on books. Still, he did his very best, and was not ashamed to learn to write even after his marriage.

His efforts to improve were constant, and they met with such success that he was elected to share with Lincoln the highest place in the United States. Unfortunately, however, Johnson was not born with Lincoln’s tact, and, while honest and good, was so outspoken and obstinate that he made many enemies.

No sooner had the Union army been reviewed and disbanded than President Johnson made a proclamation, offering full pardon to most of the people in the Southern states, if they would faithfully promise to “support, protect, and defend the Union.”

He also put an end to the blockade, allowed trade to begin again, ordered the mails distributed all through the country once more, the laws obeyed, and the taxes collected. He also said that the Southern states could resume their places in the Union as soon as they elected men who would be true to the government.

But when Congress met, shortly after this, it did not approve of what Johnson had done. A quarrel began, therefore, between President and Congress, which grew worse and worse as time went on. The President wanted the Southern states readmitted right away; but Congress said they should not come back until the Negroes were properly protected in their new rights.

The result of this quarrel was that Congress passed bills which Johnson vetoed. Still, they were passed again by a vote of two to one, and thus became laws without his consent. But Johnson vetoed so many bills, first and last, that his enemies called him “Sir Veto.”

Congress also decreed that no Southern state should join the Union again unless it promised to give up all secession ideas, to protect the Negroes and let them vote, and never to pay the Confederate war debt, or ask the nation to pay it. Besides, Congress insisted that no Southerner should be elected to office who could not make oath that he had taken no part in the Civil War against the United States.

This was very unwise, for most of the respectable Southern men had been in the army. When they heard what was required before they could again hold office, they naturally cried out against what they called the “ironclad” oath. Still, as they could not take it, they were shut out of office. Positions of great trust and importance were, therefore, filled by men from the North, who in most cases had no property in the South except what they brought in their traveling bags. Hence they are generally known as “carpetbaggers.” These men were elected mostly by the colored people, who, as yet, had not received any education, and hence could not make a wise choice, and by a small class of Southern people, called “scalawags,” because they were so dishonest that they would cast their votes for any one who paid them for it.

In spite of these unhappy conditions, eight out of the; eleven seceded states soon managed to get back into the Union; but for years Southerners suffered more than words can tell from bad state government. Such was the disorder, that United States troops had to be stationed there to keep peace. But their presence, in many cases, only made matters worse. Besides, police work was just as distasteful to the soldiers as it was to the people, so both parties felt unhappy and sore.

By this time the quarrel between President and Congress had grown so bitter that the House of Representatives impeached him,—that is, accused him of acting against the law and making a bad use of his power. Johnson was therefore called before the Senate, where he was tried: But before he could be put out of office two thirds of the votes had to be against him. One vote proved lacking to make up this count, so he remained President to the end of his term, although he and Congress were now sworn foes.

On Christmas Day, 1868,—to the relief of the whole nation,—full and unconditional pardon was granted to all who had taken any part whatever in the war. This was a move in the right direction, and was followed, before long, by an act of Congress allowing most of the ex–Confederates to hold office again. The better class of the Southern people, now able to take part in public affairs, worked hard to redeem their states, and their noble efforts were soon rewarded. The years which followed the Civil War are generally known as the time of Reconstruction, or rebuilding the governments of the Southern states.

Lived: 2/12/1809 - 4/15/1865
Served: 3/4/1861 - 4/15/1865
Party: Republican
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Lincoln never pretended to be either wise or clever, but his life motto was “to do his level best,” and he manfully put it into practice. He did not like to hear all the quarreling that was going on, and always did all he could to stop it. But when he thought a thing right, he could be very firm; and once, after some ministers tried to convince him, by quoting Bible texts, that slavery was not wrong, he cried:

“I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know His hand is in it. If He has a place and work for me,—and I think He has,—I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. . . . Douglas don’t care whether slavery is voted up or down; but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care, and with God’s help I shall not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come, and I shall be vindicated [proved right], and these men will find that they have not read their Bibles aright.”

When called upon to make his first speech as senatorial candidate, Lincoln said: “—A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the house to fall, but I expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.” This speech is so plain, yet so clever, that it has always been greatly admired. As we have seen, Lincoln had won many friends, so when the time came to elect a new President he was one of the candidates proposed.

During this campaign some of the opposite party tried to spoil Lincoln’s chances by calling him a “rail splitter.” But his friends promptly said that was nothing to be ashamed of, and even carried rails in their processions. When asked whether he had really split the rails they thus paraded, Lincoln once smilingly said that he could not swear to the rails, although he had certainly split a great many just like them. A few gentlemen from the East, seeing Lincoln’s awkward figure, felt sure he would never do for President, but they changed their minds after hearing a speech he made in New York. All listened to it spellbound until he closed it with the noble words: “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.—.

The campaign was an unusually exciting one, for the Southern states had vowed that if Lincoln was elected they would leave the Union. Every one, therefore, anxiously awaited the result of the election; and when it finally became known that Lincoln was chosen, the long–gathering storm burst. The time was now rapidly drawing near when our country was to be a prey to the saddest and bloodiest conflict in our history. War is a very sad thing, even when it has to be waged on outsiders; but a civil war, where friends, fellow–citizens, and even families are often divided, is the saddest thing in the world.

Without even waiting to see what Lincoln would do, the senators from South Carolina left their seats in Congress and went home. Next, a meeting was called in Secession Hall, in Charleston, South Carolina, where it was decided that South Carolina, the “Palmetto State,” should separate, or secede, from the Union (December 20, 1860). The Southern people, you know, firmly believed that they had a perfect right to leave the Union whenever laws were made which they thought unfair.

They were so sure they were doing right that in less than two months six other states joined South Carolina in seceding from the Union. Then the seven states, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, united to form a new republic, which was called the “Confederate States of America.” Southerners said that this new republic was to have “slavery for its corner stone,” and chose a well–known man, Jefferson Davis, for its President. At first Montgomery was the capital of the Confederacy, which adopted a flag with three bars and seven stars instead of the stars and stripes. When this became known in the North, and the people there realized that the new banner would be raised instead of the stars and stripes, they became so excited that Secretary Dix telegraphed to New Orleans: “If any person attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot!”

The Confederates, or secessionists, next seized most of the Southern forts belonging to the United States, except Forts Pickens and Sumter, which the officers refused to surrender. They also fired upon a ship called the Star of the West, when it came into the Charleston harbor to bring supplies to the government troops at Fort Sumter. In fact, the Confederates showed themselves so determined not to let it come in that it had to turn around and go back.

The Southerners believed so thoroughly in state rights that, although many of them did not wish to secede, they felt it their duty to do so. Thus more than two hundred officers who had been in the United States service, and had won laurels in the Mexican War, now gave up their positions in the army and navy and returned home.

The talk of secession by the Southern states, during Lincoln’s campaign, had greatly bewildered President Buchanan, who looked on helplessly, and did nothing. He said that the Southern states had no right to secede, but added that he had no right to force them to stay in the Union. Everything was therefore left for Lincoln to settle, and people anxiously wondered what he would do.

A rumor had arisen that, even if elected, Lincoln should never be inaugurated. This made his friends so anxious for his safety that they persuaded him to travel secretly to Washington. There he was inaugurated, on March 4, 1861. After taking his solemn oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Lincoln made a grand speech, saying that, while he must at any cost keep this oath, he had no intention whatever of meddling with slavery in the states where it already existed.

He said that, in his opinion, no state could leave the Union, declared that he would hold the forts still belonging to the Union, and firmly but kindly added: “In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.”

For the first month after his inauguration, Lincoln was so bothered by office seekers that he could not attend to much else. But by this time Major Anderson, who was holding Fort Sumter, was so short of food and supplies that Lincoln sent word to South Carolina that he was going to send him help. This message was given to Jefferson Davis, who called a council to decide whether the supply should be allowed to come in or not.

There were two opinions about this, even in the Confederate Cabinet, and after some one had spoken warmly in favor of taking the fort by force, the secretary of state gravely said: “The firing upon that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than any the world has yet seen. . . . You will wantonly strike a hornet’s nest which extends from mountains to ocean, and legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death.”

In spite of this warning, Jefferson Davis finally decided that Sumter must be taken. He bade the Southern general, Beauregard, not to allow any supplies to pass in, and to fire upon the fort if it did not surrender. As Anderson firmly refused to yield to Beauregard’s summons, the bombarding of Fort Sumter began on April 12, 1861.

At the end of about thirty hours the fort was a heap of smoking ruins, and as there was neither food nor ammunition left, Anderson was forced to haul down the Union flag and surrender. But he and his men were allowed to leave with their arms and colors, and the flag they thus saved was, as we shall see, again raised over Fort Sumter four years later.

Although there were none killed on either side in this battle of “seventy men against seven thousand,” the firing on Fort Sumter acted like an electric shock upon the whole nation. Until then there had been two kinds of patriots in the North; but the fact that the flag had been fired upon put an end to all disputes, and the people rose like one man to defend it.

Lincoln, who had made no preparations for war, so as not to make the South angry and force matters, now called for seventy–five thousand men “to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of the Union.” These men were called for three months only, because people then fancied that the war would be over in ninety days at the utmost.

In fact, at this sad time both parties greatly misunderstood each other. Educated people in the North felt sure the South would yield rather than see blood shed. But educated people in the South felt equally certain that for the sake of peace the North would yield, as had so often happened before. Besides, there were ignorant Northerners who fancied that Southern people were “fire eaters,” and could only talk; while the same class in the South loudly boasted that the Yankees “would back up against the north pole rather than fight,” and that “one Confederate could whip five Yankees.”