Chapter V: Part 5

Washington now journeyed to Annapolis, Maryland, where Congress was then held, to give back the authority of commander in chief which Congress had bestowed on him eight years before. How unselfish had been the conduct of Washington in refusing pay for his services! How noble was the act of giving up his power over an army which idolized him, and which he might have used to make himself king! But he did not think of these things as he hastened to his beautiful Mount Vernon to enjoy Christmas time once more with his loved ones.

[Sidenote: =How the war had changed things=]

[Sidenote: =Many people visit Washington=]

But what a change had come to Virginia! Eight years before George III was king over all the Thirteen Colonies, and Virginia was ruled by one of his governors. Now the people were ruling themselves, and had elected one of Washington's neighbors, Benjamin Harrison, to be their governor. He missed some old friends. Some had died on the field of battle; others, like Lord Fairfax, had gone back to England, where they could be ruled by George III. Soon visitors began to come--old soldiers, beloved generals, and great statesmen from America, as well as distinguished people from Europe. They all wanted the honor of visiting the man who had led the American armies to victory, but who, again, was only a Virginia planter.

=75. Lafayette Visits Washington.= The year after peace was made Lafayette came back to America to visit General Washington. There were great times at Mount Vernon. Washington, Lafayette, and other noble men sat around the table and there told stories of their struggles and of their triumphs.

_After a painting by Rossiter and Mignot_]

Lafayette visited many other places and received a warm welcome wherever he went; he had taken active part in many battles of the Revolution; his blood had flowed for the American cause. At Monmouth he had saved the Americans from retreat by sending for Washington. He had had an important part in the crowning victory at Yorktown. The Americans loved and admired him, and did all in their power to show their gratitude. Many years after, on another visit to America, Congress voted him two hundred thousand dollars and twenty-four thousand acres of land as a reward for his great services.

[Sidenote: =Another call to duty=]

=76. Washington Elected First President.= The American people would not let Washington long enjoy Mount Vernon, for when they met to make a new constitution, or plan of government, he was chairman of the meeting, and when that government was to go into operation they would have no other man for their first president than George Washington.

[Sidenote: =A triumphal procession from Mount Vernon to New York=]

In 1789 he once more bade Mount Vernon and his aged mother good-by, and began the journey to New York, which was at that time the capital of the new nation. What a journey! It was almost one continual procession and celebration! At every town and roadside the people came to show their love for Washington, whom they rightly called the "Father of his Country." School children scattered flowers in his way and beautiful young women sang patriotic songs as he passed under decorated arches. When he reached New York Harbor the bay was white with the sails of many nations. Crowds thronged the streets, cannon boomed, and flags were thrown to the breeze to welcome him.

[Sidenote: =Washington takes the oath as first president=]

On April 30, 1789, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall in Wall Street, Washington took the oath of office, and pledged himself to govern the people according to the Constitution they had just made. He reverently bent and kissed the Bible, and became the first President of the United States. From the street, from doors and windows, and from the housetops, the people cried out: "Long live George Washington, President of the United States!"

His new office was almost as hard a task as the Revolution had been. He was now in charge of the affairs of the country. He had to see to it that laws were made to protect the rights of every one. Then he had to see that these laws were carried out. He could not guide himself by what another president had done, for there had been none before him.

_From a chromo-lithograph after an original drawing by Alphonse Bigot_]

But Washington directed the new ship of state so that it suffered no harm. When it looked as though we should have another war with England, he wisely preserved peace. So well were the people satisfied that they made him president a second time. When they offered him the office for a third term he refused. Thousands gathered to see him leave the capital. As he gave them his final farewell, tears rolled down his cheeks, and men cried like children.

[Sidenote: =Death in 1799=]

He was glad to get back to Mount Vernon, for he had grown old and weary in serving his country. He spent his remaining years among the scenes he loved so well. There he died in 1799, mourned as a father by the whole people.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Washington was born on the Potomac,
spent his early days on the Rappahannock, and went to school at
Fredericksburg. _2._ He learned many things outside of school,
such as horseback riding, fox hunting, and how to find his way in
the deep forests. _3._ He became a surveyor in the Shenandoah for
Lord Fairfax. _4._ Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington to order
the French to leave the Ohio. _5._ Washington joined Braddock's
campaign against the French, and in the battle tried to save the
army. _6._ Washington married young Mrs. Martha Custis, and was
elected to the House of Burgesses. _7._ Heard Patrick Henry's fiery
speech, went to first Continental Congress, and the second Congress
made him commander over the Continental army. _8._ Washington
drove the British out of Boston, outwitted them around New York,
retreated across the Jerseys, and then beat them at Trenton and
Princeton, _9._ He fought at Brandywine, suffered at Valley Forge,
penned the British up in New York, and finally captured Cornwallis
at Yorktown. _10._ Washington gave up his command and retired to
Mount Vernon, but was called to be the first president of the new
republic.

=Study Questions.= _1._ Who was Washington's father and where did
he meet Washington's mother? _2._ What was a plantation and why so
large? _3._ What things did Washington love to do besides study?
_4._ Why did George make a good captain? _5._ Picture the yearly
ship from London at Mount Vernon. _6._ Who was Lord Fairfax and
what did he engage Washington to do? _7._ What did Washington do at
Greenway Court? _8._ Why was Washington chosen for the mission to
the French, and what was the result? _9._ What were the preliminary
events before the great war? _10._ Picture Braddock's defeat.
_11._ How old was Washington when he first visited Boston? _12._
How did he become so rich? _13._ What news did Washington bring
back to Mount Vernon in 1765? _14._ Who went to Congress with
George Washington, and how did a member speak of him? _15._ What
did he learn at Congress? _16._ Picture the scene in the second
Congress. _17._ Describe the trip to Boston. _18._ What task did
he set before himself, and how did he accomplish it? _19._ How
did Washington outwit Howe? _20._ Who was Nathan Hale? _21._ What
discouraged the Americans? _22._ Picture the surprise and capture
of the Hessians. _23._ How did Washington outwit Cornwallis? _24._
What effect did these victories have? _25._ What sort of a time did
the soldiers spend at Valley Forge? _26._ Who was Steuben, and what
did he do? _27._ How did Lafayette aid Washington? _28._ Picture
the surrounding and capture of Cornwallis. _29._ What changes had
the war made in Virginia? _30._ In what way did Congress honor
Lafayette? _31._ Picture Washington's journey to New York.

=Suggested Readings.= WASHINGTON: Cooke, _Stories of the Old
Dominion_, 94-139; Blaisdell and Ball, _Hero Stories from American
History_, 62-76, 123-155; Hart, _Camps and Firesides of the
Revolution_, 239-255, 261-266, 307-309; Glascock, _Stories of
Columbia_, 101-113; Baldwin, _Four Great Americans_, 9-68; Hart,
_How our Grandfathers Lived_, 45-47; Mabie, _Heroes Every Child
Should Know_, 274-288; Hawthorne, _Grandfather's Chair_, 186-191;
Magell, _Stories from Virginia History_, 56-78, 79-94; Brooks,
_True Story of Lafayette_; Wister, _The Seven Ages of Washington_;
Mace, _George Washington: A Virginia Cavalier_.

THE MAN WHO HELPED WIN INDEPENDENCE BY WINNING THE HEARTS OF FRENCHMEN FOR AMERICA

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE WISEST AMERICAN OF HIS TIME

[Sidenote: =Born in colonial times=]

=77. Benjamin Franklin, the Boy Printer.= When Franklin was born in Boston (1706) there were men still living who had seen John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, and Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island.

[Sidenote: =The scholar of the family=]

Franklin's father was a poor but hard-working man. He made soap and candles. Benjamin's nine brothers had learned trades, but his parents had decided that he should be the "scholar of the family." At eight he went to school to prepare for college and was soon at the head of his class.

[Sidenote: =Put to work=]

But it was hard to feed and clothe a family of seventeen, and Benjamin was sent to another school where he could fit himself for business. But he did poorly in arithmetic, and at ten was taken out of school and put to work with his father.

[Sidenote: =Longs for the sea=]

In the port of Boston Franklin saw the ships and sailors of all nations, and longed to go to sea, but his father took him to visit the shops, where he saw men busy at work with all kinds of tools. Although Benjamin liked to work with tools, he liked to read better, and spent all his little earnings in buying books. He borrowed books when he could not buy them.

[Sidenote: =How he improved his language=]

Finally Franklin's parents decided that since he loved books so well he might be a printer, and put him to learn the trade with an older brother. Benjamin was to serve his brother for his board and clothes until he was twenty-one. He worked hard at his trade, and read more books than before. He improved his own language by writing out in his own words what he had read, and then comparing his account with the author's.

_From the original portrait by Joseph Siffrein Duplessis, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston_]

He now offered to take half the money that his board cost, and board himself. His brother agreed to this plan, and Benjamin saved money and bought more books.

[Sidenote: =Writes for his brother's paper=]

He longed to write something for his brother's paper. He did so, and put it at night under the door, but he did not dare sign his name to what he had written. His brother showed it to his friends. They praised it, and it was printed. It was fun for Benjamin to hear people guessing that the writer must be some great man in Boston. Franklin wrote several other articles, and called them the "Dogood Papers," but his brother was angry when he learned who wrote them.

[Sidenote: =Leaves home=]

Franklin was now only seventeen, but because of his brother's cruelty he sold his books and took a boat for New York without saying good-by to his parents. He afterwards said that leaving home in this way was a great mistake.

[Sidenote: =From New York to Philadelphia=]

No one in New York wanted a printer, so young Franklin took a boat for Perth-Amboy, New Jersey, on his way to Philadelphia. His ship was caught in a storm, and the passengers were wet and hungry when they landed.

Franklin set out on foot across the state for Burlington. For nearly three days he walked in the rain along muddy roads, looking so rough people thought he was a runaway servant. He was tired and homesick. But he took boat again, and reached Philadelphia on Sunday morning, landing at the foot of Market Street.

_The first meeting of Franklin and the young girl who was to be his wife_]

[Sidenote: =His sorry plight=]

He was so hungry, he thought more of something to eat than of dressing up for Sunday. He was in a sorry plight. With his pockets stuffed with soiled shirts and stockings, and a roll of bread under each arm and one in his hand, Franklin walked up Market Street, and passed the home of his future wife, Deborah Reed. No wonder she laughed at him. She would have laughed more if some one had said: "There goes a boy who will some day become your husband and the greatest man in Philadelphia."

[Sidenote: =Good books and good company=]

Franklin found work in a printing office, saved his money, and bought books to study. He got acquainted with other young people who also loved books, and he often spent his evenings with them.

[Sidenote: =A call from the governor=]

To the surprise of Franklin and his brother printers, one day Sir William Keith, the governor of Pennsylvania, called at the shop to see Franklin. Governors did not then pay much attention to poor printers. The governor, who was dissatisfied with Philadelphia printers, promised to send him to England to buy a printing press.

[Sidenote: =Returns home before going to London=]

Franklin, with the governor's letter in his pocket, hastened back to Boston in order to get his father's help to go to London. How happy were parents, brothers, and sisters to see the long-absent son and brother! But his father could give him no aid, and the young printer returned to Philadelphia. The governor, however, promised to pay his expenses, and Benjamin took ship for England.

_From a photo of the press used by Franklin when in London, and now in the National Museum, Washington, D.C._]

The governor had not even given him letters of introduction, to say nothing of money, and Franklin found himself a stranger in one of the largest cities in the world.

[Sidenote: =In a London printing office=]

He did not whine or spend his time grumbling, but went bravely to work in a printing office. He set a good example to his beer-drinking comrades by drinking only water and proving he was stronger and able to do more work and do it better than any of them.

[Sidenote: =Returns to Philadelphia and marries=]

The next year a Philadelphia merchant persuaded Franklin to return to America to become his clerk. But in a few years he went to work again at his old trade as printer, and in a short time became the editor of the _Pennsylvania Gazette_.

Franklin had already married Miss Reed, the young lady who had laughed at him for making a show of himself on his first day in Philadelphia.

_After a model in the rooms of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia_]

[Sidenote: =Founds three great institutions=]

=78. A Rising Young Man.= He was now a rising young man in the old Quaker city. From year to year he did many things to help others. He started a circulating library, the first in America, out of which has grown the Philadelphia Public Library. He founded a school which has become the great University of Pennsylvania, and a society, called the American Philosophical Society, which still holds important meetings.

[Sidenote: =Invents a stove=]

[Sidenote: =Forms the first fire department=]

Franklin improved the heating of houses by inventing the "Franklin stove," but refused to take out a patent and thus make himself rich at other people's expense. He also formed the first "fire department" in any American town.

[Sidenote: =Poor Richard's sayings=]

Who has not heard of _Poor Richard's Almanac_? Franklin printed it, and the people liked it so well that he sometimes printed ten thousand copies. Here are a few of the quaint and true sayings: "A word to the wise is enough." "God helps those who help themselves."

"Early to bed and early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

[Sidenote: =Economy is the road to wealth=]

Franklin and his young wife kept these rules faithfully. She worked in the printing office as well as in the house. They hired no servants: Their furniture, dress, and food were plain. He ate his breakfast of bread and milk out of a wooden bowl with a pewter spoon. Mrs. Franklin surprised him one day by giving him a china bowl and a silver spoon. She said her husband deserved such things as well as other men.

[Sidenote: =Elected to office=]

The people of Philadelphia admired Benjamin Franklin more and more. At the age of thirty he was chosen clerk of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, and afterward was elected a lawmaker in the Assembly. Every year for ten years his neighbors elected him to help make the laws of the colony.

[Sidenote: =Deputy postmaster-general=]

In a few years Franklin was made deputy postmaster-general for all the colonies by the king. He surprised the people by declaring that the mail should be carried from Philadelphia to Boston every week! He was postmaster-general for more than twenty years.

_This milestone, still standing at Lyme, marks the distance on a road surveyed by Franklin_]

[Sidenote: =Franklin plans a union of the colonies=]

In 1754 Franklin was sent by the colony of Pennsylvania to Albany, New York, to meet men from other colonies to make a treaty with the Iroquois, and to plan a union of the Thirteen Colonies. While George Washington was still a surveyor, before Wolfe captured Quebec, and when Patrick Henry was yet a boy, Franklin wrote out a plan of union which pointed the way toward that greater Union, the United States of America.

[Sidenote: =Fame begins to come=]

Franklin was now becoming famous outside of Pennsylvania. Yale College honored him with the degree of Master of Arts. The old University of Cambridge, England, gave him the same degree.

All the wise men in England and France were excited by news of an experiment made by Benjamin Franklin. He had made electricity by using glass tubes, and he had seen the lightning flash in the storm cloud. He decided to prove, if he could, that lightning and electricity are the same. No one had yet done this.

[Sidenote: =Proves that lightning and electricity are the same=]

He made a kite out of silk, to which he fastened a small iron rod. Then he tied a hempen string to the kite and the rod. To the lower end of the string he tied a silken cord to protect his hand from the electricity. On the string he tied a key.

One day when the storm clouds came rolling up, Franklin sent his kite high up among them, while he waited. Soon the loose fibers on the hempen string moved. Franklin placed his knuckles close to the key, and sparks came flying at his hand.

[Sidenote: =More honors=]

When the news of this experiment was published some very wise men smiled; others said it was a trick. The great universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, however, gave him the doctor's degree, and societies of wise men in England, France, and Spain elected him a member. He was now the most famous American.

[Sidenote: =Sent to England to defend the colonies=]

=79. Franklin's Part in the Revolution.= Already we have seen that England and her colonies were beginning to quarrel. What wiser man could be sent to England to defend the colonies by tongue and pen than Benjamin Franklin? He made friends for America among the great men of England.

[Sidenote: =How Franklin helped the English understand the Stamp Act=]

When the Stamp Act was passed the members of Parliament asked him nearly two hundred questions about the effects of the Stamp Act on America. He wrote many letters to great men, and long articles to the English newspapers, explaining how the Stamp Act injured America. Both England and America rejoiced when the king and Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, and Franklin sent his wife a fine London gown in honor of the event.

[Sidenote: =Franklin and Pitt=]

For eight years more, while America was busy opposing the tax on tea, Franklin was in England trying to get Parliament and the king to give the Americans better treatment. But it was all in vain. He often talked with William Pitt, the great friend of America, who introduced into Parliament a plan for making friends between the two countries. But the plan was defeated.

[Sidenote: =Hastens home=]

Franklin saw that war would come, and hastened back to his beloved America, where he arrived just after the battle at Lexington and Concord (1775).

[Sidenote: =Franklin plans union=]

Pennsylvania sent him to the Congress of 1775, which, sitting in Philadelphia, made George Washington general of the Continental army. Franklin saw that if the thirteen scattered colonies were to defeat Great Britain they must unite. So he introduced into Congress a plan of union, but the other members were not ready for it.

[Sidenote: =Helps write the Declaration of Independence=]

Franklin was one of five men who were named by Congress to write the Declaration of Independence (1776).

[Sidenote: =Franklin in France=]

Soon after, Congress sent him to France to influence the king and the people of that country to aid America in winning independence. The French hated the English, but admired Benjamin Franklin. The king gave money secretly, and many French officers came to serve in the American army.

[Sidenote: =France sends aid=]

In 1778 Franklin influenced the King of France to take sides openly with the Americans. French warships and French soldiers by thousands now came to help fight our battles.

_From an old print_]

[Sidenote: =Treaty with England=]

After helping to make the treaty of peace with England in 1783, Franklin came home with many honors. Though nearly eighty years old, the people of Pennsylvania immediately elected him governor.

Franklin did one more great work for his country. In 1787 the states sent their wisest men to Philadelphia to make a constitution, or plan of government. Pennsylvania chose Franklin, with others, to meet with these men in Independence Hall.

[Sidenote: =Helps make our Constitution=]

[Sidenote: =Franklin signs the Constitution=]

George Washington, as we have seen, was the president of this meeting. Many speeches were made, and there was debating for many weeks. The meeting was always glad to hear Franklin speak, for he was a very wise man. As he had helped to make, and had signed, the Declaration of Independence, so now, after helping make the Constitution, he signed it. Many persons did not like the Constitution. Franklin said there were some things in the new plan which he did not like, but declared that he signed it because of the good things it did contain. He showed his wisdom, for it is one of the best plans of government ever made.

[Sidenote: =Died in 1790=]

Franklin spent his last days with his daughter, and, surrounded by his grandchildren, died in 1790, at the age of eighty-four.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Franklin's parents were poor, had
seventeen children; hence Benjamin, though a studious fellow,
was put to the printer's trade. _2._ Franklin wrote the "Dogood
Papers." Left home for New York, but went on to Philadelphia.
_3._ Persuaded to go to London. He returned and married. _4._
Franklin started a circulating library, a school which became the
University of Pennsylvania, and a society called the American
Philosophical Society. _5._ He invented a stove, founded the
first fire department in America, and printed _Poor Richard's
Almanac_. _6._ Wrote the first plan of an American Union, and won
degrees from English and Scotch universities. _7._ Franklin was
one of the committee to write the Declaration of Independence.
_8._ Was sent to France, where he won the help of France in the
War of the Revolution. _9._ Franklin was governor of the state of
Pennsylvania, was a delegate to help make the Constitution, and
died at the age of 84.

=Study Questions.= _1._ How long ago was Franklin born? _2._ Tell
of his school experiences. _3._ Why did Franklin not go to sea?
_4._ Tell the story of his bargain with his brother. _5._ What did
Franklin hear about the "Dogood Papers"? _6._ Tell the story of the
"runaway printer." _7._ How did he save his time in Philadelphia?
_8._ How did he happen to go to London the first time? _9._ What
good example did he set to London printers? _10._ Why did he return
to Philadelphia? _11._ What three great institutions did he found?
_12._ Why did the people like _Poor Richard's Almanac_? _13._ What
public offices did he hold? _14._ Picture Franklin proving that
electricity and lightning are the same. _15._ What did he go to
England a second time for? _16._ How did Franklin aid in the repeal
of the Stamp Act? _17._ In what great events did he have a part?
_18._ What was his work in France? _19._ What was his last great
work? _20._ How did he spend his last days? _21._ Point out the
obstacles he overcame all along in his career.

=Suggested Readings.= FRANKLIN: Baldwin, _Four Great Americans_,
71-122; Hart, _Camps and Firesides of the Revolution_, 158-162;
Hart, _Colonial Children_, 197-199, 210-214; Wright, _Children's
Stories of Great Scientists_, 71-89; Bolton, _Famous American
Statesmen_, 38-66; Brooks, _Century Book of Famous Americans_,
65-76.

PATRICK HENRY AND SAMUEL ADAMS, FAMOUS MEN OF THE REVOLUTION, WHO DEFENDED AMERICA WITH TONGUE AND PEN

PATRICK HENRY, THE ORATOR OF THE REVOLUTION

[Sidenote: =Why the king wished to tax America=]

=80. The Stamp Act.= The surrender of Quebec and the fall of New France caused great rejoicing among the thirteen colonies. But the long, hard war had left both England and her colonies deeply in debt. King George III, however, thinking only of England's debt, decided that England ought to tax the colonies to pay for an army which he wished to keep in America.

_After the painting by Thomas Sully, owned by William Wirt Henry, the orator's grandson, Richmond, Virginia_]

[Sidenote: =What the Stamp Act was=]

So the Parliament of England passed a law that all licenses to marry, all deeds to property, licenses to trade, newspapers, almanacs, and other pamphlets had to be printed on stamped paper. This paper ranged in value from a few cents to many dollars.

_From an engraving after the original painting by Rothermal_]

Leading men in every one of the thirteen colonies spoke and wrote against the Stamp Act. Of all the men who did so, Patrick Henry, of Virginia, was the most eloquent and fiery. He had been elected by the people of his county to go up to Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, to help make the laws. There were many able men in that old House of Burgesses, but none of them wished to take the lead in opposing the king's plan of a stamp tax.

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry in the House of Burgesses=]

One day young Henry, although a new member, snatched a blank leaf from a law book and wrote down a set of resolutions declaring that only the Virginia Assembly could tax Virginians, and that any one who asserted the contrary was an enemy of the colony.

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry's famous speech=]

He backed up these resolutions with a speech that stirred the Burgesses. He was so fiery and bold that men almost held their breath while they listened to the young orator. He closed by declaring that George III was acting like a tyrant, and that "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third--" "Treason! treason!" shouted the Speaker of the House. Waiting a moment till the noise ceased, the orator, with a calm and steady voice, added, "may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it."

Henry's resolutions were passed, and were printed in almost every newspaper in the colonies. They made the people more determined than ever not to buy stamped paper.

Who was this young lawyer that stirred these dignified Virginia gentlemen in powdered hair, knee breeches, and silver buckles?

[Sidenote: =Patrick as a boy=]

=81. The Orator of the Revolution.= Patrick Henry was born in Virginia (1736). His father was a well-educated Scotchman, who taught school and became a lawyer. His mother was of Welsh blood. Young Patrick went to school, but he liked to hunt and fish far better than to study. He was a puzzle to his parents.

[Sidenote: =Early failures=]

By the time he was eighteen he had failed as a student, as a clerk, and as a storekeeper. He then married. The parents on both sides helped them to start farming with a few slaves. In two years Patrick Henry was forced to sell. Once more he tried keeping a country store. In three years the store closed its doors and Patrick Henry, aged twenty-three, was without an occupation.

[Sidenote: =Liked to study history and law=]

He now turned to the study of law. Although not in love with school when a boy, he loved to read the Bible. He also had a strong liking for history, and, in his youth, read the histories of Greece, of Rome, of England, and of the colonies. By a few months of hard study of the law he passed the examination. He succeeded from the first, and in less than four years had been engaged in more than one thousand cases.

[Sidenote: =Succeeded as a lawyer=]

[Sidenote: =Patrick's father the judge=]

=82. The Parsons' Case.= In 1763 Patrick Henry set all Virginia to talking about him as a lawyer. This colony had paid its clergymen from the beginning. Each one received a certain number of pounds of tobacco for his salary. But the price was now high and now low. A dispute arose because of this and was taken into court. But no great lawyer would take the people's side. Patrick Henry did. The courthouse was filled with people, many clergymen among them. In the judge's chair sat Patrick's own father.

[Sidenote: =Henry's first great speech=]

[Sidenote: =The people overjoyed=]

Henry began his speech in an awkward way. The clergymen felt encouraged, while his friends and father felt uneasy. Soon he began to warm up. His words came more freely, and his gestures grew more graceful. The people began to listen, and then to lean forward spellbound by the charm of his eloquence and the power of his argument. The clergy grew angry and left the room. His father, forgetting that he was judge, cried for joy. When Henry finished, the people seized him and carried him on their shoulders from the court room and around the yard, shouting and cheering all the while.

[Sidenote: =Elected a lawmaker=]

Patrick Henry was now the people's hero. At the election the following year his friends chose him to go to the House of Burgesses, and there, in 1765, he made his stirring speech against the Stamp Act.

[Sidenote: =The Stamp Act repealed=]

Many great Englishmen, such as William Pitt and Edmund Burke, opposed the Stamp Tax. Finally, King George and his Parliament repealed the unpopular act. The Americans were happy when they heard of its repeal.

[Sidenote: =The Americans angry over the Tea Tax=]

=83. New Taxes.= As if the king and Parliament could learn nothing, they passed a Tea Tax the very next year, placing a tax on all the tea imported into the colonies. Then the Americans everywhere refused to buy the tea and pay the tax. When the tea ships came to America the people of New York and Philadelphia sent them back, and the "Sons of Liberty" at Annapolis burned a ship full of tea. The king's governor at Boston refused to permit the ships to carry the tea back to England, but the people, one night, threw the tea into the sea. King George grew angry at such "tea parties," and had laws passed to punish Boston. More British soldiers were sent there to force the people to obey these detested laws.

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry meets Samuel Adams at the great Congress=]

The colonies, more excited than ever, decided to hold a great Congress in Philadelphia (1774). Virginia, like the others, sent her best men. There in Carpenter's Hall, a building still standing, Henry made friends of leading men of other colonies. There he met Samuel Adams, who was doing with his pen what Henry was doing with his tongue, and they became life-long friends.

_This stove is now in the State Library of Virginia_]

[Sidenote: =A new sentiment=]

One day, when speaking in favor of united action, Patrick Henry declared: "The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American."

As Patrick Henry talked with men from other colonies and heard how the king's troops were acting at Boston, he was convinced that war must come. He went home and urged the people of Virginia to arm for the coming struggle. The king's governor refused to permit meetings in the old capitol at Williamsburg, so they were held in St. John's Church, Richmond, a church still standing.

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry's new resolutions=]

Here Patrick Henry offered resolutions declaring that Virginia should arm herself for the coming war. It was a serious time, and these were serious resolutions. Should the thirteen colonies go to war with one of the greatest nations in the world? Would it not be wise to send more petitions to the king? Some of the ablest men in Virginia opposed Henry's resolutions.

_As a favorite declamation this great speech still rouses the spirit of patriotism in America_]

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry's greatest speech=]

[Sidenote: =War is inevitable=]

=84. Patrick Henry Defends his Resolutions.= Patrick Henry listened to the speeches with smothered excitement. When he rose to defend his resolutions his face was pale and his voice was trembling. But soon his audience forgot what other men had said. They leaned forward and listened as if no other man had spoken. He stirred their deepest feelings when he declared: "We must fight! I repeat it, Sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all that is left to us. They tell us, Sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of Nature hath placed in our power. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable, and let it come! I repeat it, Sir: Let it come!--The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brothers are already in the field! Why stand we here idle! Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

[Sidenote: =What a listener in St. John's Church saw and heard=]

One who heard this speech says that when the orator spoke the words "chains and slavery," he stood like a slave with his body bent, his wrists crossed, as if bound by chains, and that his face looked like that of a hopeless slave. After a solemn pause he raised his eyes and chained hands toward heaven, and said, as if in prayer: "Forbid it, Almighty God!" He then slowly bent his body still nearer the floor, looking like a man oppressed, heart-broken, and helpless, and said: "I know not what course others may take." Then, rising grandly and proudly, with every muscle strained, as if he would break his imaginary chains, he exclaimed: "Give me liberty, or give me death!"

_The removal of the powder from this house to a British man-of-war caused the first uprising of the Virginians_]

[Sidenote: =What Washington saw in Boston in 1775=]

The men who heard this great speech never forgot it. The people of Virginia now pushed forward the work of arming her men. And when her own Washington went to take command of the army at Boston he found Virginia soldiers there wearing on their hunting shirts the words "Liberty or death!"

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry loved by Virginians=]

From this time on Patrick Henry was in the forefront of the struggle with England. Virginia sent him to Congress, then she made him an officer in the army, and finally not only made him the first governor after independence was declared, but elected him to that office three times in succession, and offered him the same office three times more.

_From the bronze figure of the Washington monument by Crawford at Richmond_]

After independence was won Patrick Henry opposed the adoption of our constitution, although Washington, Madison, and many of his friends were in favor of it. When, however, he saw that the new constitution was a good one, he gave his support to his friend, President Washington.

[Sidenote: =Patrick Henry in his old age=]

Patrick Henry finally retired to his plantation and refused all offers of office. Many old friends and many great strangers went to visit him in his old age as one of the great men of the American Revolution. In the year of his death (1799), when some danger threatened Virginia, Patrick Henry came forth at Washington's request, old and feeble as he was, and aroused the people once more with his burning words. They elected him to the House of Burgesses by a great majority, but he did not live to take office.

SAMUEL ADAMS, THE FIREBRAND OF THE REVOLUTION

[Sidenote: =Samuel Adams the pen of the Revolution=]

=85. Samuel Adams.= While Patrick Henry was stirring the feelings of the people by his fiery eloquence, Samuel Adams was stirring them by strong arguments in his writings, to oppose the acts of king and of Parliament.

[Sidenote: =A student=]

Samuel Adams was born in Massachusetts (1722). While he loved school and books he cared very little for spending his time in outdoor amusements. At eighteen Samuel was graduated from Harvard College. His parents hoped that he would be a minister, but he began to study law. His mother was so opposed to his becoming a lawyer that he gave up the study and turned to business. He set up in business for himself, but, like Patrick Henry, soon lost all. He next went into business with his father, but in that, too, he failed. Finally Samuel Adams turned to politics.

_From the original painting by John Singleton Copley, representing Adams in 1771, now hanging in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston_]

[Sidenote: =Early love for politics=]

While a student in Harvard he had debated the question whether it was right to resist the king to save the country from ruin. He took an active part in debating clubs and very soon began to write for the newspapers, encouraging resistance. He never hesitated to take what he thought the right side of any question.

[Sidenote: =Why Adams opposed the Stamp Act=]

Speaking before a meeting of Boston people, Samuel Adams boldly declared that if England could tax the business of the colonies, then, "why not tax our lands and everything we possess or make use of?" Such taxes, he said, would make the colonists slaves.

In a short time the people of Boston were reading in the papers the fiery resolutions and the still more fiery speech of Patrick Henry. Samuel Adams seized his pen and also began to pour hot shot into the Stamp Act.

[Sidenote: =How he opposed the Stamp Act=]

The Boston people elected him to be their representative in the Massachusetts Assembly. More and more he took the lead in the movement against the Stamp Act. He went about the shops, into the stores, wherever he found people to listen to him.

He helped them form a society, called the Sons of Liberty, which destroyed the hated stamps as soon as they arrived. He talked with the merchants, and they signed a pledge not to buy any more goods from England until the Stamp Act was repealed. At this the British merchants felt the loss of trade and joined in the cry against the Stamp Act.

=86. The Tea Tax.= We have seen that Parliament, after the Stamp Act was repealed, passed the famous Tea Act. The Americans were angry again, and the Sons of Liberty declared that no tea should be landed. The merchants took the pledge again to buy no more English goods, and patriotic women began to make tea out of the leaves of other plants.

[Sidenote: =Samuel Adams writes the "Circular Letter"=]

Samuel Adams again sharpened his pen, and wrote the famous old "Circular Letter," which urged all the colonies to unite and stand firm in opposing the tax on tea. This letter made King George very angry, but Samuel Adams only wrote the more.

Night after night as the people passed his window they saw by his lamp that he was busy with his pen, and said to one another: "Samuel Adams is hard at work writing against the Tories." People in England and America who took the king's side in these disputes were called Tories.

[Sidenote: =Conflicts between people and soldiers=]

The king now sent two regiments of soldiers to Boston to force the people to pay the Tea Tax. There were frequent quarrels between the soldiers and the people. One evening in a street quarrel the soldiers killed three men and wounded eight others (1770). Immediately the fire bells rang and great crowds of angry people filled the streets. The next day they filled to overflowing Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty." A still larger meeting in the Old South Church cried out that both regiments of soldiers must leave town.

[Sidenote: =Samuel Adams and the people drive the soldiers out of Boston=]

Adams and other leaders were sent to the king's officers to tell them what the people had said. Before the governor and the general, backed by the king's authority and by two regiments, stood plain Samuel Adams, with only the voice of the people to help him.

The governor, unwilling to obey the demand of the people, said he would send one regiment away. But Samuel Adams stood firm, and said: "Both regiments or none!" The governor finally gave up, and Samuel Adams, the man of the people, was a greater leader than ever before.

The king now tried to trick the Americans into paying the tax by making tea cheaper in America than in England, but leaving on the tax. But the people everywhere declared that they did not object to the price, but to the tax.

[Sidenote: =The tea ships guarded while town meetings are held=]

=87. The Boston Tea Party.= When the ships carrying this cheaper tea arrived in Boston, Samuel Adams set a guard of armed men to keep the tea from being landed.

Town meeting followed town meeting. On December 16, 1773, the greatest one of all was held. Early that morning hundreds of country people started for Boston. They found the shops and stores closed and people standing on the street corners talking earnestly.

At ten o'clock the people met in the Old South Church, and voted that the tea should never be landed. They also sent the owner of the ships to the governor for permission to take the tea ships out of the harbor.

[Sidenote: =Permission to return tea denied=]

In the afternoon still greater crowds pushed and jammed into the seats, aisles, and galleries of that famous church. Samuel Adams was chairman. He made a speech. Other leaders spoke. One stirred the audience by asking "how tea would mix with salt water." Evening came, and candles were lighted. The owner of the tea vessels returned and said the governor would not give him the permission.

[Sidenote: =The Boston Tea Party=]

Immediately Samuel Adams arose and said: "This meeting can do nothing to save the country!" In a moment the war whoop of the "Mohawks" sounded outside. The crowd rushed out and found the people following a band of men disguised as Indians down where the tea ships lay at anchor. The "Mohawks" went on board, brought up the boxes of tea, broke them open, and threw the tea into the sea.

[Sidenote: =Paul Revere's first ride=]

That very night Samuel Adams sent fast riders to carry the news to the country towns. The next day, with letters to the leaders in other colonies in his saddlebags, Paul Revere, the great courier of the Revolution, started on his long ride to New York and Philadelphia. As he went from town to town and told the story of the Tea Party the people cheered him, spread dinners for him, built bonfires, and fired cannon. He saw thousands of people gather in New York and Philadelphia, and heard them declare that they would stand by Boston.

[Sidenote: =Boston Port Bill=]

Boston soon needed help, for the king and Parliament passed a law that no ship could enter or leave Boston Harbor, and another which forbade town meetings. Other hard laws were also passed, and an army was sent to Boston to force the people to obey them.

=88. The First Continental Congress.= We have seen a call go forth for a Congress at Philadelphia (1774). The Massachusetts legislature chose Samuel Adams and his cousin, John Adams, with two others to go to the Congress.

_Here met the first Continental Congress of the colonies_]

[Sidenote: =Strange visitors=]

But Samuel Adams was very poor and could not afford to dress in a style suited to meet the rich merchants of New York and Philadelphia and the great planters of the southern colonies. One evening while the family was at tea, in came the most fashionable tailor of the town to take his measure. Next came a hatter, and then a shoemaker. In a few days a new trunk at his door told the story, for in it were a suit of clothes, two pairs of shoes, silver shoe buckles, gold knee buckles, a cocked hat, a gold-headed cane, and a fashionable red cloak. What proof of the people's love for their neighbor!

[Sidenote: =Poor but loyal=]

Although Samuel Adams was a very poor man, George III did not have offices enough to bribe him or gold enough to buy his pen. Several times the king's officers had tried to do both, but they did not succeed.

[Sidenote: =What Samuel and John Adams saw on the way to Philadelphia=]

In a carriage drawn by four horses, the delegates to Congress were escorted by their friends right by the king's soldiers. The people of the large towns met them, escorted them, rang bells, fired cannon, feasted them at banquets, and talked of the Congress.

[Sidenote: =New and noble friends=]

At New York Samuel Adams and his friends were kept nearly a week. Many persons in carriages and on horseback came out to welcome them to Philadelphia, the city of William Penn. People were anxious to see the man who had written the "Circular Letter," who had driven the king's regiments out of Boston, who had planned the Tea Party, and whom the king could not bribe. Here, in Carpenter's Hall, for the first time, he met George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, Christopher Gadsden, who was called the "Samuel Adams of South Carolina," and many other noble men who became his life-long friends.

[Sidenote: =Other colonies to help Boston=]

Soon Paul Revere came riding into Philadelphia with the news that the patriots of Boston were in danger of being attacked by the British. The Congress immediately declared that if the British made war on Boston, it was the duty of every colony to help her people fight. It now looked as if war might come at any moment.

_The old Hancock House, where, guarded by the minutemen, Samuel Adams and John Hancock lay sleeping when Paul Revere rode by, still stands in Lexington_]

[Sidenote: =Minutemen=]

When Congress was over, Samuel Adams hastened home to help form, in all the Massachusetts towns, companies of minutemen ready to fight at a moment's warning. The next spring the news got out that British soldiers were going to Concord to destroy the powder and provisions collected there by the minutemen, and also to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock and send them to England to be tried for treason. Paul Revere agreed to alarm the minutemen the moment the soldiers left Boston.

[Sidenote: =Alarming the minutemen=]

=89. Paul Revere's Midnight Ride.= Standing by his horse across the river from Boston, one April evening, waiting for signals, Paul Revere saw two lanterns flash their light from the tower of the Old North Church. He mounted and rode in hot haste toward Lexington, arousing the sleeping villages as he cried out: "Up and arm, the regulars are coming!" Soon he heard the alarm gun of the minutemen and the excited ringing of the church bells. He knew the country was rising.

At Lexington minutemen who guarded the house where Samuel Adams and John Hancock were sleeping ordered Revere not to make so much noise. "You will soon have noise enough," he shouted. "The regulars are coming!" And he rode on toward Concord.

[Sidenote: =The first conflict of the minutemen=]

=90. The Battle at Lexington and at Concord Bridge.= As the British soldiers reached Lexington at sunrise, April 19, 1775, the captain of the minutemen gave the command: "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have war, let it begin here!" A bold speech for a captain of only about sixty men when facing as brave soldiers as Europe had ever seen! The minutemen stood their ground till seven were killed and nine wounded--nearly one third of their number. Then they retreated.

[Sidenote: =The retreat of the British=]

The British pushed on to Concord. But the minutemen, now coming from every direction, made a stand at Concord Bridge. Their musket fire was so deadly that the British started back, running at times to escape with their lives. At Lexington they fell upon the ground, tired out with the chase the minutemen gave them, and were met by fresh troops from Boston.

[Sidenote: =Many redcoats fall=]

Soon the British soldiers were forced to run again, for minutemen by hundreds were gathering, and they seldom missed their aim. From behind rocks, trees, fences, and houses they cut down the tired redcoats. Nearly three hundred British soldiers were killed or wounded before Boston was reached that night.

[Sidenote: =Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775=]

=91. The Battle of Bunker Hill.= Day and night for weeks minutemen from other New England colonies, and even from as far south as Virginia, marched in hot haste to Boston. The British general soon found his army in Boston entirely cut off from the mainland. He resolved to fortify Bunker Hill, but what was his surprise to wake one morning (June 17) and find the Americans under Colonel Prescott already building breastworks on the hill.

[Sidenote: =Three fierce charges=]

That afternoon three thousand picked troops, in solid columns and with bayonets gleaming, marched up the hill to storm that breastwork. "Don't fire till you can see the whites of their eyes!" said the commander of the minutemen. On came the lines of red, with banners flying and drums beating. From the breastworks there ran a flame of fire which mowed the redcoats down like grass. They reeled, broke, and ran. They rested. Again they charged; again they broke and ran. They were brave men, and, although hundreds of their companions had fallen, a third time the British charged, and won, for the Americans had used up their powder, and they had no bayonets. More than one thousand British soldiers fell that day. The Americans did not lose half that number. But among the killed was brave General Joseph Warren.

[Sidenote: =Adams and Hancock on the way to the second Congress=]

=92. The Second Continental Congress.= Just as the British were marching into Lexington on that famous April morning, Samuel Adams, with John Hancock, was leaving for Philadelphia, where Congress was to meet again. As he heard the guns of the minutemen answer the guns of the regulars, Adams said to Hancock: "What a glorious morning is this!"

The members from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York were escorted across the Hudson to Newark, New Jersey, and entertained at a great dinner, with speeches. Near Philadelphia a large procession of armed men and carriages met and escorted them into the city, where bells told of their coming.

When this Congress met, Samuel Adams seconded the motion of his cousin, John Adams, that George Washington, of Virginia, be made the general of all the American troops. He saw his own neighbor, John Hancock, made president of the Congress.

[Sidenote: =Samuel Adams among the first to favor independence=]

=93. The Declaration of Independence.= For more than a year Samuel Adams worked hard to get the Congress to make a Declaration of Independence. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced a motion into the Congress for independence. The Declaration was made, July 4, 1776, and Samuel Adams, as a great leader of the Revolution, had done his work.