Chapter IX: Part 9

November 10, on the way home, the little party started to make the circuit of the Great Basin, a vast depression beyond the east wall of the Sierra Nevada. But very soon they found deep snow on the mountains. Turning to the west at about the latitude of San Francisco, Fremont determined to cross the Sierra Nevada into the valley of the Sacramento. The river was not many miles distant.

But what miles! Up and down, up and down that snowy mountain range, which the Indians told him no man could cross in winter, with snow lying upon it as deep as the dark forest trees were high, and places where, if a man slipped off, he would fall half a mile without stopping!

[Sidenote: =In the Valley of the Sacramento=]

They attempted to cross without a guide, in the dead of winter. In forty days the men and the surviving horses--a woeful procession crawling along one by one, skeleton men leading skeleton horses--arrived at Sutter's Fort (Sacramento) in the beautiful valley of the Sacramento. Here genial warmth, trees in foliage, grassy ground, and flowers made a fairy contrast to the famine and freezing they had met on the mountains they had climbed.

After enjoying the hospitality of Colonel Sutter, Fremont again crossed the mountains farther to the south, where the beautiful San Joaquin River makes a gap or pass.

[Sidenote: =Sees the Mohave Desert=]

When he reached the top of the pass Fremont beheld the plains of the Mohave Desert. An Indian said to him: "There is neither water nor grass--nothing; every animal that goes upon them dies."

[Sidenote: =End of second expedition=]

Pushing forward with great energy, he reached Utah Lake, thus having nearly made the circuit of the Great Basin.

Fremont hastened to Washington with the story of his discoveries. General Scott now recommended that he be made captain.

[Sidenote: =Third expedition=]

Fremont's third expedition, with Carson as a helper, began in the spring of 1845, and aimed to explore the Great Basin and the coast of California and Oregon.

_The Stars and Stripes were raised for the first time in California near Monterey in 1846_]

[Sidenote: =War breaks out=]

=147. In the Mexican War.= Little did Fremont--or any of his men--think what fortune had in store for them. On his way to the Oregon Country Fremont received news that the Mexicans were planning to kill all the Americans in the Sacramento Valley. War had already broken out between the United States and Mexico, but he did not know it. He returned, reaching the valley in May, 1846. The settlers rushed to join him, and in one month northern California was declared independent.

[Sidenote: =Conquest of California=]

Fremont then marched to Monterey and joined Commander Sloat, who had raised the American flag there, July 7, 1846. This practically finished the conquest of all California in sixty days.

[Sidenote: =Fourth expedition=]

[Sidenote: =Elected to United States Senate=]

=148. Becomes a Private Citizen.= Soon after this event Fremont returned to Washington, gave up his place in the regular army, and went to live in California. His journey to California made up his fourth expedition. But the people would not let him long remain in private. The state elected him to the United States Senate. Fremont was not long in Congress, but was of great service in giving advice concerning the long-talked-of railroad to the Pacific.

Early in 1848 gold was discovered in the sand near the American River at Sutter's Mill, the site now occupied by Coloma. As the news spread, great excitement arose, and everybody wanted to dig gold. This was the "gold fever" of 1848 and 1849. The rush to the coast was tremendous. It made the building of a railroad urgent. Fremont made his fifth expedition to survey three routes to the Pacific. After great hardships he returned to Washington to report what he had found.

[Sidenote: =Nominated for president=]

He now took up his residence in New York City and became a member of the party opposed to the extension of slavery. The new party, the Republican, nominated him as its first candidate for president (1856). He was defeated after a most exciting time, yet he carried all the northern states but four.

[Sidenote: =A major-general in the Civil War=]

During the Civil War he was made a major-general, but after a year or two he resigned. He was talked of for president in 1864, but did not make the race.

After the war was over he was interested in a great continental railroad. From 1878 to 1881 he was governor of Arizona. Congress voted him a pension just before he died in 1890.

SPANISH MISSIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST

[Sidenote: =Spanish missionaries baptize Indians=]

=149. How the Franciscans Ruled the Southwest.= Centuries before Fremont or Kit Carson or any other American had seen the wonders of our western country, Spaniards made their homes there. Before the _Mayflower_ landed at Plymouth, Spanish missionaries had built many churches in the Southwest and had baptized thousands of Indians into the Christian faith.

[Sidenote: =Franciscan friars friends of the oppressed=]

The story of the Spaniards in New Mexico, Arizona, and California is not of victories won by the sword, but by the cross. The men who ruled this country were not soldiers, but pious Franciscan friars.

Many years ago there lived in Italy a godly man, St. Francis, who looked upon all poor and oppressed people as his children and devoted his life to their care. His followers, who are called Franciscan friars, have gone into all parts of the world to be missionaries to the poor and the heathen.

[Sidenote: =Serra builds a mission at San Diego=]

Greatest of the Franciscans who worked in the Southwest was Junipero Serra. One warm day in 1769 he came riding into San Diego on mule-back, a tall, thin figure, wrapped in a long gown. There were no missionaries at this time in California. He had come from Mexico with a small party to convert the Indians. At San Diego he saw "valleys studded with trees, wild vines covered with grapes, and native roses as fair and sweet as those of Castile."

Here was just the place to build a mission. First he set up a great wooden cross and said mass. There was no organ music, so the soldiers fired their arms instead. The simple Indians stood by in wonder and awe. Junipero Serra was a man of energy and action, and in a short time he had his first mission built. From San Diego he went northward and planted mission after mission as far north as San Francisco. When he died the Franciscan missions controlled practically all of southern California.

[Sidenote: =Mission buildings surrounded by gardens=]

Wherever the friars built a mission they made sure the soil was good and that there was plenty of water near by. For in much of that country little rain falls and many crops grow only when watered by irrigation. Having found a suitable place, they would then build a church. This was always the largest building of the mission. Some of the churches were very beautiful. Around the church clustered the houses of the friars and the huts of the Indians. Each mission was surrounded by beautiful gardens and orchards. A little farther away were the fields in which the grain was grown. All of these were watered by irrigation ditches that drew their water from some mountain stream. Beyond the cultivated land lay the ranches on which cattle and sheep grazed in great numbers.

[Sidenote: =Indians taught useful occupations=]

All the Indians in the neighborhood were made to live at the mission, and here they were taught the Christian religion. They were also taught many useful occupations. The men were shown how to farm, to make saddles, work at the forge and the carpenter bench, and other useful trades. The women were instructed in spinning and weaving.

In the morning the angelus called every one to mass. After breakfast the day's work began and each Indian was sent to his task. Some cultivated the fields, some took care of the stock, some worked in the shops. Each one had to do his share of the work, and was punished if he disobeyed. He had to work, pray, and live as the friars told him.

[Sidenote: =Missions fall to ruin=]

When Mexico freed itself of Spanish rule, California became a part of Mexico. The new government put an end to the missions. The friars were forced to leave, and the Indians drifted back into their old wild life.

To-day nothing remains of the work of the friars except the old mission buildings. Most of them are in ruins, but they still tell of the quiet by-gone days when the gentle Franciscans ruled in California.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Houston had little schooling and went to
live with the Cherokee Indians. _2._ Wounded at Horseshoe Bend;
studied law in Nashville; was sent to Congress for four years;
and was elected governor of Tennessee. _3._ Went to live with
the Cherokees again, and then went to Texas. _4._ Houston won
the battle of San Jacinto; was made president of the republic of
Texas; and later elected to the United States Senate. _5._ David
Crockett was born in Tennessee, had little schooling, and became an
expert rifle shot. _6._ He fought the Indians under Andrew Jackson.
_7._ Won an election to the legislature by telling stories; later
elected to Congress. _8._ Crockett grew tired of civilization
and returned to the wilderness. _9._ Fought against the Mexicans
at the Alamo, where he was killed with all his companions. _10._
Fremont went to school in Charleston, but left for a voyage to
South America. _11._ He worked for exploring parties; married, and
thus became related to a great man interested in the Far West.
_12._ Fremont explored the South Pass on his first expedition; on
his second, saw Great Salt Lake, and crossed the mountains with
great suffering. _13._ Fremont crossed a third time, and aided in
conquering California; was made a United States senator, and became
first candidate of the Republican party for the presidency. _14._
Franciscan friars, long before the landing of the Pilgrims, entered
what is now New Mexico, Arizona, and California. _15._ They taught
the Indians the Christian religion and many useful occupations.

=Study Questions.= _1._ What was peculiar in Houston's early life?
_2._ What had he done before he began to study law? _3._ What
made people like him? _4._ Where was the battle of Horseshoe Bend
fought? _5._ How did the Cherokee chief welcome him? _6._ Why
did Houston go back to Tennessee? _7._ What drew him to Texas?
_8._ What were the first bad defeats of the Texans? _9._ Tell the
story of San Jacinto. _10._ What kind of a general, a president,
and a senator did Houston make? _11._ Where did Crockett spend
his boyhood, and what fame did he gain? _12._ How did he win his
way to the legislature? _13._ What made Crockett go back to the
wilderness? _14._ Describe the fight at the Alamo. _15._ Who was
John Charles Fremont? _16._ What of his youthful days? _17._ What
experience in early days after college prepared him for his great
work? _18._ Who was Kit Carson? _19._ Describe Fremont's journey to
the South Pass. _20._ Tell what was seen and what was done there.
_21._ What expedition did he now plan? _22._ Picture the scene on
the discovery of the Great Salt Lake. _23._ Picture his exploration
of the Great Basin and crossing the mountains. _24._ What was the
contrast at Sutter's Fort? _25._ Describe the Digger Indians.
_26._ At what was Fremont's third expedition aimed, and what did
it really accomplish? _27._ Who was St. Francis? _28._ Describe
Serra's arrival at San Diego. _29._ Why did he build a mission at
San Diego? _30._ Describe life at a Spanish mission. _31._ What
happened when Spanish rule was ended in California?

=Suggested Readings.= HOUSTON: Bruce, _Life of General Houston_.

DAVID CROCKETT: Crockett, _Life of Davy Crockett_; Lodge and
Roosevelt, _Hero Tales from American History_, 171-181.

FREMONT: Bigelow, _Life of John Charles Fremont_, 1-216, 319-373,
379-466.

THE THREE GREATEST STATESMEN OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD

HENRY CLAY, THE FOUNDER OF THE WHIG PARTY AND THE GREAT PACIFICATOR

=150. The Rise of Henry Clay.= Henry Clay was born in Virginia in the year of Burgoyne's surrender (1777). His father was a Baptist preacher, with a fine voice and a graceful way of speaking. He died when Henry was four years old.

[Sidenote: =The "Mill boy of the Slashes"=]

Little Henry lived near the "Slashes," the name given to a low, flat region, and went to school in a log cabin. When not at school he worked on the farm, helping to do his share in support of the family. He could be seen walking barefooted behind the plow, or riding the horse with a rope bridle to mill. From this he was called the "Mill boy of the Slashes."

[Sidenote: =Read books when other boys played=]

Henry was a raw-boned and awkward lad. The other boys laughed at him, but he read books when not at work, and soon could speak far better than the boys who made fun of him.

At fourteen he was a clerk in a store. But he seemed made for other things. He was put in the office of a famous lawyer who was clerk in one of Virginia's courts.

The Chancellor of Virginia, a great judge, liked him and took him to be his private secretary. For four years Clay wrote down the judge's law decisions. The great man often talked with Clay on important subjects and advised him about the kind of books to read.

[Sidenote: =Leader in a debating club=]

After studying law for a year, Clay began to practice in Richmond. He had plenty of time, so he formed a debating club, in which he was easily the leader.

_Urging war in 1811, with England or France or even both if necessary_]

Finally he made up his mind to go to Lexington, Kentucky, and try his fortune in the West. There his rise in the law was rapid. His fame grew, and he became known as the lawyer who seldom lost a case.

He married a well-to-do young lady and lived near Lexington on a beautiful estate called Ashland.

[Sidenote: =Favors gradual abolition of slavery=]

Henry Clay's first work in politics was to favor the gradual abolition of slavery in Kentucky. Although beaten, he was always proud of his stand on this question.

[Sidenote: =Too young to be a senator=]

When too young, according to the Constitution, to take his seat, he was made a senator of the United States. But nobody called the attention of the Senate to his age. After his term as senator was out he was elected to the legislature of Kentucky, and was immediately made Speaker.

[Sidenote: =Speaker of the House of Representatives=]

Born during the Revolution, Henry Clay, like most Americans of his time, grew up with hatred toward England in his heart. He was sent to Congress in 1811, and was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. As Speaker, he did much to bring on a declaration of war with Great Britain, in 1812.

[Sidenote: =The War of 1812=]

Clay made speeches in Congress and over the country, stirring up the war spirit. "On to Canada!" was his cry. But the capture of Canada was not so easy. Many generals failed, and only Harrison and Perry made much headway in defeating the British in Canada.

[Sidenote: =The Treaty of Ghent=]

When the time for peace came President Madison sent Henry Clay and other noted Americans to Ghent, in Belgium, to meet the British agents. After many months of talking and disputing, they finally agreed on a treaty. This treaty has since been called the "Treaty of Ghent." Great Britain and America were both glad that peace had come.

[Sidenote: =The conflict over Missouri=]

From 1819 to 1821 Congress was debating over the admission of Missouri as a slave state. The North opposed, and the South favored, the admission of Missouri. The excitement spread to the state legislatures and to the people. Many meetings were held. Resolutions strongly favoring, or strongly opposing, the admission of Missouri as a slave state, were drawn up and voted upon.

[Sidenote: =The Missouri Compromise=]

Wise men thought the Union was in danger and Henry Clay, by his eloquence, succeeded in getting Congress to pass the famous Missouri Compromise. This resolution provided that Missouri should be admitted as a slave state, but that no other slave state north of the line of 36 degrees 30 minutes should ever be admitted. Both sides were pleased and the excitement died out.

We have seen how South Carolina threatened to refuse to pay the tariff in 1832, and how President Jackson hurried the army and the navy there to make her people pay it, as the people of the other states were obliged to do.

[Sidenote: =The Compromise Tariff Law=]

[Sidenote: =Henry Clay as a peacemaker again=]

Henry Clay came forward again and introduced the Compromise Tariff Law. It was called a compromise because it gave each side a part of what it wished. Calhoun and other Carolinians favored it, because by this law the tariff was reduced very greatly. It was carried through Congress. The law made unnecessary the warlike preparations of both the president and South Carolina, and again Henry Clay was hailed by the people as "pacificator" or peacemaker.

[Sidenote: =The founder of the Whig party=]

=151. Henry Clay the Founder of the Whig Party.= But Henry Clay was not only a peacemaker. He was now a great statesman, and like Hamilton and Jefferson he led in forming a part of the people into a political party. It was called the Whig party.

_From a daguerreotype owned by Garrett Brown, Jr., Chicago_]

In 1824, before there was a Whig party, Clay ran for president, but was beaten. Again in 1832, just as the new party was being formed, he ran a second time. Although he was beaten for the presidency by Andrew Jackson, he was the life and soul of his party. It was his eloquence, the music of his words, that made men Whigs.

On one occasion Clay spoke on the question of the abolition of slavery. Some one said that this might hurt his chances of being president. Clay replied: "I had rather be right than be president."

[Sidenote: =Unfortunate Henry Clay=]

Finally, in 1844, he was again the Whig candidate, but he was defeated for the third time. When the Whig party had a good chance of electing a president, they nominated somebody else. When they had a poor chance they nominated Henry Clay!

[Sidenote: =Dispute over the new territory=]

War with Mexico had come, and with it a great victory for the American army. The treaty of peace with Mexico, in 1848, gave the United States all the territory then known as Alta (Upper) California and New Mexico. But the North and South disputed over this territory. The North said it must be free. The South said it must be open to slavery. The quarrel grew so bitter that many men thought the Union would be destroyed.

[Sidenote: =Retires to Ashland=]

Henry Clay was now an old man. He had left the Senate, and had gone home to his beloved Ashland for a few years of rest before the final summons.

[Sidenote: =A unanimous call=]

=152. The Aged Peacemaker Returns to the Senate.= Kentucky was greatly excited by the threats of disunion. Her legislature sent Clay back to the United States Senate by a unanimous call, Democrats as well as Whigs joining in the vote. It was a proud moment for the old man.

Now in the Senate, he offered the Compromise of 1850. This bill contained a number of points in favor of the slave states, and a number in favor of the free states.

[Sidenote: =Walks to the capitol on the arm of a friend=]

One day Clay made a great speech in favor of his Compromise. He had to walk to the capitol that day on the arm of a friend. He was too weak to climb the steps alone.

[Sidenote: =His audience=]

When he arose to speak, he saw before him an audience that had come from distant parts of the nation to hear his thrilling words once more. The people filled the Senate to overflowing. Outside they crowded the corridors. When Clay arose the audience broke into applause, a strange thing for the Senate to do. The people were not disappointed. For two days the ringing words flowed on. Under the excitement he was young again.

_In 1850 on his great plea before the Senate for the Federal Union_]

He pleaded with the North to give up some things for the love of the Union; he pleaded with the South for peace. He told them that all the territory the United States had purchased had been purchased for all of them. "War and the dissolution of the Union are identical."

[Sidenote: =A remarkable scene=]

On the second day some one suggested that he rest, and the Senate adjourn. But he refused; he might not be able to go on the next day. After he had finished his speech, a great crowd rushed forward to congratulate him. No such scene ever had been witnessed before in the Senate.

[Sidenote: =The reunion of the Union=]

The debate went on. Now and then Clay took part in it. On one occasion he said: "I believe from the bottom of my soul that this measure is the reunion of the Union."

[Sidenote: ="This Union is my country"=]

On another occasion he said: "The honorable Senator speaks of Virginia being my country. This Union is my country. But even if ... my own state ... should raise the standard of disunion ... I would go against her. I would go against Kentucky, much as I love her."

Congress finally passed the Compromise. Both political parties pledged themselves to obey it. Public meetings in all parts of the nation resolved to abide by it, and the country rested for a time from the slavery question.

[Sidenote: =Died in Washington in 1852=]

Henry Clay's work was done. His body was worn out, but his mind still clung to the Union. On June 29, 1852, Henry Clay died in Washington, the place of so many of his triumphs.

A great monument at Lexington, Kentucky, testifies the people's love for "Harry" Clay.

DANIEL WEBSTER, THE DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION

[Sidenote: =Daniel Webster, 1782=]

[Sidenote: =Loves the woods and fields=]

[Sidenote: =A good reader=]

=153. A College Boy and a Young Lawyer.= Daniel Webster was born of good Puritan stock, in 1782, in New Hampshire. He was a very weakly child. No one dreamed that one day he would have an iron-like body. Daniel spent much of his time playing in the woods and fields. He loved the birds and beasts that he found there. He went to school, but the schoolmasters were not very learned, and Daniel could read better than most of them. The teamsters, stopping to water their horses, were glad to hear him read. He went to work in an old-fashioned sawmill, but he read books even there in odd moments of time.

[Sidenote: =Webster at Exeter Academy=]

One day in spring his father took him to Exeter Academy to prepare for college. The boys laughed at his rustic dress and manners. The timid little fellow was greatly hurt by their scorn.

He finally entered Dartmouth College at the age of fifteen. He was simple, natural, and full of affection.

[Sidenote: =The best student at Dartmouth=]

[Sidenote: =He loved public speaking=]

Webster was the best student at Dartmouth. He still kept the reading habit. The students liked him. They had a feeling that he would amount to something some day. At this time he was tall and thin, with high cheek bones. His eyes were deep set, and his voice was low and musical in its tones. He loved to speak, even then.

At the age of eighteen Webster gave the Fourth of July oration in his college town. The speech was full of the love of country and of the Union, then in its first days of trial.

_The birthplace of Daniel Webster. The site is now occupied by the New Hampshire State Orphans Asylum_]

[Sidenote: =Teaches school and studies law=]

He never forgot his father's sacrifice in sending him to college. After he had finished at Dartmouth, Webster taught school in order that he might help his parents send his elder brother to college. He afterwards studied law. But he longed to finish his law studies in Boston. Finally good fortune put him in the office of Christopher Gore, a wise man, a great lawyer, and a statesman. In his office Daniel Webster studied until he was given the right to practice law.

Within a few years, he was earning enough to enable him to take a life partner, the beautiful and accomplished Grace Fletcher, the daughter of a minister. She made a delightful home for him and their children.

[Sidenote: =Elected to Congress=]

[Sidenote: =Favors a naval war=]

Webster was gaining name and fame as a lawyer, but the approach of the War of 1812 drew him into politics. He was elected to Congress, and took his seat in 1813. Henry Clay was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Webster's most important speech was in favor of a war carried on by the navy: "If the war must be continued, go to the ocean. There the united wishes and exertions of the nation will go with you. Even our party divisions cease at the water's edge."

_Daniel Webster asserting the dignity of patriotism at Dartmouth, July 4, 1800_]

[Sidenote: =Webster's appearance=]

[Sidenote: =His battle with Hayne=]

After the war, Webster left Congress for a number of years. He was now a great man. When he entered a room, by his mere look and presence he drew all eyes toward him, and all conversation hushed. In size, he looked larger and broader than he really was. His forehead was broad and massive. It towered above his large, dark, deep-set eyes. His hair was black and glossy as a raven's wing. He looked thus in 1830 in the Senate, when he made his famous speech in reply to Senator Hayne of South Carolina.

_Daniel Webster defending the Federal Constitution against Hayne's idea of nullification_]

[Sidenote: =Denies the right of nullification=]

[Sidenote: ="Liberty and Union, one and inseparable"=]

=154. The Greatest Statesman of his Time.= Hayne had spoken against a protective tariff and in favor of nullification. Webster felt called upon to reply. He denied the right of a state to nullify a law of Congress, and said that nullification was another name for secession. He closed his great speech with these words: "When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union ... but may I see our flag with not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured ... but everywhere spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land ... that sentiment, dear to every American heart--Liberty _and_ Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!"

_From a daguerreotype taken in 1850 by J. J. Hawes of Boston_]

This speech made Daniel Webster immortal. It did more; it fired the heart of every lover of his country.

[Sidenote: =Opposes Clay's Compromise Tariff=]

We saw how South Carolina went on toward nullification, and how Clay's Compromise Tariff settled the difficulty. Webster strongly opposed this compromise, and said that South Carolina should get out of the difficulty the best way she could.

[Sidenote: =Jackson praises Webster=]

President Jackson was delighted, and praised Webster in public and in private.

[Sidenote: =Harrison makes him Secretary of State=]

When Harrison captured the presidency, after the greatest campaign ever seen up to that time, he wanted the best men in the Whig party to advise him, so he made Daniel Webster Secretary of State.

[Sidenote: =Webster back in the Senate=]

It was a sad day when President Harrison died, after being in office just one month. John Tyler, of Virginia, the vice-president, became the president. But he would not accept measures which Congress had passed. Daniel Webster left the cabinet after a time because he disliked the way Tyler was doing. He went back to the United States Senate, where he joined Clay, supporting the great Compromise of 1850.

[Sidenote: =His speech on the Compromise=]

On March 7, Webster made his speech on the Compromise, entitled "For the Union and the Constitution." It was an appeal to all persons to stand by the Constitution and the Union. In blaming both the North and the South, much to the surprise of everybody, he blamed the North more than the South.

Because he did this, many of his supporters in the North, especially those in New England, turned their backs upon him. Webster was an old man now. Ever since 1832 he had looked forward to being nominated for the presidency, but his party always took some other man. His last days were made bitter and unhappy by the thought that some old friends had forsaken him.

[Sidenote: =Boston welcomes Webster=]

[Sidenote: =Death at Marshfield, 1852=]

One bright spot for Webster lay in the fact that President Fillmore invited him to be Secretary of State again. After two years of service, he went back to Boston. He was received with joy by some of his friends and neighbors, and was hailed with shouts by the multitude. This must have made his heart leap with gratitude, for the praise of friends is pleasant. But men saw he was not like his former self. He went to his home at Marshfield, where he died, October 24, 1852, the greatest figure in American politics in his day.

JOHN C. CALHOUN, THE CHAMPION OF NULLIFICATION

[Sidenote: =John C. Calhoun, 1782=]

=155. The Champion of the War of 1812.= John C. Calhoun was born in the same year as Webster (1782) in South Carolina. His parents were Scotch-Irish. His father, a Revolutionary patriot, died soon after John was born. John spent his early years roaming in the fields and woods. He learned more there than from books, and he learned to think before the thoughts of other people filled his memory.

[Sidenote: =Entered Yale College as a junior=]

At eighteen he began to prepare for college, under the care of his brother-in-law, a Presbyterian minister. In two years he entered Yale College. When in college he studied hard, and was graduated with high honors.

[Sidenote: =A lawyer=]

Calhoun studied law diligently for three years, a year and a half of the time in his native state, and a year and a half in Connecticut. He began to practice law in South Carolina, but did not have great success. Perhaps it was because the law was too dry for him, or perhaps because he was soon elected to the legislature of his state.

In 1811 he was married, and was elected to Congress--two great events in his life. Henry Clay, as Speaker, immediately put Calhoun on an important committee. He quickly sounded a bugle call to war, declaring that it was the duty of "Congress to call forth the patriotism and resources of the country."

[Sidenote: =Works hard for the success of the army=]

During the War of 1812 he worked hard in Congress for the success of the American army. After the war he favored a tariff to keep English goods out of the country.

[Sidenote: =Secretary of War=]

President Monroe made him Secretary of War. He found the office in the utmost confusion, but, by hard and careful work, he left the war office a model for future secretaries.

_From a photograph by Matthew B. Brady in the collection of the War Department, Washington, D.C._]

[Sidenote: =Twice elected vice-president=]

[Sidenote: =Calhoun's "South Carolina Exposition"=]

=156. Calhoun Favors Nullification.= He was elected vice-president in 1824, and again in 1828. In the last-named year he wrote a paper called the "South Carolina Exposition." In this letter, and in others that he wrote, he told the people of South Carolina there would always be differences between the North and the South. He said the southern people, using slave labor, would raise more tobacco and cotton than they needed, and that the tariff was hurtful to the South. That the northern people, using free labor, would manufacture all kinds of things, and that the tariff would be helpful to them. This document took the ground that between the North and the South there always would be a conflict of interests. The South was devoted to agriculture, and the North to manufacturing. The South had slave and the North free labor.

[Sidenote: =South Carolina passes ordinance of nullification=]

Therefore, Calhoun concluded that to protect the South from the North a state has the right to nullify a law of Congress. A state has this right, because the state is above the nation. The states made the Constitution. He believed that nullification was a means of saving the country from secession.

South Carolina took the fatal step, and nullified the tariffs. This decision was to take effect February 1, 1833, provided the United States did not do something before that time to lower the tariff.

[Sidenote: =Jackson warns South Carolina=]

President Jackson warned the citizens of South Carolina against the men who had led them to take this step. He hinted that the tariff would be collected by the use of force, if necessary.

[Sidenote: =She withdraws her ordinance=]

We have seen how Henry Clay rushed his Compromise Tariff through Congress. At the same time another bill was passed by Congress, which gave President Jackson the right to use the army and navy in forcing a collection of the tariff. South Carolina stopped her nullification, and the excitement passed away.

[Sidenote: =Speech on the purpose of the Abolitionists=]

=157. Opposed to the Abolitionists.= The people who wished to do away with slavery entirely were called Abolitionists. The Abolitionists stirred Calhoun deeply by petitions in favor of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. He declared that "the petitions are a foul slander on nearly one half of the states of the Union.... The object is to humble and debase us in our own estimation ... to blast our reputation. This is the (manner) in which they are (trying) abolition ... and now is the time for all opposed to them to meet the attack.

"We love and cherish the Union. We remember with kindest feelings our common origin ... but origin (is) to us as nothing compared with this question.

[Sidenote: =The Union in danger=]

"The relation which now exists between the two races in the slave-holding states has existed for two centuries.... We will not, we cannot, permit it to be destroyed.... Should it cost every drop of blood and every cent of property, we must defend ourselves.... It is not we, but the Union, which is in danger."

[Sidenote: =Goes beyond most slaveholders=]

Not many in the Senate agreed with Calhoun then. In 1837 Calhoun went much farther in the defense of slavery than any of the other slaveholders would go. He declared in a great speech in the Senate that "slavery is a good, a positive good."

[Sidenote: =The Revolutionary fathers did not agree with Calhoun=]

This was not the belief of the majority of even the slaveholders in Congress or in the nation. Much less had it been the view of the men who had fought out the Revolution, and who had made our Constitution.

The majority of slaveholders still looked upon slavery, at best, as a necessary evil and one to be gotten rid of sometime and somehow. Calhoun's view that "slavery is a good, a positive good," was an entirely new view of slavery.

[Sidenote: =Calhoun aids the annexing of Texas=]

Calhoun was made Secretary of State under President Tyler, and succeeded in annexing Texas to the United States. For this reason Mexico made war with the United States.

[Sidenote: =Dispute over territory=]

The result of the war with Mexico was the gaining of territory in the West and in the Southwest. Over this territory arose the great dispute that sent the aged Henry Clay back to the Senate with the Compromise of 1850.

_From a photograph of the monument, which was designed by A. E. Harnisch_]

[Sidenote: =Calhoun opposed Compromise of 1850=]

Calhoun opposed that Compromise. He was too ill to speak, and a friend read his address to a hushed and listening Senate. He declared that the Union was in danger because the Abolitionists had stirred up strife. He wanted all agitation against slavery stopped. In the second place, he wanted an equal division of territory between the North and South. "If you of the North will not do this, then let our southern states separate, and depart in peace."

[Sidenote: =Farewell words to the Senate=]

"Having faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both to the Union and my section ... I shall have the consolation ... that I am free from all responsibility."

[Sidenote: =His last words=]

On March 31, 1850, he breathed his last words: "The South! The poor South! God knows what will become of her!"

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Clay's father was a Baptist preacher.
Young Henry went to school in a log cabin, and rode his horse
to mill with a rope bridle. _2._ He studied law, and went to
Lexington, Kentucky, to practice. _3._ Clay won his way to the
hearts of the people; was elected to the House of Representatives
for a great many years. _4._ He favored the War of 1812; induced
Congress to pass the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise Tariff
of 1833. _5._ Clay ran three times for president. He was author
of the great Compromise of 1850. _6._ Webster was a weakly child,
played in the woods, and read books. _7._ He was graduated at
Dartmouth, taught school, studied law, and was opposed to the War
of 1812. _8._ Webster replied to Hayne, opposed the nullification
of South Carolina, and was made Secretary of State by Harrison.
_9._ Supported Clay's Compromise of 1850, and was made Secretary
of State by Fillmore. _10._ John C. Calhoun was born in South
Carolina, and studied law. _11._ He went to Congress, favored
the War of 1812, and was afterwards made Secretary of War. _12._
Calhoun thought that a state had the right to nullify an act of
Congress. _13._ He opposed Abolitionists and the Compromise of 1850.

=Study Questions.= _1._ Who was the "Mill boy of the Slashes"?
_2._ Name some of our great men besides Clay who loved books. _3._
What could Clay do better than the other boys? _4._ What help did
he get from the Chancellor of Virginia? _5._ Why did Henry Clay
form a debating club? _6._ Where was Ashland? _7._ What was Clay's
first great work in Kentucky? _8._ What is a Speaker of the House
of Representatives? _9._ What did Clay do in stirring up the war
spirit? _10._ Why did Clay speak for the Missouri Compromise? _11._
What was the Compromise Tariff? _12._ Why call Clay a peacemaker?
_13._ How many times did Henry Clay run for president? _14._ Why
was Clay sent back to the United States Senate in 1850? _15._
Picture the scene when Clay made his last great speech.

_16._ Who was Webster? _17._ Why did he play in the woods? _18._
What proof that he loved books too? _19._ Why were Daniel Webster's
feelings hurt at Exeter? _20._ Why did students like Webster? _21._
How did he reward his parents for sending him to college? _22._
What was Webster's view of the War of 1812? _23._ Picture Webster
in 1830. _24._ Quote something from his speech in reply to Hayne.
_25._ Who praised Webster for his speech against nullification?
_26._ Do you think Harrison selected the best man for Secretary of
State? _27._ Why did his friends in the North blame Webster for
the Seventh of March speech? _28._ How were Webster's last days
affected by public opinion?

_29._ Who was Calhoun and what did roaming in the woods and fields
do for him? _30._ Where did he go to college and when did he reach
Congress? _31._ What position did he take in the War of 1812? _32._
Why did he favor the tariff and later favor the nullification of
the tariff? _33._ What office did President Monroe give him? _34._
What effect had the "South Carolina Exposition"? _35._ What did
South Carolina do? _36._ How was a clash averted? _37._ What did
Calhoun say of the Abolitionists? _38._ What did he say of the
Union? _39._ What did he say of slavery? _40._ What was Calhoun's
position on the Compromise of 1850? _41._ What were his last words?

=Suggested Readings.= HENRY CLAY: Wright, _Children's Stories
of American Progress_, 159-178; Brooks, _Century Book of Famous
Americans_, 145-155; Anderson, _United States Reader_, 281-285;
Frost, _The Mill Boy of the Slashes_.

DANIEL WEBSTER: Baldwin, _Four Great Americans_, 125-186; Brooks,
_Century Book of Famous Americans_, 37-48; Hart, _How Our
Grandfathers Lived_, 341-344; Bolton, _Famous American Statesmen_,
177-229.

JOHN C. CALHOUN: Brooks, _Century Book of Famous Americans_,
140-144; Rogers, _The True Henry Clay_, 248-254.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE LIBERATOR AND MARTYR

A POOR BOY BECOMES A GREAT MAN

[Sidenote: =Abraham Lincoln, 1809=]

[Sidenote: =Moves to Indiana at the age of seven=]

=158. The Backwoodsman Who Became President.= Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809. His parents were so poor that they hardly knew that they were poor. When he was seven years old his family crossed the Ohio River and settled in Indiana. There they found a place in the deep, dark forest, in the southern part of the state, and began to build a cabin for a home. Abe worked hard to help build it. It was not much of a house--only fourteen feet square. One side was left out, and here they built the fire. It was not very warm in winter and not very cool in summer. The hard ground was the floor.

[Sidenote: =Lincoln's father makes the furniture=]

The father was a sort of carpenter, and out of rough timbers he made a table and some three-legged stools. He also made the bedsteads, which consisted of poles driven into the wall.

In the loft of the cabin Abe made himself a bed of leaves. Every night he climbed into the loft by means of wooden pins driven into the wall. He was busy helping cut down trees and burning them to make room for a patch of corn and pumpkins.

The lad and his sister roasted the ears of young corn over the fire. The ripe corn was ground into meal from which corn bread was made. This was baked in the ashes or on a board in front of a bed of red-hot coals.

[Sidenote: =As a hunter=]

The woods, great thick woods for miles on all sides of them, were broken only here and there by a "clearing." In these forests Abe went hunting with a gun on his shoulder. He often came back laden with squirrels, wild turkeys, and other game.

[Sidenote: =His mother's death=]

They were living in the cabin when Abe's mother sickened and died. He was broken-hearted. She had taught him what little he knew. Her last words to him were: "Try to live as I have taught you and to love your Heavenly Father."

[Sidenote: =Lincoln's tribute to his mother=]

Many years after, when he became famous, he said: "All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." She was put in a coffin roughly cut out of logs by the same tools that had made their furniture, and laid to rest in a corner of the clearing. Long years afterward a good man put a stone over the grave, with this inscription: "Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of President Lincoln, died October 5, A.D. 1818, aged 35 years."

[Sidenote: =Lincoln gets a new mother=]

After a year his father went back to Kentucky to look about for a wife. He found a widow, named Sarah Bush Johnston, and married her. He had known her before he met Nancy Hanks. She was thrifty and industrious, and her bedding and other household goods filled a four-horse wagon.

Before winter came she made her husband put a good floor, and a door, and windows in the cabin. She took charge of Abe and his sister, and made them "look a little more human." She put good clothes on the children and put them to sleep in comfortable beds.

[Sidenote: =Abe's education=]

=159. Lincoln Educates Himself.= Schools were scarce in that new country, and Abe never had more than a year at school. His stepmother encouraged him in every way to study at home.

[Sidenote: =A taste for reading=]

[Sidenote: =He copies down what pleases him=]

When Abe got a taste for reading it was hard to satisfy it. He read the Bible, _Æsop's Fables_, _Robinson Crusoe_, _Pilgrim's Progress_, a history of the United States, and Weem's _Life of Washington_. He borrowed the _Revised Statutes of Indiana_. These were all solid books, good for a young boy to read. When a sentence pleased him, he read and reread it. If he did not own the book, he took many notes, filling his copy book with choice sentences.

_After a painting by Eastman Johnson_]

[Sidenote: =Lincoln reads while he eats=]

John Hanks, a boy brought up with Lincoln, says: "When Abe and I returned to the house from work, he would go to the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn bread, sit down, take a book, cock his legs up as high as his head, and read." He read, wrote, and ciphered incessantly.

[Sidenote: =A great story-teller when a boy=]

Young Lincoln was soon able to do a "man's labor," although only a boy. He was strong and powerful, and a great favorite. In that family of brothers, sisters, and cousins, his good-natured jokes and stories kept peace. Abe was the great story-teller of the family.

[Sidenote: =At nineteen years of age=]

At the age of nineteen Lincoln reached his full height of six feet four inches. By that time he had read every book he could find, and could "spell down" the whole country. "He could sink an ax deeper into the wood than any man I ever saw," said a neighbor.

[Sidenote: =Moves to Illinois=]

When Abe was twenty-one, the entire family started for Illinois. Along forest roads, and across muddy prairies, for two weeks they traveled till they came to the Sangamon River.

They built a cabin on the north fork of the river. With the help of John Hanks, young Lincoln plowed fifteen acres, planted it in corn, and split the rails from the tall walnut trees on the ground and fenced it.

[Sidenote: =A trip to New Orleans=]

=160. Tries to be a Business Man.= The next year he was hired to take a flatboat to New Orleans. The boat was loaded with hogs, pork, and corn. The wages of the trip were fifty cents a day, and twenty dollars besides for each man.

[Sidenote: =A slave auction=]

[Sidenote: =Clerk in a store=]

They "poled" and rowed their slow way down the Ohio and the Mississippi. At New Orleans, Lincoln first saw a slave auction. He saw men and women sold. As he turned away he said to a friend: "If ever I get a chance to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard." He did not then dream of the mighty blow he would one day strike. After his return from New Orleans, he became a clerk in a store.

One day a woman gave Lincoln six cents too much. That very evening he walked several miles to find her and give back the money. At another time Lincoln found that he had not given a woman as much tea as she paid for. He went in search of her and gave her the rest of the tea.

[Sidenote: =The Black Hawk War=]

About this time Lincoln joined a company of soldiers going to the Black Hawk War. An Indian chief named Black Hawk was on the "war path." All the frontier was up in arms against him and his band of braves.

[Sidenote: =Lincoln elected captain=]

Lincoln was well pleased when nearly all the men in his company walked over and stood by his side. This was their way of electing a captain. No election in later days gave him greater pleasure.

[Sidenote: =Fame as a story-teller spreads=]

Little fighting was done by Lincoln's company, but sitting around the camp fires in the evening, he became famous as a story-teller, and he made many friends.

=161. Makes a Success in Politics.= On his return from the war, though he was only twenty-three years old, he became a candidate for the state legislature, but was defeated.

[Sidenote: =Elected to the legislature=]

A little later he was again a candidate. This time he won. After the election, he said to a friend: "Did you vote for me?" "I did," replied the man. "Then you must lend me two hundred dollars." Lincoln needed a suit of clothes and money to pay the expenses for traveling in a stagecoach to the capital!

In 1837 the legislature passed a set of resolutions in favor of slavery and condemning the Abolitionists. Lincoln could not stand this. He and one other man signed a protest declaring that slavery was founded on "injustice and bad policy."

Lincoln was reëlected to the legislature seven times. He generally got more votes than other men on the ticket because the people liked his quaint sayings and his unpretending manner.

[Sidenote: =Lincoln licensed to practice law=]

In the meantime, after three or four years of study, he was given a license to practice law. He made it a rule never to take a case which he believed to be wrong. He was a successful lawyer, but the road to fame by way of the law was a slow one. It gave Lincoln a chance to engage in politics, as we have already seen.

[Sidenote: =His taste for public speaking=]

He liked "stump speaking." He liked to go about the country from one speaking place to another, or to travel from one county to another to meet the different sessions of the courts. He spoke for what he believed to be the truth. He was always in earnest, and made his hearers feel that he was sincere.

[Sidenote: =Speaks for Harrison and for Henry Clay=]

In 1840 he was one of Harrison's orators, and in 1844 he threw all his power and influence in favor of Henry Clay, his favorite among the great men, for the presidency.

[Sidenote: =Lincoln in Congress=]

In 1846 the Whigs of Springfield, where he was then living, put Lincoln forward for Congress, and succeeded in getting him elected. He was not in favor of the war with Mexico, then going on, and was not selected to run again. Lincoln returned to Springfield, and began the practice of law with greater success than ever before.

When Senator Douglas of Illinois, in 1854, carried the Kansas-Nebraska Bill through Congress, anti-slavery men all over the nation raised a storm of indignation. This bill repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had stood for thirty years, and threw the territories open to slavery.

[Sidenote: =The champion against Douglas=]

Douglas spoke at the state fair, held in Springfield. He tried to explain why he favored the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Lincoln made a speech four hours in length, ably answering the argument of Douglas. This speech made him the champion for the anti-slavery people in the state against Douglas.

[Sidenote: =Public opinion points toward Lincoln=]

The same question was fought out between them at Peoria, a little later. Again Lincoln met Douglas' arguments. People began to talk of Lincoln as the next United States senator. More and more, popular opinion in the state began to turn toward Lincoln.

_From Lincoln's log cabin_]

[Sidenote: =Nominated for United States senator=]

Accordingly, in 1858, at Springfield, the Republicans in convention named Lincoln for United States senator. He made a speech to the Republicans in which he said that this country cannot remain half slave and half free--that it must become all slave or all free.

This called every man to face a new question. No greater question could be raised. Some friends of Lincoln pleaded with him not to say that the country could not remain half slave and half free. "I had rather be defeated with that expression in my speech than to be victorious without it," said Lincoln.

[Sidenote: =Lincoln challenges Douglas=]

=162. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.= Douglas attacked this speech, and Lincoln challenged him to hold several joint debates before the people of Illinois. Seven debates were arranged, in which Douglas insisted upon opening and closing four.

[Sidenote: =People come from far away to hear the debates=]