Only the skill of the young Virginian saved any part of the army. Braddock was slain, and Washington buried him secretly at night, lest his grave should be insulted. The Indians strutted about the battlefield, wearing the laced hats and scarlet uniforms of the English officers. One of the saddest events of the war occurred in Acadia, or Nova Scotia. Nearly all the settlers there were French, and they Exile of the claimed to be "neutrals," that is, persons who would favor neither Acadians party. The English believed that they were aiding the French, and thought that if they were The exiles buried many of allowed to remain, Eng EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS their possessions, hoping to return. Some of these things have been found, and people have not yet given up digging in search of the chapel bell of Port Royal. Those who came to Philadelphia were in great need, until a The Acadians in Philadelphia kind Quaker raised funds to build a row of little wooden houses for them, and to provide a teacher for their children. There was a strange fear of these simple, harmless people, and a young Philadelphia girl wrote that she was frightened because she had to go by the houses of the "French Neutrals" at twilight. This carrying people from their homes was not a new thing, and Quebec THE FORTRESS OF QUEBEC AS IT IS TO-DAY strangely enough, it is just what the French king had proposed to do some years earlier if he had captured New York. The English had won victories, but the one thing that would end the French rule in America was the capture of Quebec. Quebec was built on a great mass of rock that jutted out into the Saint Lawrence. It was one of the strongest cities in the world, and it was commanded by General Montcalm, a brave and successful French soldier. The English were commanded by General Wolfe, a young man who had won glory in previous fighting. All summer Wolfe tried one plan after another to take the city, but in vain. Autumn came, and he planned a final attempt. He sent part of the vessels with a few men below the town to pretend to be getting ready for an assault, while the other ships with most of the men sailed far up above the town. Montcalm was below, and one of his officers above, each expecting an attack. When night came, Wolfe and his men floated down stream in the deep shadow of the high bank. It was dark, but the stars were Capture of out. Wolfe repeated softly his favorite poem, Gray's "Elegy." the English ,, Quebec by "I should rather have written those lines," said he, "than to take Quebec." They came near the shore. Who is there?" called the sentinel. Provision boats," was the answer. "Keep still, the English will hear!" Provision boats were expected, and the sentinel asked no more questions. 66 66 About a mile above Quebec was a high plateau called the Plains of Abraham from a pilot who lived there in the early days. Wolfe had seen with his glass far across the river a rough path up the almost perpendicular cliff, and he believed that his men could climb it. Montcalm, too, had noticed this path, but he said, "They have not wings, and one hundred men posted there could stop their whole army." So they could, but the one in charge was careless, and while Montcalm below the town and his officer above the town were each expecting an attack, Wolfe and his men were climbing up the steep cliff. In the morning Montcalm found an English army drawn up in line on the Plains. There was a fierce battle. Both commanders were mortally wounded. Wolfe heard his men crying, “They run! See them run!" "Who run?" he asked, and when he knew it was the French, he said, "Now I shall die in peace." Montcalm was carried to a little house in the town. 66 Thank God," said he, "that I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." ENGLISH SOLDIER OF This victory in 1759 ended in America the war which lasted in Europe till 1763. France gave up to England, Canada, and all English rule the land that the French had claimed east of the Mississippi. established in America During the war, England had captured Cuba and the Philippines. from Spain, for Spain was helping France. Now England gave the islands back and took Florida in exchange. To pay Spain for this loss, France had to give her New Orleans and all the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. The question was settled once for all that England would rule in America. SUMMARY. For nearly seventy-five years there were periods of fighting with the French to see who should rule in America. The latter part of this struggle, brought on by the attempts of the French to seize the Ohio valley, was called the French and Indian War. The capture of Quebec gave England the control in America. After the war, England held Canada and all land east of the Mississippi. SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. A New England soldier writes home from Louisburg. Washington's companion tells about the journey to the Alleghany. XV THE TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION AMERICA in the eighteenth century was a very different country from what it is to-day. In the first place, there were probably Population not so many inhabitants in all the English colonies as there are now in New York and Philadelphia, and of these half a million were negro slaves. Slaves were held in all the colonies. Indeed, England was making so much money in the slave trade that she forced slavery upon America, and ordered her officers in the New World to do all that they could to encourage the trade. In the South, a negro could live on cheap food and without many clothes or much shelter, while in the North, if he did not have good food, warm clothes, and a comfortable shelter, GREAT HOUSE OF AN EARLY PLANTATION Slavery |