THE NEW CONSTITUTION—Failure of the articles of confedera- tion-The constitutional convention-The question at issue- Birth of political parties in America-Patriotic suspicions- -Obstinacy of certain states-A digest of the constitution-A criticism of the constitution-Criticism of the congressional FORMATION OF THE FEDERATION-Weakness of the constitu- tion discovered-A new convention proposed-Report of com- mittee on revised constitution—A struggle between the states FIRST ACTS OF THE FIRST PRESIDENT-Non-partisan spirit of high seas with French vessels-France apologizes-Death of Washington-Washington City designated as the new capital -Election of Jefferson-Acquisition of new territory by pur- chase-War with Tripoli-Exploits of Decatur--Killing of Alexander Hamilton by AaronBurr-Re-election of Jefferson- Burr's conspiracy-War between France and England seriously affects American commerce-Many vexatious interferences by the English-The embargo act of retaliation--The first steam- MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION Crisis of affairs between the United States and Great Britain-Free Trade and Sailors' Rights-War with Indian tribes - Harrison's victory over Tecumseh—Beginning of the war with Great Britain-En- gagements on the high seas-Shameful surrender of Hull -Expedition against Canada-Battles along the border- Perry's victory on Lake Erie-Battle of the Thames-Uprising of the Creek Indians - Jackson's campaign Capture of Toronto-Famous engagements on the sea-General Scott's invasion of Canada-Battle of Lundy's Lane-Battle of Lake MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION--A period of peace and develop- Seminole war-Capture of Osceola-Nullification of state son-Rout of the Democratic party-The census of 1840-The first Whig administration-Death of Harrison-John Tyler becomes President-Attempts to recharter the United States Bank-The Law and Order party-Dorr's rebellion-Rise of the Mormon sect-Driven from Illinois they settle in Utah... 443-492 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. BOOK FIRST. EPOCH OF DISCOVERY AND PLANTING. CHAPTER I. To the men of the ancient world the character of the globe-its form, its fashion-was a mystery. They knew it not. The greatest minds of antiquity stood puzzled and dumb before the enigma. It is impossible for the man of the present day, by force of imagination, to put himself in the place of the man of antiquity and consider the earth, the sun and the stars as he considered them. With the lapse of time, the increase of knowledge and the diffusion of light, the mystery has cleared away, the unknown has become the known. The sky is no longer a curtain and the ocean no longer a boundless deep. The earth is no longer an impossible plain held up from below by mythical monsters and carried forward through an impossible panorama of seasons and vicissitudes. All things have been resolved from doubt into certainty. The fogs of fear and superstition have been tossed afar by the salubrious wind, and though man does not know all, he does know much of the sphere which he inhabits, the nature of things and the system of universal nature. The revelation of the form and bigness of the earth was long retarded. It seemed that the darkness of the ancient and medieval night would never give place to day. Every form of ignorance and every spirit of superstition, all the misconceptions of the past and all the folly and fears of the present, stood in the way and brandished weapons and torches like goblins of the night. Nothing less than the sublime law of progress, under the reign of which the old and hurtful darkness gives place at length to the new and beautiful dawn, could have availed to bring in a newer and truer concept of the world and to fix it as an unchangeable scientific belief in the minds of men. It were an impossible task to discover the origin of the new opinions respecting the form and figure of the earth. It appears that the old belief was never satisfying to the great minds of antiquity. In the writings of Aristotle we already catch glimpses of a conjecture that the earth is a sphere and not a plain. The popular mythology did not suffice with men like Socrates and his companions and followers, and they reached out vaguely to frame each for himself a concept of the world on which he enacted the brief drama of his life. But scientific views of nature were soon lost in the decadence and darkness that followed the Classical ages. The decline of the Roman Empire was coincident with a decline in the human mind. The triumph of the Goths was not only the triumph of physical violence over the remains of order and civilization, but it was also the victory of ancient barbaric thought over the science, the philosophy and learning which had flourished for a season under the auspices of Greek and Roman scholars. The Christian Church at length fell into league with the barbarians, and though ever struggling with their brutalities and looking backward with yearning and regret to the vast and orderly |