A Short History of the United States eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 355 pages of information about A Short History of the United States.

A Short History of the United States eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 355 pages of information about A Short History of the United States.

[Illustration:  THE OPENING LINES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CHARTER SHOWING ORNAMENTAL BORDER AND PORTRAIT OF CHARLES II.]

[Sidenote:  King Philip’s War, 1675-76. Higginson, 137-138; Eggleston, 81-89.]

77.  King Philip’s War, 1675-76.—­It was not only in Virginia and Maryland that the Indians were restless at this time.  In New England also they attacked the whites.  They were led by Massasoit’s son, King Philip, an able and far-seeing man.  He saw with dismay how rapidly the whites were driving the Indians away from their hunting-grounds.  The Indians burned the English villages on the frontier and killed hundreds of the settlers.  The strongest chief to join Philip was Canonchet of the Narragansetts.  The colonial soldiers stormed his fort and killed a thousand Indian warriors.  Before long King Philip himself was killed, and the war slowly came to an end.

[Sidenote:  William Penn.]

[Sidenote:  The Pennsylvania Charter, 1681.]

78.  William Penn.—­Among the greatest Englishmen of that time was William Penn.  He was a Quaker and was also a friend of Charles II and James, Duke of York.  He wished to found a colony in which he and the Quakers could work out their ideas in religious and civil matters.  It chanced that Charles owed Penn a large sum of money.  As Charles seldom had any money, he was very glad to give Penn instead a large tract of land in America.  In this way Penn obtained Pennsylvania.  James, for his part, gave him Delaware.

[Sidenote:  Settlement of Pennsylvania, 1682. Higginson, 101-105; Eggleston, 57-60; Source-Book, 67-69.]

79.  Founding of Pennsylvania, 1682.—­William Penn had a great reputation for honesty and fair dealing among the English Quakers and among the Quakers on the continent of Europe as well.  As soon as it was known that he was to found a colony, great numbers of persons came to Pennsylvania from England and from Germany.  In a very short time the colony became strong and prosperous.  In the first place, the soil of Pennsylvania was rich and productive while its climate was well suited to the growth of grain.  In the second place, Penn was very liberal to his colonists.  He gave them a large share in the government of the province and he allowed no religious persecution.  He also insisted on fair and honest dealing with the Indians.

[Sidenote:  Mason and Dixon’s line.]

[Sidenote:  Its importance in history.]

80.  Mason and Dixon’s Line.—­In the seventeenth century the geography of America was very little understood in Europe—­and the persons who drew up colonial charters understood it least of all.  Charter lines frequently overlapped and were often very indistinct.  This was particularly true of the Maryland and Pennsylvania boundaries.  Penn and Baltimore tried to come to an agreement; but they never could agree.  Years afterward, when they were both dead, their heirs agreed to have

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A Short History of the United States from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.