Treaty of Peace.

Hartford Convention.

War with Algiers.

were promptly met by the latter in a conciliatory spirit, and commissioners were appointed by the two powers to negotiate a treaty.' They met in the city of Ghent, in Belgium, in the month of August, 1814, and on the 24th of December following, a treaty was signed, which both governments speedily ratified.

20. During these negotiations, the war, as we have seen, was vigorously prosecuted, and the opposition of the Federalists grew more intense. It reached its culmination in December, when delegates, appointed by several New England legislatures, met [Dec. 15, 1814] in convention at Hartford, for the purpose of considering the grievances of the people, caused by a state of war, and to devise speedy measures for its termination. This convention, whose sessions were secret, was denounced as treasonable, but patriotism appears to have prevailed in its councils, whatever may have been the designs of some. Its plans for disunion or secession, if any were formed, were rendered abortive soon after its adjournment, for, on the 18th of February, 1815, peace was proclaimed by the President, and then a day of national thanksgiving to the Almighty, for the blessed event, was observed throughout the Union.

21. The contest with England had but just ended, when the United States was compelled to engage in a brief

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2

WAR WITH ALGIERS.

As we have observed, the United States had paid tribute to Algiers since 1795. Every year, as his strength increased, the ruler of that Barbary State became more insolent, and finally, believing that the United States navy had been almost annihilated by the British, he made a pretense for renewing depredations upon American commerce, in violation of the treaty. Our government, determined to pay tribute no longer, accepted the challenge, and in May, 1815, Commodore Decatur proceeded with a squadron to the Mediterranean, to humble the pirate.

22. Fortunately, the Algerine fleet was cruising in the Mediterranean, in search of American vessels. On the 17th of June [1815], Decatur met and captured the frigate of the Algerine admiral, and another vessel with almost six hundred men, and then sailed for the bay of Algiers. He immediately demanded [June 28] the instant surrender of all American prisoners, full indemnification for all property destroyed, and absolute relinquishment of all claims to tribute from the United States, in future. Informed of the fate of

1. The United States commissioners were John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russel, and Albert Gallatin [note 1, page 273]. Those of Great Britain were Admiral Lord Gambier, Henry Goulbourn, and William Adams. These commissioners are all dead. Mr. Clay, who died in 1852, was the last survivor. 2. Verse 14, page 269.

3. Verse 3, page 273. In 1812, the Dey compelled Mr. Lear, the American consul [verse 5, page 274], to pay him $27,000, for the safety of himself, family, and a few Americans, under the penalty of all being made slaves. 4. Verse 4, page 274.

QUESTIONS.-20. What did the Federalists do? What can you tell of a secret convention? What of peace? 21. What other war did the United States engage in? What can you tell of the relations between the United States and Algiers? What did the former resolve to do? 22. What can you tell of Commodore Decatur's exploits in the Mediterranean? What did he accomplish?

Decatur in the Mediterranean.

Election and inauguration of Monoe.

a part of his fleet, the Dey' yielded to the humiliating terms, and signed a treaty [June 30] to that effect.

23. Decatur then sailed for Tunis,2 and demanded and received [July, 1815] from the bashaw' forty-six thousand dollars, in payment for American vessels which he had allowed the English to capture in his harbor. The same demand, on the same account, was made upon the bashaw of Tripoli,* and Decatur received [August] twenty-five thousand dollars from him, and the restoration of prisoners. This cruise to the Mediterranean gave full security to American commerce in those seas, and greatly elevated the character of the government of the United States in the opinion of Europe. Now was accomplished, in a single cruise, what the combined powers of Europe dared not to attempt.

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24. The eventful administration of Mr. Madison now drew to a close, and very little of general interest occurred, except the chartering of a new United States Bank, and the admission of Indiana [Dec., 1816] into the Union of States. In the autumn of 1816, James Monroe of Virginia, who was Madison's Secretary of War for a few months, was elected President of the United States, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, Vice-President.'

MONROE's

SECTION VII.

ADMINISTRATION. [1817-1825.]

1. Mr. Monroe was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1817, at Congress Hall, in Washington city, the Capitol having been destroyed by the British." He selected his cabinet from the Republican party;" and never, since the formation of the government, had a President been surrounded with abler counselors." Monroe was a judicious and reliable man; and when we reflect upon the condition of the country at that time-in a transition state from war

2. Verse 3, page 273.

3. Verse 5, page 274.

1. Verse 14, page 269. 4. Verse 5, page 274. 5. The first, as we have observed [verse 6, page 266], was chartered in 1791. The charter expired in 1811. A project for a new bank was presented to the consideration of Congress, at the session of 1815-16, and on the 10th of April, 1816, a charter for twenty years, with a capital of $35,000,000, was granted. The existence of the bank expired with this charter in 1836.

6. Born in 1774. He was a prominent Democrat when Jefferson was elected [verse 6, page 272] Presidert of the United States. He was Chief-Justice of New York, and also Governor of the State. He died on Staten Island, in 1825.

7. Mr. Monroe's election was by an almost unanimous vote. Only one vote (in New Hampshire) was cast against him.

8. James Monroe was born in Virginia in 1759. He entered the patriot army in 1776, and rose to the rank of captain. He was a member of Congress in 1783, of the U. S. Senate in 179), Governor of Virginia in 1799, and minister to France and England in 1803. He died in New York on the 4th of July, 1831.

9. Verse 10, page 296.

10. Verse 9, page 267. 11. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State; William H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War; Benjamin Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy; and William Wirt, AttorneyGeneral. He offered the War Department to the venerable Governor Shelby, of Kentucky [verse 8, page 288], who declined it. Calhoun was appointed in December, 1817. Crowninshield, who was in Madison's cabinet, continued in office until the close of November, 1818, when Smith Thompson, of New York, was appointed in his place.

QUESTIONS.-3. What did Decatur accomplish at Tunis and Tripoli? What did his cruise effect? 24. What notable events occurred during the remainder of Madison's administration? 1. When and where was Monroe inaugurated President of the United States? Why there? What was the character of his cabinet? What was the condition of the country?

Emigration to the West.

Buccaneers in the Gulf of Mexico.

and confusion to peace and order-his elevation to the presidency seems to have been a national blessing.

2. During the war, a large number of manufacturing establishments had been nurtured into vigorous life by great demands and high prices; but when peace returned, and European manufactures flooded the country at very low prices, wide-spread ruin ensued, and thousands of men were compelled to seek other employments. The apparent misfortune was a mercy in disguise, for the nation. Beyond the Alleghanies, millions of fertile acres, possessing real wealth, were awaiting the tiller's industry and skill. Agriculture beckoned the bankrupts to her fields. Homes in the East were deserted; emigration flooded over the mountains in a broad and vigorous stream; and before the close of Monroe's administration, four new sovereign States had started into being from the wilderness of the great West, and one in the East.

3. The first year of Monroe's administration was chiefly distinguished by the admission [Dec., 1817] of a portion of the Mississippi Territory into the Union, as a State, and the suppression of two piratical and slave dealing establishments near the southern and south-western borders of the republic. One of them was at the mouth of the St. Mary, Florida, and the other at Galveston, Texas. In addition to a clandestine trade in slaves, these buccaneers, under pretense of authority from one of the Spanish republics of South America, were endeavoring to liberate the Floridas from the dominion of Spain. In November, 1817, United States troops proceeded to take pos

G

1. The progress of the States and Territories west of the Alleghanies [note 7, page 14] in wealth and population, is truly wonderful. Fifty years ago, those immense lakes, Ontario, Erie, Michigan, Huron, and Superior, were entirely without commerce, and an Indian's canoe was almost the only craft seen upon them. In 1853, the value of traffic upon these waters and the navigable rivers, was estimated at $562,000,000. See note page And never was the growth of the great West more rapid than at the present. 2. Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, and Missouri. 3. Maine. 4. The Territory was divided. The western portion was made a State, and the eastern was erected into a Territory, named Alabama, after its principal river. It included a portion of Georgia, given for a consideration. See note 4. page 351. 5. Note 3, page 119.

6. During the first quarter of the present century, nearly all of the countries in Central and South America, which, since the conquests of Cortez [verse 23, page 331 and Pizarro [note 5, page 34], had been under the Spanish yoke, rebelled, and forming republics, became independent of Spain. It was the policy of our government to encourage these republics, by preventing the re-establishment of monarchical power on the American continent. This is known as "The Monroe Doctrine." 7. Verse 18, page 32.

QUESTIONS.-2. What caused wide-spread commercial ruin? What good ensued? 3. What events distinguished the first year of Monroe's administration? Can you relate the circumstances?

Indian War at the South.

Pensacola again seized.

Cession of Florida.

session of Amelia Island, the rendezvous of the pirates on the Florida coast, and the Galveston establishment soon disappeared for want of support.

4. Another difficulty arose at about the same time. A motley host, composed chiefly of Seminole Indians,' Creeks dissatisfied with the treaty of 1814,' and runaway negroes, commenced murderous depredations upon the frontier settlements of Georgia and the Alabama Territory, toward the close of 1817. General Gaines3 was sent to suppress these outrages, and to remove every Indian from the Territory which the Creeks had ceded to the United States in 1814. His presence aroused the fiercest ire of the Indians, who, it was ascertained, were incited to hostilities by British subjects protected by the Spanish authorities in Florida. Gaines was placed in a perilous position, when General Jackson, with a thousand mounted Tennessee volunteers, hastened [Dec., 1817] to his aid.

5. Jackson marched [March, 1818] into Florida, took possession [April] of the weak Spanish post of St. Mark, at the head of Appallachee Bay,* and sent the civil authorities and troops to Pensacola. At St. Mark he secured the persons of Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister, who, on being tried [April 26] by a court-martial, were found guilty of being the principal emissaries among the southern Indians, inciting them to hostilities. They were both executed on the 30th of the same month. Jackson afterward seized Pensacola [May 24], captured the fortress of Barancas [May 27] at the entrance to Pensacola Bay, and sent the Spanish authorities and troops to Havana.

6. General Jackson was much censured at first for this invasion of the Territory of a friendly power, and his summary proceedings there. But he was sustained by the government and the majority of the people. These measures also led to the important treaty' at Washington, in February, 1819, by which Spain ceded to the United States the whole of the Floridas and the adjacent islands, and that country was erected into a Territory in February, 1821. General Jackson was appointed [March, 1821] the first governor of the newlyacquired domain.

7. While the treaty concerning Florida was pending, the southern portion of a vast region of the remaining Territory of Louisiana, extending westward of that State to the Pacific ocean, which was erected into the "Missouri Ter

1. Verse 4, page 22. 2. Verse 14, page 298. 3. Edmund P. Gaines was born in Virginia, in 1777. He entered the army in 1799, and rose gradually until he was made major-general for his gallantry at Fort Erie [verse 5, page 294], in 1814. He remained in the army until his death, in 1849. 4. Verse 24, page 34. 5. Verse 14, page 298. 6. Arbuthnot was a Scotch trader from New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands. He had a store on the Suwaney river, where many of the hostile Indians and negroes congregated. Ambrister was an Englishman, about twenty-one years of age, who had borne a lieutenant's commission in the British service. He was also at the Suwaney settlements, and put himself at the head of the Indians and negroes.

7. Made by John Quincy Adams for the United States, and Don Onis, the Spanish embassador at Washington. Hitherto, the United States had claimed a large portion of Texas, as a part of Louisiana. By this treaty, Texas was retained by the Spaniards. The cession was made as an equivalent for all claims against Spain for injury done the American commerce to an amount not exceeding $5,000,000. This treaty was not finally ratified until February, 1871.

QUESTIONS.-4. What can you tell of border warfare at the South? What was done to suppress it? 5. What did Jackson do in Florida? Who caused trouble there? What rigorous measures were carried out? 6. How were Jackson's proceedings regarded? What was his plea? What was the result?

Admission of new States.

Missouri Compromisc.

Pirates in the West Indies.

ritory" in 1812, was formed into a government [1819], and called Arkansas. In December, the same year, Alabama was admitted into the Union; and at the same time, Missouri and Maine were making overtures for a similar position. Maine was admitted in March, 1820,' but the entrance of Missouri was delayed until August, 1821, by a violent and protracted debate which sprung up between the North and the South on the subject of the admission of slavery, into that state.

8. During the session of 1818-19, a bill was introduced into Congress, which contained a provision forbidding the introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude into the new State of Missouri, when admitted. Violent debates arose, and the subject was postponed until another session. The whole country was agitated by disputes on the subject; and when it was again brought before Congress [Nov. 23, 1820], angry disputes and long discussions ensued. A compromise was finally agreed to [Feb. 28, 1821], by which slavery should be allowed in Missouri and in all territory south of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude (southern boundary of Missouri), and prohibited in all the territory northerly and westerly of these limits. This is known as The Missouri Compromise. Under this compromise Missouri was admitted [Aug. 21, 1821], and the excitement on the subject ceased. The confederation was now composed of twenty-four sovereign States.3

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9. During the pendency of the Missouri question, Mr. Monroe was reclected President [1820], and Mr. Tompkins' Vice-President, by an almost unanimous vote, the old Federal party, as an organization, being nearly extinct. His administration had been very popular, and the country was blessed with general prosperity. Two other measures, besides those already noticed, received the warmest approbation of the people. One made provision, in some degree, for the surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution, and their families; the other was an arrangement made with Great Britain [Oct., 1818], by which American citizens were allowed to share with those of that realm, in the valuable Newfoundland fisheries."

10. Very little of general importance, aside from the rapid progress of the country, occurred during the remainder of Monroe's administration, except the suppression of piracy among the West India Islands, and the visit of General La Fayette' to the United States, as the nation's guest. In 1822, a small American squadron destroyed more than twenty piratical vessels on the coast of Cuba, and the following year the work was completed, by a larger force, under Commodore Porter.

11. La Fayette arrived at New York, from France, in August, 1824, and

4. Verse 24, page 301.

6. Verse 15, page 340. At the same time, the northern boundary of the United the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, was defined.

7. Verse 12, page 216.

2. Verse 8, page 347.

5. Verse 9, page 267. States, from the Lake of 8. Verse 21, page 293.

QUESTIONS.-7. What new Territory was formed? and how? What new States songht admission into the Union? What caused agitation? 8. What can you tell about the admission of Missouri into the Union? What compromise was made? and what did it effect? 9. What political changes occurred? What was the character of Monroe's administration? What measures were popular? 10. What was done to suppress piracy?