A Popular History of the United States of America

POPULAR HISTORY

OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

FROM

THE ABORIGINAL TIMES

ΤΟ

THE PRESENT DAY.

EMBRACING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ABORIGINES; THE NORSEMEN IN THE NEW WORLD; THE
DISCOVERIES BY THE SPANIARDS, ENGLISH, AND FRENCH; THE PLANT-

ING OF SETTLEMENTS; THE GROWTH OF THE COLONIES; THE

STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY IN THE REVOLUTION; THE ESTAB-

LISHMENT OF THE UNION; THE DEVELOPMENT

OF THE NATION; THE CIVIL WAR; AND

THE CENTENNIAL OF INDEPENDENCE.

JOHN CLARK RIDPATH, A. M.,

Professor of Belles-Lettres and History in Indiana Asbury University: Author of Ridpath's
School Histories of the United States; etc., etc.

Illustrated with Maps, Charts, Portraits, and Diagrams.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by

JOHN T. JONES,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

Mis James Huntley Campbelle 2-581932

PREFACE.

DEAR PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

By this, my Preface, I offer to you a New History of your country—and mine. The work is presented in the form of an abridged narrative. My reasons for such a venture are brief, but, I trust, satisfactory:

First, to every American citizen some knowledge of the history of his country is indispensable. The attainment of that knowledge ought to be made easy and delightful.

Second, the Centennial of the Republic furnishes an auspicious occasion for the study of those great events which compose the warp and woof of the new civilization in the West.

This book is intended for the average American; for the man of business who has neither time nor disposition to plod through ten or twenty volumes of elaborate historical dissertation; for the practical man of the shop, the counter, and the plow. The work is dedicated to the household and the library of the poor. It is inscribed to the father, the mother, the son, and the daughter of the American family. If father, mother, son, and daughter shall love their country better-if they shall understand more clearly and appreciate more fully the founding, progress, and growth of liberty in the New World-the author will be abundantly repaid.

In the preparation of the work the following objects have been kept in view:

I. To give an accurate and spirited Narrative of the principal events in our National history from the aboriginal times to the present day.

II. To discuss the Philosophy of that history as fully as possible within the narrow limits of the work.

III. To avoid all Partiality, Partisanship, and Prejudice, as things dangerous, baneful, and wicked.

IV. To preserve a clear and systematic Arrangement of the several subjects, giving to every fact, whether of peace or war, its true place and importance in the narrative.

V. To give an Objective Representation by means of charts, maps, drawings, and diagrams, of all the more important matters in the history of the nation.

VI. To secure a Style and Method in the book itself which shall be in keeping with the spirit and refinement of the times.

Whether these important ends have been attained, dear People, it is not my province but yours to decide. I have labored earnestly to reach the ideal of such a work, and if success has not rewarded the effort, the failure has been in the execution rather than in the plan and purpose.

I surrender the book, thus undertaken and completed, to You— for whom it was intended. With diffidence I ask a considerate judgment and just recognition of whatever worth the work may be found to possess.

INDIANA ASBURY UNIVERSITY,

January 1, 1877.

}

J. C. R.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

What constitutes a period in history. The period of the Aborigines.-The second
period in the history of the United States.-Extends from the discovery of the conti-
ment to the establishment of permanent settlements.-The third period.—Reaches from
the first colonies to the war of the Revolution.-The fourth period.-Embraces the
Revolution and the consolidation of the government.-The fifth period is most im-
portant.-Extends from the adoption of the Constitution to the present time.-The
names and dates of the several periods.