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the Revolution, and the young were fired with patriotism. This custom lasted till 1845. The first wedding recorded in this western region was at Manlius (1794) training day" in front of the inn, the soldiers forming a hollow square within which the ceremony took place.

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Markets. The rich fields gave big returns, but the crops could not be sold for lack of a market. The waterways were used at first to get grains and lumber and manufactured articles to Montreal, Albany, or Philadelphia. With good roads, however, overland trips to market were made. In 1804 "a wagon-load of wheat was brought by four yoke of oxen from Bloomfield (Ontario county) to Albany, a distance of 230 miles." The wheat was bought for 62 cents a bushel and sold for $2.15. Furs were still sent east.

Industries. As early as 1789 salt was obtained by boiling in kettles the water of the salt springs at Onondaga Lake, long known to the Indians. Solar saltworks were erected later (1821). Wool was carded, spun, and woven on hand-looms by the women. Linen was treated in the same way. The first carding and fulling machine was set up in 1806 at Trenton, Oneida county. Tailors and shoemakers went from house to house "mending" and "making up" for the year.

Religion. The Jesuits planted the first church in western New York among the natives. With the whites came the Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, and other churches. Famous "big meetings" were held in the winter, and "camp-meetings" during the summer. In 1787 twentyfive followers of Jemima Wilkinson bought 14,000 acres

near Dresden and became the pioneers of Yates county. She was the Moses of this colony of Friends, and with her death the order disappeared.1

Schools and academies were soon established. The Regents of the University of the state were created in 1784, and organized to superintend education in 1787. The legislature set aside land for education in 1789 and soon appropriated $50,000 to support common schools (1795). The Geneva union school was the first of its kind in the state. Log schoolhouses were soon found in every settlement. In 1807 the Buffalo public-school system was originated. An academy was started at Canandaigua (1795), and another at Cayuga (1801). Newspapers spread from east to west. The first one in central New York was The Otsego Herald at Cooperstown (1795).2 The Bath Gazette followed (1796), and within a few years every village had its

newspaper.

The Strong Cosmopolitan Civilization of the west rounded out the greatness of the Empire State. The prophecy made in 1791 was fulfilled: "The Germans, Dutch, and Yankees will soon dismiss all local, illiberal prejudices and distinctions; and in twenty or thirty years the shades of discordance will be hardly perceptible. The whole will amalgamate and all will be dignified by the general name of Americans." 3

She was born in Rhode Island, at 20 claimed to be divinely cured of an illness, and then preached throughout New England, Pennsylvania, and New York, gaining many followers. She knew the Bible by heart.

2 William L. Stone, Thurlow Weed, and James Fenimore Cooper all "set type" there. Cooper's The Pioneer gives a description of it.

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CHAPTER XXV.-POLITICAL PARTIES IN NEW YORK

Parties. The Whigs and Tories of the Revolution gave way to the Federalists and Anti-federalists during the framing and adoption of the national constitution. After the constitution became the supreme law of the nation the Antifederalists began to call themselves Republicans, or later Democratic-Republicans, and finally Democrats, though for thirty years their opponents called them Anti-federalists.

Election of 1792.-Under New York's first constitution the governor was elected for three years. Clinton had been chosen five terms without opposition, but in 1792 the Federalists supported John Jay for governor. Jay received more votes than Clinton, but the returns of three counties giving Jay large majorities were thrown out because of some technical defect, and this elected Clinton. The Federalists were very angry, and at a dinner in New York City prominent citizens drank to the toast," John Jay, governor by voice of the people." While Jay was minister to England in 1795 his friends again nominated him for governor. Clinton prudently declined to be a candidate, and Robert Yates represented the Republicans. Jay was elected while abroad. The treaty he signed with England was most violently denounced, but to avert an outbreak the Federalists supported it and had it ratified in the United States Senate.

Clinton Elected Vice-President.-At first presidential electors were chosen by the state legislature instead of by the people. The change was made in 1828. Previous

to 1804 each elector voted for two persons without naming either one for President or Vice-President. Then the person having the greatest number of votes was declared President. In November of 1792 New York chose her first electors. They favored Washington for President and Clinton for Vice-President. Clinton did not get the office then, but while serving his last term as governor (1804) was elected Vice-President, in which office he died in 1812.

Slavery. Jay served two terms as governor and then declined a nomination for a third term. During his administration and mainly through his influence the legislature began to abolish negro slavery in the state (April, 1799). The law provided that all children born of slave parents after July 4 should be free, though still subject to apprenticeship. This law, supplemented by an act in 1817, put an end to negro slavery in New York on July 4, 1827, just 200 years after its introduction. Full suffrage was not given to the black man, however, for many years.

Trouble with France. Many Americans, particularly Republicans, sympathized with the French Revolution. When England and other nations made war on France they wished to aid the French.

In New York City large numbers of the citizens expressed their sympathy by devoting a day to feasting, bell-ringing, and cannonading (Jan., 1793). Taking advantage of this feeling, Minister Genet of the French Republic fitted out privateers at New York and elsewhere. Washington, in consequence, ordered a privateer in New York harbor seized, and secured Genet's recall.

Burr's Defeat. The fourth presidential election was a victory for the Republicans. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the most votes, but each an equal number. The House of Representatives was then called upon to decide who should be President. Burr tried to win the votes of the Federalists, but Jefferson was chosen President (Feb. 17, 1801). The Republicans, as Burr well knew, had intended this. Burr now deserted his party and soon offered himself as a candidate for governor of New York.1 Morgan Lewis, the chief justice, was elected by the Republicans. Burr attributed his defeat to Hamilton, picked a quarrel with him and challenged him to a duel.

The Duel.-Hamilton had no desire to fight, but accepted the challenge as a matter of honor. The two men met on a July morning in 1804 on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. Burr aimed his pistol and fired. "Hamilton sprang upon his toes with a convulsive movement, reeled a little, involuntarily discharged his pistol in the air, and then fell headlong on his face." Taken across the river to his home, he lingered a few hours in terrible pain and died surrounded by his agonized family. "On the day of the funeral every church bell in the city was muffled and tolled " from morn till night. In the procession were clergymen of all denominations, lawyers, state and city civil officials, the militia, merchants, the faculty and students of Columbia College, and hosts of citizens.

1 He was nominated by his friends in a caucus of the legislature at Albany, Feb. 18, 1804. A large meeting in the city of New York ratified the action.

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