The Confederation Poets
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History of the United States in Rhyme
HISTORY OF THE UNITED
STATES IN RHYME
BY
ROBERT C. ADAMS
AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN RHYME,” “ON BOARD THE ‘ROCKET,’” ETC.
BOSTON
D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY
FRANKLIN STREET
[unnumbered page]
This History of the United States
‘Tis not pretended higher rates
Than Bancroft, Barnes or Lossing !
But to the student pressed for time,
This condensation clothed in rhyme
‘Tis hoped will prove a blessing.
[unnumbered page]
[blank page]
HISTORY OF THE UNITED
STATES IN RHYME.
DISCOVERIES.
About the year ten hundred two, A.D. 1002.
So Iceland’s legends say,
Norwegians saw America
From Greenland to Cape May.
Four hundred years of silence came,
The Northmen’s trips had ceased,
When Europe’s enterprise sought out
The commerce of the East,
In Christopher Columbus’ day,
A Genoese by birth,
Who, studying navigation, guessed
The roundness of the earth [unnumbered page]
History of the United States in Rhyme.
And said that Asia might be reached
By Sailing to the West:
Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabel
Gave means to make the test.
They fitted out two caravels,
Columbus bought a third,
Aug. 3, 1492. And sailed from Palos, in old Spain,
With sixscore men on board.
When seventy days of fruitless search
Had wearied out his crew,
Oct. 12, 1492. Columbus saw San Salvador
In fourteen ninety-two.
When Cuba, San Domingo’s shore,
And smaller isles were seen,
He carried back to Spain next year
The tidings to the Queen.
John Cabot gained from Henry Seventh
A patent to explore,
And with his son Sebastian found
July 3, 1497. The coast of Labrador. [page 6]
Sebastian fourteen ninety-eight
A second voyage made,
And searched to Carolina’s shore, 1408.
For purposes of trade.
He afterwards found Hudson’s Bay, 1517.
And when King Henry died,
For Spain he voyaged to Brazil, 1526.
And saw La Plata’s tide.
Columbus Orinoco saw, Aug. 10, 1498.
In fourteen ninety-eight,
But rivals sent him home in chains,
To gratify their hate.
The Queen released him, and he sailed
Once more the westward way,
But ere returning she had died
And enemies held sway.
Columbus, suffering from neglect,
At Valladolid died; May 20, 1506.
His bones beneath Havana’s soil,
In Cuba, now abide. [page 7]
He made four voyages in all,
Formed settlements abroad,
But never knew the magnitude
Of what he had explored.
Discoveries were concealed by Spain,
And jealous rivals hurled
Such calumnies, Columbus lost
The naming of a world.
Americus Vespucius,
A Florentine, made claim
That he discovered the New World,
And thus it bears his name.
He sailed to South America
1499. In fourteen ninety-nine,
1504. And, five years later, made reports
That favored his design.
Corte real, for Portugal,
Six hundred miles or more
Of North America explored,
And off to slavery bore [page 8]
Some fifty of the Indians.
In this unholy strife,
Upon a second rash attempt, 1501.
He forfeited his life.
The Frenchmen came to Newfoundland 1504.
To fish, in fifteen four,
They named Cape Breton and explored
The great St. Lawrence shore.
Some voyagers saw Yucatan,
And, fifteen hundred ten,
Balboa with a colony
Encamped at Darien. 1510.
In fifteen thirteen, he the great Sept. 29, 1513.
Pacific Ocean spied,
And took possession for old Spain,
Of all its boundless tide.
Juan Ponce De Leon, fifteen twelve,
The Fount of Youth to gain,
Discovering Florida, was made April 6, 1512.
Its governor by Spain. [page 9]
1521. But when he came to settle there,
The Indians defied
The Spaniards, who to Cuba fled,
Where Ponce de Leon died.
1517. Then Cordova found Mexico:
1518. Grijalva searched anew,
1519-21. And Cortes conquered Mexico,
1531. Pizarro took Peru.
1520. De Ayllon, seeking Indian slaves,
From San Domingo sailed
To Carolina for his prey;
1525. A second voyage failed.
1523. John Verrazani sailed from France,
In fifteen twenty-three,
And leaving Carolina reached
1524. The fiftieth degree.
1528. Narvaez went to Florida
New settlements to form;
In crazy boats he fled to sea,
And perished in a storm. [page 10]
De Soto, Cuba’s governor, 1539-41.
Came next with crowded ranks;
He marched three thousand miles, and died
On Mississippi’s banks.
One half of his six hundred died,
The rest resolved to flee,
And, failing to escape by land,
Built boats and reached the sea.
Jacques Cartier, in thirty-four, 1534.
Two ships took out from France,
And made attempt in Canada
French glory to advance.
Next year he made a second trip,
And on St. Lawrence day, 1535.
Explored the Gulf that took this name
And up its stream made way.
The vessels anchored at Quebec,
And, taking boats, he came
To Hochelaga’s Isle, and gave
To Montreal its name. [page 11]
Again, in fifteen forty-one,
1541. He voyaged to Quebec,
And near the village built a fort,
The Indians to check.
He left ere Roberval appeared,
Who, sent out by the King
1542. To act as viceroy, sailed again
Disheartened, in the spring.
1542. Cabrillo, fifteen forty-two,
Explored by Spain’s command,
From Acapulco, steering north,
Along the Western land.
Coligny, Admiral of France,
A place of refuge planned
For persecuted Huguenots
Within the Western land.
A squadron under Ribault sailed
1562. And reached Port Royal Bay;
A colony of twenty-six
Decided there to stay. [page 12]
To honor Charles the Ninth, the land
Was Carolina styled;
But failing to receive supplies,
They left the Western wild.
Another expedition came,
Led by Laudonniere,
To the St. John’s, in Florida, 1564
And built a fortress there.
This rousing Spanish jealousy,
Melendez brought a crew,
Who, settling at St. Augustine, 1565.
Nine hundred Frenchmen slew.
A fiery Gascon named De Gourges,
In anger crossed the seas,
Secured two hundred prisoners
And hung them to the trees.
He fled, and Spain retained the land;
St. Augustine thus rates
The oldest town existing now
Within the United States. [page 13]
1576-77. For gold, and northwest passages
To reach East Indian trade,
Three unsuccessful voyages
By Frobisher were made.
1578-80. In seventy-nine, Sir Francis Drake
Passed California’s coast;
And John de Fuca, later on,
Still further search could boast.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert for his queen
Made claim to Newfoundland;
1583. His little vessel of ten tons
Went down with all its band.
1584. Then Walter Raleigh for himself,
With patents to explore,
Sent Amidas and Barlow out
To Carolina’s shore.
The land was called Virginia
By England’s virgin queen,
And Raleigh, knighted, sent more ships
To settle his demesne. [page 14]
Sir Richard Grenville led the fleet 1585.
And founded Roanoke;
But Indian hostility
They managed to provoke,
And after suffering much distress,
Were eager to forsake
The colony, and go on board
The ships of Francis Drake. 1586.
They scarce had sailed when ships arrived
With bountiful supplies;
And Grenville landed fifteen men
To hold the enterprise.
Then Raleigh sent more emigrants
With Governor White, who found 1587.
The bones of all the fifteen men
Exposed upon the ground.
Returning home to get supplies,
He left a hundred there,
Among whom was the first born child
They called Virginia Dare. [page 15]
1590. Three years elapsed before John White
The settlement regained;
The colony had disappeared,
No vestige then remained.
Sir Walter sent five different times,
But never found a trace;
‘Tis thought they joined the Indians,
And mingled with their race.
1602. Gosnold, in sixteen hundred two,
Explored and named Cape Cod;
1603. Then Martin Pring, and Weymouth next,
1605. Maine’s territory trod.
VIRGINIA.
The chartered London Company,
A settlement to form,
Sent Newport out to Roanoke,
But, driven by a storm,
He found the Bay of Chesapeake,
Up the James River came, [page 16]
May twenty-third, in sixteen seven; May 23, 1607.
Thus Jamestown took its name.
Gosnold, projector of the plan,
And half the settlers died;
The rulers proving weak and bad,
John Smith was wisely tried.
He organized the colony,
But, travelling through the lands,
Was captured, and two men were slain
By savage Indians bands.
Condemned to die, his life was saved
By Pocahontas’ love,
Who, clinging to his neck, detained
The clubs that swung above.
The settlement was reinforced
With idle gentlemen;
An accident made Smith go home;
Disaster followed then;
And as the starving colonists
Were sailing far away, [page 17]
Lord Delaware with full supplies
1610. Arrived within the bay.
1611. Then Gates came out with working men,
Prosperity returned;
1613. Fair Pocahontas married Rolfe;
Powhatan’s love was earned.
By emigration every year,
The State was firmly planted;
1621. King James, in sixteen twenty-one,
A constitution granted.
NEW ENGLAND – MASSACHUSETTS.
The Plymouth Company resolved
New lands abroad to gain;
An unsuccessful settlement
1607. George Popham made in Maine.
1614. In sixteen fourteen, brave John Smith
The region well explored,
And, naming it New England, sailed
To spread its fame abroad. [page 18]
He came to form a colony
With sixteen men next year,
But, captured by French pirates, lost 1615.
His ship and all its gear.
The persecuted Puritans
Away from England fled;
John Robinson, in sixteen eight, 1608.
His faithful followers led
To Leyden, where they formed a church
And heard Dutch sailors tell
Of favored lands across the sea,
Where they in peace might dwell.
An embassy, to England sent,
Got leave to colonize,
And London merchants furnished means
To purchase their supplies.
Although the Speedwell’s courage failed,
The Mayflower spread her sails
At Plymouth, with a hundred souls, Sept. 6, 1620.
And braved the Atlantic gales. [page 19]
They sailed nine weeks and safely reached
The harbor of Cape Cod,
Rejoicing in a land that gave
Freedom to worship God.
They gathered in the cabin there,
A constitution wrote,
And made John Carver governor,
By universal vote.
They set their feet on Plymouth Rock,
1620. December twenty-second,
In sixteen twenty; from this date
The settlement is reckoned.
The governor and nearly half
Of all the little nation,
Ere summer came had lost their lives
Through sickness and privation.
1621. Their hopes were dull, when Samoset,
An Indian chief, appeared,
And shouting, “Welcome, Englishmen!”
Their drooping spirits cheered. [page 20]
A treaty, formed with Massassoit,
For fifty years was kept;
And Bradford thirty years was made
The ruler’s place to accept.
A colony, at Weymouth formed,
Aroused the Indian foe;
Miles Standish to the rescue came 1623.
In time to avert the blow.
John Endicott, with five score men, 1628.
To Salem came to stay,
And there he formed the colony
Of Massachusetts Bay.
Next year “three godly ministers” 1629.
Two hundred settlers brought
From England, and on Charlestown Neck
A residence they sought.
John Winthrop fifteen hundred brought,
In sixteen hundred thirty,
And Boston, with its neighboring towns, 1630.
Was settled by this party. [page 21]
1635. Three thousand settlers came on year,
Among them Henry Vane,
1636. Who served a year as governor
And sailed for home again.
The Puritans most highly prized
The freedom they had bought,
But yet denied to other men
The liberty of thought.
In Salem, Roger Williams preached
That rulers had no right
To dictate in religious things,
Man’s conscience is his light.
1635. He, banished, fled to wintry wilds
Where savages abounded;
Canonicus then gave him land;
1637. Rhode Island thus was founded.
Anne Hutchinson’s peculiar creed
Caused Boston much dissension;
1637. Imprisonment, then banishment,
Were meted by convention. [page 22]
New England’s colonies were joined, 1643.
In sixteen forty-three,
Except Rhode Island, which had failed
With Plymouth to agree.
Ten Quakers, who had crossed the sea,
Were back to England shipped, 1656.
But others came, and, for their faith,
Were hanged, imprisoned, whipped.
But when the persecutions ceased, 1661.
The Quaker zeal was staid,
And seconding John Eliot’s work,
They gave the Indians aid.
Good Massassoit kept the peace,
By English growth made sore,
His son the friendly treaties broke,
And waged King Philip’s war. 1675.
New England’s fiercest Indian tribes
This wrathful chieftain led,
And fearful slaughter raged a year,
Till Church cut off his head. 1676. [page 23]
Two judges who condemned Charles First,
Were sheltered in the land;
1660. This brought a Navigation Act
From Charles the Second’s hand.
It favored England in their trade,
And hindered foreign barter,
And Charles to gain control, annulled
The Massachusetts charter.
1686. James Second all New England’s States
A royal province made,
1686. Sir Edmund Andros was sent out
The government to aid.
But when King James had lost his throne,
This tyrant went to jail,
1689. And Boston’s patriots sent him home,
With fifty more, by sail.
In three years more Sir William Phipps
1692. Was sent his place to fill;
New England’s colonies remained
A royal province still. [page 24]
Belief in witchcraft cursed the land 1692.
In sixteen ninety-two;
Wise Cotton Mather and great men
Declared the doctrine true.
In Salem persecution raged,
In Jail were hundreds flung,
By torture fifty-five confessed,
And twenty folks were hung.
NEW YORK.
The Dutch sent Henry Hudson out, 1609.
Who came to New York Bay,
And up the river Hudson made
For sixty leagues his way.
In sixteen thirteen Adrian Block 1613.
First Hell Gate’s passage made;
And many ships then came to seek
The fur and peltry trade.
The Dutch East India Company, 1623.
In sixteen twenty-three, [page 25]
Sent thirty families of Walloons
With May across the sea.
These people were French Protestants
Who into Holland fled;
1626. Eight families formed Albany,
The rest at Brooklyn stayed.
In twenty-six came Minuit,
Dutch power to augment;
The Indians sold Manhattan Isle,
Ten acres for a cent.
Fierce warfare with the Indians
Gave twenty years of care;
1655. The Dutch by force of arms subdued
The Swedes of Delaware.
1664. An English fleet arrived in port,
In sixteen sixty-four,
Demanding for the Duke of York
Surrender of the shore.
The council yielded up the place
Against Stuyvesant’s pleas; [page 26]
The English flag above New York
Then floated on the breeze.
The Dutch, in sixteen seventy-three, 1673.
Through treason gained the town;
But gave it, after sixteen months,
Again to England’s crown.
The tyranny of governors
Made Leisler take the rule,
Whom Sloughter most unjustly hung, 1691.
By liquor made a fool.
Against West India pirate craft
They sent out Captain Kidd, 1699.
Who hoisted up the pirate’s flag,
“And wickedly he did.”
In politics the Democrats
Were led by Rip Van Dam, 1732.
And party strife, for many years,
Kept passions in a flame.
The people feared the “Negro Plot,” 1741.
To burn New York for gold, [page 27]
And nearly eighty colored folks
Were hanged, or burned, or sold.
MARYLAND.
Lord Maryland secured a grant
Beyond Potomac’s shore;
1634. The persecuted Catholics,
In sixteen thirty-four,
From England to St. Mary’s came
In search of toleration,
1635-45. And Maryland was opened to
The oppressed of every nation.
Dissension came, and Clayborne twice
Against the crown rebelled;
The Protestants unjustly used
The powers that they held.
In civil wars and party strifes
The time was largely spent,
1715. Until the fourth Lord Baltimore
Secured the government. [page 28]
CONNECTICUT.
The river of Connecticut
Was found by Adrian Block, 1614.
In sixteen fourteen, and the Dutch
Its trading chances took.
Earl Warwick got a grant of land, 1630.
Expressed in current notion,
“From Narragansett River to
The great Pacific Ocean.”
He soon transferred his interest 1631.
To Say-and-Seal and Brooke,
Who towards the region’s settlement
Some active measures took.
In sixteen hundred thirty-three
Holmes’ colony was made 1633.
At Windsor; Steele then brought a band 1635.
Who near to Hartford stayed.
A hundred more, from Boston, joined 1636.
Their friends the following year, [page 29]
“The light of Western Churches” styled,
Good Hooker gave them cheer.
1636. John Winthrop built the Saybrook fort,
And made a colony there,
Determined that these fertile lands
The Dutchmen should not share.
1637. The Pequod War distressed the land,
And thirty men were slain;
The Narragansetts were induced
As allies to remain
By Roger Williams, and they joined
The troops of Captain Mason,
Inflicting on the Pequod tribe
Complete extermination.
John Davenport, with London friends.
1638. Arranged New Haven’s site;
Church members were the only men
Who held the voter’s right.
1662. A Royal Charter was obtained
In sixteen sixty-two; [page 30]
The Colonies of Connecticut
A bond of union drew.
When Andros came with sixty men,
The charter to revoke,
Brave Captain Wadsworth hid it safe 1687.
Within the “charter oak.”
DELAWARE.
The Dutch came out to Delaware 1631. In sixteen thirty-one, But savages destroyed them all Before a year was gone. Then Swedes established colonies 1638. In sixteen thirty-eight; But Dutch and English finally, Secured the little State.
NEW JERSEY.
New Jersey’s settlement was made 1664.
In sixteen sixty-four, [page 31]
And Carteret and Berkeley both
The landed titles bore.
1676. West Jersey passed within the hands
Of Quakers and of Penn,
Until in seventeen hundred two,
1702. It joined the East again,
And both were subject to New York
Till seventeen thirty-eight,
1738. When Governor Lewis Morris ruled
New Jersey separate.
THE CAROLINAS.
1663. Lord Clarendon and seven friends,
In sixteen sixty-three,
Secured the Carolina lands
From Charles the Second – free.
The colonies of Albemarle
And Carteret were formed;
To Charleston’s genial settlement
Both Dutch and Huguenots swarmed. [page 32]
In seventeen hundred twenty-nine
A separation came; 1729.
Then Carolina, North and South,
The royal rule proclaim.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Good William Penn, in eight-two, 1682. Brought out a chartered right, And bargained fairly with the Swedes For Philadelphia’s site. He paid respect to Indian tribes, And treated them as men; The Indians in turn resolved “To live in love with Penn.” He went to England to reside 1684. In sixteen eight-four, But came again in ninety-nine, 1699. Remaining two years more. His heirs controlled the government Till revolution came; [page 33] 1779. The State of Pennsylvania Then paid them for their claim.
GEORGIA.
1733. Good General Oglethorpe came out,
In seventeen thirty-three,
And at Savannah formed a home,
Where debtors might be free.
KING WILLIAM’S WAR.
King William’s costly war with France
For seven years was waged,
1689. Canadian, French, and Indians bands
The colonists enraged.
1690. Schenectady, and the other towns,
These foes attacked and burned;
The colonists were then aroused,
And warfare was returned.
1690. Port Royal, in Acadia,
Was plundered by a fleet, [page 34]
But forces sent to Canada
Encountered sore defeat.
QUEEN ANNE’S WAR.
Queen Anne’s War made with France and Spain, 1702. In seventeen hundred two, Awoke the French and Indian Hostilities anew. The town of Deerfield was destroyed, 1704. And all the frontier flamed; Port Royal, by the colonists seized, Annapolis was named. 1710. South Carolina fruitlessly 1702. Attacked St. Augustine; A British fleet and troops were sent To Boston by the Queen, And led by Walker made attempt 1711. Again to take Quebec: [page 35] Eight ships were lost, nine hundred men All perished in the wreck.
KING GEORGE’S WAR.
For thirty years repose was had,
Till seventeen forty-four
When France and England broke the peace
1744. And caused King George’s War.
The English captured Louisburg,
But gave it back again,
And failing to make boundaries,
Let cause of war remain.
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
1754. This brought the French and Indian War,
Disputed lands to gain,
Which sixteen million dollars cost,
And thirty thousand men.
1755. Defeat was met at Fort du Quesne,
And Braddock lost his life; [page 36]
George Washington then showed his skill,
Retreating from the strife.
In fifty-eight he led the attack 1758.
Retrieving this disgrace,
And Pittsburg, named for William Pitt,
Now stands upon the place.
Crown Point, Ticonderoga, both 1759.
By Johnson and Prideaux.
Acadia and Louisburg, 1757.
With all Cape Breton’s isle,
Were gained; and Wolfe secured Quebec, 1759.
Expiring with a smile.
The Paris treaty closed the war, 1763.
In seventeen sixty-three,
And England held the continent
Across from sea to sea
The thirteen colonies progressed
In wealth and population, [page 37]
Oppressions of the parent land
Aroused their indignation.
Their manufactures were suppressed,
All foreign trade prevented,
And taxes laid by parliaments,
Where none were represented.
Their homes were searched by officers
With Writings of Assistance:
James Otis gave the trumpet call
That roused the first resistance.
1765. The Stamp Act stirred the populace,
And mobs defied the law;
The Sons of Liberty combined,
And home-made clothes they wore.
The English merchants losing trade,
1766. The Stamp Act was repealed;
Then William Pitt and Edmund Burke
Their love of right revealed.
On colors, paper, glass and tea
1767. New taxes soon were laid, [page 38]
And Boston had to tolerate
An English Board of Trade.
Then England sent some soldiers out,
And passed the Mutiny Act,
Which ordered colonists to provide
All things the soldiers lacked.
Two regiments, with General Gage, 1768.
On Boston town were quartered;
The State Street massacre took place; March 5, 1770.
Three citizens were slaughtered.
The rising of the populace
Filled England with alarm;
By taking duties off of goods,
She sought to undo the harm.
But just to keep the principle,
The tax was kept on tea,
And Boston’s patriots emptied out Dec. 16, 1773.
A portion in the sea.
Of Massachusetts, General Gage 1774.
The governor was made. [page 39]
1774. The Boston Port Bill then was passed,
Which closed its foreign trade.
A Continental Congress held,
In seventeen seventy-four,
In Philadelphia, resolved
The English acts to ignore.
New York, Virginia, and the South
Were filled with freedom’s breath,
And echoed Patrick Henry’s cry
For liberty or death.
Eight hundred men were sent by Gage
For arms at Concord stored;
The famous ride of Paul Revere
Soon spread the news abroad.
April 19, 1775. The minute men at Lexington,
Opposed the advancing host:
The British fired on the band,
And eight good lives were lost.
At Concord they destroyed the stores
And hastily returned, [page 40]
For all the country was aroused;
Each man for vengeance burned.
From houses, fences, trees and rocks
The musket bullets sped,
And near three hundred men were lost,
As home the soldiers fled.
Ticonderoga and Crown Point 1775.
Americans secured.
And large supplies of stores and guns
Much needed, were procured.
A second congress met to raise
An army for the land:
George Washington was authorized
To take the chief command.
Near twenty thousand fighting men
Surrounded Boston soon,
And battle raged at Bunker Hill June 17, 1775.
The seventeenth of June.
The British twice fled down the hill,
But on the third attack, [page 41]
The ammunition being spent,
They drove the “Yankees” back.
Dec. 31, 1775. Montgomery attacked Quebec,
But fell when first they fired;
They wounded Arnold, Morgan seized,
The rest in spring retired.
The Heights of Dorchester were armed
By colonists at night,
March 17, 1776. The English under General Howe
To Halifax made flight.
Eleven months they’d Boston held,
While troops besieged it round;
They pillaged houses, rifled shops,
Profaning “holy ground.”
The English fleet to Charleston sailed,
June 28, 1776. And on Fort Moultrie fired;
The Southern guns replied so well,
The shattered ships retired.
July the fourth, in seventy-six,
July 4, 1776. Was passed the Declaration [page 42]
That made the united colonies
An independent nation.
The English, with the brothers Howe,
Embarked to seize New York;
They numbered thirty thousand men,
All eager for the work.
The battle of Long Island brought Aug. 27, 1776.
The patriots sore defeat;
In fog, they made escape while Howe
Was waiting for the fleet.
The British followed to New York,
And Washington was found
At Harlem Heights. They moved their troops
His army to surround,
But Washington withdrew in part
His forces to White Plains,
Where soon the British general
Important victory gains. Oct. 28, 1776.
The Hessians took Fort Washington, Nov. 16, 1776.
And lost a thousand men, [page 43]
But gained two thousand patriots
To fill their prison pen.
The troops across New Jersey’s land
With Washington made flight;
They crossed the ice-filled Delaware
In boats, on Christmas night;
Dec. 26, 1776. At Trenton killed some Hessian troops,
Secured a thousand more,
And safe re-crossed the Delaware;
Their loss was only four.
Again he crossed the Delaware,
At Trenton took his post,
Jan. 3, 1777. On Princeton made a night attack;
The foe three hundred lost.
The Howes, with eighteen thousand men,
Embarked for Chesapeake;
And Washington departed South,
The enemy to seek.
He placed eleven thousand men
In camp on Brandywine, [page 44]
And stood at Chad’s Ford to oppose
The enemy’s design.
The Hessians met them at the front,
Cornwallis in the rear;
The patriot troops were put to flight; Sept. 11, 1777.
Their losses were severe.
Pulaski and brave La Fayette
Displayed their valor well,
But British numbers won the day,
And Philadelphia fell. Sept. 25, 1777.
Then Washington, at Germantown,
Led on a bold attack, Oct. 4, 1777.
And though almost victorious,
The patriots fell back.
The British fleet and army gained
The forts of Delaware;
To Valley Forge the patriots marched,
For winter to prepare.
Burgoyne’s ten thousand soldiers took June, 1777.
The forts on Lake Champlain, [page 45]
Aug. 16, 1777. But General Stark, at Bennington,
Resolved to die or gain.
Sept. 19 & Oct. 7. Two fights at Saratoga brought
The British woeful fates;
Oct. 17, 1777. Burgoyne surrendered up his troops
And sword to General Gates.
The British, in Connecticut,
1777. The town of Danbury burned;
Sag Harbor, burned by Colonel Meigs,
The injury returned.
The Continental soldiers strove
With hunger, sickness, cold,
And forty paper dollars bought
One dollar’s worth in gold.
By Franklin’s efforts was secured
The sympathy of France,
Who sent a fleet and soldiers out
The patriot cause to advance.
June 28, 1778. At Monmouth, General Clinton’s troops
Were putting Lee to flight, [page 46]
Then Washington led back the men,
And Clinton left at night.
The French and English navies met
Off Narragansett Bay; July 29, 1778.
A fight was thwarted by a storm
That drove the ships away.
The massacre of Wyoming, July 3, 1778.
Enacted in July,
By tory troops and savages,
Description would defy.
The British troops in Georgia took
Savannah and Augusta, Dec 29, 1778.
And Prevost’s force to Charleston marched, April 27, 1779.
But, met by Lincoln’s muster,
They hastily retraced their steps, May 12, 1779.
Retreating to Savannah,
And Lincoln followed in the fall,
Allied with France’s banner.
Attack was made; a thousand men Oct. 9, 1779.
And brave Pulaski fell; [page 47]
The French refused their further aid,
Although they’d fought so well.
Connecticut’s most noted towns
July, 1779. By Tryon were invaded,
Who, though he burned or plundered each,
His clemency paraded.
Eight hundred men to Stony Point
July 15, 1779. Were led by General Wayne,
By strategy and night attack
The fortress they regain.
The atrocities of Wyoming
Severely were repaid
By Sullivan, who led his troops
Aug., 1779. Upon a vengeful raid.
He burned some forty villages
Among the famed Six Nation;
But Indian hatred fiercer grew,
By all these tribulations.
American success was great,
With ships and privateers; [page 48]
About five hundred British ships
Were captured in three years.
Paul Jones went cruising with his fleet,
Along the English coast,
And conquered the Serapis there, Sept. 23, 1779.
But Bon Homme Richard lost.
Then Clinton came to Charlestown’s siege,
Which forty days it bore,
Till Lincoln had to yield his troops May 12, 1780.
As prisoners of war.
The British made marauding trips,
Through Carolina’s lands,
Which Marion, Sumter, Pickens, Lee,
Resisted with their bands.
Then Gates marched South, the losing cause
At Camden to regain;
Cornwallis put his troops to flight, Aug. 16, 1780.
And brave De Kalb was slain.
West Point was nearly yielded up
By Benedict Arnold’s treason, [page 49]
Sept. 23, 1780. But Major André’s captors learned
The secret just in season.
Bad Arnold, by a messenger,
Was warned in time to fly.
Good André rules of war condemned,
Oct. 2, 1780. They hung him as a spy.
Nat Greene succeeded General Gates,
And Tarleton was defeated
Jan. 17, 1781. At Cowpens, by the Southern troops,
With Morgan. They retreated,
Jan. & Feb. 1781. And joined by Greene, the feeble band
Virginia safely gain;
Cornwallis followed, but the streams
Were swollen by the rain.
When rested, Greene resumed the war,
March 15, 1781. At Guilford Court House fought,
Where, though the British gained the day,
The field was dearly bought.
In South Carolina Greene gave help,
Sept. 8, 1781. At Eutaw Springs gave fight, [page 50]
That led the British troops to leave
For Charleston in the night.
The traitor Arnold led a force
To gratify his hate.
And burned and plundered brutally Jan., 1781.
Within Virginia’s State.
Cornwallis taking Arnold’s place
Destroyed ten million worth; May and June, 1781.
Against his forts at Yorktown marched
The forces from the North,
Who, led by Washington, encamped
About twelve thousand strong,
Americans and Frenchmen joined,
A brave and hearty throng.
They fired ships with red-hot shells,
And forts were battered down;
Cornwallis, seeing no escape,
Surrendered up the town. Oct. 19, 1781.
His seven thousand troops marched out,
Gave up the arms they bore, [page 51]
And all the patriots gladly hailed
The closing of the war.
A year the British Charleston held,
Prepared for warlike work,
Two years their soldiers occupied
1783. Savannah and New York.
Lord North, by English sentiment,
His ministry resigned;
Sept. 3, 1783. In Paris, seventeen eighty-three,
The terms of peace were signed.
The struggle left America
With poverty distressed,
1787. But Shay’s rebellion at the North
By Lincoln was suppressed.
The thirteen States had through the war
Preserved confederation;
They met at Philadelphia now
To form themselves a nation.
In seventeen hundred eighty seven
Sept. 17, 1787. They framed the Constitution, [page 52]
Which came in force in eighty-nine 1789.
By general resolution.
Electors of the United States
In unity arose;
George Washington for President, 1789.
With glad acclaim they chose.
By Alexander Hamilton
Financial laws were made,
With duties on imported goods
And on the spirit trade.
The latter made the whiskey men
Against the law rebel, 1794.
And fifteen thousand men came out
The malcontents to quell.
Two armies in the West both failed
The Indians to restrain,
Until their country was laid waste 1794.
Before mad Anthony Wayne.
Affairs of state were well controlled
In Washington’s eight years, [page 53]
And treaties were with England made,
With Spain and with Algiers.
1797. John Adams, by the Federalists,
Was President elected;
The alien and sedition laws
His government effected.
America fell out with France,
And many insults bore;
Napoleon gained the Consulship,
1800. And wisely saved a war.
Dec. 14, 1799. “The Father of his Country” died
In seventeen ninety-nine;
The homage of the land was paid
Around Mount Vernon’s shrine.
1801. The wise and brilliant Jefferson,
The “Sage of Monticello,”
Was chosen by Republicans,
John Adams’ term to follow.
Then fifteen millions, paid to France,
1803. Louisiana bought; [page 54]
And Hamilton with Aaron Burr 1804.
His deadly duel fought.
The war with Tripoli occurred 1803-05.
That pirate dues might cease;
Bombardment of the port secured
Desired terms of peace.
While French and English were at war,
Americans carried cargo,
The Leopard took the Chesapeake, 1807.
And Congress made Embargo. Dec. 22, 1807.
Republicans as candidate
James Madison selected,
And after Jefferson’s two terms
He too was twice elected.
The British roused the Indian tribes,
Who made attack by night,
At Tippecanoe, on Harrison, Nov. 7, 1811.
But suffered in the fight.
The seamen of America
By England were impressed; [page 55]
Their ships were seized and all resolved
These wrongs should be redressed.
A shot against the President
May 16, 1811. Was fired by Little Belt,
But civil answer was returned,
When the frigate’s guns were felt.
The War of Eighteen Hundred Twelve
June 19, 1813. With England was declared,
And armaments on land and sea,
With vigor were prepared.
The British, under General Brock,
Advanced to take Detroit,
Aug. 16, 1812. And Hull surrendered up the place,
Disgraced by this exploit.
Another failure was sustained,
Oct. 13, 1812. Attacking Queenstown Heights;
But these disgraces were retrieved
By brilliant naval fights.
Aug. 19, 1812. The Constitution, Captain Hull,
Subdued the Guerriere; [page 56]
The Wasp shot off the Frolic’s crew, Oct. 18, 1812.
Until her decks were bare.
The Macedonian struck her flag Oct. 25, 1812.
To Commodore Decatur,
And Bainbridge took the Java next, Dec. 29, 1812.
And burned her three days later.
The daring Yankee privateers
Excited British fear,
For quite three hundred merchant ships
Were captured in a year.
The armies sent to Canada
Returned without success;
But Perry’s vessels, on the Lakes, Sept. 10, 1813.
Brought Stars and Stripes redress.
The Indians joined the British troops,
And fought both South and West;
Tecumseh’s death, at River Thames, Oct. 5, 1813.
Their savage zeal depressed.
The Hornet took the Peacock, brig, Feb. 24, 1813.
And sank her by her cannon; [page 57]
June 1, 1813. But Lawrence, in the Chesapeake,
Fell victim to the Shannon.
The British ships made ravages
Along the Southern coast,
And many of the citizens
Their homes and fortunes lost.
July 5, 1814. Scott won the fight at Chippewa,
July 25, 1814. And also Lundy’s Lane;
McDonough took the British fleet,
Sept. 11, 1814. That fought on Lake Champlain.
Aug. 24, 1814. The British captured Washington,
Sept. 12, 1814. But failed at Baltimore;
They captured ships and plundered towns
Along the Northern shore.
December twenty-fourth, at Ghent,
Dec. 24, 1814. A treaty settled peace;
Jan. 8, 1815. But Jackson won New Orleans’ fight
Before the war could cease.
To fill the Presidential chair,
1817. Monroe two terms was sought; [page 58]
Missouri Compromise was made March 3, 1820.
And Florida was bought. 1819.
John Quincy Adams next in turn 1825.
Four years secured the seat;
Protective tariffs were enforced,
And brought about defeat.
Then Andrew Jackson served eight years, 1829.
And put down “Nullification;”
He let the victors share the spoils
In office by “rotation.”
By limiting the public Bank, 1833.
All commerce was distressed;
In Black Hawk’s War, the Indians 1832.
Were conquered in the West.
The Seminoles, in Florida,
By Osceola led,
For years maintained a bloody war;
They slaughtered Major Dade. Dec. 28, 1835.
Van Buren, by the Democrats, 1837.
Was chosen for a term; [page 59]
A crisis came in thirty-seven
1837. A great financial storm.
1837-38. Rebellion in the Canadas
An English was fomented;
The “Northeast Boundary” fanned the flame,
But bloodshed was prevented.
1841. The Whigs elected Harrison,
April 4, 1841. Who served a month and died;
And Tyler, the Vice-President,
Was called on to preside.
He vetoed measures of the Whigs;
1842. Rhode Island quelled sedition;
The Southern Ocean was explored
1842. By Wilkes’ Expedition;
1844. The “Anti-Renters,” in New York,
By force of arms were quelled;
1845. The Mormons, out of Illinois,
By riots were expelled.
1845. The Democrats elected Polk,
Though Whigs supported Clay; [page 60]
Both Oregon and Texas formed
The questions of the day.
The Northwest Boundary Line was fixed,
And Texas was annexed; 1845.
But Mexico still claimed this State,
And thus to war was vexed.
Then Taylor marched to Rio Grande,
At Palo Alto fought; May 8, 1846.
Resaca de la Palma too, May 9, 1846.
A brilliant victory brought.
He gained the day at Monterey, Sept. 24, 1846.
And Buena Vista won, Feb. 23, 1847.
Though Santa Anna bravely fought
Till setting of the sun.
New Mexico was quickly gained
By General Kearney then,
And California was won
By John C. Frémont’s men.
Then Winfield Scott took Vera Cruz; March 29, 1847.
Through several fights he bore [page 61]
Sept. 14, 1847. The Stars and Stripes to Mexico,
Feb. 2, 1848. And treaty closed the war.
1846. Wilmot’s Proviso aimed to keep
All slavery from new States;
This roused the people North and South
To violent debates.
In forty-eight a workman found
1848. The California gold;
And thousands flocked from all the lands
Where’er the table was told.
1849. The Whigs now Zachary Taylor chose,
July 9, 1850. Who died the following year;
And Millard Fillmore occupied
The Presidential chair.
Domestic slavery now became
The question of the day,
1850. And compromises were secured
By Webster and by Clay.
The “fillibusters” made attempts
For Cuba’s annexation; [page 62]
But Lopez met defeat and death,
And roused Spain’s indignation.
The Democrats now gained the day,
Electing Franklin Pierce; 1853.
The Kansas and Nebraska Bill May, 1854.
Made slavery conflicts fierce.
Ten millions, paid to Mexico,
Arranged the boundary line,
And Perry’s visit caused Japan
Trade privilege to assign. 1854.
Buchanan next was President, 1857.
And during his four years,
Discussions upon slavery
Excited general fears.
Some Northern States opposed the law
That fugitives returned;
John Brown an insurrection made, 1859.
And Southern anger burned.
When Abraham Lincoln gained his place, 1861.
Seven Southern States seceded, Dec. 20, 1860. [page 63]
Feb. 4, 1861. And organized Confederate States,
By Jefferson Davis headed.
April 12, 1861. Fort Sumter yielded; Northern blood
April 19, 1861. In Baltimore was shed;
Virginia was the battle ground
To which the troops were led.
The Northerners sustained defeat
July 21, 1861. At the Battle of Bull Run;
1861. At Carthage, Wilson’s Creek, Ball’s Bluff,
The South more victories won.
The North some minor battles gained,
Gave Border States their aid,
And off the seaports of the South
Their ships maintained blockade.
Commissioners, from Southern States,
Nov. 8, 1861. Were seized on board the Trent;
When England made remonstrances,
Apologies were sent.
1862. Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson,
With Island Number Ten, [page 64]
Shiloh and Murfreesborough’s fights,
Were won by Northern men.
Antietam’s indecisive fight Sept. 17, 1862.
Made Lee’s command fall back;
And thus protected Washington
From danger of attack.
The Monitor whipped the Merrimac, March 19, 1862.
Preventing great defeat;
New Orleans was forced to yield April 25, 1862.
To Farragut with his fleet;
Confederate victories were won
By Jackson and by Lee;
Then Lincoln’s Proclamation came, Jan. 1, 1863.
That made the negroes free.
The South at Chickamauga won, Sept. 20, 1863.
And Chancellorsville was gained; May 3, 1863.
In Charleston, spite of all attacks,
The Southern troops remained.
The Northern forces Vicksburg gained, May, 1863.
And Chattanooga’s height; Nov. 25, 1863. [page 65]
July 1-3, 1863. The three days’ fight at Gettysburg,
Turned Lee’s advance to flight.
May, 1864. The Wilderness, and other fields,
Were won by General Lee,
Nov., 1864. But Sherman made his famous march
Through Georgia to the sea,
And Northern armies gained success
Throughout the South and West,
While “on the Richmond” General Grant
With firm persistence pressed.
Through Carolina Sherman marched,
Feb. 17, 1865. Colombia was taken;
Feb. 18, 1865. And Charleston threatened in the rear.
By Southerners was forsaken.
On April third, in sixty-five,
April 5, 1865. Lee out of Richmond fled,
April 9, 1865. And on the ninth surrendered up
The troops he’d bravely led.
This civil war, they estimate,
Three thousand millions cost, [page 66]
And on both sides, ‘tis probable.
A million lives were lost.
A second term as President
To Lincoln was secured;
Booth killed him by a pistol shot, April 14, 1865.
When peace was just assured.
Then Andrew Johnson measures took
The Union to restore;
He freely pardoned all the South,
Except the chief in war.
But Congress, favoring sterner plans,
His vetoes set aside;
With “carpet-bag” and negro rule
The Southern States were tried.
Impeachment of the President 1868.
Failed only by one vote;
The “Freedman’s Bureau,” “Civil Rights,”
Were measures of great note.
Atlantic Cable then was laid, July, 1866.
Alaska’s lands were bought; 1867. [page 67]
1868. A treaty was with China made;
In Canada Fenians fought.
1869. Now Grant became the President;
Two terms his valor earned;
Pacific Railroad crossed the land;
Prosperity returned.
Oct. 8, 1871. Great fires in Chicago raged,
Nov. 9, 1872. In Boston and the West;
The threatening “Alabama Claims,”
Geneva’s Board redressed.
1873. Financial crisis came again,
Through railroads’ bad condition;
In Philadelphia was held
1876. Centennial Exhibition.
The votes securing Tilden’s seat,
Conflicting questions raise;
Electoral commission finds
1877. One extra vote for Hayes.
A railroad strike ‘gainst lower pay,
1877. Produced the Pittsburg riot; [page 68]
A hundred lives were sacrificed,
Before restoring quiet.
Five millions and a half were paid
As fishery award; 1878.
And specie payments through the land
Were finally restored.
Then Garfield was made President, 1881.
But fell by Guiteau’s hand; July 2, 1881.
And Arthur filled the vacant place, Sept. 26, 1881.
As ruler of the land.
SUMMARY OFCOLONIES AND STATES.
The first enduring settlement,
Where English people stayed,
At Jamestown, in Virginia, 1607.
In sixteen seven was made.
In sixteen thirteen, at New York, 1613.
Wrecked Dutchmen built a shanty;
To Massachusetts Pilgrims came,
In sixteen hundred twenty. 1620. [page 69]
1623. New Hampshire’s lands were occupied
In sixteen twenty-three;
1634. In thirty-four, to Maryland,
Came Catholics ‘cross the sea.
From thirty-three to thirty-six
1633-36. Connecticut was won;
1636. In thirty-six, by William’s friends,
Rhode Island was begun.
1638. The Swedes encamped in Delaware
In sixteen thirty-eight;
In sixty-four Elizabethtown
1664. Began New Jersey’s State.
1664. The English navy took New York
In sixteen sixty-four;
And from this time the colony
An English title bore.
Year sixteen hundred sixty-five,
1665. Is North Carolina’s date;
In sixteen seventy began
1670. South Carolina’s State. [page 70]
Penn came to Pennsylvania 1682.
In sixteen eighty-two;
In seventeen hundred thirty-three
To Georgia debtors go. 1733.
These thirteen States the Union formed,
And scarce three millions held;
Now thirty-eight compose the land,
With fifty millions filled.
Now ten large territories lie
Around the Western border,
And twenty-five new States have been
Admitted in this order:
Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, { 1791, 1792, 1796. }
Ohio, Louisiana – { 1802, 1812. }
The latter fairly bought from France –
The next was Indiana. 1816.
Then Mississippi, Illinois, { 1817, 1818. }
With Alabama, Maine; { 1819, 1820. }
Missouri and Arkansas next, { 1821, 1836. }
And then came Michigan. 1837. [page 71]
1845. Now Florida and Texas next,
1846. With Iowa come on;
{ 1848, 1850. } Wisconsin, California,
{ 1858, 1859. } Minnesota, Oregon.
{ 1861, 1863. } Then Kansas, West Virginia;
1864. Nevada forms a State;
{ 1867, 1876. } Nebraska, Colorado close
The number thirty-eight.[page 72]
THE PRESIDENTS.
First Washington, Adams and Jefferson came; { 1789, 1797, 1801. }
Then Madison; next James Monroe; { 1809, 1817. }
With John Quincy Adams’s notable name, 1825.
Andrew Jackson, Van Buren must go. { 1829, 1837. }
Then Harrison, Tyler and Polk took their turn { 1841, 1841, 1845. }
With Taylor and Fillmore and Pierce; { 1849, 1849, 1853. }
Buchanan and Lincoln the honor next earn, { 1857, 1861. }
And Johnson, through murder so fierce. 1865.
Then Grant for two terms was supreme in 1869.
the land;
And the seat was next given to Hayes; 1877.
When Garfield had died by a murderous hand, 1881.
Then Arthur to power they raise. 1881. [page 73]
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