Jersey, and set out to reform the laws of the state on elections and corporations. In 1912, through the powerful support of Bryan, he was nominated by the Democrats for the Presidency in the three-cornered contest which has been described in Chapter XV. His political principles he stated in a book called "The New Freedom," which was a plea for better control of elections, and government by the voters instead of the bosses. It might have been written either by Bryan or by Roose velt so far as its principles go. As President, Wilson followed the example of Roosevelt and Taft, in taking the leadership of his party and preparing work for Congress to do. He had great influence over the Underwood Tariff of 1913, the new Federal Reserve Act and other acts for stronger hold on corpora During the war and for nearly a year afterward he was' looked upon as the greatest man in the world. He was received with eagerness by crowds in London and Paris and Rome. Then came the deadlock with the Senate over the League of Nations, and after a desperate struggle his plan for includ ing the United States in the League of Nations was defeated. His illness made further speeches impossible. On the last day of his term, March 4, 1921, he paid to the incoming President the usual courtesy of riding with him to the inauguration at the Capitol. Except Theodore Roosevelt, no President after Lincoln has had such a backing from the people and such power over Congress. He felt that he could not move toward war till the country was behind him. When in 1917 he faced the need of war, he found that it supported him; and he showed great energy and power in organizing the country for war. WOODROW WILSON tions. He also followed the two previous Presidents in taking a strong stand for American influence in Haiti, Santo Domingo and Mexico. As a man of peace, he could not be induced to urge the country to prepare for the war until it was upon them; then he used all the powers of his office to call out the forces of the country and to claim for the national government every power necessary to make the war a success. He and his Secretary of War, Baker, insisted on educated officers and trained soldiers. Suddenly, at the height of his career he lost control as war President of the whole country; was no longer followed by his whole party; and was in no condition to appeal from Congress to the people. Woodrow Wilson did many things for the welfare and safety of his country, and will go down to history as one of the great Presidents of the United States of America. Questions and Problems, Chapter XVIII, see page 313 Why Are We Proud of Our Country? Every Child Born a Citizen of the United States, and Every Naturalized Citizen, Is Entitled to Certain Rights Which Secure Him Against Injustice, or Loss of His Personal Freedom N the previous chapters of this book, we have been studying the progress of the United States from the first discovery by civilized men and the earliest English colonies to the present great Republic, with its widespread territory and its immense population. That study would be thrown away if it did not make us rejoice anew that we are citizens and dwellers in so great and so happy a land. Now let us sit down and consider just what there has been in the history of the United States for which we can thank our ancestors and which we can hand down to those who come after us. America is Discovered The first great task and great success was the opening up of two unknown continents by Europeans. Inasmuch as three-fourths of the present United States was once under the rule of Spain or France, we have the right to feel that the boldness of Columbus and De Soto and Champlain and La Salle, is part of our history. They had rare courage to cross uncharted seas and force their way through savage tribes and among the beasts of the field into the interior of North and South America. We are proud also of the English explorers, from John and Sebastian Cabot, who followed close on the heels of Columbus, to Sir Walter Raleigh and Captain John Smith, who coasted North America and prepared the way for the colonists. We thank Batts and Lederer, the Swiss, the first English explorers to cross the divide of the Allegheny Mountains westward into the Mississippi Valley; and Daniel Boone, the first western settler; and George Washington, who made the long journey to the French forts; and Pike and Jedediah Smith and all the others who opened up the interior. We owe special thanks to Captain Gray, discoverer of the Columbia River, to Lewis and Clark, who found the overland route to the Pacific, and to John Jacob Astor, who fitted out the first American overland fur expedition, and to all the trappers and hunters who broke a road from the Missouri River to Oregon and California. These men made light of hardships, defied Indian enemies, and opened the roads by which the pioneer made his way across the Continent. We owe to them Oregon and California and the State of Washington, and the Southwest. The Colonists Without the faith and energy of the early colonists, there could have been no United States. We have the right to be proud of the men who first thought it possible to cross the ocean and plant settlements in the wilderness; who obtained the necessary grants of land from the king, formed companies, raised money, enlisted emigrants, and went through the awful suffering of the first little col onies. We honor as our countrymen John Smith of Virginia, Bradford of Plymouth, Winthrop of Massachusetts, Roger Williams of Rhode Island, Hooker of Connecticut, Penn of Pennsylvania, Calvert of Maryland, Ashley and Cooper of Maryland, Oglethorpe of Georgia, Carteret of New Jersey. Nor must we forget the colonizers of other countries; such as tough old Peter Stuyvesant of Dutch New Netherlands, and Peter Minuit of the colony of New Sweden, now Delaware. These men were the leaders in communities of stout and God-fearing people. Most of them were Protestants, a few Catholics, and a small number Jews. Whatever their original country or religion, they joined together not only in the work of clearing and opening the land and building towns and forts and ships, but in setting up little governments of their own, which have expanded into great, rich and populous states. Women's Work All the work of conquering a wilderness was not done by the men of the communities alone. Women had an active part in all the great work of developing a new continent. A woman, Queen Isabella, backed the first voyage of Columbus with her jewels. Another woman, Queen Elizabeth of England, made the first grants for English colonies in the new world, and Virginia is named for her, as Maryland was named for Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I, and New Sweden was founded under the reign of Queen Christina. True colonists and true heroines were the wives and daughters of the colonists who went out into the new world and helped to build up the frontier. The first English child born in America was a girl, Virginia Dare. A wide-awake Massachusetts woman, Mrs. Hutchinson, gathered some of the women of Boston in what is the first approach to a women's club. Anne Bradstreet was the first New England poet. Hannah Adams and Mercy Warren were among the early writers on the history of the United States. The women did not cut the trees and build the houses or plow the fields, but they did just as much hard and necessary work. They cooked, they washed. they brought up families of ten and twelve children in a log cabin, the only warmth and almost the only heat coming from the log fire in the open fireplace. They were members of the colonial churches, taught the little children, spun and wove and cut and made woolen and linen garments for their households. Some of them had the bravery to load the muskets and fire on Indian enemies. Thus all the year round courage was shown not only in colonial times but up and down the frontier as it was pushed into the wilderness. Today you can find thousands of women in the woods and mountains and the little irrigated farms, working and watching and bringing up their children in the fear of the Lord, just like the brave women of colonial times. Making Governments Other European countries planted colonies in wild regions and among savages. The Spanish not only conquered the Indians but intermarried with them, and those lands are now peopled by a mixed race. The English colonists fought with the Indians, drove them out and set up colonies of nearly pure European race. The Spaniards never trusted their colonists to make decisions for themselves. The English colonies from the beginning formed little town and county governments and elected legislatures and made laws. Local Self-Government That principle of local self-government has gone all through the history how the various officials could be chosen and what their duties should be. Some of the colonies worked under charters, granted by the English government; the others received just the same kind of freedom of government, because the British government found that the easiest way of getting on. The Revolution During the Revolution all the thirteen colonies broke loose from Great Britain and set up for themselves. Every one of them framed its own constitution. Every one of the thirty-five states since admitted has come in with a constitution drawn up by representatives of the people. Most of the forty-eight states. have made from one to five new consti of the United States. Wherever the pioneers went, they carried with them this idea of freedom and self-govern- tutions, each taking the place of the one ment. In all the eastern, northwestern and southwestern, far western and Pacific regions, almost the first thing the settlers did was to set up a territorial government. The government in Washington desired the frontiersmen to establish their own courts and school and laws, so that they might be ready in due time to come as states into the Union. Making Constitutions We may well be glad that three hundred years ago our ancestors began to draw up agreements often called compacts, so that the law-making and carrying on of the government and action of the courts, should be done in accordance with fixed and written rules, agreed upon beforehand. They liked the clear definite previous understanding as to before. The old charters had to be carried out under and in accordance with the system of English government, which the colonists and others then called the British Constitution. In like manner none of the state constitutions can contain anything that is contrary to the general Constitution of the United States. We have already studied the manner in which that document was put into effect in 1789. All this may seem complicated but it works very smoothly. One of the greatest gifts made to us by our ancestors is this habit of making a constitution and then holding it as a set of rules under which all laws, whether of the nation, the state or the local government, must be made if they are to go into effect. |