War with the Indians.

Formation of political parties.

5. Trouble with the Indians north-west of the Ohio now appeared. They were excited to hostilities by British agents and traders.' Their acts became so hostile that, in the summer of 1790, General Harmer was sent into their country to awe them by chastisement. Near the present village of Fort Wayne, in Indiana, he was defeated by the savages in two battles [October 17 and 22, 1790]. A year later, General St. Clair, then governor of the North-western Territory, marched into the Indian country with two thousand men. He was surprised and driven back [November 4, 1791], with a loss of about six hundred men.

6. General Wayne succeeded St. Clair. He swept victoriously through the Indian country, to the Maumee river, and, near the present Maumee City, Ohio, he struck the savages such a severe blow [August 20, 1794] that they begged for peace. A year afterward [August, 1795], a treaty was made with the principal Indian leaders, at Greenville, by which the United States acquired a large domain, and secured peace for more than fifteen years.

7. Before the second presidential election occurred, in the autumn of 1792, two distinct political parties had been formed, the leaders of which were members of Washington's cabinet. One party, headed by Jefferson, was called Republican or Democratic, and the other, headed by Hamilton, was called Federalist." The lines were clearly drawn ; and their hostility became bitter as the time for the election drew nigh. Washington and Adams were reelected by large majorities, yet the opposition or Republican party was rapidly increasing in strength. They sympathized with the French revolutionists, who had lately abolished royalty,

1. For several years after the peace of 1783 (verse 3, page 191), the British, in violation of the treaty then made, held possession of military posts in the West, belonging to the United States. Until the creation of a nation by the adoption of the Constitution in 1788, the British authorities treated the United States with contempt. They held these forts, believing, no doubt, that the States would again become British provinces. The forts were not given up

until 1796.

2. The Federalists advocated the National Constitution, which concentrated power in the General Government. The Republicans advocated the supremacy of the States, in most cases, and were more favorable to the old Confederation than to the new National Government. They did not advocate a return to it, but with the specious plea for a diffusion of power among the people, they sought to weaken that of the General Government. These parties had distinct organizations for about twenty years.

QUESTIONS.-5. What can you tell about troubles with the Indians, and war with them? 6. Can you give an account of Wayne's movements in the Indian country? What was the result? 7. What can you tell about the formation of political parties? What about the reölection of Washington and Adams, and the sympathies of the Republicans?

A representative of French democracy.

His conduct.

Whiskey Insurrection.

murdered their king, and proclaimed liberty, equality, and fraternity, as the true basis of government.

8. The French democrats, holding the government of France, sent M. Genet, an ardent republican, to represent that so-called republic, in this country. He was received with open arms by a large party arrayed against the United States Government. He at once proceeded to set that Government at defiance, by fitting out privateers in its ports to depredate on the commerce of England, Spain, and Holland, against which delirious France had proclaimed war; and he sneered at Washington's proclamation of neutrality,' which was instrumental in keeping the United States free from the perils of entanglement in European politics. Washington finally requested his recall [July, 1793], and the French Government formally disapproved of Genet's proceedings.

9. One of the fruits of the influence of French politics was an armed resistance to the officers of the Government in Western Pennsylvania, when they attempted to collect a tax levied on domestic-distilled whiskey. This was in the summer of 1794. The President issued two proclamations [Au

gust 7-September 25] warning the insurgents to desist, and he finally sent General Lee, of Virginia, with competent military power to enforce obedience. The rebellion, which is known in history as The Whiskey Insurrection, was soon suppressed."

10. At this time [1794] a bitter feeling was growing up between the American and British Governments. There were mutual accusations of a violation of the treaty of 1783. Finally,

JOHN JAY.

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1. This was issued on the 9th of May, 1793, and declared it to be the duty and the interest of the people of the United States to preserve a strict neutrality toward the contending Powers of Europe.

2. The insurrection became general in all the western counties, and in the vicinity of Pittsburg many outrages were committed. Buildings were burned, mails were robbed, and Government officers were insulted and abused. It was estimated that at one time the insurgents numbered seven thousand.

3. Note 1, page 198. The Americans complained that no indemnification had been made for negroes carried away at the close of the Revolution; that the British held military posts

QUESTIONS.-8. What can you tell about the representative of the French democrats? What did he do? What did Washington do? 9. What have you to say about French politics and an insurrection in Pennsylvania?

Jay's treaty.

Algerine pirates.

Close of Washington's Administration.

in the spring of 1794, John Jay was appointed a special envoy to Great Britain, to adjust all matters in dispute. He negotiated a treaty which was not satisfactory to all parties at home.' It met with the most violent opposition, but was finally ratified by the Senate on the 24th of June, 1795. In October following, a treaty was concluded with Spain, by which the boundary lines between her territories of Louisiana and Florida, and the United States, were defined.

11. American commerce now began to find its way into the Mediterranean sea, and was there met by Algerine pirates, who seized the property and held the seamen as slaves for ransom." These depredations called for a navy to protect American commerce, and, in 1794, Congress made appropriations for the creation of one. Until that work was accomplished, our Government was compelled to pay tribute to the dey or governor of Algiers, as a bribe to let our commerce alone.

12. The Administration of Washington was now drawing to a close. It had been one of vast importance and incessant action. The machinery of a National Government had been put in motion, and the foreign and domestic policy of the Republic had been settled. It was a glorious Administration; and its last year was signalized by the admission of Tennessee into the Union as a State. And now the second struggle for ascendency between the Federalists and Republicans occurred. Washington would not again accept the office of President. The Federalists nominated

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on their frontiers, contrary to the treaty; that British emissaries had excited the hostility of the Indians, and that to retaliate on France, the English had captured our neutral vessels, and impressed our seamen into the British service. The British complained that stipulations concerning the property of Loyalists, and also in relation to debts contracted in England before the close of the war, had not been complied with.

1. The most serious objections to it were that it provided for the collection of debts here, by British creditors, which had been contracted before the Revolution, and failed to procuré redress for those who had lost negroes.

2. Between the years 1785 and 1793, the Algerine pirates captured and carried into Algiers fifteen American vessels, used the property, and made one hundred and eighty officers and seamen slaves of the most revolting kind. In 1795 the United States agreed, by treaty, to pay $800,000 for captives then alive, and in addition, to make the dey, or governor, a present of a frigate, worth $100,000. An annual tribute of $23,000, in maritime stores, was also to be paid. This was complied with until the breaking out of the war of 1812.

3. In September, 1796, Washington published his immortal Farewell Address to his countrymen. It is a most precious legacy to posterity. It is a plea for Union, and was drawn

QUESTIONS.-10. What were now the relations between the United States and Great Britain? What can you tell about a treaty between them and the United States and Spain? 11. What can you tell about commerce and the Algerines? 12. What have you to say about the close of Washington's Administration? What can you tell about a struggle between the Federalists and Republicans, and the result? What did Washington do?

President John Adams.

Difficulties with the French.

John Adams, and the Republicans, Thomas Jefferson. The contest was close and fierce. Adams was chosen President, and Jefferson Vice-President. On the 4th of March, 1796, Washington retired from public office, and returned to Mount Vernon with the hope that he should never be called from it again.

SECTION II.

JOHN ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION [17971801].

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1. President Adams retained the cabinet officers left by Washington.' Unpleasant relations between the United States and France then existing, caused him to call an extraordinary session of Congress on the 15th of May, 1797, to consider the matter. That body, in July, appointed three envoys, with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney at their head, to proceed to France for the adjustment of all difficulties. The French Government refused to receive them [October, 1797] until they should pay a large sum of money into the treasury of that country. The demand was indignantly refused; and only the Republican en

voy (Mr. Gerry) was allowed to remain in France.

from the great patriot by the evidences of a growing hostility to the Union, among the politi cal leaders in his native State of Virginia. The Great Civil War has shown the necessity for such a plea and warning.

1. Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State; Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury; James McHenry, Secretary of War; and Charles Lee, Attorney-General. Washington's first cabinet had all resigned during the early part of his second term of office (the President is elected for four years), and the above-named gentlemen were appointed during 1795 and

1796.

2. The republican Government of France was administered by a council called the Directory. It was composed of five members, and ruled in connection with two representative bodies, called, respectively, the Council of Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred. The Directory was the head, or executive power of the Government.

QUESTIONS.-i. What did President Adams do? What did Congress do? What can you tell of the conduct of the French Government?

Preparations for war.

Napoleon Bonaparte.

Alien and sedition laws.

2. War with the French seemed inevitable, and the Americans prepared for it. In May, 1798, a large provisional army was authorized, and Washington was appointed [July] commander-in-chief. A Navy Department was organized, and a naval armament ordered. Hostilities on the ocean were commenced, and it was evident that the young Republic was conscious of strength. This dignified and decided course modified the haughty tone of the French Directory, and that body humbly proposed an adjustment. Adams appointed three envoys for the purpose [February, 1799], but when they arrived the weak Directory was gone, and Napoleon Bonaparte was ruler of France [November, 1799] as First Consul. Peace was established between the two Governments, and the provisional army of the United States was disbanded.

3. In the summer of 1798, two very unpopular acts, called the Alien and Sedition Laws,' were passed, and approved by Mr. Adams. Much excitement ensued. At the middle of December, the following year, Washington died. The event produced a most profound sensation in the public mind in America and in Europe. Impressive funeral ceremonies were observed by Congress and the people; and millions of men who loved genuine freedom, sincerely mourned him as a lost friend.

4. In the summer of 1800, the seat of the National Government was removed to the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia.' Then commenced the third struggle for power between the Federalist and Republican parties. Messrs. Adams and Pinckney were nominated for President by the former, and the latter nominated Mr. Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The Republicans were successful. Jefferson and Burr having an equal number of votes,

1. The first authorized the President to expel from the country any alien (not a citizen) who should be suspected of conspiring against the Republic. It was computed that there were then more than thirty thousand Frenchmen in the United States. The Sedition Law authorized the suppression of publications calculated to weaken the authority of the Government. These were unpopular, because they might lead to great abuses.

2. Verse 3, page 196. A tract ten miles square, on each side of the Potomac, and ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia, in 1790. The city of Washington was laid out there in 1791, and the erection of the Capitol was commenced in 1793.

QUESTIONS.-2. What can you tell about preparations for war with France? What were the effects of these preparations? How were peaceful relations restored? 3. What else distinguished the Administration of Adams? What have you to say of the death of Washington? 4. What can you tell about the seat of government? What about another struggle between the Federalists and Republicans? What about an election?