The Greater Republic A History of the United States   By: Charles Morris (1833-1922)

A NEW HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

The Greater Republic

EMBRACING

THE GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR COUNTRY FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT EVENTFUL YEAR

SHOWING HOW FROM THIRTEEN COLONIES WITH A SCATTERED POPULATION ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST A GREAT REPUBLIC HAS BEEN FORMED, EMBRACING FORTY FIVE STATES WITH 75,000,000 INHABITANTS AND VAST COLONIAL POSSESSIONS IN TWO HEMISPHERES

By CHARLES MORRIS, LL.D.

Author of "Decisive Events in American History," "Half Hours with the Best American Authors," "An Historical Review of Civilization," Etc., Etc.

Embellished With Over 300 New Engravings

ILLUSTRATING ALL THAT IS INTERESTING AND INSPIRING IN OUR HISTORY

JOHN C. WINSTON & CO. PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO 1899

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by

W.E. SCULL.

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

[Illustration]

PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION.

The late war with Spain marks a momentous epoch in the progress of our country, whose history, stretching through the centuries of discovery, exploration, settlement, the struggle for independence, foreign and domestic war, lofty achievement in all departments of knowledge and progress, is the most interesting in human annals. It is a record full of instruction and incitement to endeavor, which must fill every American with pride in his birthright, and with gratitude to Him who holds the earth and the sea in the hollow of His hand.

The following pages contain a complete, accurate, and graphic history of our country from the first visit of the Northmen, a thousand years ago, to the opening of its new destiny, through the late struggle, resulting in the freeing of Cuba, the wresting of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and the Ladrones from the tyranny of the most cruel of modern nations, and the addition of Hawaii to our domain. The Greater United States, at one bound, assumes its place in the van of nations, and becomes the foremost agent in civilizing and christianizing the world.

The task, long committed to England, Germany, France, Russia, and later to Japan, must henceforth be shared with us, whose glowing future gives promise of the crowning achievement of the ages. With a fervent trust in a guiding Providence, and an abiding confidence in our ability, we enter upon the new and grander career, as in obedience to the divine behest that the Latin race must decrease and the Anglo Saxon increase, and that the latter, in a human sense, must be the regenerator of all who are groping in the night of ignorance and barbarism.

It is a wonderful story that is traced in the pages that follow. A comprehension of the present and of the promise of the future necessitates an understanding of the past. The history of the Greater United States, therefore, is complete, from the first glimpse, in the early morning of October 12, 1492, of San Salvador by Columbus, through the settlement of the colonies, their struggles for existence, the colonial wars, the supreme contest between England and France for mastery in the New World, the long gloom of the Revolution that brought independence, the founding of the Republic, in 1787, the growth and expansion of the nation, the mighty War for the Union that united the divided house and planted it upon a rock, and the later "war for humanity," when the perishing islands, stretching their hands to us in helpless anguish, were gathered under the flag of freedom, there to remain through all time to come.