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CHAP. fourteen vessels, visited the principal ports of the Mediterranean. Their victories over the mistress of the ocean, 1815. secured them treatment manifesting high respect.

The autumn following the close of the war, a great council of the North-western Indian tribes was held, at which they made peace with each other. Afterward they all made peace with the United States. Thus apprehenSept. sions of future Indian hostilities were removed.

4.

The war left the finances of the country in a very confused state. The banks in existence, except those in New England, were unable to redeem their notes in specie, and confidence in their promises to pay was wanting. The national debt, in consequence of the war, was known to be more than one hundred millions of dollars. In order to remove some of the burdens resting upon the people, the Secretary of the Treasury, A. J. Dallas, proposed to remit some of the internal taxes, which had been levied during the last few years. Instead of which he advised the imposition of duties on imports, not merely to secure a revenue, but also to protect the manufactures which had sprung into existence during the war. The President likewise, in his annual message, urged the adoption of such a policy.

To aid in rectifying the financial disorders in the 1817. country, Congress chartered, for twenty years, a National Mar. Bank, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars. It commenced operations at Philadelphia, and, in connection with its branches in other States, afforded the people a uniform currency redeemable at all times with gold and silver.

A bill designed to compel the local banks to pay specie was passed, ordering that all dues to the government should be paid in gold and silver, or "in treasury notes, notes of the Bank of the United States, or in notes of banks payable and paid on demand in specie."

The Territory of Indiana having adopted a constituSept. tion, presented herself for admission into the Union, and was received.

FITCH-FULTON-THE FIRST STEAMBOAT.

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John Fitch, an uneducated watchmaker of Philadel- CHAP. phia, conceived the design of propelling boats by steam. He applied to Congress for assistance, but, unfortunately, 1785. was refused; then, with a similar result, he applied to the Spanish authorities of Louisiana. Some years later he found means to construct a boat, and to make a trial trip on the Delaware. The boat went at the rate of eight miles an hour, but unfortunately the boiler exploded. One disaster followed another, and poor John Fitch died, the victim of disappointment, but full of faith that others would yet perfect his invention: he desired to be buried on the banks of the Ohio, that boats propelled by steam might pass near his last resting place. In less than twenty years after his death the steamer Clermont passed up the Hudson from New York to Albany.

The Clermont was the work of Robert Fulton, a native of Pennsylvania, once a pupil of West, the painter. He had a decided turn for mechanics, and had studied the subject many years in Europe, where he received pecuniary aid and encouragement from Robert R. Livingston, then American minister at Paris.

1807.

To American enterprise is due the honor of launching the first steamboat and the first Ocean steamer-the Savannah-that crossed the Atlantic. She left New York, 1818. went to Savannah, and thence to Europe, where she was an object of great interest. Twenty years later the April British steamer Great Western came to New York in fourteen days.

Madison's Administration, so full of important events, drew to a close. James Monroe, also from Virginia, had been elected his successor, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, Vice-President. The latter had been Governor of that State, and in that capacity been most efficient in aiding the country in the war just closed. At one time. he sustained the garrison of the city by his credit.

own private

1838.

XLVI.

CHAPTER XLVI.

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION.

A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government.-The President's Tour in the Eastern States.-The Colonization Society.-Revolutions in the Spanish Colonies.-Indian War; the Seminoles.-General Jackson in the Field.-Purchase of Florida.-The Missouri Compromise.-Manufactures. Increase of Tariff.-Visit of Lafayette.

CHAP. SINCE the close of the war, party distinctions were fast losing their influence. In the minds of the great majority 1817. of the people, names were giving place to ideas. The nation was prepared for the quiet revival of the leading principles of Washington's administration. The people had not in so many words thus formally decided;-but to return to the policy of the earlier days of the Government seemed the only means to remedy existing evils, and to guard against their recurrence in the future. This may be said in relation to the revenue as arising from commerce, the finances, the policy toward foreign nations, and in the means of national defence both by sea and land.

Mar.

4.

The new President in his inaugural fully indorsed these doctrines, and they were echoed and re-echoed throughout the land as the true policy, while some of the old Republicans characterized them as being veritable Federalism under another name. The President pointed to the experience of the nation in the last struggle, and unhesitatingly advised not only fortifications on the coast with garrisons, but a navy strong enough to maintain the dig

THE PRESIDENT'S TOUR-COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

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nity and neutrality of the United States, as well as pro- CHAP. tect commerce; he also recommended that a knowledge of naval and military science should be kept up. In ad- 1817 dition, that domestic manufactures be protected by imposts on foreign merchandise, and also, internal improvements be aided by the national government, if such expenditure was in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.

Though professing to be much gratified that the party spirit lately so rampant was allayed, the President took good care to appoint none but his most devoted adherents to the offices within his gift. John Quincy Adams was recalled from the court of St. James to become Secretary of State. The other members of his cabinet were William H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury; Crowningshield of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, and William Wirt, Attorney-General.

The President, some months after his inauguration, Inade a tour through the Eastern States. The sentiments of his address had become diffused, and prepared the way for his receiving a warm reception in the Federal town of Boston, and throughout New England generally. It was enthusiastically proclaimed that the people were once more to be harmonious in their views of national policy.

During the following session of Congress the American Colonization Society was formed at Washington. It was designed to provide a home beyond the limits of the United States for the free people of color who should desire to emigrate. The condition of these people in the slaveholding States, as well as the laws in some of the others, that forbade their settling within their borders, led to the formation of the Society. The enterprise was ardently advocated by Henry Clay, Judge Washington, John Randolph, and other southern statesmen. This So

XLVI.

CHAP ciety established the now flourishing Colony of Liberia on the west coast of Africa.

1817.

The influence of the Revolution had not been without effect upon other nations. The Spanish colonies of South America threw off their allegiance to the mother country, and declared themselves independent. Under the pretence of having commissions from these new Republics, a company of adventurers, principally drawn from Charleston and Savannah, seized Amelia Island, off the harbor of St. Augustine. These worthies soon began to smuggle merchandise and slaves into the United States. Yet, as a cloak to their deeds, they proclaimed they were blockading the port of St. Augustine. A similar haunt for buccaneers had existed for some time at Galveston in Texas. Both these establishments were broken up by order of the United States Government.

The condition of the South American republics excited great sympathy in the minds of the people. Some were advocates for giving them aid, while others were anxious that Congress should, at least, acknowledge their independence. In defiance of the President's proclamation to the contrary, cruisers, bearing the flag of these Republics, were fitted out in some of the ports of the United States to prey upon Spanish commerce.

These difficulties, combined with other causes, led to a new Indian war in the South. Numbers of Seminoles, refugee Creeks, and runaway negroes, living in the Spanish Territory, south of Flint river, began to pillage the Georgia settlements north of that river. General Gaines, who was in command at the nearest fort, demanded that these murderers and robbers should be given up. The Indians refused, on the ground that they were not the aggressors. Soon after a collision occurred, in which several Nov. Indians were killed. Their death was terribly revenged upon the people on board a boat ascending the Apalachi

80.