INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. OUTLINE HISTORY. AFTER the first daring and successful voyage of Coumbus, the attention of the European governments was directed towards exploring the " new world." In the year 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian in the service of Henry VII. of England, first discovered the Island of Newfoundland, and from thence ranged the coast of the United States to Florida. The country was peopled by uncivilized nations, who subsisted chiefly by hunting and fishing. The Europeans who first visited our shores, treated the natives as wild beasts of the forest, which have no property in the forests through which they roam; and therefore planted the standard of their respective masters on the spot where they first landed, and in their names took possession of the country, which they claimed by right of discovery. Previous to any settlement in North America, many titles of this kind were acquired by the English, Dutch, French, and Spanish navigators. Slight as these claims were, they were afterwards the causes of much dispute and contention between the European governments. These contentions arose from the fact of the subjects of different princes laying claim to the same tract of country, because both had discovered the same river or promontory; or because the extent of the claims of each party was undefined. The first permanent English settlements in the United States were at Jamestown in Virginia, in 1607, and at Plymouth in Massachusetts in 1620. While the European settlements were few and scattered in this vast and uncultivated country, and the trade of it confined to the bartering of a few trinkets, &c. for furs, the interfering of different claims produced no important controversy among the Europeans. But in proportion as the settlements were extended, and in proportion as the trade with the natives became valuable, the jealousies of the nations who had made discoveries and settlements on the coast were alarmed, and each power took measures to secure and extend its possessions, at the expense of its rivals. From the earliest settlement of the Colonies to the treaty of Paris in 1763, they were often harassed by frequent wars with the Indians, French, Spaniards, and Dutch. During the Indian wars, the savages were often instigated by the French and Dutch to fall on the English settlements, in order to exterminate the colonists, or drive them from the country. These wars were by far the most distressing; the first settlers lived in continual fear and anxiety, for fear their Indian foes would fall upon them in some unguarded moment, and oftentimes they had to struggle to prevent their entire extermination. After the colonies had subdued the Indians in their immediate vicinity, they were assailed by the French and Indians. The French possessed Canada, and had made a number of settlements in Florida, and claimed the country on both sides of the Mississippi. To secure and extend their claims they established a line of forts back of the English settlements, from Canada to Florida. They used much art and persuasion to gain over the Indians to their interest, in which they were generally successful. Encroachments were accordingly made on the English possessions, and mutual injuries succeeded, which soon broke out into open war. In order to put a stop to the depredations of the French and Indians, it was contemplated to conquer Canada. In 1690 the Commissioners of the Colonies projected an expedition against Quebec. The land forces ordered for this invasion consisted of 850 men, raised from the Colonies of New England and New York, and commanded by Gen. Winthrop. At the same time a fleet of armed ships and transports, with 1800 men under Sir William Phipps, was ordered to sail up the St. Lawrence, and co operate with the land forces in the reduction of Quebec. But owing to the delay of the fleet, and the want of boats and provisions among the land forces, the expedition was unsuccessful. The next expedition against Canada took place in 1709, in Queen Anne's reign. The Colonies of New England and New York, raised about 2,500 men, who were placed under the command of Gen. Nicholson, who proceeded to Wood Creek, south of Lake George. Here they waited to hear of the arrival of the fleet which was to co-operate with them. The fleet did not arrive, and the army at Wood Creek were attacked with a malignant disease, which occasioned a great mortality, which compelled them to withdraw, and the expedition was abandoned. In 1711, another attempt under Gen. Nicholson with the land forces, and a fleet under Admiral Walker, was made for the conquest of Canada. But this failed by the loss of eight or nine transports, with about 1000 men, by shipwreck. The peace of Utrecht, signed March 3d, 1713, put an end to hostilities, and continued till 1739. In 1744, Great Britain declared war against France, and the next year Louisburg, a strong fortress on Cape Breton, was taken from the French. The French government soon fitted out a large fleet, with a large body of land forces, for the purpose of recovering Louisburg, and attacking the English Colonies. But this expedition, by means of storms, sickness among the troops, &c. failed of accomplishing any thing, and the Colonies were relieved from consternation and dismay. This war closed by a treaty of peace, signed at Aix la Chapelle, in 1748. In 1755, hostilities again commenced between Great Britain and France, and in 1756, four expeditions were undertaken against the French. One was conducted by Col. Monckton and Gen. Winslow, against Nova Scotia. This expedition was attended with success. The country was subdued, and the inhabitants, about 2,000 in number, were transported to New England, and dispersed and incorporated with their conquerors. Gen. Johnson was ordered, with a body of troops, to take possession of Crown Point but he did not succeed. Gen. Shirley commanded an expedition against the fort at Niagara, but lost the season by delay. Gen. Braddock was sent against Fort du Quesne, but in penetrating through the wilderness fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians, where he was killed, and his troops suffered ar entire defeat. In 1758, great efforts were made to subdue the French in America. Three armies were employed-one commanded by Gen. Amherst, to take possession of Cape Breton-one under Gen. Abercrombie, destined against Crown Point-and a third under Gen. Forbes, to drive the French from the Ohio. Gen. Amherst was successful in taking Louisburg, after a warm siege. The inhabitants of Cape Breton were sent to France, and the fortifications of Louisburg reduced to a heap of ruins. Gen. Abercrombie, who was sent against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, attacked the French at the latter place, and was defeated with a terrible slaughter of his troops. Gen. Forbes was successful in taking possession of Fort du Quesne, which the French thought proper to abandon. The next the efforts of the British and Ameriyear cans to reduce the French were more successful. Gen. Prideaux and Sir William Johnson began the operations of the campaign, by taking possession of the French fort near Niagara. Gen. Amherst took possession of the forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, which the French had abandoned. But the decisive blow which proved the destruction of the French power in America, was the taking of Quebec by Gen. Wolfe. The loss of Quebec was soor followed by the capture of Montreal by Gen. Amherst, and Canada became a province of the British Empire. Thus, after a century of wars, massacres, and destruction, committed by the French and savages, the colonies were secured from ferocious invaders, and Canada, with a valuable trade in furs, came under the British dominion." The conquest of Canada, and the expulsion of the French from the Ohio, put an end to all important military operations in the American Colonies. In Europe, 1 |