TRAITS OF COLONIAL LIFE

CHAPTER XIX

WARFARE BETWEEN INDIANS AND WHITE MEN

Arms of the Colonists.-When America was settled, armor was still in use in Europe, and some of the colonists went out to fight the nimble Indians, wearing metal head pieces, breast and back plates, or buff coats made of leather. Such defensive armor was found to be worse than useless in fighting Indians, and the colonists gradually laid it aside. At first the white men had an advantage over the Indians in having firearms. The savages must fight with bows and arrows and stone hatchets. But the Indians soon managed to get guns. There were always laws against selling firearms to Indians, but such laws were always broken by unscrupulous traders.

Colonist in armor

Matchlock Guns.-Some of the guns of the colonists were matchlocks. When a soldier wished to fire such a gun, he placed a forked rest in front of him, and laid the gun between its prongs. He then set off the powder in the lock with a lighted fuse or match. Friction matches had not been invented at that time, and each soldier had to carry a burning fuse or slow match. If his fuse went out he had to run to a fire and relight it. There came into use a newer kind of gun, called a flintlock, which required no fuse. In it the pulling of a trigger caused a flint to strike a piece of steel, producing sparks which set off the powder. This was a great im

.

Matchlock gun

Flintlock gun

provement on the matchlock.

Another clumsy weapon

used by the colonists as late as King Philip's War was the pike or spear.

Causes of War.-It had always been the custom of the Indians to hold a whole tribe responsible for the acts of anyone belonging to it. On the same principle the savage held that if a white man did him an injury he had a right to revenge himself on any white person he could find, man, woman, or child. The Indians were often cheated by white traders. There were also many misunderstandings and quarrels between them and the less prudent among the white men, and the colonists were always in danger of attacks growing out of such disputes.

Blockhouse

In small settlements the white men often carried their arms to church with them. In exposed places blockhouses were built, where all the families in the neighborhood might take refuge in case of alarm.

In many settlements fierce dogs were kept for defense against Indians, and for tracking and catching them.

After suffering many disasters the colonists adopted Indian methods of warfare, lying in ambush, marching in scattering lines, and firing from behind trees. In the northern colonies they learned to put their men on snowshoes in winter, as the Indians did. A scout would sometimes make himself a cap and body-covering of green leaves in order that he might watch the savages from the bushes without being seen by them.

Indian Captivity.—The great terror of colonial life was Indian captivity. Hundreds of white people were carried into the wilderness by savage captors. Some of these escaped and returned to their homes; many more were slain. During the French and Indian War the French bought from the Indians their English captives, and sold them back again to their families when peace came.

The Indians often adopted captives into their tribes and treated them well. Some white children who were thus adopted grew up to like the savage life.

Summary.-I. The first colonists wore armor made of metal and leather. They were armed with matchlocks; later flintlocks were used. 2. The Indians took their revenge for injuries on any white man they met. The colonists learned the Indian methods of warfare.

3. Captives seldom returned from the Indians. Some children were adopted and lived as Indians.

Collateral Reading. — Parkman's "A Half Century of Conflict," II., 48-51, 249-258; Seelye's "The Story of Washington," 72-75; Eggleston and Seelye's" Brant and Red Jacket," 118-125.

CHAPTER XX

LIVING AND GETTING A LIVING

Farming in the Colonies.-At first the early colonists wasted their time hunting for gold and for a passage to India. A little later they learned that the real wealth of America lay in the productions of its soil. They therefore set themselves to farming. Their farming plans were sometimes as wild and absurd as had been their plans for getting to India or finding gold. Instead of wheat and corn, they tried to grow wine, silk, madder, coffee, tea, olives, and the plant called cacao,

Colonial plow

from the nuts of which chocolate is made.

Some of these

things were tried even in the cold climate of New England, as well as in the colonies farther south.

Colonial wagon

The colonists soon got corn from the Indians. It was unknown in Europe. It was raised everywhere in the colonies, but especially in Virginia and North Carolina, from which it was sold to New England trading ships and carried to the West Indies. New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania became the

great wheat-growing regions of that time. These colonies sent wheat and flour and hard-tack bread to the West Indies and to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Many thousands of great country wagons were employed in bringing grain to Philadelphia. Maryland and Virginia raised tobacco as their staple. North Carolina depended on tar, turpentine, rosin, and the like. South Carolina and Georgia raised chiefly rice and indigo. Many efforts were made

in vain to find some staple crop suited to the New England climate and soil. But if New England did not lend itself to fruitful agriculture, its waters were full of cod and mackerel, and fishing became the chief employment of its people. Young men

Old whaleships

trained to the sea in following the fishing trade became expert sailors, while the carpenters of that region learned to build good ships. In these ships the New England sailors

carried on trade with pretty nearly all the ports in the world, and they presently became the most expert of all whalers.

Cattle, Hogs, and Horses.-Hogs were very early brought to the colonies, where they found abundant food in the rich nut crops of the American woods. They multiplied rapidly, and many of them ran at large in the forest. Many cattle also were suffered

to go wild in the woods, and it was a favorite sport to hunt them. The horses used in the colonies were of a small breed, but they were. strong and hardy. Many of them escaped into the swamps and forests, and thus started a race of wild horses in America.

Old Dutch house

Houses. The houses of some of the first settlers were very rude. Sometimes they dug holes in the ground and used them as dwellings. In some places bark wigwams were built, like those of the Indians.

When New York consisted of thirty houses, twentynine of them were of bark. As time went on, men built better houses, some of hewed logs, and some of planks split or sawed out by hand. The chim

neys were very large, with fire

places so spacious