History of the United States in Words of One Syllable — John Shaqi
History of the United States in Words of One SyllablePierson, Helen Wall
History
History of the United States in Words of One Syllable
Pierson, Helen Wall
United States -- History -- Juvenile literature
The folks in Mass-a-chu-setts went by the name of "Pu-ri-tans."
They had left their old home that they might pray to God in
their own way, and they thought that their own way was the right
one. When men came in their midst who did not think as they
did, they were sent out of the place. There was a class called
Quak-ers, or Friends, who were mild, and did all they could
for peace; but they thought they had their rights as well as
the rest, and might serve God in their own way. They did not
believe in wars, and would not bear arms. They would not hire
a man to preach for them; but when they met, each one spoke
as he felt the thought come in his heart. They kept the laws,
and did to all men as they wished them to do to them. They said
"thee and thou" for "you," and "yea and nay" for "yes and no;"
but this could hurt no one, and it seems strange to us that
they were not let stay in the place. They had to fly for their
lives, and four were put to death. In these days all men are
free to serve God in their own way.
And in that time there was one man to raise his voice for the
poor Quak-ers, and all who were like them. This man was Rog-er
Will-iams. He held that the State had no right to say what men
should think and feel. You may be sure those who were high in
place did not like to hear that; so he had to fly from his home
one cold day, and for a time he hid in the woods. But the In-di-ans
gave him a home, and one chief made him a gift of a piece of
land, which he called "Prov-i-dence," as it was to him like
a gift from God. And so the State of Rhode Isl-and, where this
town was built, was known as a place where thought was free.
The Quak-ers were glad to find a home in that State, where they
could dwell in peace.
[Illustration: IN-DI-ANS RID-ING.]
In 1675, a war, known as King Phil-ip's war, broke out in Mass-a-chu-setts.
King Phil-ip was an In-di-an chief who saw that the white man
would soon own all the land, and he knew that meant death to
his race. He made a plan to kill all the white men. The first
blow fell on the Lord's day, as the folks were on their way
home from church. The men flew to arms, and did not dare to
lay them down when they were in the field at work, or at their
homes. When they went to church they would stack them at the
door.
King Phil-ip and his men made their camp in a great swamp, where
it was hard for the white men to reach them. Here they laid
up a store of food, and had great tribes of red men. They would
not fight in the wide fields, but would skulk in nooks, and
rush out and hold all the land in fear, for the foe would seem
to be on all sides. At last they were made to leave their strong
hold, and could find no place to hide. There was a fight, and
the In-di-ans fell thick and fast. Phil-ip ran, but one of his
own tribe, who had a grudge, shot him dead. He had done all
he could for his own folk, but fell by the hand of one of them
at last.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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