Document signed by Uncas and his Squaw 204 Page from John Winthrop's Journal 232 Letter from the Earl of Clarendon to the Governor of 332 Connecticut Warrant signed by Governor Winslow of Plymouth for the 360 Sale of Indian Captives as Slaves Reverend John Cotton's opinion that Philip's Son 362 should be put to Death Demand for Surrender of Sir Edmund Andros 430 Original Draft of Indented Bills of 1690 442 Testimonial to the good character of Rebecca Nourse, 454 executed as a Witch THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER I THE AMERICAN BACKGROUND In the name of the country which to-day occupies the major part of the inhabitable portion of North America is indicated the twofold nature of its history; for the story of the United States may evidently be approached, either from the standpoint of a federal nation, or from that of its component political units. These units, although in themselves separate states, are geographically divided from one another, for the most part, by boundaries which are purely artificial. Natural frontiers consist of the sea, deserts, mountains, rivers, and the now almost obsolete ones of forests and swamps. A glance at the map shows that such natural barriers are only a negligible part of the boundaries between our various states and territories. Rivers alone form an exception, and these, for several reasons, are the least satisfactory for the purpose.[1] Were the federal tie dissolved, and these now united commonwealths to become completely independent, and possibly hostile, the artificial character of their limits would at once become obvious. Footnote 1: _Cf._ C. B. Fawcett, _Frontiers_ (Oxford, 1918), pp. 50 _ff._ Also, Lord Curzon, _Frontiers_ (Oxford, 1908), pp. 13 _ff._ From this it has followed, as settlement has gradually spread over the continent, bringing innumerable communities into existence, that these have tended to group themselves into sections, united by common modes of thought, ways of life, and economic needs. Histories of the individual states are almost as arbitrarily localized as the histories of the counties within them; but the story of any of the sections into which the country has divided from time to time possesses an organic unity created by the forces of life itself.