The Story of Our Country: Every Child Can Read — John Shaqi
The Story of Our Country: Every Child Can Read
History
The Story of Our Country: Every Child Can Read
United States -- History -- Juvenile literature
A sad fate was that of Captain Hudson, "the bold Englishman." The next
year he came again to America. But this time he went far to the north
and entered the great body of water which we call Hudson Bay. He thought
this would lead to the Pacific, and he would not turn back, though the
food was nearly all gone. At last the crew got desperate, and they put
the captain and some others into an open boat on the wide waters, and
turned back again. Nothing more was ever heard of Captain Hudson, and he
must have died miserably on that cold and lonely bay.
But before his last voyage he had told the Dutch people all about Hudson
River, and that the Indians had many fine furs which they would be glad
to trade for beads, and knives, and other cheap things. The Dutch were
fond of trading, and liked to make a good bargain, so they soon began to
send ships to America. They built a fort and some log huts on Manhattan
Island, and a number of them stayed there to trade with the red men.
They paid the Indians for the island with some cheap goods worth about
twenty-four dollars. I do not think any of you could guess how many
millions of dollars that island is worth now. For the great city of New
York stands where the log huts of the Dutch traders once stood, and
twenty-four dollars would hardly buy as much land as you could cover
with your hand.
The country around is now all farming land, where grain and fruit are
grown, and cattle are raised. But then it was all woodland for hundreds
of miles away, and in these woods lived many foxes and beavers and other
fur-bearing animals. These the Indians hunted and killed, and sold their
furs to the Dutch, so that there was soon a good trade for both the red
and the white men. The Dutch were glad to get the furs and the Indians
were as glad to get the knives and beads. More and more people came from
Holland, and the town grew larger and larger, and strong brick houses
took the place of the log huts, and in time there was quite a town.
Men were sent from Holland to govern the people. Some of these men were
not fit to govern themselves, and the settlers did not like to have
such men over them. One of them was a stubborn old fellow named Peter
Stuyvesant. He had lost one of his legs, and wore a wooden leg with
bands of silver around it, so that he was called "Old Silver Leg."
While he was governor an important event took place. The English had a
settlement in Virginia and another in New England, and they said that
all the coast lands belonged to them, because the Cabots had been the
first to see them. The Cabots came from Italy, but they had settled in
England, and sailed in an English ship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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