This was after the death of Powhatan, who had been a friend to the
whites. About twenty years later, in 1644, another Indian massacre took
place. After this the Indians were driven far back into the country, and
did not give any more trouble for thirty years. The last war with them
broke out in 1675.
The Dutch in New York also had their troubles with the Indians. They
paid for all the lands they took, but one of their governors was
foolish enough to start a war that went on for two years. A worse
trouble was that in North Carolina, where there was a powerful tribe
called the Tuscaroras. These attacked the settlers and murdered numbers
of them. But in the end they were driven out of the country.
The only colonies in which the Indians kept friendly for a long time
were Pennsylvania and Georgia. We know the reason of this. William Penn
and General Oglethorpe were wise enough to make friends with them at the
start, and continued to treat them with justice and friendliness, so
that the red men came to love these good men.
CHAPTER VII
ROYAL GOVERNORS AND LOYAL CAPTAINS
DO any of my young readers know what is meant by a Charter? "Yes," I
hear some of you say. "No," say others. Well, I must speak to the "No,"
party; the party that doesn't know, and wants to know.
A charter is a something written or printed which grants certain rights
or privileges to the party to whom it is given. It may come from a king
or a congress, or from any person in power, and be given to any other
person who wishes the right to hold a certain property or to do some
special thing.
Do you understand any better now? I am sorry I can not put it in plainer
words. I think the best way will be to tell you about some charters
which belong to American history. You should know that all the people
who crossed the ocean to make new settlements on the Atlantic Coast had
charters from the king of England. This was the case with the Pilgrims
and the Puritans, with Roger Williams, William Penn, Lord Baltimore, and
the others I have spoken about.
These charters were written on parchment, which is the skin of an
animal, made into something like paper. The charters gave these people
the right to settle on and own certain lands, to form certain kinds of
government, and to do a variety of things which in England no one could
do but the king and the parliament.
The colonies in New England were given the right to choose their own
governors and make their own laws, and nobody, not even the king, could
stop them from doing this. The king had given them this right, and no
other king could take it away while they kept their charters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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