登陆注册
19851200000025

第25章 The Decline Of Quaker Government (1)

When the treaty of peace was signed in 1763, extinguishing France's title to Canada and turning over Canada and the Mississippi Valley to the English, the colonists were prepared to enjoy all the blessings of peace.But the treaty of peace had been made with France, not with the red man.A remarkable genius, Pontiac, appeared among the Indians, one of the few characters, like Tecumseh and Osceola, who are often cited as proof of latent powers almost equal to the strongest qualities of the white race.

Within a few months he had united all the tribes of the West in a discipline and control which, if it had been brought to the assistance of the French six years earlier, might have conquered the colonies to the Atlantic seaboard before the British regulars could have come to their assistance.The tribes swept westward into Pennsylvania, burning, murdering, and leveling every habitation to the ground with a thoroughness beyond anything attempted under the French alliance.The settlers and farmers fled eastward to the towns to live in cellars, camps, and sheds as best they could.* Fortunately the colonies retained a large part of the military organization, both men and officers, of the French War, and were soon able to handle the situation.Detroit and Niagara were relieved by water; and an expedition commanded by Colonel Bouquet, who had distinguished himself under General Forties, saved Fort Pitt.

* For an account of Pontiac's conspiracy, see "The Old Northwest"by Frederic A.Ogg (in "The Chronicles of America").

At this time the Scotch-Irish frontiersmen suddenly became prominent.They had been organizing for their own protection and were meeting with not a little success.They refused to join the expedition of regular troops marching westward against Pontiac's warriors, because they wanted to protect their own homes and because they believed the regulars to be marching to sure destruction.Many of the regular troops were invalided from the West Indies, and the Scotch-Irish never expected to see any of them again.They believed that the salvation of Pennsylvania, or at least of their part of the province, depended entirely upon themselves.Their increasing numbers and rugged independence were forming them also into an organized political party with decided tendencies, as it afterwards appeared, towards forming a separate state.

The extreme narrowness of the Scotch-Irish, however, misled them.

The only real safety for the province lay in regularly constituted and strong expeditions, like that of Bouquet, which would drive the main body of the savages far westward.But the Scotch-Irish could not see this; and with that intensity of passion which marked all their actions they turned their energy and vengeance upon the Quakers and semicivilized Indians in the eastern end of the colony.Their preachers, who were their principal leaders and organizers, encouraged them in denouncing Quaker doctrine as a wicked heresy from which only evil could result.The Quakers had offended God from the beginning by making treaties of kindness with the heathen savages instead of exterminating them as the Scripture commanded: "And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them." The Scripture had not been obeyed; the heathen had not been destroyed; on the contrary, a systematic policy of covenants, treaties, and kindness had been persisted in for two generations, and as a consequence, the Ulstermen said, the frontiers were now deluged in blood.They were particularly resentful against the small settlement of Indians near Bethlehem, who had been converted to Christianity by the Moravians, and another little village of half civilized basketmaking Indians at Conestoga near Lancaster.The Scotch-Irish had worked themselves up into a strange belief that these small remnants were sending information, arms, and ammunition to the western tribes; and they seemed to think that it was more important to exterminate these little communities than to go with such expeditions as Bouquet's to the West.They asked the Governor to remove these civilized Indians and assured him that their removal would secure the safety of the frontier.When the Governor, not being able to find anything against the Indians, declined to remove them, the Scotch-Irish determined to attend to the matter in their own fashion.

Bouquet's victory at Bushy Run, much to the surprise of the Scotch-Irish, stopped Indian raids of any seriousness until the following spring.But in the autumn there were a few depredations, which led the frontiersmen to believe that the whole invasion would begin again.A party of them, therefore, started to attack the Moravian Indians near Bethlehem; but before they could accomplish their object, the Governor brought most of the Indians down to Philadelphia for protection.Even there they were narrowly saved from the mob, for the hostility against them was spreading throughout the province.

Soon afterwards another party of Scotch-Irish, ever since known as the "Paxton Boys," went at break of day to the village of the Conestoga Indians and found only six of them at home--three men, two women, and a boy.These they instantly shot down, mutilated their bodies, and burned their cabins.As the murderers returned, they related to a man on the road what they had done, and when he protested against the cruelty of the deed, they asked, "Don't you believe in God and the Bible?" The remaining fourteen inhabitants of the village, who were away selling brooms, were collected by the sheriff and put in the jail at Lancaster for protection.The Paxtons heard of it and in a few days stormed the jail, broke down the doors, and either shot the poor Indians or cut them to pieces with hatchets.

同类推荐
  • 僧伽罗刹所集佛行经

    僧伽罗刹所集佛行经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 沙弥尼离戒文

    沙弥尼离戒文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Dust

    The Dust

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 灌畦暇语

    灌畦暇语

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 联灯会要

    联灯会要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 幻想乡旅行手册

    幻想乡旅行手册

    我就是绅士你来看的都是绅士未满18岁禁止观看有条件要在家长陪同下观看否则丁丁长不长作者不负责任何法律责任
  • 开府万国

    开府万国

    梦回大唐,奏响阵阵悲歌,泱泱五千年的古途,想要改变一个国家的命运;面对几千年的历史的机遇,引导国人思想上的转变,一个现代的男子重生在唐初,面对历史上最大的变革,不知道,路在何方!
  • 荒古元记

    荒古元记

    悠悠千载过谁怜万古枯。.....本故事发生在两千余年前,内容大抵荒诞,并非史实传记。如有雷同纯属巧合。
  • 雾兽

    雾兽

    白雾降至,文明陨落。蒸汽机带动的工业革命为斯缇姆大陆带来了被称为“黄金时代”的荣光。魔法和科技相辅相成,铸就了最伟大的时代。然而过度繁荣的背后则是黑暗的侵袭。漫天的烟囱带来了成吨的污染,浓雾出现,带来了雾兽,它们席卷整个大陆,最后只留下一片废墟残骸。文明最终陨落。废土之上,人们自强不息。逐雾人,太阳骑士团,教团,圣城......各方交织相错,演绎着各自的故事。
  • 曾国藩大智慧

    曾国藩大智慧

    国学经典,包罗万象,深奥难懂。如何参悟?如何为我所用?轻松阅读国学丛书结合当今读者的阅读习惯和思维习惯,利用古今中外的具体事例重新诠释经典的智慧;让您能够轻松领悟!它主要通过简单的故事,让厚重的曾国藩变得生动,用最短的时间将曾国藩的大智慧了然于胸。
  • 未来世界纪实——来自星星的我

    未来世界纪实——来自星星的我

    如果有一天你真的来到未来世界,我可以保证你不一定会觉得这未来多么好,恰恰相反你会有诸多的不爽。之所以我这么说,不是为了让你对未来失去信心。因为人人都必须相信未来,才会有发展,才能得以生存和繁衍,这是必须的。我这么说的目的是,当我真的步入未来世界,未来也就变成了现在。现在是多么现实、多么骨感、多么让人觉得压力山大。好吧,你今天能想到的东西,未来都会有,可惜,这些东西却没有一样是我的,因为我没钱,我只有一双手,我可以做什么呢,好吧,我就从捡垃圾开始,融入这个看似美好实则危机四伏的世界。
  • 妖怪生存法则

    妖怪生存法则

    妖怪的定义是什么?三头六臂能化形的非主流禽兽?还是拥有强大异能的人类,亦或者是外星人?神仙的定义是什么?脱去虚无的崇拜成分,那就是强大的人类。你所熟知的神仙妖怪来自西游记和封神演义。它们只是明清时候的人写的小说而已,西游还在封神之前,离我们的时代很近,焉知他们所写的东西就一定是真相?如果在这个繁华的都市中,隐藏着天庭,地狱的组织,而太白金星,二郎神还活着呢?如果这个黑暗的都市中每时每刻都存在着杀戮,如果这个都市中有一个号称守护华夏的组织叫道院呢?一个高中生的奇遇,一个高中生的堕落和自我救赎!!!
  • 安南传

    安南传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 稻盛和夫的24个工作哲学

    稻盛和夫的24个工作哲学

    稻盛和夫不仅是企业家,还是一个哲学家。向他学习,每个人都会有收获和启迪。杨云鹏编著的《稻盛和夫的24个工作哲学》对充满魅力的“稻盛精神”做了很好的囊括,采撷稻盛先生50余年间培养员工的核心思想,内容涵盖了工作真正的意义、在工作上的做法和心得、如何在工作中取得成绩、塑造高尚的人格等方面。“自燃型人”、“精神胜利法”、“敬天爱人”,这些原汁原味的“稻盛精神”是他不可动摇的“信念”,也是被诸多实践所证明了的杰出“工作哲学”,为身在职场的读者点燃指路明灯,同时对企业管理者也有一定的借鉴意义。
  • 极品全能高手

    极品全能高手

    张天司在高三开学的第一天收到了一件由未来的孙子寄给他的包裹。包裹里面只有一条黑色项链和一封信。为了改变自己的命运,为了弥补遗憾,张天司吸取了光子存储器(黑色项链)里面的资源,从而获得了未来数十年间的各种信息,其中包括科技、商业、文学、音乐等等各行各业在内的所有知识。而且同时他还得到了神奇的分身术。神奇的分身术让张天司的命运发生巨大的改变。