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Autobiography of Teddy Roosevelt.

No illustrations. ... Read more

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LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN

By Theodore Roosevelt

First published 1919.



Edited by Joseph Bucklin Bishop



INTRODUCTION

Most of the letters in this volume were written by Theodore Roosevelt to
his children during a period of more than twenty years. A few others are
included that he wrote to friends or relatives about the children. He
began to write to them in their early childhood, and continued to do
so regularly till they reached maturity. Whenever he was separated from
them, in the Spanish War, or on a hunting trip, or because they were at
school, he sent them these messages of constant thought and love, for
they were never for a moment out of his mind and heart. Long before they
were able to read he sent them what they called "picture letters," with
crude drawings of his own in illustration of the written text, drawings
precisely adapted to the childish imagination and intelligence. That the
little recipients cherished these delightful missives is shown by the
tender care with which they preserved them from destruction. They are
in good condition after many years of loving usage. A few of them are
reproduced in these pages--written at different periods as each new
child appeared in the household.

These early letters are marked by the same quality that distinguishes
all his letters to his children. From the youngest to the eldest, he
wrote to them always as his equals. As they advanced in life the
mental level of intercourse was raised as they grew in intelligence and
knowledge, but it was always as equals that he addressed them. He was
always their playmate and boon companion, whether they were toddling
infants taking their first faltering steps, or growing schoolboys, or
youths standing at the threshold of life. Their games were his games,
their joys those of his own heart. He was ready to romp with them in
the old barn at Sagamore Hill, play "tickley" at bedtime, join in their
pillow fights, or play hide-and-seek with them, either at Sagamore
Hill or in the White House. He was the same chosen and joyous companion
always and everywhere. Occasionally he was disturbed for a moment about
possible injury to his Presidential dignity. Describing a romp in the
old barn at Sagamore Hill in the summer of 1903, he said in one of his
letters that under the insistence of the children he had joined in it
because: "I had not the heart to refuse, but really it seems, to put it
mildly, rather odd for a stout, elderly President to be bouncing over
hayricks in a wild effort to get to goal before an active midget of a
competitor, aged nine years. However, it was really great fun."

It was because he at heart regarded it as "great fun" and was in
complete accord with the children that they delighted in him as a
playmate. In the same spirit, in January, 1905, he took a squad of
nine boys, including three of his own, on what they called a "scramble"
through Rock Creek Park, in Washington, which meant traversing the most
difficult places in it. The boys had permission to make the trip alone,
but they insisted upon his company. "I am really touched," he wrote
afterward to the parents of two of the visiting boys, "at the way in
which your children as well as my own treat me as a friend and playmate.
It has its comic side. They were all bent upon having me take them;
they obviously felt that my presence was needed to give zest to the
entertainment. I do not think that one of them saw anything incongruous
in the President's getting as bedaubed with mud as they got, or in my
wiggling and clambering around jutting rocks, through cracks, and up
what were really small cliff faces, just like the rest of them; and
whenever any one of them beat me at any point, he felt and expressed
simple and whole-hearted delight, exactly as if it had been a triumph
over a rival of his own age."

When the time came that he was no longer the children's chosen playmate,
he recognized the fact with ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

More than Words
Theodore Roosevelt not only wrote to his kids, but also drew great pictures.One of his best in here is a drawing of TR playing tennis.Before widespread telphones, and certainly prior to cell phones, people seemed to dash off notes to each other more frequently.One school of TR thought says Teddy simply loved writing to his kids in profusion.The revisionist school says, of course he did, since he was so frequently away.

TR's letters to his son Quentin are especially touching, since later on Quentin took a German gunner's bullet through the head over France, driving TR into inconsolate murmerings lamenting the loss of his "Quentee-Quee."The development of these nicknames is chronicled in these letters.

For whatever reason TR wrote them, they read very movingly.TR's own namesake, Ted Jr., tried to pull off the same thing with his kids, documented in another out-of-print book written by Ted Jr (before his early heart attack during WWII) called "All in the Family."Wherein little Ted's mistake is to too slavishly imitate big TR's way of organizing walks, going camping, and dashing off notes.So there is something inimitable here, which should also caution the modern reader from hankering too quickly to start writing letters-a-plenty.But the picture drawing might be OK.What kid wouldn't like a few more scribbled pictures from their dad?

So at least look at the pictures here.Unlike Ronald Reagan's, these were done to and for TR's own kids.Not to dump on Ron, but to perhaps establish a reference point among competing versions of family dysfunction. ... Read more

Product Description
This was Roosevelt's first book which he started while attending Harvard and published after graduation. The book established Roosevelt as a serious historian.

A naval historian wrote recently: "Roosevelt’s study of the War of 1812 influenced all subsequent scholarship on the naval aspects of the War of 1812 and continues to be reprinted. More than a classic, it remains, after 120 years, a standard study of the war."

This is part 2 of the book. No illustrations or images are included in this version.

Contents:

CHAPTER I. 1814. ON THE OCEAN.

CHAPTER II. 1814. ON THE LAKES.

CHAPTER III. 1815. COXCLUDING OPERATIONS.

CHAPTER IV. 1815. THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.



... Read more

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Colonel Theodore Roosevelt's account of the Rough Riders, the volunteer cavalry unit that fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. ... Read more

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INTRODUCTIONMr. Roosevelt as an Orator.PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE SUDANAn Address at the American Mission in Khartum, March 16, 1910.LAW AND ORDER IN EGYPTAn Address before the National University in Cairo, March 28, 1910.CITIZENSHIP IN A REPUBLICAn Address Delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910.INTERNATIONAL PEACEAn Address before the Nobel Prize Committee Delivered at Christiania,Norway, May 5, 1910.THE COLONIAL POLICY OF THE UNITED STATESAn Address Delivered at Christiania, Norway, on the Evening ofMay 5, 1910.THE WORLD MOVEMENTAn Address Delivered at the University of Berlin, May 12, 1910.THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESSAn Address at the Cambridge Union, May 26, 1910.BRITISH RULE IN AFRICAAddress Delivered at the Guildhall, London, May 31, 1910.BIOLOGICAL ANALOGIES IN HISTORY[1]Delivered at Oxford, June 7, 1910. ... Read more

Product Description
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919 was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic personality, range of interests and achievements, leadership of the Progressive Movement, model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President (1901–1909) he held offices at the municipal, state, and federal level of government. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician. ... Read more

Product Description
A HARD-TO-FIND CD-ROM! PUBLISHED FOR THE CENTENNIAL OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S GOVERNORSHIP OF NEW YORK STATE. COPYWRIGHT 2000 BY THE THEODORE ROOSEVELT ASSOCIATION (CHARTERED BY CONGRESS 1920) AND PRODUCED BY newmedia publishing. ISBN 1-893798-17-8 EAN 9781893798175. THIS CD CONTAINS: ROOSEVELT'S PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED(BUT NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE)GUBERNATORIAL PAPERS WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY PRINTED BY NYS IN 2 VOLUMES 1N 1899-1900. IT INCLUDES THE "THEODORE ROOSEVELT CYCLOPEDIA" (OUT OF PRINT)--THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE COMPENDIUM OF QUOTATIONS AND EXTRACTS FROM HIS SPEECHES AND WRITINGS. THIS CD ALSO CONTAINS 4 ORIGINAL EDISON CYLINDER RECORDINGS OF HIS VOICE! ... Read more

Product Description
Burroughs was a world traveler and wrote of many of his trips in his book "Fresh Fields".One of his most memorable experiences was the time he spent with President Theodore Roosevelt in Yellowstone.He was so taken with the president's true love of nature - down to the smallest creatures.He felt that Teddy Roosevelt was misunderstood and wrote "Camping and Tramping with Roosevelt" to share a side of the president that most people never saw, including his deep love of birds.Burroughs published this book in 1907.

This book is printed in its original form so some imperfections or marks may appear, but we believe the work is culturally important enough to preserve it in its original form.
The photos of Teddy Roosevelt are a rare treat! ... Read more

Product Description
Theodore Roosevelt’s writing has the same verve, panache, and energy as the life he lived. Perhaps no president in U.S. history—not even Jefferson—had so many opinions and intellectual interests, believed in so many causes, or worked so hard to translate his beliefs into action. A hard-headed idealist, an unabashed interventionist, a crusader on behalf of environmental preservation and against big business ”trusts,” he was also a writer of uncommon grace and passion with a gift for the memorable phrase. His autobiography, one of the two or three finest ever written by a U.S. president, abounds in exciting episodes of personal transformation and insights into the bitter politics of the day. Roosevelt was a sickly youth who steeled himself for a life of vigor, growing up surrounded by wealth in nineteenth-century Manhattan but vacationing in the West, where he rode with cowboys and learned to revere and study the natural world. His book describes his early failures in his political career and his ascent from the New York City police board to assistant secretary of the Navy where he advocated war with Spain, to his brief stint and public renown as a Rough Rider; and on to the governorship of New York, vice presidency under McKinley, and finally the presidency itself. Elting Morison’s new introduction analyzes what Roosevelt has included—and not included—about his many political conflicts, his role in the acquisition of the Panama Canal, and the deaths of his wife and his mother.As everywhere in his writing, the personality of T.R.—alert, voluble, forceful, compassionate—shines forth from this book, which remains a singular study of a dynamic and, in many respects, exemplary man who was also a key figure in the Age of Reform. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Great Autobiography
After reading Leadership: Past, Present & Future I wanted to know more about President Theodore Roosevelt and this is a great book to learn more about this great man.
5 Stars

good but hard to read
T Roosevelt had a great life and is an inspiring person, but this book was writing in the early 20th century when they didn't believe in paragraphs. It's very long winded and talks about relationships that i find unimportant when trying to understand someone's life. It's full of good info, but a little tough to get through.

The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt
A clear view of how TR was raised to service the America he loved. His life reflected what the best families could offer but he used this experience to build himself and got ready for a very interesting life. It reads well.

I really enjoyed it
This autobiography covers Roosevelt's life well. His determination and hard worked proved to be the key to overcoming all obstacles in his way.Roosevelt's life was entertaining from his childhood to the presidency.Roosevelt is considered by scholars as one of the greatest United States Presidents.

Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt
An incredible leader and character at the right time in our history!I wish we had more like him. ... Read more

Product Description
An exceptionally intriguing book about the attempt on Teddy Roosevelt's life.Here is the complete story.From the book:At 8:10 o'clock on the night of Oct. 14, 1912, a shot was fired the echo of which swept around the entire world in thirty minutes.An insane man attempted to end the life of the only living ex-president of the United States and the best known American.The bullet failed of its mission.Col. Theodore Roosevelt, carrying the leaden missile intended as a pellet of death in his right side, has recovered. He is spared for many more years of active service for his country.John Flammang Schrank, the mad man who fired the shot, is in the Northern Hospital for the Insane at Oshkosh, Wis., pronounced by a commission of five alienists a paranoiac. If he recovers he will face trial for assault with intent to kill... ... Read more

Product Description
Of my great−grandfather Roosevelt and his family life a century and over ago I know little beyond what is implied in some of his books that have come down to me−−the Letters of Junius, a biography of John Paul Jones,
Chief Justice Marshall's "Life of Washington." They seem to indicate that his library was less interesting than that of my wife's great−grandfather at the same time, which certainly included such volumes as the original /Edinburgh Review/, for we have them now on our own book−shelves. Of my grandfather Roosevelt my most vivid childish reminiscence is not something I saw, but a tale that was told me concerning him. In /his/ boyhood
Sunday was as dismal a day for small Calvinistic children of Dutch descent as if they had been of Puritan or Scotch Covenanting or French Huguenot descent−−and I speak as one proud of his Holland, Huguenot, and Covenanting ancestors, and proud that the blood of that stark Puritan divine Jonathan Edwards flows in the veins of his children.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great read by Teddy the Man himself.
For the Kindle , it's a great read as it's written in the hand of one of our greatest president's. Teddy or Theodore Roosevelt was a complex man and in this Autobiography he dictates the arduous era that he lived in and how he managed to overcome so many obstacles. ... Read more

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Col. Theodore Roosevelt, carrying the leaden missile intended as a pellet of death in his right side, has recovered. He is spared for many more years of active service for his country.
... Read more

Product Description
This was Roosevelt's first book which he started while attending Harvard and published after graduation. The book established Roosevelt as a serious historian.

A naval historian wrote recently: "Roosevelt’s study of the War of 1812 influenced all subsequent scholarship on the naval aspects of the War of 1812 and continues to be reprinted. More than a classic, it remains, after 120 years, a standard study of the war."

This is part 1 of the book. Text only with no images.

Part of the preface:

"THE history of the naval events of the War
of 1812 has been repeatedly presented both
to the American and the English reader.
Historical writers have treated it either in
connection with a general account of the con
test on land and sea, or as forming a part of
the complete record of the navies of the two
nations. A few monographs, which confine
themselves strictly to the naval occurrences,
have also appeared. But none of these works
can be regarded as giving a satisfactorily full
or impartial account of the war some of them
being of the " popular " and loosely-con
structed order, while others treat it from a
purely partisan standpoint. No single book
can be quoted which would be accepted by
the modern reader as doing justice to both
sides, or, indeed, as telling the whole story.
Any one specially interested in the subject
must read all ; and then it will seem almost a
hopeless task to reconcile the many and widely
contradictory statements he will meet with.

There appear to be three works which,
taken in combination, give the best satisfac
tion on the subject. First, in James " Naval
History of Great Britain " (which supplies both
the material and the opinions of almost every


subsequent English or Canadian historian)
can be found the British view of the case. It
is an invaluable work, written with fulness
and care ; on the other hand it is also a piece
of special pleading by a bitter and not over
scrupulous partisan. This, in the second
place, can be partially supplemented by Feni-
more Cooper s " Naval History of the United
States." The latter gives the American view
of the cruises and battles ; but it is much less
of an authority than James , both because it
is written without great regard for exactness,
and because all figures for the American side
need to be supplied from Lieutenant (now
Admiral) George E. Emmons statistical " His
tory of the United States Navy," which is the
third of the works in question. "
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

To many mistakes to enjoy reading
It is apparent this was scanned and not proof read.
Not worth the little that it cost.
And that is a shame. ... Read more

Product Description
In finishing the correction of the last proofs of this sketch, I perceive that some of those who read it may suppose that I planned to write a deliberate eulogy of Theodore Roosevelt. This is not true. I knew him for forty years, but I never followed his political leadership. Our political differences, however, never lessened our personal friendship. Sometimes long intervals elapsed between our meetings, but when we met it was always with the same intimacy, and when we wrote it was with the same candor. I count it fortunate for me that during the last ten years of his life, I was thrown more with Roosevelt than during all the earlier period; and so I was able to observe him, to know his motives, and to study his character during the chief crises of his later career, when what he thought and did became an integral part of the development of the United States.


After the outbreak of the World War, in 1914, he and I thought alike, and if I mistake not, this closing phase of his life will come more and more to be revered by his countrymen as an example of the highest patriotism and courage. Regardless of popular lukewarmness at the start, and of persistent official thwarting throughout, he roused the conscience of the nation to a sense of its duty and of its honor. What gratitude can repay one who rouses the con science of a nation? Roosevelt sacrificed his life for patriotism as surely as if he had died leading a charge in the Battle of the Marne.


The Great War has thrown all that went before it out of perspective. We can never see the events of the preceding half-century in the same light in which we saw them when they were fresh. Instinctively we appraise them, and the men through whom they came to pass, by their relation to the catastrophe. Did they lead up to it consciously or un consciously? And as we judge the outcome of the war, our views of men take on changed complexions. The war, as it appears now, was the culmination of three different world-movements; it destroyed the attempt of German Imperialism to conquer the world and to rivet upon it a Prussian military despotism. Next, it set up Democracy as the ideal for all peoples to live by. Finally, it revealed that the economic, industrial, social, and moral concerns of men are deeper than the political. When I came to review Roosevelt's career consecutively, for the purpose of this biography, I saw that many of his acts and policies, which had been misunderstood or misjudged at the time, were all the inevitable expressions of the principle which was the master-motive of his life. What we had imagined to be shrewd devices for winning a partisan advantage, or for overthrowing a political adversary, or for gratifying his personal ambition, had a nobler source. I do not mean to imply that Roosevelt, who was a most adroit politician, did not employ with terrific effect the means accepted as honorable in political fighting. So did Abraham Lincoln, who also, as a great Opportunist, was both a powerful and a shrewd political fighter, but pledged to Righteousness. It seems now tragic, but inevitable, that Roosevelt, after beginning and carrying forward the war for the reconciliation between Capital and Labor, should have been sacrificed by the Republican Machine, for that Machine was a special organ of Capital, by which Capital made and administered the laws of the States and of the Nation. But Roosevelt's struggle was not in vain; before he died, many of those who worked for his downfall in 1912 were looking up to him as the natural leader of the country, in the new dangers which encompassed it. "Had he lived," said a very eminent man who had done more than any other to defeat him, "he would have been the unanimous candidate of the Republicans in 1920." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Theodore Roosevelt by William Roscoe Thayer
Several years ago, browsing through stacks of used books in an Idaho bookstore, I came across Theodore Roosevelt, An Intimate Biography, by William Roscoe Thayer, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919. Once I started to read this book, I couldn't put it down. What makes this biography unique is that the author was an intimate friend who never voted for him or for any Republican candidate! William Roscoe Thayer rarely agreed with Republican policy, and frequently debated the political issues with Roosevelt, although they became closer in political thought and opinion after 1914.

It is refreshing to study the point of view of one of Roosevelt's contemporaries, instead of solely relying on the interpretations of authors who are so far removed from historical events. I heartily agree with Thayer's statement: "A contemporary can never judge as the historian a hundred years after the fact judges, but the contemporary view also has it's place, and it may be really nearer to the living truth than is the conclusion formed when the past is cold and remote and the actors are dead long ago. So a friend's outlined portrait, though obviously not impartial, must be nearer the truth than an enemy's can be - for the enemy is not impartial either. We have fallen too much into the habit of imagining that only hostile critics tell the truth."

I highly recommend this book as a much needed "balance" in one's study of Theodore Roosevelt's life, political thought, and what made him "tick."
... Read more

Product Description
Teddy Roosevelt's story of his life, from his sickly childhood in New York, to his adventures as a hunter and explorer, to his service as Police Chief and then Governor or New York, to his service with the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, to his selection as Vice President and becoming the youngest American President on the assassination of William McKinley. During his Presidency, Roosevelt was a champion of the Progressive agenda--he constructed the Panama Canal, passed a number of social reforms, initiated the National Park system, and carried out a campaign against the power of the large corporations, earning him the nickname "The Trust-Buster". His mediation in the Russo-Japanese War earned him a Nobel Peace Prize. ... Read more

Product Description

In finishing the correction of the last proofs of this sketch, I perceive that some of those who read it may suppose that I planned to write a deliberate eulogy of Theodore Roosevelt. This is not true. I knew him for forty years, but I never followed his political leadership. Our political differences, however, never lessened our personal friendship. Sometimes long intervals elapsed between our meetings, but when we met it was always with the same intimacy, and when we wrote it was with the same candor. I count it fortunate for me that during the last ten years of his life, I was thrown more with Roosevelt than during all the earlier period; and so I was able to observe him, to know his motives, and to study his character during the chief crises of his later career, when what he thought and did became an integral part of the development of the United States.

Although I have purposely brought out what I believe to be the most significant parts of Roosevelt's character and public life, I have not wished to be uncritical. I have suppressed nothing. Fortunately for his friends, the two libel suits which he went through in his later years, subjected him to a microscopic scrutiny, both as to his personal and his political life. All the efforts of very able lawyers, and of clever and unscrupulous enemies to undermine him, failed; and henceforth his advocates may rest on the verdicts given by two separate courts. As for the great political acts of his official career, Time has forestalled eulogy.

- William Roscoe Thayer ... Read more

Product Description
Fascinating reading for those interested in both the history of New York and of President Theodore Roosevelt who wrote this book in 1891 while in his early 30s, about 10 years before he became President.

Contents:

CHAPTER I.

DISCOVERT AND FIRST SETTLEMENT. 1609-1626.

CHAPTER II.

THE DUTCH TOWN UNDER THE FIRST THREE DIRECTORS. 1626-1647.

CHAPTER III.

ACTVESANT AND THE END OF DUTCH RULE. 1647-1664.

CHAPTER IV.

NEW AMSTERDAM BECOMES NEW YORK. THE BEGINNING
OF ENGLISH RULE, 1664-74.

CHAPTER V.

NEW TORK UNDER THE STUARTS. 1674-1688.

CHAPTER VI.

THE USURPATION OF LEISLER 1689-1691.

CHAPTER VII

THE GROWTH OF THE COLONIAL SEAPORT. 1691-1720.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 1720-1764.

CHAPTER IX.

THE UNREST BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 1764-1774.

CHAPTER X.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 1775-1783.

CHAPTER XI.

THE FEDERALIST CITY. 1783-1800.

CHAPTER XII.

THE BEGINNING OF DEMOCRATIC RULE. 1801-1821.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE GROWTH OF THE COMMERCIAL AND DEMOCRATIC CITY. 1821-1860

CHAPTER XIV.

RECENT HISTORY.

1860-1890.
... Read more

Product Description

PREFACE.

Much of the material on which this work is based is to be found in the
archives of the American Government, which date back to 1774, when the
first Continental Congress assembled. The earliest sets have been
published complete up to 1777, under the title of "American Archives,"
and will be hereafter designated by this name. These early volumes
contain an immense amount of material, because in them are to be found
memoranda of private individuals and many of the public papers of the
various colonial and State governments, as well as those of the
Confederation. The documents from 1789 on--no longer containing any
papers of the separate States--have also been gathered and printed
under the heading of "American State Papers"; by which term they will
be hereafter referred to.

The mass of public papers coming in between these two series, and
covering the period extending from 1776 to 1789, have never been
published, and in great part have either never been examined or else
have been examined in the most cursory manner. The original documents
are all in the Department of State at Washington, and for convenience
will be referred to as "State Department MSS." They are bound in two
or three hundred large volumes; exactly how many I cannot say,
because, though they are numbered, yet several of the numbers
themselves contain from two or three to ten or fifteen volumes apiece ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Teddy as Writer
Caveat:By "west," Teddy means the area roughly between the Appalachian peaks and the Mississippi River.No six guns here, or Earp, or Bat Masterson or Matt Dillon.And by "winning" he seems to mean the defeat and killing of red men by white men.That towns are formed, schools started, farming begun...these are almost incidental to his narrative.The writing is good, however; Revolutionary War buffs will likely learn a lot more than they did about to war in the Old Northwest; and most of us a great deal more about a west we'd been taught was east.We forget if we ever knew: Winchester, Virginia was once the edge of civilization as we know it. ... Read more

Product Description
PREFACE TO THIRD VOLUME.


The material used herein is that mentioned in the preface to the first
volume, save that I have also drawn freely on the Draper Manuscripts, in
the Library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, at Madison.
For the privilege of examining these valuable manuscripts I am indebted
to the generous courtesy of the State Librarian, Mr. Reuben Gold
Thwaites; I take this opportunity of extending to him my hearty thanks.

The period covered in this volume includes the seven years immediately
succeeding the close of the Revolutionary War. It was during these seven
years that the Constitution was adopted, and actually went into effect;
an event if possible even more momentous for the West than the East. The
time was one of vital importance to the whole nation; alike to the
people of the inland frontier and to those of the seaboard. The course
of events during these years determined whether we should become a
mighty nation, or a mere snarl of weak and quarrelsome little
commonwealths, with a history as bloody and meaningless as that of the
Spanish-American states.

At the close of the Revolution the West was peopled by a few thousand
settlers, knit by but the slenderest ties to the Federal Government. A
remarkable inflow of population followed. The warfare with the Indians,
and the quarrels with the British and Spaniards over boundary questions,
reached no decided issue. But the rifle-bearing freemen who founded
their little republics on the western waters gradually solved the
question of combining personal liberty with national union. For years
there was much wavering. There were violent separatist movements, and
attempts to establish complete independence of the eastern States. There
were corrupt conspiracies between some of the western leaders and
various high Spanish officials, to bring about a disruption of the
Confederation. The extraordinary little backwoods state of Franklin
began and ended a career unique in our annals. But the current, though
eddying and sluggish, set towards Union. By 1790 a firm government had
been established west of the mountains, and the trans-Alleghany
commonwealths had become parts of the Federal Union.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

SAGAMORE HILL, LONG ISLAND, _October_, 1894.


... Read more