Century Readings in United States History

The Westward Movement

From Europe's proud, despotic shores Hither the stranger takes his way, And in our new-found world explores A happier soil, a milder sway, Where no proud despot holds him down, No slaves insult him with a crown. From these fair plains, these rural seats, So long concealed, so lately known, The unsocial Indian far retreats, To make some other clime his own, Where other streams, less pleasing, flow, And darker forests round him grow. No longer shall your princely flood From distant lakes be swelled in vain, No longer through a darksome wood Advance unnoticed to the main; Far other ends the heavens decree And commerce plans new freights for thee. While virtue warms the generous breast, There heaven-born freedom shall reside, Nor shall the voice of war molest, Nor Europe's all-aspiring pride There Reason shall new laws devise, And order from confusion rise. In 1636 Thomas Hooker, the pastor of the church at Newton (now Cambridge), moved with his entire congregation to the banks of the Connecticut and founded the city of Hartford. Hooker did not like the way the Puritans acted in matters of government. He thought religious affairs and state affairs in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were bound too closely together. He thought also that more people ought to be allowed to vote than were allowed that privilege in the Puritan colony. Besides, was not the rich valley of the Connecticut a better place for homes than the rocky and barren hills around Boston? Hooker and his followers took their wives and children with them. They carried their household goods along and drove their cattle before them. As they moved overland through the roadless forests of Massachusetts, they took the first step in that great Westward Movement which continued for more than two hundred years and which did not come to an end until the far-off Pacific was reached. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 46513
Author: Barstow, Charles L. (Charles Lester)
Release Date: Aug 5, 2014
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Barstow, Charles L. (Charles Lester), 1867-