HISTORY 



133 



try other than Spain was prohibited on pain of | 

 death. Mexico ranked first among all the 

 Spanish colonies in regard to population, mate- 

 rial riches, and natural products. In 1810, the 

 di-content, which had been gaining ground 

 ajrainst the viceregal power during the war of 

 the mother country with Napoleon, broke into 

 open rebellion, and a guerilla warfare was kept 

 up until, in 1821 the capital was surrendered 

 by O'Donoju, the last of the viceroys. In the 

 following year, General Iturbide. who. in 1821, 

 had issued the plan de Iguala, providing for the 

 independence of Mexico imder a prince of the 

 reigning houses, had himself proclaimed em- } 

 peror; but the guerilla leader Guerrero, his | 

 former ally, and General Santa Ana raised the 

 republican standard, and in 1823 he was ban- 

 ished to Italy with a pension. Returning the 

 following year he was taken dnd shot, and the 

 federal republic of Mexico was finally established. 



For more than half a century after this the I 

 history of Mexico is a record of nearly chronic 

 disorder and civil war. In 1836, Texas secured j 

 its independence, for which it had struggled for 

 several years, and which Mexico was compelled 

 to recognize in 1845. In that year Texas was 

 incorporated with the United States; but its 

 western boundary was not settled, and war 

 ensued between Mexico and the United States. 

 From the fall of Santa Ana in 1855, down to 

 1867, great confusion prevailed. 



In 1853, Benito Juarez became president, but 

 his claims were contested by General Miramon, 

 the head of the reactionary or clerical party, 

 and the country was plunged in civil war. Dur- 

 ing this period of internal disorder, the Cortes 

 passed an act suspending all payments to for- 

 eigners for two years, an act that drew upon 

 the Mexican Government the serious remon- 

 strance of European powers; and the result 

 was the dispatch of a fleet of English, French, 

 an<l Spanish ships into the Mexican Gulf for the 

 purpose of enforcing satisfaction. In April, 

 1862, Emperor Napoleon formally declared war 

 a tram-' Mexico; but the French never met with 

 the welcome they expected from the people, 

 and finally had to withdraw, without permanent 

 success, in 1867, largely because of the attitude 

 of the United States. Maximilian, who had !><- 

 come Emperor of Mexico under French support, 

 executed in the same year, and Juan/ 

 returned to power. On the death of Juan-/ in 

 isTJ. the chief justice. Lerdo de Tejada, assumed 

 the presidency, in which, after a revolution, he 

 was succeeded in |x7i |,y < lew-nil I'orfirio I' 

 one of the ablest of Mexican soldiers and admin 

 itors. who has been redected. In November. 

 I'.mi. the Pan \merican Cnnirrrss. with repre 

 ~tatives from all the countries of the Western 

 phere. convened in the City >! Me\ieo. 

 In n'i7. in increase and reorganization of the 

 army was effected. 



Michigan. The name is derived fn.m t\\. 

 chippewa words, meat, riii- 



State was tin- thirteenth admitted under t he 

 ' <>nstituti..ii. Though visited as early 

 as 1610 by French iiii-sj,,iiaries and fn: 

 the first I jin.praii -ettlement was made :it Saiilt 



Father Marquette in HMHJ. Fort 

 Michilimackmac, now Mackinaw, was estab- 



lished three years later. In 1701 Antoine Cadil- 

 lac founded Detroit. With other French pos- 

 sessions it came into the ownership of England 

 in 1763. This was followed by the conspiracy 

 of Pontiac, and the massacre of the garrison at 

 Michilimackinac. After the Revolutionary War, 

 Michigan did not come into the possession of 

 the United States till 1796, and it was then 

 included in the government of the Northwest 

 Territory. The Territory of Michigan was 

 formed in 1805. In the War of 1812-15 it was 

 the scene of several bloody contests and butch- 

 eries perpetrated by the British and their Indian 

 allies. Between 1819 and 1836 the Indians 

 ceded their title to all of the Lower and part of 

 the Upper Peninsula. In 1836. Congress passed 

 a bill admitting Michigan as a State on condition 

 that she gave up a claim made on a strip of 

 Ohio, and accepted the whole region known as 

 the Upper Peninsula instead. 



Minnesota. The name is derived from an 

 Indian word, signifying "sky-colored water." 

 Hennepin and La Salle visited the region as 

 early as 1680. Within the present century, Pike, 

 Long, Keating, Nicollet, Schoolcraft, Owen, and 

 others explored it thoroughly, but it was not 

 until 1812 that the United States had any 

 authority within its limits. Fort Snelling was 

 established in 1819, and in 1837 lumbering in- 

 dustries began to attract immigration. The 

 Territory established in 1849 embraced about 

 twice the limits of the present State, the western 

 limit extending to the Missouri and White Earth 

 rivers. In 1851, the Sioux ceded all their lands 

 west of the Mississippi to the Big Sioux River. 

 The State was admitted to the Union May 11, 

 1858. The portion of the State lying west of 

 the Mississippi originally belonged to the Louis- 

 iana Purchase, and the eastern portion was a 

 part of what was known as the 'Northwest 

 Territory." Minnesota was the ninetd-nt h State 

 admitted. It was the scene of the Sioux War 

 and massacre in 186lM'>.'i. 



Mississippi. This region was first trav- 

 ersed by De Soto in 1542, and in 1682 La Salle 

 descended the Mississippi (the name derived 

 from Indian words meaning "great water"), 

 took formal possrssion. and called the adjacent 

 country Louisiana. Iberville built a fort on the 

 Bay of Biloxi in 1699, and in 17 Hi Fort Rosalie 



Mtod on the site of Natche/. After the 

 cession of the east portion of Louisiana i includ- 

 ing what is now Mississippi) to (Ircat Britain. 



, and until the Revolutionary \\ar. iiniiii- 

 irration proceeded very slowly. The Territory 

 of Mississippi was organ i/ed in i. l|s ! i s " i 



the boundaries were enlarged, and 



nlr to comprise the whole of the present 

 States of Alabama and Mississippi north of the 



Mist parallel. The region south of that line 

 1 and I'erdido nver* was added 

 in 1812. thouirh claimed by Spain. Alabama 

 was organized as a Territory in 1817, and Mi- 

 si^ippi was admitted as a State, the seventh 

 under the Federal Constitution. A new consti- 

 tution was formed in 1882. The ordina 

 secession was passed January 9, 1861. Die 

 principal military events \\ithin the State during 

 ''.:> wen- the battles of luka and 



Corinth and the siege of Vicksburg, which sur- 



