Author: Sidney Crawford

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781332085392

Excerpt from Rufus Putnam and His Pioneer Life in the Northwest The life of General Rufus Putnam is so intimately connected with the history of the first century of our country that all the facts concerning it are of interest. It is a most commendable effort which has been put forth, therefore, during the more recent years, to give his name the place it deserves among the founders of our republic. We boast, and rightly, of our national independence, and associate with it the names of Washington and Jefferson, which have become household words throughout the land; but, when we come to look more closely into the problem of our national life from the beginning of it down to the present time, we find that one of the most essential factors in its solution was the work of Rufus Putnam. Although a man of humble birth, and never enjoying many of the advantages of most of those who were associated with him in the movements of his time, yet, in point of all the sturdy qualities of patriotism, sound judgment and far-sightedness, he was the peer of them all. To him, it may be safely said, without detracting from the fame of any one else, the country owes its present escape from the bondage of African slavery more than to any other man. Had it not been for his providential leadership, and all that it involved, as is so tersely written on the tablet in the Putnam Memorial at Rutland, "The United States of America would now be a great slave-holding empire." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.