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- Herausgeber: DigiCat
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
In 'A Brief History of the United States' by John Bach McMaster, readers are taken on a literary journey through the history of the United States with a focus on key events and developments that have shaped the nation. McMaster's writing style is scholarly yet accessible, making this book suitable for both academic study and general readers interested in American history. Written in the late 19th century, the book reflects the historiographical trends of the time, providing a valuable insight into how history was understood and written during that period. The author's thorough research and detailed analysis offer readers a comprehensive overview of the United States' past. John Bach McMaster, a respected historian and professor, drew upon his expertise and passion for American history to create this insightful work. His background in academia and research informs the meticulous attention to detail present throughout the book. McMaster's dedication to historical accuracy and narrative coherence shines through in 'A Brief History of the United States.' I highly recommend 'A Brief History of the United States' to anyone seeking a well-rounded and informative account of the nation's past. McMaster's authoritative voice and nuanced perspective make this book a valuable resource for students, scholars, and history enthusiasts alike.
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A Brief History of the United States
Table of Contents
PREFACE
It is not too much to assert that most of our countrymen acquire at school all the knowledge they possess of the past history of their country. In view of this fact it is most desirable that a history of the United States for elementary schools should present not only the essential features of our country's progress which all should learn, but also many things of secondary consequence which it is well for every young American to know.
In this book the text proper consists of the essentials, and these are told in as few words as truth and fairness will permit. The notes, which form a large part of the book, include the matters of less fundamental importance: they may be included in the required lessons, or may be omitted, as the teacher thinks proper; however, they should at least be read. Some of the notes are outline biographies of men whose acts require mention in the text and who ought not to be mere names, nor appear suddenly without any statement of their earlier careers. Others are intended to be fuller statements of important events briefly described or narrated in the text, or relate to interesting events that are of only secondary importance. Still others call attention to the treatment of historical personages or events by our poets and novelists, or suggest passages in standard histories that may be read with profit. Such suggested readings have been chosen mostly from books that are likely to be found in all school libraries.
Much of the machinery sometimes used in history teaching—bibliographies, extensive collateral readings, judgment questions, and the like—have been omitted as out of place in a brief school history. Better results may be obtained by having the pupils write simple narratives in their own words, covering important periods and topics in our history: as, the discovery of America; the exploration of our coast and continent; the settlements that failed; the planting of the English colonies; the life of the colonists; the struggles for possession of the country; the causes of the Revolution; the material development of our country between certain dates; and other subjects that the teacher may suggest. The student who can take such broad views of our history, and put his knowledge in his own words, will acquire information that is not likely to be forgotten.
No trouble has been spared in the selection of interesting and authentic illustrations that will truly illustrate the text. Acknowledgment is due for permission to photograph many articles in museums and in the possession of various historical societies. The reproduction of part of Lincoln's proclamation on page 365 is inserted by courtesy of David McKay, publisher of Lossing's Civil War in America.
JOHN BACH McMASTER. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
[Illustration: U. S. BATTLESHIP.]
CHAPTER
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION I. THE NEW WORLD FOUND II. THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED III. FRANCE AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE AMERICA
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA IV. THE ENGLISH ON THE CHESAPEAKE V. THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND VI. THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES VII. HOW THE COLONIES WERE GOVERNED
RIVALS OF THE ENGLISH VIII. THE INDIANS IX. THE FRENCH IN AMERICA X. WARS WITH THE FRENCH XI. THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM AMERICA
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION XII. THE QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY XIII. THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE BEGUN XIV. THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEA XV. THE WAR IN THE WEST AND IN THE SOUTH
DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNION XVI. AFTER THE WAR XVII. OUR COUNTRY IN 1789 XVIII. THE NEW GOVERNMENT XIX. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY, 1789-1805 XX. THE STRUGGLE FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE XXI. RISE OF THE WEST XXII. THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING XXIII. POLITICS FROM 1829 TO 1841 XXIV. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1820 TO 1840
THE LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY XXV. MORE TERRITORY ACQUIRED XXVI. THE STRUGGLE FOR FREE SOIL XXVII. STATE OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1840 TO 1860 XXVIII. THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1863 XXIX. THE CIVIL WAR, 1863-1865 XXX. THE NAVY IN THE WAR; LIFE IN WAR TIMES XXXI. RECONSTRUCTION
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT XXXII. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1860 TO 1880 XXXIII. A QUARTER CENTURY OF STRUGGLE OVER INDUSTRIAL QUESTIONS, 1872 TO 1897 XXXIV. THE WAR WITH SPAIN, AND LATER EVENTS
APPENDIX THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES TABLE OF STATES TABLE OF PRESIDENTS INDEX
LIST OF COLORED MAPS
FRENCH CLAIMS, ETC., IN 1700 EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, 1754 BRITISH TERRITORY, 1764 NORTHERN COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTION—SOUTHERN COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTION THE UNITED STATES, ABOUT 1783, SHOWING STATE CLAIMS THE UNITED STATES, 1805 THE UNITED STATES, 1824 THE UNITED STATES, 1850 THE UNITED STATES, 1861 THE WEST IN 1870 (ALSO 1860 AND 1907) THE UNITED STATES AND ITS OUTLYING POSSESSIONS
[Illustration: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."]
COLUMBUS
Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind the Gates of Hercules; Before him not the ghost of shores, Before him only shoreless seas. The good mate said: "Now we must pray, For, lo! the very stars are gone. Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?" "Why say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"
"My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly wan and weak." The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" "Why you shall say at break of day, 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"
They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. These very winds forget their way, For God from these dread seas is gone, Now speak, brave Admiral; speak and say"— He said, "Sail on! sail on! and on!"
They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows its teeth to-night. He curls his lips, he lies in wait With lifted teeth, as if to bite! Brave Admiral, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?" The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"
Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night Of all dark nights! And then a speck— A light! A light! A light! A light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"
—Joaquin Miller.
Copyrighted and published by The Whitaker & Ray Wiggin Co. San Francisco, California. Used by permission.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER I
THE NEW WORLD FOUND
The New World, of which our country is the most important part, was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. When that great man set sail from Spain on his voyage of discovery, he was seeking not only unknown lands, but a new way to eastern Asia. Such a new way was badly needed.
THE ROUTES OF TRADE.—Long before Columbus was born, the people of Europe had been trading with the far East. Spices, drugs, and precious stones, silks, and other articles of luxury were brought, partly by vessels and partly by camels, from India, the Spice Islands, and Cathay (China) by various routes to Constantinople and the cities in Egypt and along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. There they were traded for the copper, tin, and lead, coral, and woolens of Europe, and then carried to Venice and Genoa, whence merchants spread them over all Europe. [1] The merchants of Genoa traded chiefly with Constantinople, and those of Venice with Egypt.
THE TURKS SEIZE THE ROUTES OF TRADE.—While this trade was at its height, Asia Minor (from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean) was conquered by the Turks, the caravan routes across that country were seized, and when Constantinople was captured (in 1453), the trade of Genoa was ruined. Should the Turkish conquests be extended southward to Egypt (as later they were), the prosperity of Venice would likewise be destroyed, and all existing trade routes to the Orient would be in Turkish hands.
[Illustration: THE KNOWN WORLD IN 1490; ROUTES TO INDIA.]
THE PORTUGUESE SEEK A NEW ROUTE.—Clearly an ocean route to the East was needed, and on the discovery of such a route the Portuguese had long been hard at work. Fired by a desire to expand Portugal and add to the geographical knowledge of his day, Prince Henry "the Navigator" sent out explorer after explorer, who, pushing down the coast of Africa, had almost reached the equator before Prince Henry died. [2] His successors continued the good work, the equator was crossed, and in 1487 Dias passed the Cape of Good Hope and sailed eastward till his sailors mutinied. Ten years later Vasco da Gama sailed around the end of Africa, up the east coast, and on to India, and brought home a cargo of eastern products. A way to India by water was at last made known to Europe. [3]
[Illustration: A CARAVEL, A SHIP OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.]
COLUMBUS PLANS A ROUTE.—Meanwhile Christopher Columbus [4] planned what he thought would be a shorter ocean route to the East. He had studied all that was known of geography in his time. He had carefully noted the results of recent voyages of exploration. He had read the travels of Marco Polo [5] and had learned that off the coast of China was a rich and wonderful island which Polo called Cipango. He believed that the earth is a sphere, and that China and Cipango could be reached by sailing about 2500 miles due westward across the Atlantic.
COLUMBUS SEEKS AID.—To make others think so was a hard task, for nearly everybody believed the earth to be flat, and several sovereigns were appealed to before one was found bold enough to help him. He first applied to the king of Portugal, and when that failed, to the king and queen of Spain. [6] When they seemed deaf to his appeal, he sent his brother to England, and at last, wearied with waiting, set off for France. Then Queen Isabella of Spain was persuaded to act. Columbus was recalled, [7] ships were provided with which to make the voyage, and on Friday, the 3d of August, 1492, the Santa Maria (sahn'tah mah-ree'ah), the Pinta (peen'tah), and the Nińa (neen'yah) set sail from Palos (pah'los), on one of the greatest voyages ever made by men. [8]
[Illustration: THE COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA.]
THE VOYAGE WESTWARD.—The little fleet went first to the Canary Islands and thence due west across the Sea of Darkness, as the Atlantic was called. The voyage was delightful, but every sight and sound was a source of new terror to the sailors. An eruption of a volcano at the Canaries was watched with dread as an omen of evil. They crossed the line of no magnetic variation, and when the needle of the compass began to change its usual direction, they were sure it was bewitched. They entered the great Sargasso Sea and were frightened out of their wits by the strange expanse of floating vegetation. They entered the zone of the trade winds, and as the breeze, day after day, steadily wafted them westward, the boldest feared it would be impossible to return. When a mirage and flights of strange birds raised hopes that were not promptly realized, the sailors were sure they had entered an enchanted realm. [9]
[Illustration: SEA MONSTERS DRAWN ON OLD MAPS.]
LAND DISCOVERED.—Columbus, who was above such fear, explained the unusual sights, calmed the fears of the sailors, hid from them the true distance sailed, [10] and steadily pursued his way till unmistakable signs of land were seen. A staff carved by hand and a branch with berries on it floated by. Excitement now rose high, and a reward was promised to the man who first saw land. At last, on the night of October 11, Columbus beheld a light moving as if carried by hand along a shore. A few hours later a sailor on the Pinta saw land distinctly, and soon all beheld, a few miles away, a long, low beach. [11]
[Illustration: ANCIENT VIKING SHIP FOUND BURIED IN NORWAY.]
THE VOYAGE AMONG THE ISLANDS.—Columbus thought he had found one of the islands of the Indies, as the southern and eastern parts of Asia were called. Dressed in scarlet and gold and followed by a band of his men bearing banners, he landed, fell on his knees, and having given thanks to God, took possession for Spain and called the island San Salvador (sahn sahl-va-dor'), which means Holy Savior. The day was October 12, 1492, and the island was one of the Bahamas. [12]
After giving red caps, beads, and trinkets to the natives who crowded about him, Columbus set sail to explore the group and presently came in sight of the coast of Cuba, which he at first thought was Cipango. Sailing eastward, landing now and then to seek for gold, he reached the eastern end of Cuba, and soon beheld the island of Haiti; this so reminded him of Spain that he called it Hispaniola, or Little Spain.
THE FIRST SPANISH COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD.—When off the Cuban shore, the Pinta deserted Columbus. On the coast of Haiti the Santa Maria was wrecked. To carry all his men back to Spain in the little Nina was impossible. Such, therefore, as were willing were left at Haiti, and founded La Navidad, the first colony of Europeans in the New World. [13] This done, Columbus sailed for home, taking with him ten natives, and specimens of the products of the lands he had discovered.
THE VOYAGE HOME.—The Pinta was overtaken off the Haitian coast, but a dreadful storm parted the ships once more, and neither again saw the other till the day when, but a few hours apart, they dropped anchor in the haven of Palos, whence they had sailed seven months before. As the news spread, the people went wild with joy. The journey of Columbus to Barcelona was a triumphal procession. At Barcelona he was received with great ceremony by the king and queen, and soon afterward was sent back with many ships and men to found a colony and make further explorations in the Indies.
[Illustration: THE WEST INDIES—SHOWING THE DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS.]
OTHER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS.—In all Columbus made four voyages to the New World. On the second (1493) he discovered Porto Rico, Jamaica, and other islands. On the third (1498) he saw the mainland of South America at the mouth of the Orinoco River. [14] On the fourth (1502-4) he sailed along the shores of Central America. Returning to Spain, he died poor, neglected, and broken-hearted in 1506. [15]
COLUMBUS BELIEVED HE REACHED THE INDIES.—To his dying day Columbus was ignorant of the fact that he had led the way to a new continent. He supposed he had reached the Indies. The lands he discovered were therefore spoken of as the Indies, and their inhabitants were called Indians, a name given in time to the copper-colored natives of both North and South America.
SPAIN'S CLAIM TO NEW-FOUND LANDS.—One of the first results of the discoveries of Columbus was an appeal to the Pope for a bull securing to Spain the heathen lands discovered; for a bull had secured to Portugal the discoveries of her mariners along the coast of Africa. Pope Alexander VI accordingly drew a north and south line one hundred leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, and gave to Spain all she might discover to the west of it, reserving to Portugal all she might discover to the east. A year later (1494) Spain and Portugal by treaty moved the "Line of Demarcation" to three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands (map, p. 20), and on this agreement, approved by the Pope, Spain rested her claim to America.
SUMMARY
1. For many centuries before the discovery of America, Europe had been trading with the far East.
2. The routes of this trade were being closed by the Turks.
3. Columbus believed a new route could be found by sailing due westward from Europe.
4. After many years of fruitless effort to secure aid to test his plan, he obtained help from Spain.
5. On his first voyage westward Columbus discovered the Bahama Islands, Cuba, and Haiti; on his later voyages, various other lands about the Caribbean Sea.
6. In the belief that he had reached the Indies, the lands Columbus found were called the Indies, and their inhabitants Indians.
Footnote
[1] In the Middle Ages, when food was coarse and cookery poor, cinnamon and cloves, nutmeg and mace, allspice, ginger, and pepper were highly prized for spicing ale or seasoning food. But all these spices were very expensive in Europe because they had to be brought so far from the distant East. Even pepper, which is now used by every one, was then a fit gift from one king to another. Camphor and rhubarb, indigo, musk, sandalwood, Brazil wood, aloes wood, all came from the East. Muslin and damask bear the names of eastern cities whence they were first obtained. In the fifteenth century the churches, palaces, manor houses, and homes of rich merchants were adorned with the rugs and carpets of the East.
[2] Prince Henry was the fourth son of John I, king of Portugal. In 1419 he established his home on Cape St. Vincent, gathered about him a body of trained seamen, and during forty years sent out almost every year an exploring expedition. His pilots discovered the Azores and the Madeira Islands. He died in 1460. His great work was training seamen. Many men afterward famous as discoverers and navigators, as Dias (dee'ahss), Da Gama (dah gah'ma), Cabral (ca-brahl'), Magellan, and Columbus, served under Henry or his successors.
In those days there were neither steamships nor such sailing vessels as we have. For purposes of exploration the caravel was used. It was from 60 to 100 feet long, and from 18 to 25 feet broad, and had three masts from the heads of which were swung great sails. Much of the steering was done by turning these sails. Yet it was in such little vessels that some of the most famous voyages in history were made.
[3] These voyages were possible because of the great progress which had recently been made in the art of navigation. The magnetic compass enabled seamen to set their course when the sun and stars could not be seen. The astrolabe (picture, p. 35) made it possible roughly to estimate distances from the equator, or latitude. These instruments enabled mariners to go on long voyages far from land. Read the account of the Portuguese voyages in Fiske's Discovery of America, Vol. I, pp. 294-334.
[4] Christopher Columbus was a native of Genoa, Italy, where he was born about 1436. He was the son of a wool comber. At fourteen he began a seafaring life, and between voyages made charts and globes. About 1470 he wandered to Portugal, went on one or two voyages down the African coast, and on another (1477) went as far north as Iceland. Meantime (1473) he married a Portuguese woman and made his home at the Madeira Islands; and it was while living there that he formed the plan of finding a new route to the far East.
[5] In 1271 Marco Polo, then a lad of seventeen, was taken by his father and uncle from Venice to the coast of Persia, and thence overland to northwestern China, to a city where Kublai Khan held his court. They were well received, and Marco spent many years making journeys in the khan's service. In 1292 they were sent to escort a royal bride for the khan from Peking (in China) to Tabriz, a city in Persia. They sailed from China in 1292, reached the Persian coast in 1294, and arrived safely at Tabriz, whence they returned to Venice in 1295. In 1298 Marco was captured in a war with Genoa, and spent about a year in prison. While thus confined he prepared an account of his travels, one of the most famous books of the Middle Ages. He described China (or Cathay, as it was then called), with its great cities teeming with people, its manufactures, and its wealth, told of Tibet and Burma, the Indian Archipelago with its spice islands, of Java and Sumatra, of Hindustan,—all from personal knowledge. From hearsay he told of Japan. In the course of the next seventy-five years other travelers found their way to Cathay and wrote about it. Thus before 1400 Europe had learned of a great ocean to the east of Cathay, and of a wonderful island kingdom, Cipan'go (Japan), which lay off its coast. All this deeply interested Columbus, and his copy of Marco Polo may still be seen with its margins full of annotations.
[6] These sovereigns were just then engaged in the final struggle for the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, so they referred the appeal to the queen's confessor, who laid it before a body of learned men. This council of Salamanca made sport of the idea, and tried to prove that Columbus was wrong. If the world were round, they said, people on the other side must walk with their heads down, which was absurd. And if a ship should sail to the undermost part, how could it come back? Could a ship sail up hill?
[7] On the way to France Columbus stopped, by good luck, at the monastery of La Rabida (lah rah'bee-dah), and so interested the prior, Juan Perez (hoo-ahn' pa'rath), in his scheme, that a messenger was sent to beg an interview for Perez with the queen of Spain. It was granted, and so well did Perez plead the cause of his friend that Columbus was summoned to court. The reward Columbus demanded for any discoveries he might make seemed too great, and was refused. Thereupon, mounting his mule, he again set off for France. Scarcely had he started when the royal treasurer rushed into the presence of the queen and persuaded her to send a messenger to bring Columbus back. Then his terms were accepted. He was to be admiral of all the islands and countries he might discover, and have a part of all the gems, gold, and silver found in them.
[8] The vessels were no larger than modern yachts. The Santa Maria was single-decked and ninety feet long. The Pinta and Nińa (picture, p. 11) were smaller caravels, and neither was decked amidships. In 1893 reproductions of the three vessels, full size and as exact as possible, were sent across the sea by Spain, and exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago.
[9] The ideas of geography held by the unlearned of those days are very curious to us. They believed that near the equator was a fiery zone where the sea boiled and no life existed; that hydras, gorgons, chimeras, and all sorts of horrid monsters inhabited the Sea of Darkness; and that in the Indian Ocean was a lodestone mountain that could draw nails out of ships. Because of the way in which ships disappeared below the horizon, it was believed that they went down hill, and that if they went too far they could never get back.
[10] The object of Columbus was not to let the sailors know how far they were from home.
[11] Columbus was not the first European to reach the New World. About six hundred years earlier, Vikings from Norway settled in Iceland, and from the Icelandic chronicles we learn that about 986 A.D. Eric the Red planted a colony in Greenland. His son, Leif Ericsson, about 1000 A.D., led a party south-westward to a stony country which was probably the coast of Labrador or Newfoundland. Going on southward, they came at last to a spot where wild grapes grew. To this spot, probably on the New England coast, Leif gave the name Vinland, spent the winter there, and in the spring went back to Greenland with a load of timber. The next year Leif's brother sailed to Vinland and passed two winters there. In later years others went, but none remained long, and the land was soon forgotten. Iceland and Greenland were looked upon as part of Europe; and the Vikings' discoveries had no influence on Columbus and the explorers who followed him. Read Fiske's Discovery of America Vol. I, pp. 148-255; and Longfellow's Skeleton in Armor.
[12] Nobody knows just which of the Bahamas Columbus discovered. Three of the group—Cat, Turks and Watling—each claim the honor. At present Watling is believed to have been San Salvador. A good account of the voyage is given in Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus, Vol. I, Book iii, and in Fiske's Discovery of America, Vol. I, pp. 408-442.
[13] When Columbus on his second voyage returned to Hispaniola, he found that every one of the forty colonists had perished. They had been killed by the natives.
[14] Despite the great thing he did for Spain. Columbus lost favor at court. Evil men slandered him; his manner of governing the new lands was falsely represented to the king and queen; a new governor was sent out, and Columbus was brought back in chains. Though soon released, he was never restored to his rights.
[15] Columbus was buried at Valladolid, in Spain, but in 1513 his body was taken to a monastery at Seville. There it remained till 1536, when it was carried to Santo Domingo in Haiti. In 1796 it was removed and buried with imposing ceremonies at Havana in Cuba. In 1898, when Spain was driven from Cuba, his bones were carried back to Seville.
CHAPTER II
THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED
THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE EXPLORED.—Columbus having shown the way, English, Spanish, and Portuguese explorers followed. Some came in search of China or the Spice Islands; some were in quest of gold and pearls. The result was the exploration of the Atlantic coast line from Labrador to the end of South America.
SOME FAMOUS VOYAGES.—In 1497 John Cabot, sailing from England, reached Newfoundland, which he believed to be part of China. [1] In 1498 John Cabot and his son Sebastian, while in search of the Spice Islands, sailed along the coast from Newfoundland to what is now South Carolina. [2]
[Illustration: RECORD OF PAYMENT OF JOHN CABOT'S PENSION FOR 1499. [3] Photographed from the original accounts of the Bristol customs collectors, now in Westminster Abbey, London.]
[Illustration: DISCOVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA.]
Before 1500 Spaniards in search of gold, or pearls, or new lands had explored the coast line from Central America to Cape St. Roque. [4]
In 1500 Cabral, while on his way from Portugal to India by Da Gama's route (p. 11), sailed so far westward that he sighted the coast of the country now called Brazil. Cabral went on his way; but sent back a ship to the king of Portugal with the news that the new-found land lay east of the Line of Demarcation. The king dispatched (1501) an expedition which explored the coast southward nearly as far as the mouth of the Plata River.
SOME RESULTS OF THESE VOYAGES.—The results of these voyages were many and important. They furnished a better knowledge of the coast; they proved the existence of a great mass of land called the New World, but still supposed to be a part of Asia; they secured Brazil for Portugal, and led to the naming of our continent.
WHY THE NEW WORLD WAS CALLED AMERICA.—In the party sent by the king of Portugal to explore the coast of Brazil, was an Italian named Amerigo Vespucci (ah-ma'ree-go ves-poot'chee), or Americus Vespucius, who had twice before visited the coast of South America. Of these three voyages and of a fourth Vespucius wrote accounts, They were widely read, led to the belief that he had discovered a new or fourth part of the world, and caused a German professor of geography to suggest that this fourth part should be called America. The name was applied first to what is now Brazil, then to all South America, and finally also to North America, when it was found, long afterward, that North America was part of the new continent and not part of Asia.
[Illustration: THE FIRST PRINTED SUGGESTION OF THE NAME AMERICA. [5] Part of a page from Waldseemüller's book Cosmographie Introductio, printed in 1507, now in the Lenox Library, New York.]
BALBOA DISCOVERS THE PACIFIC.—The man who led the way to the discovery that America was not part of Asia was Balbo'a. [6] He came to the eastern border of Panama (1510) with a band of Spaniards seeking gold. There they founded the town of Darien and in time made Balboa their commander. He married the daughter of a chief, made friends with the Indians, and heard from them of a great body of water across the mountains. This he determined to see, and in 1513, with Indian guides and a party of Spaniards, made his way through dense and tangled forests and from the summit of a mountain looked down on the Pacific Ocean, which he called the South Sea. Four days later, standing on the shore, he waited till the rising tide came rolling in, and then rushing into the water, sword in hand, he took possession of the ocean in the name of Spain. [7]
[Illustration: SPANISH HELMET AND SHIRT OF MAIL FOUND IN MEXICO. Now in Essex Hall, Salem, Mass.]
THE PACIFIC CROSSED; THE PHILIPPINES DISCOVERED.—The Portuguese meantime, by sailing around Africa, had reached the Spice Islands. So far beyond India were these islands that the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan took up the old idea of Columbus, and maintained that they could be most easily reached by sailing west. To this proposition the king of Portugal would not listen; so Magellan persuaded the king of Spain to let him try; and in 1519 set sail with five small ships. He crossed the Atlantic to the mouth of the Plata, and went south till storms and cold drove him into winter quarters. [8] In August, 1520 (early spring in the southern hemisphere), he went on his way and entered the strait which now bears his name. One of the ships had been wrecked. In the strait another stole away and went home. The three remaining vessels passed safely through, and out into an ocean so quiet compared with the stormy Atlantic that Magellan called it the Pacific. Across this the explorers sailed for five months before they came to a group of islands which Magellan called the Ladrones (Spanish for robbers) because the natives were so thievish. [9] Ten days later they reached another group, afterward named the Philippines. [10]
On one of these islands Magellan and many of his men were slain. [11] Two of the ships then went southward to the Spice Islands, where they loaded with spices. One now started for Panama, but was forced to return. The other sailed around Africa, and in 1522 reached Spain in safety. It had sailed around the world. The surviving captain was greatly honored. The king ennobled him, and on his coat of arms was a globe with the motto "You first sailed around me."
[Illustration: MAGELLAN'S SHIP THAT SAILED AROUND THE WORLD.]
RESULTS OF THE VOYAGE.—Of all the voyages ever made by man up to that time, this of Magellan and his men was the greatest. It gave positive proof that the earth is a sphere. It revealed the vast width of the Pacific. It showed that America was probably not a part of Asia, and changed the geographical ideas of the time. [12]
THE COAST OF FLORIDA EXPLORED.—What meantime had happened along the coast of North America? In 1513 Ponce de Leon [13] (pon'tha da la-on'), a Spaniard, sailed northwest from Porto Rico in search of an island which the Indians told him contained gold, and in which he believed was a fountain or stream whose waters would restore youth to the old. In the season of Easter, or Pascua Florida, he came upon a land which he called Florida. Ponce supposed he had found an island, and following the coast southward went round the peninsula and far up the west coast before going back to Porto Rico. [14]
[Illustration: SPANISH EXPLORATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA TO 1600.]
THE GULF COAST EXPLORED.—In 1519 another Spaniard, Pineda (pe-na'da), sailed along the Gulf coast from Florida to Mexico. On the way he entered the mouth of a broad river which he named River of the Holy Spirit. It was long supposed that this river was the Mississippi; but it is now claimed to have been the Mobile. Whatever it was, Pineda spent six weeks in its waters, saw many Indian towns on its banks, traded with the natives, and noticed that they wore gold ornaments.
THE EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ.—Pineda's story of Indians with gold ornaments so excited Narvaez (nar-vah'eth) that he obtained leave to conquer the country, and sailed from Cuba with four hundred men. Landing on the west coast of Florida, he made a raid inland. When he returned to the coast the ships which were sailing about watching for him were nowhere to be seen. After marching westward for a month the Spaniards built five small boats, put to sea, and sailing near the shore came presently to where the waters of the Mississippi rush into the Gulf. Two boats were upset by the surging waters. The others reached the coast beyond, where all save four of the Spaniards perished.
FOUR SPANIARDS CROSS THE CONTINENT.—After suffering great hardships and meeting with all sorts of adventures among the Indians, the four survivors, led by Cabeza de Vaca (ca-ba'tha da vah'ca), walked across what is now Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico to a little Spanish town near the Pacific coast. They had crossed the continent. [15]
NEW MEXICO EXPLORED.—Cabeza de Vaca had wonderful tales to relate of "hunchback cows," as he called the buffalo, and of cities in the interior where gold and silver were plentiful and where the doorways were studded with precious stones. [16] Excited by these tales, the Spanish viceroy of Mexico sent Fray Marcos to gather further information. [17] Aided by the Indians, Marcos made his way over the desert and came at last to the "cities," which were only the pueblos of the Zuńi (zoo'nyee) Indians in New Mexico. The pueblos were houses several stories high, built of stone or of sun-dried brick, and each large enough for several hundred Indians to live in. But Marcos merely saw them at a distance, for one of his followers who went in advance was killed by the Zuńi, whereupon Marcos fled back to Mexico.
[Illustration: PUEBLO, WOODEN PLOW, AND OX CART.]
THE SPANIARDS REACH KANSAS.—Marcos's reports about the seven cities of Cibola (see'bo-la), as he called them, aroused great interest, and Corona'do was sent with an army to conquer them. Marching up the east coast of the Gulf of California and across Arizona, Coronado came at last to the pueblos and captured them one by one. He found no gold, but did see doorways studded with the green stones of the Rocky Mountains. Much disappointed, he pushed on eastward, and during two years wandered about over the plains of our great Southwest and probably reached the center of what is now Kansas. [18]
DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI.—As Coronado was making his way home, an Indian woman escaped from his army, and while wandering about fell in with a band of Spaniards belonging to the army of De Soto. [19]
De Soto, as governor of Cuba, had been authorized to conquer and hold all the territory that had been discovered by Narvaez. He set out accordingly in 1539, landed an army at Tampa Bay, and spent three years in wandering over Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. In the spring of 1542 he crossed the Mississippi River and entered Arkansas, and it was there that one of his bands met the Indian woman who escaped from Coronado's army. In Arkansas De Soto died of fever, and was buried in the Mississippi River. His followers then built a few boats, floated down the river to the Gulf, and following the coast of Texas came finally to the Spanish settlements in Mexico.
THE FRENCH ON THE COAST.—Far to the northeast explorers of another European nation by this time were seeking a foothold. When John Cabot came home from his first voyage to the Newfoundland coast, he told such tales of cod fisheries thereabouts, that three small ships set sail from England to catch fish and trade with the natives of the new-found isle. Portuguese and Frenchmen followed, and year after year visited the Newfoundland fisheries. No serious attempt was made to settle the island. What Europe wanted was a direct westward passage through America to Cathay. This John Verrazano, an Italian sailing under the flag of France, attempted to find, and came to what is now the coast of North Carolina. There Verrazano turned northward, entered several bays along the coast, sailed by the rock-bound shores of Maine, and when off Newfoundland steered for France.
THE FRENCH ON THE ST. LAWRENCE.—Verrazano was followed (1534) by Jacques Cartier (zhak car-tya'), also in search of a passage to Cathay. Reaching Newfoundland (map, p. 114), Cartier passed through the strait to the north of it, and explored a part of the gulf to the west. A year later he came again, named the gulf St. Lawrence, and entered the St. Lawrence River, which he thought was a strait leading to China. Up this river he sailed till stopped by the rapids which he named Lachine (Chinese). Near by was a high hill which he called Mont Real (re-ahl'), or Mount Royal. At its base now stands the city of Montreal. [20] From this place the French went back to a steep cliff where now stands the city of Quebec, and, it is believed, spent the winter there. The winter was a terrible one, and when the ice left the river they returned to France (1536).
[Illustration: INDIAN LONG HOUSE.]
Not discouraged, Cartier (1541) came a third time to plant a colony on the river. But hunger, mutiny, and the severity of the winter brought the venture to naught. [21]
NO SETTLEMENTS IN OUR COUNTRY.—From the first voyage of Columbus to the expeditions of De Soto, Coronado, and Cartier, fifty years had passed. The coast of the new continent had been roughly explored as far north as Labrador on the east and California on the west. The Spaniards in quest of gold and silver mines had conquered and colonized the West Indies, Mexico, and parts of South America. Yet not a settlement had been made in our country. Many rivers and bays had been discovered; two great expeditions had gone into the interior; but there were no colonies on the mainland of what is now the United States.
SUMMARY
1. The voyage of Columbus led to many other voyages, prompted chiefly by a hope of finding gold. They resulted in the exploration of the coast of America, and may be grouped according to the parts explored, as follows:—
2. The Atlantic coast of North America was explored (1497-1535) by Cabot (for England)—from Newfoundland to South Carolina. Ponce de Leon (for Spain)—peninsula of Florida. Verrazano (for France)—from North Carolina to Newfoundland. Cartier (for France)—Gulf of St. Lawrence.
3. The Gulf and Caribbean coasts of North America were explored (1502- 1528) for Spain by Columbus—Central America. Ponce de Leon—west coast of Florida. Pineda—from Florida to Mexico. Narvaez expedition—from Florida to Texas.
4. The Atlantic coast of South America was explored (1498-1520) by Columbus—mouth of the Orinoco. Other explorers for Spain—whole northern coast. Cabral (for Portugal)—part of eastern coast. Vespucius (for Portugal)—eastern coast nearly to the Plata River. Magellan (for Spain)— to the Strait of Magellan.
5. The Pacific coast of America was explored (1513-1542) for Spain by Balboa—part of Panama. Magellan—part of the southwest coast. Pizarro (note, p. 23)—from Panama to Peru. Cabrillo (note, p. 28)—from Mexico up the coast of California.
6. The Spaniards early established colonies in the West Indies, South America, and Mexico; but fifty years after Columbus's discovery there was no settlement of Europeans in the mainland part of the United States. Several Spanish expeditions, however, had explored (1534-1542) large parts of the interior:—Cabeza de Vaca and his companions walked from Texas to western Mexico, Coronado wandered from Mexico to Kansas. De Soto wandered from Florida beyond the Mississippi River.
Footnote
[1] This discovery made a great stir in Bristol, the port from which Cabot sailed. A letter written at the time states, "Honors are heaped upon Cabot. He is called Grand Admiral, he is dressed in silk, and the English run after him like madmen." The king gave him Ł10 and a pension of Ł20 a year. A pound sterling in those days was in purchasing power quite the equal of fifty dollars in our time.
[2] These voyages of Cabot were not followed up at the time. But in the days of Queen Elizabeth, more than eighty years later, they were made the basis of the English claim to a part of North America.
[3] Bristoll—Arthurus Kemys et Ricardus ap. Meryke collectores custumarum et subsidiorum regis ibidem a festo Sancti Michaelis Archangeli anno XIIII mo Regis nunc usque idem festum Sancti Michaelis tunc proximo sequens reddunt computum de MCCCCXXIIII li. VII S. x d. quadr. De quibus…. Item in thesauro in una tallia pro Johanne Cabot, xx li. Translation: "Bristol —Arthur Kemys and Richard ap Meryke, collectors of the king's customs and subsidies there, from Michaelmas in the fourteenth year of this king's reign [Henry VII] till the same feast next following render their account of Ł1424 7_s._ 10-1/4_d._…. In the treasury is one tally for John Cabot, Ł20."
[4] On one of these voyages the Spaniards saw an Indian village built over the water on piles, with bridges joining the houses. This so reminded them of Venice that they called it Venezuela (little Venice), a name afterward applied to a vast extent of country.
[5] "But now these parts [Europe, Asia, and Africa] have been more widely explored, and another fourth part has been discovered by Americus Vespucius (as will appear in the following pages); so I do not see why any one should rightly object to calling it Amerige or America, i.e. land of Americus, after its discoverer Americus, a man of sagacious mind—since both Europe and Asia are named after women. Its situation and the ways of its people may be clearly understood from the four voyages of Americus which follow."
[6] Vasco Nuńez de Balboa had come from Spain to Haiti and settled down as a planter, but when (1510) an expedition was about to sail for South America to plant a colony near Panama, Balboa longed to join it. He was in debt; so lest his creditors should prevent his going, he had himself nailed up in a barrel and put on board one of the ships with the provisions.
[7] In the course of expeditions along the eastern coast of Mexico, the Spaniards heard of a mighty king, Montezuma, who ruled many cities in the interior and had great stores of gold. In 1519 Cor'tes landed with 450 men and a few horses, sank his ships, and began inland one of the most wonderful marches in all history. The account of the great things which he did, of the marvelous cities he conquered, of the strange and horrible sights he saw, reads like fiction. Six days after reaching the city of Mexico, he seized Montezuma and made himself the real ruler of the country; but later the Mexicans rose against him and he had to conquer them by hard fighting. Read the story of the conquest as briefly told in Fiske's Discovery of America, Vol. II, pp. 245-293.
The Spaniards also heard rumors of a golden kingdom to the southward where the Incas ruled. After preliminary voyages of exploration Francisco Pizarro sailed from Panama in 1531 with 200 men and 50 horses to conquer Peru. Landing on the coast he marched inland to the camp of the Inca, a young man who had just seized the throne. The sight of the white strangers clad in shining armor, wielding thunder and lightning (firearms), and riding unearthly beasts (horses were unknown to the Indians), caused wonder and dread in Peru as it had in Mexico. The Inca was made prisoner and hundreds of his followers were killed. He offered to fill his prison room with gold as high as he could reach if Pizarro would set him free; the offer was accepted and in 1533 some $15,000,000 in gold was divided among the conquerors. The Inca, however, was put to death, and the Spaniards took possession of the whole country.
[8] None of Magellan's vessels were as large as the Santa Maria, and three were smaller than the Nińa. The sailors demanded that Magellan return to Spain. When he refused, the captains and crews of three ships mutinied, and were put down with difficulty.
[9] Guam, which now belongs to our country, is one of the Ladrones.
[10] The Spaniards took possession of the Philippines a few years later, and in 1571 founded Manila. The group was named after Philip II of Spain. In 1555 a Spanish navigator discovered the Hawaiian Islands; but though they were put down on the early Spanish charts, the Spaniards did not take possession of them. Indeed, these islands were practically forgotten, and two centuries passed before they were rediscovered by the English explorer, Captain Cook, in 1778.
[11] Magellan was a very religious man, and after making an alliance with the king of the island of Cebu, he set about converting the natives to Christianity. The king, greatly impressed by the wonders the white man did, consented. A bonfire was lighted, the idols were thrown in, a cross was set up, and the natives were baptized. This done, the king called on Magellan to help him attack the chief of a neighboring island; but in the attack Magellan was killed and his men put to flight. This defeat so angered the king that he invited thirty Spaniards to a feast, massacred them, cut down the cross, and again turned pagan.
[12] Read the account in Fiske's Discovery of America, Vol. II, pp. 190-211.
[13] Juan Ponce de Leon had sailed with Columbus on his second voyage, and had settled in Haiti. Hearing that there was gold in Porto Rico, he explored it for Spain, in 1509 was made its governor, and in 1511 founded the city of San Juan (sahn hoo-ahn'). After he was removed from the governorship, he obtained leave to search for the island of Bimini.
[14] He now obtained authority to colonize the supposed island; but several years passed before he was ready to make the attempt. He then set off with arms, tools, horses, and two hundred men, landed on the west coast of Florida, lost many men in a fight with the Indians, and received a wound of which he died soon after in Cuba.
[15] The story of this remarkable march across the continent is told in The Spanish Pioneers, by C. F. Lummis.
[16] There was a tradition in Europe that when the Arabs conquered Spain in the eighth century, a certain bishop with a goodly following fled to some islands far out in the Sea of Darkness and founded seven cities. When the Spaniards came in contact with the Indians of Mexico, they were told of seven caves from which the ancestors of the natives had issued, and jumped to the conclusion that the seven caves were the seven cities; and when Cabeza de Vaca came with his story of the wonderful cities of the north, it was believed that they were the towns built by the bishop.
[17] At an Indian village in Mexico, Marcos heard of a country to the northward where there were seven cities with houses of two, three, and four stories, and that of the chief with five. On the doorsills and lintels of the best houses, he was told, were turquoise stones.
[18] Read The Spanish Pioneers, by C. F. Lummis, pp. 77-88, 101-143. The year that Coronado returned to Mexico (1542) an expedition under Cabrillo (kah-breel'yo) coasted from Mexico along what is now California. Cabrillo died in San Diego harbor.
[19] Hernando de Soto was born about 1500 in Spain, and when of age went to Panama and thence to Peru with Pizarro. In the conquest of Peru he so distinguished himself that on returning to Spain he was made governor of Cuba.
[20] Landing on this spot, Cartier set forth to visit the great Indian village of Hochelaga. He found it surrounded with a palisade of tree trunks set in three rows. Entering the narrow gate, he beheld some fifty long houses of sapling frames covered with bark, each containing many fires, one for a family. From these houses came swarms of women and children, who crowded about the visitors, touched their beards, and patted their faces. Soon the warriors came and squatted row after row around the French, for whom mats were brought and laid on the ground. This done, the chief, a paralyzed old savage, was carried in, and Cartier was besought by signs to heal him, and when Cartier had touched him, all the sick, lame, and blind in the village were brought out for treatment. Read Parkman's Pioneers of France in the New World, pp. 187-193.
[21] As Cartier was on his way home he stopped at the harbor of St. Johns in Newfoundland, a harbor then frequented by fishermen from the Old World. There he was met by three ships and 200 colonists under Roberval, who ordered him to return. But one night Cartier slipped away in the darkness. Roberval went on to the site of Quebec and there planted his colony. What became of it is not known; but that it did not last long is certain, and many years passed before France repeated the attempt to gain a foothold on the great river of Canada.
CHAPTER III
FRANCE AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE AMERICA
THE FRENCH IN SOUTH CAROLINA.—After the failure in Canada twenty years passed away before the French again attempted to colonize. Then (1562) Admiral Coligny (co-leen'ye), the leader of the Huguenots, or Protestants of France, sought to plant a colony in America for his persecuted countrymen, and sent forth an expedition under Ribaut (ree-bo'). These Frenchmen reached the coast of Florida, and turning northward came to a haven which they called Port Royal. Here they built a fort in what is now South Carolina. Leaving thirty men to hold it, Ribaut sailed for France. Famine, homesickness, ignorance of life in a wilderness, soon brought the colony to ruin. Unable to endure their hardships longer, the colonists built a crazy boat, [1] put to sea, and when off the French coast were rescued by an English vessel.
[Illustration: THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE SOUTH.]
THE FRENCH IN FLORIDA.—Two years later (1564) Coligny tried again, and sent forth a colony under Laudonničre (lo-do-ne-air'). It reached the coast of Florida, and a few miles up the St. Johns River built a fort called Caroline in honor of the French King Charles. The next year there came more colonists under Ribaut. [2]
[Illustration: FORT CAROLINE. From an old print.]
THE SPANIARDS FOUND ST. AUGUSTINE.—Now it so happened that just at this time a Spaniard named Menendez (ma-nen'deth) had obtained leave to conquer and settle Florida. Before he could set off, news came to Spain that the French were on the St. Johns River, and Menendez was sent with troops to drive them out. He landed in Florida in 1565 and built a fort which was the beginning of St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement on the mainland part of the United States. Ribaut at once sailed to attack it. But while he was at sea Menendez marched overland, took Fort Caroline, and put to death every man there, save a few who made good their escape. [3]
SPAIN HOLDS AMERICA.—More than seventy years had now parsed since Columbus made his great voyage of discovery. Yet, save some Portuguese settlements in Brazil, the only European colonies in America were Spanish. From St. Augustine, around the Gulf of Mexico, down South America to the Strait of Magellan and up the west coast to California, save the foothold of Portugal, island and mainland belonged to Spain. And all the rest of North America she claimed.
ENGLISH ATTACKS ON SPAIN IN THE NEW WORLD.—So far in the sixteenth century England had taken little or no part in the work of discovery, exploration, and settlement. Her fishermen came to the Banks of Newfoundland; but not till 1562, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, did the contact of England with the New World really begin. Then it was that Sir John Hawkins, one of England's great "sea kings," went to Africa, loaded his ships with negroes, sold them to planters in Haiti, and came home with hides and pearls. Such trade for one not a Spaniard was against the law of Spain. But Hawkins cared not, arid came again and again. When foul weather drove him into a Mexican port, the Spaniards sank most of his ships, but Hawkins escaped with two vessels, in one of which was Francis Drake. [4]
Smarting under defeat, Drake resolved to be avenged. Fitting out a little squadron at his own cost, without leave of the queen, Drake (1572) sailed to the Caribbean Sea, plundered Spanish towns along the coast, captured Spanish ships, and went home loaded with gold, silver, and merchandise. [5]
DRAKE SAILS AROUND THE GLOBE.—During this raid on the Spanish coast Drake marched across the Isthmus of Panama and looked down upon Balboa's great South Sea. As he looked, he resolved to sail on it, and in 1577 left England with five ships on what proved to be the greatest voyage since that of Magellan. He crossed the Atlantic, sailed down the coast of South America, and entered the Strait of Magellan. There four ships deserted, but Drake went on alone up the west coast, plundering towns and capturing Spanish vessels. To return the way he came would have been dangerous, for Spanish cruisers lay in wait. Drake, therefore, went on up the coast in search of a passage through the continent to the Atlantic. Coasting as far as southern Oregon and finding no passage, Drake turned southward, entered a harbor, repaired his ship, and then started westward across the Pacific. He touched at the Philippines, visited the Spice Islands, came home by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and won the glory of being the first Englishman to sail around the globe. [6]
[Illustration: DRAKE'S ASTROLABE. Now in Greenwich Hospital, London.]
THE ENGLISH IN THE FAR NORTH.—While Drake was on his voyage around the world, Martin Frob'isher discovered Hudson Strait, [7] and Sir Humphrey Gilbert failed in an attempt to plant a colony somewhere in America. The failure was disheartening. But the return of Drake laden with spoil aroused new interest in America, and (in 1583) Gilbert led a colony to Newfoundland. Disaster after disaster overtook him, and while he was on his way home with two vessels (all that were left of five), one with Gilbert on board went down at sea. [8]
THE ENGLISH ON ROANOKE ISLAND.—The work of colonization then passed to Sir Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of Gilbert. He began by sending out a party of explorers who sailed along the coast of North Carolina and brought back such a glowing description of the country that the queen named it Virginia and Raleigh chose it for the site of a colony. [9]
In 1585, accordingly, a party of men commanded by Ralph Lane were landed on Roanoke Island (map, p. 44). But the site proved to be ill chosen, and the Indians were hostile. The colonists were poorly fitted to live in a wilderness, and were almost starving when Drake, who stopped at Roanoke (1586) to see how they were getting on, carried them back to England. [10]
[Illustration: RALEIGH'S PIPES.]
THE LOST COLONY.—Not long after Drake sailed away with the colonists, a party of recruits arrived with supplies. Finding the island deserted, fifteen men remained to hold the place in the queen's name, and the rest returned to England. Not disheartened by these reverses, Raleigh summoned some men of influence to his aid, and (in 1587) sent out a third party of settlers, both men and women, in charge of John White. This party was to stop at Roanoke Island, pick up the fifteen men there, and then go on to Chesapeake Bay. But for some reason the settlers were left on the island by the convoy, and there they were forced to stay. [11]
[Illustration: INDIANS IN A DUGOUT CANOE. Part of a drawing by John White.]
White very soon went back to England for help, in the only ship the colonists had. War with Spain prevented his return for several years, and then only the ruins of the settlement were found on the island. [12]
[Illustration: ENGLISH DRESS, SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Contemporary portrait of Raleigh and his son, by Zuccaro.]
SPAIN ATTACKS ENGLAND.—The war which prevented White from promptly returning to Roanoke began in 1585. The next year, with twenty-five ships, Drake attacked the possessions of Spain in America, and burned and plundered several towns. In 1587 he "singed the beard of the king of Spain" by burning a hundred vessels in the harbor of the Spanish city of Cadiz.
Enraged by these defeats, King Philip II of Spain determined to invade England and destroy that nest of sea rovers. A great fleet known as the Invincible Armada, carrying thirty thousand men, was assembled and in 1588 swept into the English channel. There the English, led by Raleigh, [13] Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Lane, and all the other great sea kings, met the Armada, drove it into the North Sea, and captured, burned, and sank many of the ships. The rest fled around Scotland, on whose coast more were wrecked. Less than half the Armada returned to Spain. [14]
THE ENGLISH EXPLORE THE NEW ENGLAND COAST.—The war lasted sixteen years longer (till 1604). Though it delayed, it did not stop, attempts at colonization. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold, with a colony of thirty-two men, sailed from England, saw the coast of Maine, turned southward, named Cape Cod and the Elizabeth Islands, [15] and after a short stay went home. The next year Martin Pring came with two vessels on an exploring and trading voyage; and in 1605 George Weymouth was sent out, visited the Kennebec River in Maine, and brought back a good report of the country.
THE VIRGINIA CHARTER OF 1606.—Peace had now been made with Spain; England had not been forced to stop her attempts to colonize in America; the favorable reports of Gosnold, Pring, and Weymouth led to the belief that colonies could be successfully planted; and in 1606 King James I chartered two commercial companies to colonize Virginia, as the Atlantic seaboard region was called.
To the first or London Company was granted the right to plant a colony anywhere along the coast between 34° and 41° of north latitude (between Cape Fear River and the Hudson). To the second or Plymouth Company was given the right to plant a colony anywhere between 38° and 45° (between the Potomac River and the Bay of Fundy). Each company was to have a tract of land one hundred miles square—fifty miles along the coast each way from the first settlement and one hundred miles inland; and to prevent overlapping, it was provided that the company last to settle should not locate within one hundred miles of the other company's settlement.
[Illustration: VIRGINIA.]
THE COLONY ON THE KENNEBEC.—The charter having been granted, each company set about securing emigrants. To get them was not difficult, for in England at that day there were many people whose condition was so desperate that they were glad to seek a new home beyond the sea. [16] In a few months, therefore, the Plymouth Company sent out its first party of colonists; but the ship was seized by the Spaniards. The next year (1607) the company sent out one hundred or more settlers in two ships. They landed in August at the mouth of the Kennebec River, and built a fort, a church, a storehouse, and fifteen log cabins. These men were wholly unfit for life in a wilderness, and in December about half went home in the ships in which they came. The others passed a dismal winter, and when a relief ship arrived in the spring, all went back, and the Plymouth Company's attempt to colonize ended in failure.
THE COLONY ON THE JAMES.—Meanwhile another band of Englishmen (one hundred and forty-three in number) had been sent out by the London Company to found a colony in what is now Virginia. They set sail in December, 1606, in three ships under Captain Newport, and in April, 1607, reached the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. Sailing westward across the bay, the ships entered a river which was named the James in honor of the king, and on the bank of this river the party landed and founded Jamestown (map, p. 44). With this event began the permanent occupation of American soil by Englishmen. At this time, more than a hundred years after the voyages of Columbus, the only other European settlers on the Atlantic coast of the United States were the Spaniards in Florida.
[Illustration: RUINS AT JAMESTOWN. Church tower as it looks to-day.]
SUMMARY
1. The Huguenots tried to found French colonies on the coast of South Carolina (1562) and of Florida (1564); but both attempts failed.
2. In 1565 all America, save Brazil, either was in Spanish hands, or was claimed by Spain and not yet occupied.
3. During the next twenty years English sailors began to fight Spaniards, Drake sailed around the globe, Frobisher explored the far north, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempted to plant a colony in Newfoundland.
4. Gilbert's half-brother Raleigh then took up the work of colonization, but his attempts to plant a colony at Roanoke Island ended in failure.
5. The attacks of English buccaneers on the American colonies of Spain led to a war (1585-1604), in which the most memorable event was the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
6. After the war two companies were chartered to plant English colonies in America. The Plymouth Company's colony was a failure, but in 1607 the London Company founded Jamestown.
Footnote
[1] The forests supplied the trees for timbers. The seams were calked with the moss that hung in clusters from the branches, and then smeared with pitch from the pines. The Indians made them a rude sort of rope for cordage, and for sails they sewed together bedding and shirts. On the voyage home they ate their shoes and leather jerkins. Read Kirk Munroe's Flamingo Feather.
[2] These men were adventurers, not true colonists, and little disposed to endure the toil, hunger, and dreariness of a life in the wilderness. It was not long, therefore, before the boldest of them seized two little vessels and sailed away to plunder Spaniards in the West Indies. Famine drove them into Havana, where to save their necks they told what was going on in Florida. Sixty-six mutineers presently seized two other vessels and turned buccaneers. But the survivors were forced to return to Fort Caroline, where the leaders were put to death.
[3] Some of these and many others, who were shipwrecked with Ribaut, afterward surrendered and were killed. As Florida was considered Spanish territory the French had no right to settle there, so the French king did nothing more than protest to Spain. Read the story of the French in Florida as told by Parkman, in Pioneers of France in the New World, pp. 28-162.
[4] Read Fiske's Old Virginia and her Neighbours, Vol. I, pp. 19-20.
[5] Read Kingsley's Westward Ho! and Barnes's Drake and his Yeomen
