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- Herausgeber: Librorium Editions
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
The original inhabitants of both continents have been known as Indians, in consequence of a mistake made by Columbus . The North American Indians were fiercer foes than the native Mexicans and Peruvians whom the Spaniards, under Cortez and Pizarro, overcame, and with whom they intermarried. We know, however, from linguistic characteristics, that all the aborigines from the Arctic Circle to Cape Horn belonged to the same race. How they first came to America is a matter of dispute; but their main peculiarities are well understood. In Peru and Mexico they had made some progress toward civilization. They constructed good roads, were not unskillful artisans, and had even learned some astronomy. But they lived in large communal groups under their chiefs, and had made slight advance in the art of government; hence they fell an easy prey to small bodies of Spaniards. Similar in character to the Mexicans, but inferior to them, were the Pueblos and Cliff-dwellers of the region of New Mexico, Arizona, and Lower California, as well as the Natchez Indians of the Lower Mississippi Valley. Most of the North American Indian tribes lived in villages of wigwams and had a primitive form of government. In each village there was a communal, or “long,” house, in which clan business was transacted. In a few cases this “long” house gave shelter to a whole tribe.
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A HISTORY OF
THE UNITED STATES
BY
CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS
LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
AND
WILLIAM P. TRENT
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
© 2023 Librorium Editions
ISBN : 9782385744908
PREFACE.
The lamented death of President Adams entails on me the duty of writing the preface to our joint work,—a duty which, had he lived, would naturally have fallen to him, since to his initiative and energy the volume owes its existence. Fortunately, the entire manuscript had the benefit of his wisdom and experience as teacher and investigator, and the proofs of about half the book passed under his watchful supervision.
Five years ago, in a letter to me proposing the book, Dr. Adams gave, among his reasons for wishing to add to the long list of school histories of the United States, three principal objects:—
First, to present fully and with fairness the Southern point of view in the great controversies that long threatened to divide the Union.
Second, to treat the Revolutionary War, and the causes that led to it, impartially and with more regard for British contentions than has been usual among American writers.
Third, to emphasize the importance of the West in the growth and development of the United States.
These objects have been kept constantly in view. We felt, moreover, that the development of institutions and government may justly be considered of great importance, although naturally lacking in picturesqueness, and we have endeavored to set in relief this evolutionary process. How far we have succeeded in accomplishing the objects sought remains for others to judge.
I cannot forbear to place on record here my appreciation of the fortitude with which Dr. Adams bore his protracted sufferings and did his work; of his conscientiousness in matters of minutest detail; of his fairness and sympathy toward those with whom he did not agree, and of the unfailing courtesy that marked every line of his correspondence.
Acknowledgment is due to the highly competent services of Miss May Langdon White of New York, whom Dr. Adams selected to assist in the revision of the work.
W. P. TRENT.
Columbia University,
New York, November, 1902.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
List of Maps
xvi
List of Illustrations
xvii
Chronological Table
xx
PART I.—PERIOD OF DISCOVERY AND
SETTLEMENT, 1492–1765.
CHAPTER I.—DISCOVERY.
SECTION
1-3.
The American Indians
1
4.
Pre-Columbian Discoverers
4
5-13.
Columbus and the Spanish Discoverers
7
14-16.
The French Explorers
18
17-18.
The English Explorers
20
19-20.
Summary of Results
22
References
23
CHAPTER II.—THE FIRST PLANTATIONS AND COLONIES, 1607–1630.
21-28.
The Settlement of Virginia
24
29-30.
The Settlement of New York
29
31-36.
The Pilgrims at Plymouth
31
37-38.
The Settlement of Massachusetts
34
References
36
CHAPTER III.—SPREAD OF PLANTATIONS, 1630–1689.
39-41.
The Settlement and Growth of Maryland
37
42-45.
Development of Virginia
40
46-52.
Development of New England
42
53-60.
The New England Confederacy
46
61-71.
Development of the Middle Colonies
51
72-76.
The Southern Colonies
57
References
59
CHAPTER IV.—THE COUNTRY AT THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
77-78.
General Conditions
60
79-84.
Characteristics of New England
61
85-86.
Characteristics of the Middle Colonies
65
87-90.
Characteristics of the Southern Colonies
66
References
68
CHAPTER V.—DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLONIES, 1690–1765.
91-94.
Colonial Disputes
69
95-97.
Virginia and Georgia
71
98-100.
French Discoveries and Claims
73
101-116.
Wars with the French
75
References
86
PART II.—PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION, 1765–1789.
CHAPTER VI.—CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION.
117-120.
General Causes
87
121-126.
The Question of Taxation
91
127-132.
The Resistance of the Colonies
93
133-135.
The Tax on Tea
98
136-139.
New Legislation and Opposition
100
140-143.
The Crisis
103
References
106
CHAPTER VII.—THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1775 AND 1776.
144-147.
Early Movements
107
148-152.
Washington in Command
110
153-158.
The War in New York
114
159-160.
General Condition of the Country
118
161-162.
Failure of British Expeditions
119
163-165.
The Declaration of Independence
121
166-176.
The War in New Jersey
126
CHAPTER VIII.—THE CAMPAIGN OF 1777.
177-187.
The Struggle for the Center
135
CHAPTER IX.—THE FRENCH ALLIANCE AND THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1778 AND 1779.
188-193.
A Winter of Discouragement
144
194-198.
Prospects Brighten
149
199-207.
Conditions West of the Alleghanies
152
208-209.
The Conquest of the Northwest
158
210-212.
The Victories of Paul Jones
159
CHAPTER X.—THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1780 AND 1781.
213-214.
The War in the South
162
215-220.
The Treason of Benedict Arnold
164
221-223.
Causes of Discouragement
167
224-228.
American Successes in the South
168
229-237.
The Close of the War
172
CHAPTER XI.—THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND THE CONSTITUTION.
238-243.
Difficulties of Confederation
178
244-256.
The Constitution
181
References
190
PART III.—THE ORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES, 1789–1825.
CHAPTER XII.—THE COUNTRY AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
257-262.
General Conditions
191
263-264.
Spirit of the People
194
References
195
CHAPTER XIII.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, 1789–1797.
265-268.
Early Legislation and Parties
196
269-274.
Difficulties of Administration
200
References
204
CHAPTER XIV.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS, 1797–1801.
275-281.
A Period of Dissensions
205
References
210
CHAPTER XV.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JEFFERSON, 1801–1809.
282-284.
Jeffersonian Policy
211
285-295.
Measures and Events
214
296-297.
Character of Jefferson’s Statesmanship
222
References
224
CHAPTER XVI.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, 1809–1817.
298-303.
Outbreak of War
225
304-305.
Exploits of the Navy
230
306-310.
Reverses and Successes
234
311-312.
End of the War
238
313-315.
The Disaffection of New England
240
316-319.
Consequences of the War
242
References
244
CHAPTER XVII.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE, 1817–1825.
320-322.
Character of the Period
245
323-326.
Diplomatic Achievements
247
327-331.
Slavery comes to the Front
250
332-334.
Factional Politics
254
References
256
PART IV.—SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY AND EXTENSION OF TERRITORY, 1825–1850.
CHAPTER XVIII.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1825—1829.
335-339.
Failures of the Administration
257
340-342.
The Tariff Question
260
References
262
CHAPTER XIX.—THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH, 1829–1837.
343-345.
Political Conditions
263
346-350.
Progress of the Nation
265
CHAPTER XX.—JACKSON’S FIRST ADMINISTRATION, 1829–1833.
351-354.
A Popular Autocrat
271
355-356.
The Debate over the Nature of the Constitution
274
357-358.
The Tariff and Nullification
278
References
280
CHAPTER XXI.—JACKSON’S SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1833—1837.
359-360.
The Abolitionists
281
361-367.
Financial Disturbances
283
References
287
CHAPTER XXII.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF VAN BUREN AND OF HARRISON AND TYLER, 1837–1845.
368-371.
A Period of Confusion
288
372-373.
The Embarrassments of the Whigs
290
374-376.
Texas and Oregon
293
References
295
CHAPTER XXIII.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, 1845–1849.
377-379.
The Opening of the Mexican War
296
380-389.
The Conduct and Results of the War
299
References
304
PART V.—THE EVE OF THE CIVIL WAR, 1850–1861.
CHAPTER XXIV.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE, 1849–1853.
390-394.
The Question of California
305
395-400.
The Compromise of 1850
308
401-404.
International and Domestic Affairs
313
CHAPTER XXV.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF PIERCE, 1853–1857.
405-410.
The Confusion of Parties
317
411-415.
Kansas-Nebraska Legislation
320
416-417.
The Republican Party
323
CHAPTER XXVI.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN, 1857–1861.
418-422.
The Supreme Court and Slavery
326
423-427.
Kansas and Utah
329
428-431.
The Great Debates
332
432-434.
John Brown and Public Opinion
336
435-439.
The Presidential Campaign of 1860
339
440-446.
Secession of the South
342
447-449.
The Country in 1860–1861
348
References
350
PART VI.—THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1861–1869.
CHAPTER XXVII.—THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
450-453.
Opening of Hostilities
353
454-458.
Military and Financial Strength of the Combatants
357
459-461.
Description of the Seat of War
360
462-465.
Domestic and Foreign Complications
362
466-471.
Military Movements of 1861
365
472-474.
International Difficulties
369
CHAPTER XXVIII.—THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1862.
475-483.
The War in the West
372
484-489.
The Work of the Navy
381
490-498.
The War in the East
387
499-502.
Public Feeling in the North and Great Britain
394
503-506.
The War in the East continued
397
507-513.
Domestic and Foreign Effects of the Campaigns of 1862
402
References
406
CHAPTER XXIX.—THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1863.
514-517.
Vicksburg
408
518-522.
The Chattanooga Campaign
411
523-525.
The Eastern Campaigns
414
526-529.
Embarrassment of the Federal Government
419
References
421
CHAPTER XXX.—THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1864.
530-533.
Grant and Lee in Virginia
422
534-538.
Sherman’s Campaigns
426
539-541.
Naval Victories
430
542-546.
Political Affairs
432
References
435
CHAPTER XXXI.—END OF THE WAR, 1865.
547-551.
Movements of Sherman and Grant
436
552-554.
The Death of President Lincoln
440
555-561.
The Magnitude of the War
441
References
445
CHAPTER XXXII.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON: RECONSTRUCTION, 1865–1869.
562-573.
Different Policies of Reconstruction
446
574-576.
Effects of Reconstruction
452
577-580.
Johnson and Congress
454
References
457
PART VII.—PERIOD OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1869–1902.
CHAPTER XXXIII.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF GRANT, 1869–1877.
581-588.
Grant’s First Administration, 1869–1873
458
589-595.
Grant’s Second Administration, 1873–1877
463
596-599.
Party Politics
468
References
472
CHAPTER XXXIV.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES AND OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR, 1877–1885.
600-603.
Industrial Problems
473
604-605.
Financial Problems
475
606-609.
Political Affairs
476
610-613.
Chief Features of Arthur’s Administration
480
614-617.
Political Events
483
618-619.
The Presidential Campaign of 1884
485
References
487
CHAPTER XXXV.—FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND, 1885–1889.
620-623.
Important Measures and Reforms
488
624-628.
Industrial and Financial Disturbances
491
References
494
CHAPTER XXXVI.—THE ADMINISTRATION OF BENJAMIN HARRISON, 1889–1893.
629-638.
Domestic Events and Measures
495
639-641.
Foreign Affairs
500
642-643.
Political Affairs
502
CHAPTER XXXVII.—SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND, 1893–1897.
644-649.
Financial Legislation
504
650-651.
Foreign Affairs
507
652-655.
Domestic Events
510
References
513
CHAPTER XXXVIII.—THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF McKINLEY AND ROOSEVELT, 1897–1902.
656-657.
The Beginning of McKinley’s Administration
514
658-670.
The War with Spain
515
671-676.
Consequences of the War
524
677-681.
The Close of McKinley’s First Administration
527
682-683.
McKinley’s Second Administration
531
684-701.
Roosevelt’s Administration
532
References
550
CHAPTER XXXIX.—PROGRESS OF THE EPOCH.
702-705.
Spread and Character of the Population
551
706-709.
National Development
553
APPENDIX.
A. Declaration of Independence
559
B. Constitution of the United States of America
564
Amendments to the Constitution
575
C. List of Presidents and Vice Presidents,
with their Terms of Office
579
INDEX
581
MAPS.
1.
Distribution of the Barbarous Tribes East of the Mississippi. (Colored)
2.
French Explorations and Settlements. (Colored)
3.
Central North America at the Beginning of the French and Indian War, 1755. (Colored)
4.
The British Colonies in 1764. (Colored)
5.
Boston and Environs, 1775.
6.
Boston and Environs, 1776.
7.
Retreat across New Jersey.
8.
The Middle Atlantic States.
9.
Operations in the South, 1780–1781.
10.
Operations at Yorktown.
11.
Land Claims of the Thirteen Original States in 1783. (Colored)
12.
The Northwest Territory in 1787.
13.
United States in 1789. (Colored)
14.
The Areas of Freedom and Slavery in 1790. (Colored)
15.
United States in 1800. (Colored)
16.
The Louisiana Purchase.
17.
Operations in Canada, 1812–1814.
18.
Operations in the East, 1814.
19.
Operations around Washington in 1814.
20.
Southwestern Operations, 1813–1815.
21.
Areas of Freedom and Slavery as established by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. (Colored)
22a.
United States in 1825–1830. (Colored)
22b.
United States in 1825–1830. (Colored)
23.
Territory claimed by Texas when admitted into the Union, 1845. (Colored)
24.
Territory ceded by Mexico, 1848 and 1853. (Colored)
25.
United States—Acquisition of Territory. (Colored)
26.
The Compromise of 1850. (Colored)
27.
Areas of Freedom and Slavery in 1854. (Colored)
28a.
United States in 1861. (Colored)
28b.
United States in 1861. (Colored)
29.
Operations in the West, 1862.
30.
Norfolk, Hampton Roads.
31.
The Vicksburg Campaign.
32.
Operations in the East, 1864.
33.
Sherman’s March to the Sea.
34.
Colonial Possessions, 1909. (Colored)
35a.
United States, 1909. (Colored)
35b.
United States, 1909. (Colored)
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Specimen of Indian Pottery
Inscription Rock, New Mexico
Diego de Landa’s Maya Alphabet
Long House of Iroquois
Cliff Dwellings on the Rio Mancos
North Pueblo of Taos
Specimen of Saga Manuscript
The Dighton Rock in Massachusetts
Old Mill at Newport
Columbus
Toscanelli’s Map
Ships of the Time of Columbus
Sebastian Cabot
Americus Vespucius
Balboa
Magellan
Ponce de Leon
De Soto
Jacques Cartier
Champlain
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Walter Raleigh
Ruins of the Old Church at Jamestown
John Smith
Pocahontas
Henry Hudson
New Amsterdam
Miles Standish
John Endicott
John Winthrop
First Lord Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore
Sir Henry Vane
Sir Edmund Andros
Peter Stuyvesant
William Penn
Cotton Mather
James Oglethorpe
La Salle
Jonathan Edwards
Sieur de Bienville
General Montcalm
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham
General Wolfe
George III.
Pennsylvania Journal
Samuel Adams
James Otis
Patrick Henry
John Dickinson
Governor Hutchinson
Old South Church, Boston
Faneuil Hall, Boston
Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia
John Hancock
Statue of Minuteman at Concord
Gen. Joseph Warren
General Howe
Washington Elm, Cambridge
Col. Benedict Arnold
Gen. Nathanael Greene
Colonial Flag, 1776
Gen. William Moultrie
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
House in which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence
Independence Hall, Philadelphia
Benjamin Franklin
Portion of the Declaration of Independence
Continental Currency
Marquis de Lafayette
George Washington
Gen. Philip Schuyler
Gen. John Stark
Gen. John Burgoyne
Baron von Steuben
Gen. Horatio Gates
Gen. Anthony Wayne
Wayne’s Dispatch to Washington
Daniel Boone
Gen. John Sullivan
Gen. George Rogers Clark
Captain Paul Jones
Lord Cornwallis
Place of André’s Execution
Colonel Tarleton
Gen. Daniel Morgan
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison
Federal Hall, New York City
Blockhouse at Mackinaw
Stagecoach of the Time of Washington
John Jay
Mount Vernon
John Adams
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Albert Gallatin
John Marshall
Stephen Decatur
William Pitt the Younger
Fulton’s Steamboat
Robert Fulton
Eli Whitney
John C. Calhoun
Captain Isaac Hull
The Constitution
Captain James Lawrence
Captain Oliver H. Perry
Commodore Macdonough
Andrew Jackson
James Monroe
Henry Clay
John Randolph
John Quincy Adams
William Lloyd Garrison
Theodore Parker
Martin Van Buren
Daniel Webster
Thomas H. Benton
Robert Y. Hayne
Daniel Webster’s Carriage
Wendell Phillips
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Gen. Samuel Houston
James K. Polk
Gen. Zachary Taylor
Gen. Winfield Scott
Sutter’s Mill, California
Henry Clay
William H. Seward
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
Caleb Cushing
Charles Sumner
John C. Frémont
Roger B. Taney
Harriet Beecher Stowe
James Buchanan
Stephen A. Douglas
A Typical Pioneer’s Cabin
John Brown
Salmon P. Chase
Confederate Capitol, Montgomery, Ala.
Jefferson Davis
Alexander H. Stephens
Cyrus W. Field
Abraham Lincoln
Fort Sumter
Palmetto Flag (Confederate)
Confederate Flag
General Beauregard
Gen. Nathaniel Lyon
Edwin M. Stanton
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Gen. A. S. Johnston
Gen. Braxton Bragg
Gen. W. S. Rosecrans
Confederate Ram
John Ericsson
Admiral D. G. Farragut
Gen. George B. McClellan
Gen. J. E. Johnston
Stonewall Jackson
Gen. R. E. Lee
Maj. Gen. H. W. Halleck
Gen. John Pope
Gen. A. E. Burnside
Gen. George H. Thomas
Gen. William T. Sherman
Gen. Joseph Hooker
Gen. George G. Meade
Gen. James Longstreet
Gen. George E. Pickett
Gen. B. F. Butler
Gen. J. B. Hood
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan
Signatures to the Agreement for Surrender (Grant and Lee)
House at Appomattox in which Surrender was arranged
Andrew Johnson
Thaddeus Stevens
Horatio Seymour
Horace Greeley
Gen. George A. Custer
Rutherford B. Hayes
Samuel J. Tilden
Gen. Winfield S. Hancock
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Brooklyn Bridge
James G. Blaine
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
William J. Bryan
William McKinley
Admiral George Dewey
Gen. W. R. Shafter
Admiral W. T. Sampson
The Oregon
Gen. Nelson A. Miles
Theodore Roosevelt
Admiral W. S. Schley
William H. Taft
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1000 (circa)
The Northmen reach America.
1492
Columbus lands at Watling’s Island.
1497
John Cabot lands near the mouth of the St. Lawrence.
1498
Voyage of Sebastian Cabot.
1499–1503
Americus Vespucius makes four voyages to America.
1512
Ponce de Leon discovers Florida.
1513
Balboa discovers the Pacific.
1520
Magellan passes the straits named after him.
1541
De Soto discovers the Mississippi River.
1562–1564
Huguenots in South Carolina and Florida.
1565
St. Augustine, Florida, founded by the Spanish.
1577–1580
Drake makes his voyage round the world.
1584–1587
Sir Walter Raleigh sends out colonists.
1607
Founding of Jamestown, Virginia.
1608
Champlain founds Quebec.
1609
Hudson discovers the Hudson River.
1614
The Dutch settle on Manhattan Island.
1620
Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
1626
The Dutch found New Amsterdam (New York City).
1630
Winthrop leads Puritan emigration to Massachusetts.
1630
Boston founded.
1632
Charter for Maryland granted the second Lord Baltimore.
1634
St. Mary’s, Maryland, founded.
1635
Settlements made in Connecticut.
1636
Roger Williams founds Providence, Rhode Island.
1636
Harvard College founded.
1638
New Haven settled.
1638
Swedes occupy Delaware.
1639
Constitution of Connecticut framed.
1643
New England Confederacy established.
1663
Government organized in North Carolina.
1664
The English seize New Netherland and settle in New Jersey.
1670
Settlement in South Carolina. Charleston founded.
1674–1676
King Philip’s War.
1676
Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia.
1682
La Salle explores Mississippi River.
1682
Philadelphia founded.
1689–1697
King William’s War.
1690
Colonial Congress at New York.
1692
Salem witchcraft.
1692
William and Mary College (Virginia) founded.
1697
Peace of Ryswick.
1701
Detroit founded.
1701
Yale College founded.
1702–1703
Queen Anne’s War.
1713
Treaty of Utrecht.
1718
The French found New Orleans.
1730
Baltimore founded.
1733
Savannah founded.
1744–1748
King George’s War.
1745
Capture of Louisburg.
1746
Princeton College founded.
1748
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
1754
King’s (Columbia) College founded.
1754
French and Indian War begins (ends 1763).
1755
Braddock’s defeat.
1759
Capture of Quebec.
1763
Peace of Paris.
1763
The Conspiracy of Pontiac.
1765
The Stamp Act passed.
1766
Repeal of Stamp Act.
1767
Townshend Acts.
1768
British troops in Boston.
1770
Boston Massacre.
1773
“Boston Tea-party.”
1774
Boston Port Bill.
1774
First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia.
1775
Battles of Lexington and Concord. Siege of Boston. Battle of Bunker Hill.
1775
Mecklenburg Resolutions.
1776
Declaration of Independence.
1777
Victories of Princeton, Bennington, and Saratoga. Defeats of Brandywine and Germantown. Washington at Valley Forge.
1778
France becomes an ally of the United States.
1779
Naval victories of Paul Jones.
1780
Arnold’s treason.
1781
Articles of Confederation finally agreed to.
1781
Battle of Cowpens. Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.
1782
Preliminary treaty with Great Britain.
1783
Peace of Versailles.
1787
Federal Convention frames the Constitution.
1787
Ordinance concerning the Northwest Territory passed by Congress.
1788
The states ratify the Constitution.
1789
Washington inaugurated at New York. Organization of Congress and the Departments.
1792
Formation of Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties.
1793
Washington’s proclamation of neutrality.
1795
Jay’s Treaty ratified.
1798
The Alien and Sedition Laws.
1798
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.
1800
The city of Washington becomes the national capital.
1801
Jefferson elected President by the House of Representatives.
1803
Purchase of Louisiana.
1804
Expedition of Lewis and Clark.
1807
Fulton’s steamboat.
1807
Passage of the Embargo.
1809
The Non-intercourse Act.
1812
War with Great Britain.
1814
The British capture Washington.
1814
The Hartford Convention.
1814
The Treaty of Ghent.
1815
The battle of New Orleans.
1819
Florida purchased from Spain.
1820
First Missouri Compromise.
1823
Monroe Doctrine.
1825
Erie Canal opened.
1830
Hayne-Webster debate.
1830
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened.
1832
Nullification in South Carolina.
1832
Rise of the Whig party.
1833
Chicago founded.
1836
Independence of Texas.
1840
Sub-treasury system established.
1840
Liberty party formed.
1842
Ashburton Treaty.
1842
Dorr’s Rebellion in Rhode Island.
1844
Morse completes the first telegraph line.
1846–1848
Mexican War.
1846
Wilmot Proviso.
1846
Oregon Treaty.
1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
1848
Discovery of gold in California.
1850
Compromise of 1850.
1850
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.
1852
Rise of Know-Nothing party.
1853
Gadsden Purchase.
1854
Kansas-Nebraska Bill.
1854
Republican party formed.
1855
Struggle in Kansas.
1857
Dred Scott Decision.
1858
First Atlantic cable.
1858
Lincoln-Douglas debates.
1859
John Brown’s raid.
1860
Election of Lincoln. Secession of South Carolina.
1861–1865
The Civil War.
1862
Fight between Merrimac and Monitor.
1863
Proclamation of Emancipation.
1863
Battle of Gettysburg. Capture of Vicksburg.
1864
Battle of the Wilderness.
1865
Surrender of Lee and Johnson.
1865
Assassination of Lincoln.
1866
Successful laying of the Atlantic cable.
1867
Congressional system of reconstruction.
1867
Purchase of Alaska.
1868
Impeachment of President Johnson.
1869
Completion of the Pacific Railroad.
1871
Treaty of Washington.
1876
Electoral Commission.
1877
Troops withdrawn from the South.
1879
Resumption of specie payments.
1883
Civil Service Reform Commission.
1892
Rise of People’s Party.
1898
War declared with Spain. Treaty of Paris. Acquisition of the Philippines.
1898
Annexation of Hawaii.
1901
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.
1902
Panama Canal authorized.
1905
Treaty of Portsmouth.
1907
Financial crisis.
Distribution of the Barbarous Tribes East of the Mississippi
PART I. PERIOD OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT, 1492–1765.
CHAPTER I.discovery.
THE AMERICAN INDIANS.
Specimen of Indian Pottery, from a mound near Pecan Point, Arkansas. Now in the National Museum at Washington.
Diego de Landa’s Maya Alphabet.
1. The Aborigines.—When America became known to Europe at the end of the fifteenth century, it was by no means an uninhabited country. Wherever the discoverers effected a landing, and however far they pushed inland, they found themselves confronted by native inhabitants of varying degrees of savagery. Hence the settlement of both Americas, from first to last, has been dependent upon the supplanting of one race by another or upon their intermixture.
2. Characteristics of the Indians.—The original inhabitants of both continents have been known as Indians, in consequence of a mistake made by Columbus (§§ 5-7). The North American Indians were fiercer foes than the native Mexicans and Peruvians whom the Spaniards, under Cortez and Pizarro, overcame, and with whom they intermarried. We know, however, from linguistic characteristics, that all the aborigines from the Arctic Circle to Cape Horn belonged to the same race. How they first came to America is a matter of dispute; but their main peculiarities are well understood. In Peru and Mexico they had made some progress toward civilization. They constructed good roads, were not unskillful artisans, and had even learned some astronomy. But they lived in large communal groups under their chiefs, and had made slight advance in the art of government; hence they fell an easy prey to small bodies of Spaniards. Similar in character to the Mexicans, but inferior to them, were the Pueblos and Cliff-dwellers of the region of New Mexico, Arizona, and Lower California, as well as the Natchez Indians of the Lower Mississippi Valley. Most of the North American Indian tribes lived in villages of wigwams and had a primitive form of government. In each village there was a communal, or “long,” house, in which clan business was transacted. In a few cases this “long” house gave shelter to a whole tribe. These Indians, except among the Southern tribes mentioned below, were chiefly in what is called the hunter and fisher state, although they frequently practiced a rude form of agriculture. Sometimes, however, as in the case of the Digger Indians, they subsisted mainly on roots.[1]
Inscription Rock, New Mexico.
3. The Principal Indian Tribes.—Of the North American Indians with whom our own forefathers came chiefly in contact, there were four principal groups, commonly known as the Algonquins, the Iroquois, the Southern Indians, and the Dakotahs. The Algonquins were the most numerous, although it is doubtful if at any time they numbered ninety thousand. Ranging through the vast forests from Kentucky to Hudson Bay and from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, they were naturally in frequent conflict with the whites. Opposed to these, and wedged into the very center of their territory, were the fierce Iroquois, the craftiest of their race, whose tribal names—Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas—are inseparably connected with rivers and lakes in the State of New York. They formed a loose confederacy, called by the whites the “Five Nations.”[2] The Southern Indians showed a milder disposition and were given to agriculture and rude manufactures. Of these the Creeks were the most advanced; beneath them in point of civilization were the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Seminoles.[3] West of the Mississippi ranged the wandering Dakotahs or Sioux, fierce fighters, whose descendants have given trouble down to our own day. Of the inferior tribes living in the extreme north of the continent, we need take no special account.
PRE-COLUMBIAN DISCOVERERS.
Cliff Dwellings on the Rio Mancos.
Old Mill at Newport, long erroneously supposed to have been built by the Northmen.
Long House of the Iroquois.
4. The Northmen.—While Columbus and his followers were the real discoverers of America in the sense that they first made it generally known to Europe, it is practically certain that they were not the first Europeans to set foot on the new continent. It is possible that seamen from France and England preceded Columbus, but there is much better reason to believe that Scandinavians from Iceland, having first discovered Greenland, visited the North American mainland as early as the year 1000. Evidence to this effect is found in the so-called Sagas of the Northmen, poetic chronicles based on tradition and dating from about two centuries after the events which they recorded. According to these stories, navigators were driven south from Greenland to a strange shore about the year 985. Fourteen years later, Leif, son of Eric the Red, having introduced Christianity from Norway into Iceland and Greenland, visited the newly discovered land, with thirty-five companions. They wintered in a country which, from its abundance of wild grape vines, they called Vinland, built some houses, and then returned to Greenland with a cargo of timber. Several other voyages were made thither and a temporary colony was established, the latest mention of a voyage dating from about the middle of the fourteenth century. Such is the story of the Sagas. The main features of the account are generally held to be correct, but the location of the Northmen’s Vinland cannot be determined, and no archæological remains have been found on the American continent to corroborate the Sagas.[4]
North Pueblo of Taos.
Specimen of Saga Manuscript.
The Dighton Rock in Massachusetts, long supposed to bear an inscription left by the Northmen. The figures are now known to be Indian hieroglyphics.
COLUMBUS AND THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS.
Columbus.[6]
5. Columbus and the Indies.—That Christopher Columbus[5] of Genoa is entitled to the honor of being considered the real discoverer of America is clearly proved by the fact that he was the first person who planned to sail westward over the unknown ocean, and that he never faltered in the prosecution of his heroic design. It is true that he made the mistake of thinking he would come to India rather than to a new continent, and that he underestimated the distance he would have to sail; but such mistakes were natural in view of the lack of geographical knowledge at that time. It was generally believed, by priest and layman alike, that the earth was flat, and good Scripture warrant was produced for the belief. Yet since the days of Aristotle a few scholars had concluded, from the evidences furnished by eclipses and from other reasons, that the earth was spherical in form. Columbus had obtained this idea from some source and seems to have been fascinated by the possibilities it opened. Oriental commerce, especially that from India, was then of great consequence to Italian merchants; and if the recent military successes of the Turks should close the overland routes to the East, it was thought this commerce would be destroyed. But Columbus held that, if the earth were round, India could be reached by sailing westward, and thus trade could be carried on in spite of the Turks.
Toscanelli’s Map (simplified)
6. Motives and Difficulties of Columbus.—Columbus was urged on by patriotism, desire of gain, missionary hopes of Christianizing distant lands, and a natural enthusiasm for heroic enterprise. He corresponded with Toscanelli, a learned Italian, who sent him letters and a map, but underestimated greatly the distance to be traversed. This mistake was fortunate, as Columbus would probably never have secured a hearing had he proposed to take a voyage of ten thousand miles,—the actual distance between Spain and the East Indies. As it was, for a long time he applied in vain to princes and potentates—who alone could sustain the expenses of such an expedition—for permission and means to make a voyage which he believed to be about three thousand miles in length. The record of his hopes and fears, his successes and reverses, reads like a heroic poem. Fortunately for him, the Portuguese had been making voyages down the African coast, with their eyes fixed on the Eastern trade, and the Spaniards, strong through the recent union of Castile and Aragon and the conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada, had been aroused to eager rivalry in maritime enterprise. At the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish monarchs, Columbus eloquently pleaded his cause. Success at last crowned his efforts. Under the patronage of Isabella he sailed from the port of Palos, with a fleet of three vessels, on the 3d of August, 1492.
Ships of the Time of Columbus.
7. Voyages of Columbus.—Within a month the adventurers had left the Canaries and were traversing the unknown ocean. As the days went by the crews became restless, but the dauntless resolution of Columbus prevented mutiny. Finally, after a fortunate change of course to the southwest, the great navigator saw a light ahead, on the evening of October 11, and the following morning he found that an island had been reached. It was probably Watling’s Island, one of the Bahama group, though the identity of the landing place has been a matter of much dispute.[7] On this first voyage Columbus coasted along the northern side of Cuba, and also discovered the island now known as Hayti. Then, after losing his largest ship and suffering many other trials, he returned to Spain, confident that he had reached islands off the coast of India. The Spanish sovereigns received him with great respect and pomp, and soon sent him back to take possession of his discoveries in the name of Spain. Unfortunately, there was little or no wealth to be obtained from the new possessions except by capable colonists, and Columbus was not fitted to govern dependencies. So great did the opposition to him become that he was arrested some years later, on account of charges of extortion and cruelty brought by his followers, and was sent to Spain in irons. He was soon released, however, and undertook his fourth and last voyage. The results of his last three expeditions were not important. He succeeded in exploring more of Cuba, and in discovering Jamaica. He reached also the mouth of the Orinoco, and was much puzzled to account for its size, which was too great for an island river. On his last voyage he coasted the shores of Central America, in a vain search for a waterway to India. He found no strait, but did find an isthmus; and when he heard reports of a vast body of water lying on the other side of the land, he thought that it must be the Indian Ocean. Thus he was confirmed in his error with regard to the nearness of India, and doubtless cherished his delusion to his death. After his fourth voyage he returned to Spain, and died there in 1506, in poverty and obscurity.
Sebastian Cabot.
8. The Cabots and the English Title.—Almost immediately after Columbus’s first voyage, Pope Alexander VI. issued a bull dividing the non-Christian portion of the world into two parts: Spain to have all that she might discover west of a line to be drawn one hundred leagues west of the Azores; and Portugal all that she might discover east of it. In the following year the rival nations fixed the line at three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Aroused by these events, Henry VII. of England, who was laying the foundations of Tudor greatness, granted a license of exploration to John Cabot, an Italian then living in Bristol. This seaman landed somewhere near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, in 1497. Accounts of the voyage are unsatisfactory; and those of the voyage of 1498, supposed to have been made under the command of Cabot’s son Sebastian,[8] are still more vague. That the Cabots did make northerly discoveries on which the English based their right to colonize North America is, however, quite certain.
9. Other Successors of Columbus.—The discovery of the West Indies, as the new islands were named in consequence of Columbus’s mistake, naturally gave a great impetus to exploration. In 1497–98 the Portuguese under Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached the real India, the goal of their desires. In the last year of the same century another Portuguese, Gaspar Cortereal, explored a good deal of the North American coast, and in a few years Newfoundland was much frequented by fishermen, especially from France and England.[9] Little was known, however, about the geography of the new world. Many strange errors were current respecting it, and some years passed before it was given a name. One of the errors was that North America was a projection of Asia, which was not disproved until 1728, when the Russian navigator Vitus Bering sailed from the Pacific into the Arctic Ocean. This error had much to do with the delay in furnishing the two continents with names. By a curious chain of circumstances, too, the name finally settled upon did not do honor to Columbus.
Americus Vespucius.
10. The Name “America.”—Among the early successors of this great explorer was another Italian, Amerigo Vespucci, or, in the Latin form then current, Americas Vespucius.[10] Little is known of him or his voyages, but it is clear that he was one of the first Europeans after Columbus to visit the northern coast of South America, and that in 1504 he wrote an account of his adventures. This account circulated as far as the college town of St. Dié in the Vosges Mountains, and was there printed with an introduction by one of the professors, Martin Waldseemüller by name, who proposed that, since now a fourth division of the earth’s inhabited surface must be named, this should be known as America, in honor of Americus Vespucius, who was supposed to have discovered it. There appears to have been no intention to slight Columbus, whose voyage to the Orinoco was probably not widely known. At any rate, the suggestion was followed, first as regards South America, later with regard to both continents.
Balboa.
11. Balboa’s Discovery of the Pacific.—Geographical knowledge was much advanced by the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa[11] in 1513. This brave Spaniard had sought the New World for the sake of wealth, but had met with many difficulties. Lured by tales told by the natives of Panama of a large ocean and lands abounding in gold beyond the mountains, he made his way to the top of the Cordilleras, and thence beheld a great sea to the south of him, which he called the South Sea, a name long retained by English writers. It is the irony of fate that in the best-known reference in English literature to this discovery,—in the famous sonnet by Keats,—the honor of making it should have been transferred to Cortez, who had celebrity enough of his own.
Magellan.
12. The Voyage of Magellan.—The name Pacific was given to the great ocean by the most glorious of Columbus’s successors, the Portuguese Fernãdo de Magalhães,[12] better known as Magellan. In 1519, while in the service of Spain, he followed the coast of South America, hoping to find a strait that might lead into the South Sea. Late in the next year he discovered the strait that bears his name, and sailed into the great ocean to which he gave the name Pacific, on account of its peaceful character. This name was ironical so far as his own career was concerned; for one of his five crews mutinied, one ship was cast away and another abandoned him, and he himself was killed in an encounter with the natives of the Philippine Islands. But he had won a glorious immortality, although it was really the survivors of his crews that finally made their way around the Cape of Good Hope and completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Ponce de Leon.
De Soto.
13. Spanish Conquests.—Meanwhile a Spaniard, Ponce de Leon,[13] had discovered Florida in 1512 and had found the perfect climate, but not the gold and silver and fountain of youth he sought. His attempt nine years later to establish a colony there was a complete failure. Success attended, however, the expedition of Hernando Cortez for the conquest of Mexico (1519–1521), and similar good fortune befell that of Francisco Pizarro for the subversion of Peru (1532). The New World was rapidly alluring the Spaniards, who made many explorations. For example, Cabeza de Vaca, an officer in Panfilo de Narvaez’s unfortunate expedition to the Gulf coast, wandered in the interior regions a long while, and finally emerged on the Mexican border, with marvelous tales of what he had seen and heard (1536). These tales caused the Viceroy of Mexico, Mendoza, to send a certain friar to investigate them; and, upon the facts and the numerous errors contained in the friar’s report, hopes were founded that induced the sending out of a large force under Francisco Vasquez Coronado (1540–1542). This expedition conquered many pueblo villages of the Southwest, but obtained no gold or silver, and, after struggling as far north as Kansas, ended in a disconsolate retreat. At about the same time another expedition was moving westward from Florida through the Gulf region, under the command of Hernando de Soto (1539–1542). This gallant man pushed northwest across the mountains and discovered the Tennessee River, and later the Mississippi; but he died soon after, and his followers abandoned their enterprise. Thus by the middle of the century no permanent Spanish settlement had been made in what is now the United States. Nor was Spain long to have things her own way.
THE FRENCH EXPLORERS.
Jacques Cartier.
14. French Discoveries.—As we have seen, French fishermen were among the first to reach Newfoundland. A little later the voyage of Giovanni da Verrazano, a native of Florence, under commission of Francis I., showed the dawning interest in the New World taken by the French court. In 1524 Verrazano explored much of the Northern coast as far as Newfoundland. In 1534 and 1535 Jacques Cartier[14] discovered Prince Edward Island, sailed up the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and penetrated the great river as far as the present site of Montreal, fancying most of the time that he was rapidly nearing China.[15] A few years later he came again, bringing colonists with him; but the enterprise did not succeed, and in consequence was soon abandoned.
15. Arrival of Huguenots.—France was now torn with civil and religious discord, and, as a result, Admiral Coligny, the great leader of the Huguenots, determined to found a place of refuge for his co-religionists in a more tempting part of America than Canada. Accordingly, in 1562, Jean Ribaut, under his orders, sailed for the Southern coast and discovered the present St. John’s River in Florida. He left a small colony on Port Royal Sound, but it was soon scattered. Two years later, René de Laudonnière established another settlement on the St. John’s, but the colonists were disorderly. Some of them mutinied and attempted to plunder the Spaniards in the West Indies. Learning thus of the existence of the French settlement, the Spaniards under Menendez organized a strong expedition against it. The French had meanwhile been reënforced by a fleet under Ribaut and by Sir John Hawkins, the English slave-trader and famous fighter. But in spite of these reënforcements the French did not use their opportunities, and their vessels were soon scattered by a storm. Then Menendez, who had just established himself at St. Augustine (1565), destroyed the French fort and killed or captured nearly all the Frenchmen at that time in Florida. St. Augustine, the oldest town in the United States, still stands to record this savage warfare. A little later a French soldier, Dominic de Gourges, partly avenged his countrymen; but St. Augustine was not taken, and the French crown relinquished all claims to Florida.
Champlain.
16. Champlain.—In the progressive reign of Henry IV. of France, attention was once more paid to Canada. After a colony had failed on the Isle of Sable, near Nova Scotia, and another had all but come to grief in Nova Scotia proper, Samuel de Champlain[16] succeeded in establishing a permanent post at Quebec in 1608. In a few years, owing to the zeal of the Jesuit missionaries and the enterprise of the fur-traders, the French had obtained a firm grip upon Canada and were rapidly pushing inland.
THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS.
Sir Francis Drake.
17. English Explorations during the Reign of Elizabeth.—The English, unlike the French, were at first content with their fisheries in Newfoundland; and it was not until after 1570 that they seriously took part in the affairs of America. Their tardiness was probably at first due to the marriage of Henry VIII. with a Spanish princess, then to their own internal troubles in consequence of the Pope’s condemnation of Henry’s conduct. Finally, in the reign of Elizabeth, a love of geographical knowledge and discovery having sprung up, they turned their attention to exploring for a northwest passage to the East. Martin Frobisher made three voyages (1576–1578), and sought gold in Labrador. Francis Drake,[17] in his voyage round the world (1577–1580), explored part of the Pacific coast of the present United States. Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh,[18] wished to colonize as well as explore, and after one disastrous attempt Gilbert took possession of Newfoundland in the name of Queen Elizabeth. He was lost on the return voyage, but left behind him an undying reputation for courage and piety.[19]
Sir Walter Raleigh.
18. Raleigh’s Colonies.—Raleigh continued the work of Gilbert by organizing expeditions, in which he took, however, no personal part. The first exploration was made in 1584 by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe. These two leaders visited the coast of North Carolina, and returned bringing favorable accounts of the region, which was named Virginia, after the Virgin Queen. The next year Raleigh fitted out seven ships, and a colony was established on Roanoke Island. This in spite of several reënforcements finally proved a failure, the last colonists having disappeared in a manner never accounted for.[20] Meanwhile the defeat of the Spanish Armada off the coast of England had rendered it quite certain that with England’s sea power established, she would be able to colonize the northern parts of America without great fear of molestation.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS.
19. Colonization in the Sixteenth Century.—As we have just seen, Spain, France, and England made many efforts during the sixteenth century to obtain permanent possessions in the New World. Spain succeeded in Mexico and Peru, and made a mere beginning in Florida. France did not really get a foothold in Canada until the first decade of the next century, and this was likewise the case with the English in Virginia. All three nations had too many things to disturb them at home to be able to put forth their full strength in establishing their claims to the new country. The work of exploration in consequence was hazardous and slow. Then, again, the precise value of the possessions they were striving for was not understood. Men chiefly sought the precious metals, and in the race for these Spain came off victor. But to obtain them she sacrificed the lives of the helpless natives and of imported negro slaves, and thus never laid the foundations for successful, thriving colonies. She injured herself, too, by accustoming her own people to the idea that the mother country ought to be supported by her colonies, and that labor was beneath a Spaniard of good blood.
20. Changes in the Theory of Colonization.—France and England, also, sought for gold and silver, but found none. The lands they occupied could be made productive, but not by the ne’er-do-well adventurers who first came out. When, however, fish and furs, and, later on, tobacco, became far more profitable than the metals would have been, the character of both English and French colonists gradually improved. The value of the new possessions was not to be perceived fully, however, until the eighteenth century, when they played a part in all the important European wars. Nor even then did statesmen at home realize that the mother country’s interests were best served by keeping her colonists prosperous. A colony was at first viewed merely as a source of revenue, and in some cases even as a dumping-ground for criminals. It is only of late that colonies have figured as outlets for superfluous population and as bases for extending commercial operations.
References.—General Works which should be consulted in connection with each of the five chapters of Part I. are: J. Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America (contains special monographs of great value); G. Bancroft, History of the United States (revised edition); R. Hildreth, History of the United States; J. A. Doyle, The English in America; R. G. Thwaites, The Colonies, chaps. i.–iii. (“Epochs of American History”); G. P. Fisher, The Colonial Era (“American History Series”).
Special Works: J. Fiske, Discovery of America; E. J. Payne, History of the New World called America; W. H. Prescott, Conquest of Mexico and Conquest of Peru; E. Eggleston, The Beginners of a Nation; J. Winsor, Christopher Columbus; also biographies of Columbus by Washington Irving, C. K. Adams, and C. R. Markham; W. Irving, Companions of Columbus; A. Helps, Spanish Conquest of America; F. Parkman, Pioneers of France; J. Winsor, From Cartier to Frontenac; E. J. Payne, Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen (also various biographies of Drake, Raleigh, etc.); H. H. Bancroft, The Pacific States, Vol. XVIII.
On the Indians, see Fiske and Payne, as above, and the writings of L. H. Morgan and A. F. Bandelier. For full bibliographies, consult Channing and Hart’s Guide to American History. For illustrative material, consult Old South Leaflets and Hart’s American History told by Contemporaries. The first voyage of Columbus is described in Cooper’s Mercedes of Castile; Elizabethan maritime enterprise, in C. Kingsley’s Westward Ho!
[1]
For a brief but scientific account of the chief characteristics of the aborigines, see article, “Indians,” by D. G. Brinton and J. W. Powell, in Johnson’s Universal Cyclopædia.
[2]
They became the “Six Nations” after they were joined by the Tuscaroras of North Carolina.
[3]
“Seminoles” means “wanderers”; the tribe was made up of refugees from other tribes, notably from the Creeks.
[4]
The remains of the old mill at Newport, Rhode Island, and certain inscriptions have at one time and another been held to date from the visits of the Northmen; but archæologists have not assented to these views.
[5]
Born at Genoa, Italy, about 1436; died, 1506. Early became a maker of maps and charts; about 1470 went to Lisbon, whence he sailed to Guinea, and probably to Iceland; studied the matter of circumnavigating the globe, and planned the project of reaching the East Indies by sailing in a westerly direction; failing to procure aid in Portugal, went to Spain, where he finally received help from the Spanish court, immediately after the fall of Granada in 1492; set out with three vessels, August 3, 1492; landed, October 12; discovered Cuba and Hayti, and reached home in March, 1493; sailed again in the autumn of 1493, and remained till 1496; made a third voyage, 1498; was imprisoned on charges of cruelty, and taken to Spain in chains; was soon released, and made his fourth and last voyage in 1502.
[6]
No portrait of Columbus has any claim to authenticity. There is no evidence that his likeness was drawn or painted by anyone who ever saw him.
[7]
The diary of Columbus, studied in connection with the possible landing places in the West Indies, shows that the vessels probably floated past Watling’s Island in the night of October 11, and that a landing was made the next morning on the west side of the island.
[8]
Born about 1474, in Venice or Bristol. Probably accompanied his father John in the latter’s first voyage to America in 1497, and succeeded him in command of the second expedition, in 1498.
[9]
In consequence of these discoveries fishing rights on the island have been held by the French to our day.
[10]
Born in Florence, 1451; died, 1512. After becoming an expert astronomer and map-maker, made four voyages to America, two in the Spanish and two in the Portuguese service. To his Brazilian discoveries he gave the name Mundus Novus, or New World.
[11]
Born in Spain, 1475; died, 1517. Migrated to Hayti in 1500, and in 1510 accompanied Enciso in an expedition to Darien; quarreled with Enciso and obtained the chief command of the party; from the summit of a mountain discovered the Pacific, September 25, 1513; was afterward accused of treasonable designs and put to death.
[12]
Born in Portugal, about 1470; died, 1521. Served in the East Indies from 1505 to 1512; renounced allegiance to Portugal and went to Seville, 1517; conceived the plan of reaching the East Indies by a voyage south of South America; in 1519 was given by Charles V. a squadron of five ships, with two hundred and sixty-five men; explored the coast of South America, and passed the straits which have since borne his name, November 28, 1520; discovered and named the Ladrones (Robber) Islands; discovered the Philippine Islands, where, with eight of his men, he was killed.
[13]
Born, 1460; died, 1521. Spanish explorer, who probably accompanied Columbus on his second voyage. He was governor of eastern Hayti and conqueror of Porto Rico. In 1512 he started in search of the fountain of perpetual youth, and landed in Florida, near St. Augustine. In 1521 he returned, but lost most of his force. Spanish claims to Florida were based on these discoveries.
[14]
Born at St. Malo, France, 1494; died, 1554. Explored the American coast and ascended the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, 1535; returned to France, but revisited Canada in 1541, and explored the rapids above Montreal. For these explorations, which were the basis of the French claims to Canada, Cartier was ennobled by the king of France.
[15]
It is said that one of Cartier’s men, on seeing the foaming water above Montreal, exclaimed, “La Chine!” (China), and that in consequence the name “La Chine” has ever since been applied to the rapids.
[16]
Born, 1567; died, 1635. In 1599 sailed from his home in France to the West Indies, whence he proceeded to Mexico, and on his return crossed the Isthmus of Panama, where he conceived the idea of a ship canal; from 1603 to 1604 explored the St. Lawrence River; founded Quebec in 1608; discovered the lake that bears his name in 1609, and Lake Huron in 1615. He was one of the most cultured and gallant of the early explorers.
[17]
Born in 1546; died, 1596. English navigator, who reached Mexico in 1567 and South America in 1572; explored the Pacific coast from 1578 to 1579, and returned to England the next year, after having circumnavigated the globe.
[18]
Born, 1552; died, 1618. English navigator, who, after serving with the French Huguenots in the Netherlands, and in Ireland, led an unsuccessful expedition to colonize America in 1579; attempted to organize others with similar results; was confined in the Tower for several years after 1603; made an unsuccessful voyage to Guiana; was rearrested on his return, and executed.
[19]
It was Gilbert who told his companions not to fear, since heaven was as near by sea as by land.
[20]
It is an interesting fact that the first English child born on American soil was Virginia Dare, granddaughter of John White, governor of this colony.
CHAPTER II.the first plantations and colonies, 1607–1630.
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.
21. The Virginia Company.
