A first book in American history

Front matter

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Contents

I. The Age of Discovery

II. Exploring Unknown Seas ....

III. Breaking into the Spanish Treasure House

Chapter I

The Problem of the Age. One day, in the summer of 1453, there was a strange stir in the old ItaHan city of Genoa. The news had come that Constanti- "nople had been captured by the Turks. The famous gateway for commerce between Europe and the Far East had fallen into the hands of men who were deadly enemies of Christian traders.

The news alarmed the merchants of all Italy, as well as those of Genoa. The Italian merchants had been for many years the chief dealers in goods from India and China : cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, pearls, almonds, ermine, copper, sulphur, silks, and precious stones. Such Eastern merchandise was brought to Italy by many routes. Some of the most important routes lay through Constantinople.

The long journeys of the freight carriers had been perilous and expensive in the best of times. Now they were to be more dangerous than ever, for the Turks stood guard over every gateway to the East.

Italian merchants had never been on good terms with the Turks. They were often at war with them, and

The dark lines on this map show the trade routes to the East at the time of Columbus. All the countries of the world which the people of Europe knew anything about are included within the light line.

they had to pay large profits on the goods they bought. For these reasons they had long wanted to trade directly with India and China. The fall of Constantinople only spurred them on to hunt for a way.

This matter concerned all Europe, for the Italian traders had sold most of their merchandise in France, Spain, Germany, England, and Portugal. The Portuguese, with an outlook on the Atlantic Ocean, turned their thoughts even more earnestly to a water route to India. They had already been searching down the coast of Africa for a way around. Clearly, the hour had struck. Some one had to answer the perplexing question : "How can sailors find a direct route to the Far East t "

In all parts of southern Europe men turned their attention to this great problem of the age. Two of

Caravans of camels brought goods from Asia to the shores of the Red Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. European traders met them at these places and carried the goods, partly by land and partly by sea, to Europe.

them stand out above all the others. One is Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor. While searching westward for the way to the Far East, he discovered a new world. The other is a Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama. While searching southward, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the southern end of Africa, and sailed directlv to India.

I. The Early Life of Columbus

Columbus, the Youth. In 1453 Columbus was about seven years old. Many cities claim his birthplace, but the honor doubtless belongs to Genoa.

Of the boyhood of Columbus, we know little. He was one of several children and his parents were poor. No record of his school days has come down to us. Somewhere, sometime, he learned Latin, studied astronomy and mathematics, and gained a little knowledge of geography. He tells us in one of his letters that he began life as a sailor at the age of fourteen. According to tradition, he worked on merchant ships that sailed to and fro in the Mediterranean.

Columbus in Portugal. About 1470, it is certain, Columbus went to Portugal. The sailors and geographers of that country were already trying to solve the problem of the age. They were carrying on the work begun years before by a great prince called Henry the Navigator. They were studying maps and sending one fleet after another down the west coast of Africa in search of a water route to India. Columbus records that he himself made more than one voyage with them.

Among the men associated with Prince Henry was an Italian navigator who, on his death, left a daughter and a great many precious maps. Columbus had the good fortune to win the girl's hand in marriage and with her the store of maps.

Columbus Studies the Problem. Columbus now settled down to study geography. Day and night he pondered the question of the hour : " How can I find a water route to India ? " Whoever could solve it had fame and fortune in store.

All over western Europe there were men busy studying the shape of the earth, the tides, and the courses of the stars. From their writings Columbus had much help. He knew he could not work the problem out in his own mind as he sat and watched the sea. He first attempted to find out what other men had thought about the water route to India.

Is the World Flat? In this search he soon came face to face with this query : " Is the world round or flat ? " Common sense seemed to say that it was flat. Many wise men said so too. One of them had written in a big book : " Can any one be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or that there are places where things may be hanging downwards, trees growing backwards, or rain falling upwards ^ "

Other wise men boldly said that the earth was round. Among the first to advance this idea was Aristotle, a learned Greek, who lived more than three hundred years before Christ. In fact, Columbus could not read any important book on his problem without finding that thoughtful geographers believed the world to be round.

If the world was round, the problem of the waterway to India was easily solved. India could be reached by sailing westward. Long before Columbus was

The Countries of Western Europe at the Time When the Explorers Were Searching for a Water Route to the East

born, keen thinkers had come to this conclusion. Aristotle had written that the same sea touched both Spain and Asia. This was a startling idea, but many writers after Aristotle agreed with him. Studious sailors in the day of Columbus knew about the theory.

The Map Makers. There were at that time many helpful maps besides those that had been left to the wife of Columbus by her father. If he was a careful student, as we believe he was, he must have known about hundreds of them.

Several years before Columbus sailed on his first famous voyage, he received a map and a letter from a geographer in Florence by the name of Toscanelli. The letter told him that he could reach Asia by sailing directly west. The map showed a route straight across the Atlantic to the Asiatic coast. Toscanelli, of course, never dreamed that a large continent lay between Europe and Asia. Columbus may have carried this map with him on his voyage. Many writers think he did. At all events, he had this important help in m^aking up his mind on the problem before him.

Columbus Convinced That the World Is Round. Some time before i486, Columbus himself became convinced that the world was round. From this it followed, in his mind, that India could be reached by sailing west. Just how and when he came to this opinion we do not know. When the great idea seized him, however, he did not rest until he tested it. The trial called for money, ships, and men. He was poor and could not make the adventure alone.

Columbus Seeks Aid. Columbus first turned to the King of Portugal for help, only to be denied. Then he pleaded his cause in Spain and, during many weary years, tried to get aid from the King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. Here too his efforts appeared to be in vain. France seemed his last hope.

According to tradition, he was on his way to France with his little boy, Diego, when he stopped for bread at a monastery near Palos in southern Spain. There a good monk, who knew Queen Isabella well, listened with interest as Columbus told of his great dream. Moved by this story, the monk wrote to the Queen about the marvelous ideas of the strange traveler. The Queen replied by summoning the monk and Columbus to her court.

As soon as Columbus arrived, he laid his plans before the Queen and her advisers. Some thought him merely a madman. Others thought he wanted too much power and money for himself. A few were convinced that the plan was worth a trial. The disputes and delays so discouraged Columbus that he left the Queen and her courtiers in disgust.

He had not gone far when the Queen decided to help after all. A swift courier was sent to overtake him with the good news. On April 17, 1492, the contract for the voyage was signed. Columbus was to have the long-sought money, ships, and men for the journey. He was to be ruler in all the lands he might find and to have the title of Admiral. Also, he was to have a share in the profits of trade and in the precious metals discovered.

lO A FIRST BOOK IN AMERICAN HISTORY

II. First Voyage of Columbus

Finding Sailors. All through the spring and early summer of 1492 the town of Palos and the country about the port were filled with uproar and gossip. The ships for the strangest voyage in all history were being fitted out. Sailors were hard to get. They were frightened at the thought of sailing far out on an unknown ocean called " the sea of darkness." Most of them refused to go and queer schemes had to be adopted to get crews to man the ships. Some were induced to go by a promise to pay their debts. Others were let out of prison on condition that they would sail with Columbus. By dint of much labor and worry, three small ships — the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta — with a combined force of about ninety men — were brought together.

Off at Last. Just before sunrise, on August 3, 1492, they sailed out of Palos on the fateful voyage. For more than two long months they plowed the deep on their westward course. They stopped for a time at the Canary Islands. When they bade farewell to these last known lands, some of the sailors wept like frightened children. As the days wore on, they became more and more anxious. Columbus hid from them the true record of the number of miles sailed. If the men had known how far they had gone without finding land, they might have mutinied and thrown him overboard.

II

Alarming Incidents. Many things on the voyage added to their fright. As they sailed far westward, the needle of the compass no longer pointed du-e north.

The Three Small Ships with Which Columbus Set Sail in August, 1492

The artist painted the picture according to a description of the vessels which has come down from the day of Columbus.

The sharp eyes of the pilots saw this strange movement of the needle and Columbus had difficulty in quieting their fears.

Soon more trouble arose. They were alarmed by reaching the Sargasso Sea — a vast mass of floating seaweed, grass, crabs, and tunny fish. It seemed as if they had run into an endless prairie of green grass. The mariners were afraid of striking a shoal and being wrecked. Out went the sounding lines ; but no bottom was found. On September 22, they wrote in their journal, " No more grass."

Then a third alarm startled the sailors. They sailed into a belt of trade winds that blew steadily westward. Sailing west was easy, but they began to wonder about winds to bring them back. They were very much excited over this, when suddenly the wind veered into the southwest. So this anxiety was laid to rest.

They were now a long distance from home and were beginning to despair of finding an end to the ocean. Even their brave Admiral was himself somewhat disturbed. He had figured out that he should reach land after sailing about 2500 miles. On October 7, at sunrise, his records showed that he was more than 2700 miles away from the Canary Islands. He was worried by his failure to see any signs of land. He feared that he had missed his goal. In his anxiety he shifted his course a bit to the southward.

Land, Ho! Columbus was soon encouraged by seeing flocks of small birds flying from the southwest. Land, he felt sure, must be near. On October 11, the crews were almost beside themselves with excitement. In the water they saw floating wood and land weeds. These were sure signs to the eye of the experienced mariner. At ten o'clock that night, the great Admiral was standing on the deck of his ship and peering out into the darkness. All in a flash he saw a light moving in the distance. At two o'clock in the morning of the next day, October 12, a sailor shouted that land could be seen just ahead. The joyful news was true.

An American Artist's Idea of Columbus Landing on the STRAi\oi:. biiuKts Which He Discovered in October, 1492

The sails were taken in and the ships hove to, awaiting the dawn.

At daybreak Columbus and some of his men landed on the strange shores before them. Wild with delight, the officers kissed the hand of their hero, while the sailors threw themselves on the ground at his feet. Good fortune and great riches, they hoped, were at hand. They named the little island which they discovered San Salvador, or Holy Saviour; but we do not know to this day just what island it was. Certainly it was one of the Bahamas.

The adventurers had hoped to reach India with its cities and rich treasures. They found, however, only naked savages and miserable huts. The natives had nothing of interest to the voyagers except a few gold ornaments. Colunibus called these people " Indians," thinking that they were inhabitants of some part of the East Indies.

Cruising in Strange Waters. Columbus knew that he must search further for China and the mainland of India, though he still thought they were not far away. He pushed on and in a few days reached the shores of Cuba. Still he found neither cities nor treasure. There were villages, to be sure. There were also fertile fields of Indian corn, potatoes, tobacco, and cotton. But there were no silks, spices, or precious stones.

Columbus was now deserted by one of his captains, who started back to Spain in the Pinta to claim for himself the glory of discovering the route to India. Undisturbed by this treachery, the Admiral kept up his search.

In December he reached Haiti where, he said, he found trees " so tall that they seem to touch the skies." While at Haiti, a terrible accident befell the voyagers. The flagship, Santa Maria, ran ashore and was beaten to pieces by the pounding waves.

Columbus now had but one ship, the Nina, and he was afraid to explore further without reinforcements.

So he built a fort on the shore and left in it forty men with supplies enough to last them a year.

The Return Home. With this one ship he turned homeward for more ships and men. In a short time he came upon the deserter, who was busy trading with the natives on one of the islands. The Admiral was in no mood to quarrel with him. He was, in fact, glad to have the company of the second ship on the perilous voyage home. About noon one day in March, 1493, Columbus sailed into the harbor at Palos, followed two days later by the other ship.

The town and all the country round the harbor were soon astir with excitement. Bells were rung and that night the streets were lighted with torches. Columbus was summoned to Seville and received with royal honors by the King and Queen. There he exhibited his parrots, stuffed birds, a few pearls and golden trinkets, and some Indians that he had brought with him.

All this display was very interesting, but the King and Queen wanted to know about trade and treasure. Columbus assured them that he had solved the problem of the age, that he had found a way to the " gorgeous East." Untold wealth seemed within their grasp. Another voyage, they thought, would unlock the treasure house.

III. The Later Voyages of Columbus

The Second Voyage. There was no difficulty in getting ships and men for a second expedition. They i6 were soon collected. On September 25, 1493, Columbus sailed away again, with seventeen vessels and fifteen hundred men. Early in November they arrived in Caribbean waters. There they cruised for a long time in a vain search for the cities of the East.

They found that the little colony of forty men left in Haiti had entirely disappeared. Not a man remained alive to tell the story of what had happened. Ruins of the fort and the bones of the dead seemed to point to a desperate fight with the natives.

On this voyage, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and many other islands were discovered. The southern coast of Cuba was explored. Forts were built here and there. The beginnings of Spanish rule in the New World were made. Missionaries started their long and toilsome work of converting the natives to the Christian faith. This had been one of the motives of Queen Isabella in furnishing money for the voyages.

Some gold mines were discovered in Haiti, then called Hispaniola, or little Spain. Natives were captured, enslaved, and put to work in the mines.

Cruising about in strange waters and finding strange lands was all very exciting, but it was not the object of the Admiral's expedition. His heart was bent on trade with the golden East, and he seemed still far from his goal. There were as yet no great treasures for his sovereigns or for himself. This was the sad news he had to report on his return home in 1496.

The Third Voyage. Columbus, discouraged but not willing to give up his task, secured men and ships for a third voyage in 1498. This time he steered far to the south and touched the shoulder of a land destined to be called South America. He sailed along the coast for some distance between the mouths of the Orinoco River and the island of Trinidad. This shore, he was convinced, did not appear on any of the known maps of Asia. He therefore came to the conclusion that he had discovered new territory. What it was and how large it was, he did not have the slightest idea.

Columbus was anxious to explore this land, but he was worn out by endless searching for the East. His eyes had grown dim with ceaseless watching of the tossing waves. He was sick in body, as well as mind. So he sailed northward to the Spanish settlements in Haiti.

There he found the Spaniards quarreling among themselves. A Spanish commander who came upon the scene laid the blame for the trouble on Columbus and threw him into jail. Later he sent the proud Admiral back to Spain a prisoner. So it happened that the third voyage ended with Columbus marching through the streets of Cadiz in chains.

When the good Queen heard of this wrong to the brave old man, she shed tears and ordered him released. Columbus had endured taunts, insults, and defeat so long that he was now broken in spirit. After all, he had not found the way to India with its trade and treasures. When he came into the presence of the King and Queen he threw himself upon the ground, sobbing like a little child.

The Fourth and Last Voyage. Touched by the sorrows of the man, the King and Queen gave him money for another voyage, his fourth and last. In 1502, he sailed away from Cadiz with four small ships and one hundred fifty men. On this trip he hoped to reach the coast of China and turn southward to the Indies. He was again disappointed.

For several months he coasted along Central America, trying to find the mouth of the Ganges River in India ! After months of vain searching, he decided to give up the quest and return to Haiti. On his way he was shipwrecked at Jamaica, where he spent a terrible winter of misery and starvation before relief came. In November, 1504, he was back again in Spain, home safe from his last voyage.

A few days after his arrival his good friend and protector, Queen Isabella, died. There was now no great and powerful person to plead his cause or give him aid. Others were busy with their own plans for discovery and exploration. Worn out by his labors and in dire poverty, he dragged through two weary winters.

At last, on May 20, 1506, he died at Valladolid, a small town in the interior of Spain. The news of his death aroused but little interest in the place where his troubled life came to a close. The man whose name had been upon every tongue and whose fame had spread to the far corners of Europe died in obscurity. He passed away without any idea of the meaning of his work for the world. He did not even know that he had discovered a new continent. He thought he had found a water route to the East. He believed that he had helped to solve the problem of the age.

IV. The Problem Solved

Vasco da Gama and the Route around Africa. The

disappointment of Columbus during his last days was increased by the good fortune of two Portuguese sailors. One of them, Bartholomew Diaz, had rounded the Cape of Good Hope six years before Columbus made his first voyage. In 1497 Vasco da Gama, proudly flying the flag of Portugal, doubled the Cape and sailed on to India. In 1499 he returned in triumph. He brought with him spices, silks, rubies, emeralds, carved ivory, crimson satins, and no end of precious stuflFs,

There was no doubt about his success. There was also no doubt that the Portuguese would get rich from the Eastern trade thus opened. Filled with pride, the King of Portugal wrote a long and boastful letter to the King of Spain. He told of the great wealth he expected to win. Compared with this trade, the work of Columbus seemed for a time poor and trivial.

The Name " America." As if to make ill luck worse, Columbus was not even honored in the naming of the New World. By a strange freak of fortune it was named after another Italian, a man of much less importance, Amerigo Vespucci. This sailor was for a time engaged in trade in Spain and Portugal. He records that he made several voyages to the New World and he wrote letters about his adventures.

One of his letters fell into the hands of a map maker in France. In a book published in 1507, this geographer suggested that the New World be called America in honor of its supposed discoverer, Amerigo. For no very good reason, the name was adopted. So the vast continents that barred the way to the Far East were named, not the Columbias, but the Americas. Columbus had gone to his long home, and it mattered not. In the fullness of time he was to have honor enough.

What part of the world is called the "Far East"? Why did the people of Europe wish to find a way by which ships could sail directly to the Far East ? Why was it easier and quicker in those days to travel by water than by land ? In what ways can we travel most quickly to-day ? Can goods be carried to-day more cheaply by land or by water ? Find on the maps Constantinople, Venice, Genoa, India, China, Portugal, Spain, France, and England.

I. How did it happen that many people in the old times believed that the world was flat ? What made it hard for them to think that the earth was round like a ball ? Many people, even before the time of Columbus, were certain that the world was round; why did not. some of them try to reach the Far East by sailing west from Europe ?

II. Why was it hard for Columbus to get sailors for his first voyage ? Remembering what he had to do to get his sailors, what kind of men do you think they were ? What is meant by a "mutiny" on shipboard ? Mutiny on a ship is held to be a very serious crime ; why is it more serious than similar action would be on land ? What is a compass, and why is it useful to sailors I Find the meaning of the following words : pilot, mariner, shoal, sounding line. Name as many ways as you can think of In which the first voyage of Columbus differed from a voyage that one might take to-day across the Atlantic ocean. Find on the map Palos, the Bahama Islands, San Salvador, Cuba, Haiti.

III. Give as many reasons as you can showing why Columbus found less difficulty in getting men and money for his second voyage. Find on the map Porto Rico, Jamaica, the Caribbean Sea. Why was the second voyage a disappointment to Columbus and to the King and Queen of Spain .'' The text states that the natives of Haiti were "enslaved" ; what Is a slave, and how does he differ from a free man ^ What is a missionary, and why did the Queen of Spain send missionaries to the new lands ? Why was Columbus so discouraged after his third voyage ? Find on the map the "shoulder" of South America. Find the Orinoco River, the Island of Trinidad. What did Columbus hope to discover on his fourth voyage ^ Locate Cadiz, Central America, Valladolid. Make a list of words that describe Columbus ; for example,

"Columbus was patient, , ," and as many more words

as you can think of telling something Important about him.

IV. Why Is the name of Bartholomew Diaz remembered ? Why did the voyage of Vasco da Gama seem at the time to be more important than the discoveries of Columbus .'' Locate the Cape of Good Hope. How did it happen that the name "America" was given to the New World ?

Albert Bushnell Hart's Source Readers in American History, No. I, Colonial Children, pp. 4-6; Eva March Tappan's American Hero Stories, pp. 1-13 ; Gertrude V. Southworth's Builders of Our Country, pp. 24-36 ; H. A. Guerber's Story of the Thirteen Colonies,' pp. 31-62 ; Charles A. McMurry's Pioneers on Land and Sea, pp. 122-160 ; Mildred Stapley's Christopher Columbus in True Stories of Great Americans.

I. How much longer did it take Columbus to cross the Atlantic than it takes the fastest passenger vessels to-day .'' 2. To what country does Porto Rico now belong? 3. When did Spain lose this island ?

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The Great Voyages

Chapter II

The Problem : How to Reach Asia by Way of the New Lands. Columbus, at his death in 1506, left to later explorers a great problem. That was to find out the relation of the new lands he had discovered to the continent of Asia for which adventurers were searching. For many years they thought, as he did, that those lands were outlying parts of the distant Indies or China. They had no idea that a vast stretch of two unknown continents extended all the way from the Arctic Ocean to the Antarctic Ocean, They had no idea that the Pacific Ocean, far wider than the Atlantic, lay between the new lands and Asia.

Explorers wondered how they could reach China or India by overland journeys. Navigators naturally thought of some waterway through or around the newly discovered lands to the rich countries of the Far East. When warriors heard rumors of cities and gold not far away, they dreamed of conquest.

The Men Who Were to Solve the Problem. After Columbus had broken the path, others found it easy to follow. Men of nearly every nation joined in the work. They were so numerous that it is impossible to

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The New World in the Period of Exploration mention a few without doing injustice to those left unnamed.

Four, however, are of special interest to students of American history — John Cabot, whose explorations gave England her claims in North America ; Magellan, who first sailed around the world and thus showed that America was far from Asia ; Verrazano, who made western voyages for the King of France ; and Cartier, who opened the St. Lawrence Valley to the French.

I. The English King Takes Part in Exploration

John Cabot. About the time that Columbus left Italy there lived in Venice an Italian merchant and mariner by the name of John Cabot. He too was probably born in Genoa, the home of Columbus. Like Columbus, also, he knew about the trade with India and China. Once upon a time he had visited Arabia and he had made inquiries there about the far Eastern lands.