Leaders in making America; an elementary history of the United States

Front matter

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Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Christopher Columbus, Seeking an All-Water Route

from Europe to India, Discovers America. . . 1

Chapter I

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, SEEKING AN ALL-WATER ROUTE FROM EUROPE TO INDIA, DISCOVERS

AMERICA

THE PROBLEM FACED BY THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN EUROPE FOUR AND A HALF CENTURIES AGO

Let us imagine ourselves living in the city of Genoa in the last half of the fifteenth century. As we go about, we hear much talk of the far-away lands in the East, where there are golden palaces, beautiful rivers crossed by marble bridges, and countless treasures of gold, silver, and jewels.

Listening with breathless interest to these wonderful tales, we long to know more about India, China, Japan, and other Eastern countries, for they seem to us like fairy-land. So we eagerly take up the maps of the world which geog¬ raphers of the day have drawn, but on them we find almost nothing except Europe, northern Africa, and the western part of Asia. The rest is merely outlined, an indistinct, unexplored region.

Even the wisest men of this time have little knowledge of the countries which later came to be known as central

or eastern Asia, while Australia, North America, and South

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America play as small a part in their world as the regions about the North Pole and South Pole do in ours.

Much talk is heard in Genoa about the increase of trade with the countries of the East, for the products of those distant lands have long been of great importance and value to Italy, the central market through which passes the trade of western Europe.

In Genoa and Venice live many merchants and ship¬ owners who have become rich from this trade. Great mer¬ chant fleets sail from Italian ports, loaded with such prod¬ ucts as wool, leather, cloth, and furs. Homeward bound they bring from the Far East rich cloths, carpets, and rugs, as well as silks, spices, perfumes, and precious stones.

Many of these goods have to be brought on the backs of camels, horses, and mules in caravans all the way from Persia, India, and China down to the ports where the ships are waiting for them. We easily picture the long lines of these beasts of burden winding their way to the seacoast.

This method of transportation was slow and costly, compared with ours of to-day with our railroads and swiftmoving trains. It was full of danger, too, for the caravans were often plundered by wild tribes and forced to give up part or all of their goods.

At one time there had been three main routes by which the caravans from the inland regions reached the sea. But the most northern of these, which passed through the Black Sea, was cut off when the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453. This was a hard blow to Genoa, for her merchants had always used this route.

Moreover, in other cities of Europe also it was now feared that their trade with the East would be ruined should the Turks gain control of the other two routes, as seemed likely.

Men said: “We must do something to save this Eastern trade from disaster. A new route must be found—an all¬ water route—to the East.”

How could this be done? Take up the globe and com¬ pare it with the world as geographers knew it then. How would you have tried to solve the problem had you been a brave sea-captain of that time? Think hard before you answer.

Portugal and Spain, the two nations that sent most sail¬ ors to sea, took the lead in searching for an all-water route to the East. Portugal set out to find it by sailing down the west coast of Africa. It was very slow work, but at last a bold sea-captain of that country reached the most southern point of Africa, and the King of Portugal named it the Cape of Good Hope. Can you guess why ?

This was in 1487. Ten years later Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese sea-captain, reached India by sailing around the southern coast of Africa. He was the first man to find an all-water route to the East.

Other fearless seamen ventured far to the west upon the unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean. About the year

1000, Leif Ericsson, a hardy Northman, sailing westward with a crew of thirty-five men, had landed on the shores of North America, probably somewhere on the New Eng¬ land coast, and had spent a winter there in rude huts. He called the country Vinland, on account of the grapes that grew there. Other Northmen had made similar voyages, but as no permanent settlements were made, these expeditions were forgotten and nothing of importance grew out of them.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS UNDERSTANDS THE PROBLEM OF

THE AGE

Nearly five centuries later and before the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama made his famous voyage, a daring sea-captain, sailing under the Spanish flag, had tried to solve the same problem by sailing west. You know him as Christopher Columbus. He was not a Spaniard. Let us see how it came about that Spain was the country to send him out and gain the glory for what he did.

Columbus was born in Genoa. His father was a poor man, who earned his living by getting wool ready for the spinners. We do not know much about the boy Christopher, but we may be sure that he was fond of playing on the wharfs near his home. Here he could see hundreds of vessels coming and going. He must have spent many hours watching their white sails. Most likely he was fond of the water, and while he was quite young he may have learned how to sail boats.

But he could not play all the time.

Like other boys, he had work to do.

While learning his father’s trade, he also went to school, where he learned reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and mapdrawing. All were of great use to him in later life. Often, while idling on the wharfs, he must have heard sailors talking about how the Turks had shut up the

Black Sea route to the Far East, and about the need of finding a new route over the ocean.

He Was Fond of Playing on the Wharfs.

COLUMBUS LISTENS, STUDIES, AND BECOMES A SAILOR

When Columbus had grown to be a man, he went to live in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where one of his brothers lived. There, also, as in Genoa, were many sailors, and Columbus kept hearing more and more about the need of a water route to India and the East. He listened earnestly to the sailors’ stories; he studied maps and charts, he thought a great deal; he sailed on many voyages himself. He believed that the earth was round like a globe, not flat, as many said, and he tried to find proof of this.

After long years of study, he felt sure that he could reach India by sailing straight west across the Atlantic Ocean. He would go in the direction just opposite to that in which India was supposed to be. “The way to the East is by the West,” said he, “and if I can reach India by sail¬ ing west, I shall prove also that the earth is round.

Again take up your globe and study it. But you must remember that Columbus knew nothing about North America or South America, and that he believed India was no farther to the west from Spain than the New World was later found to be. Although mistaken in this belief, his reasoning was good. Let us try to follow his story.

THE STORY OF COLUMBUS IS ONE OF STRUGGLE AND

GREAT COURAGE

Columbus was not only poor but he had few friends. He kept saying to himself: “How can I get money and help to make my great dream come true?”

First, he laid his plans before King John of Portugal, who would make no promise to help him. Then taking his little son Diego (de-a'go) by the hand, father and son started across the mountains to Spain. We may picture them hurrying along the rough mountain roads, hardly stop¬ ping when the little boy was tired, so eager was Columbus to find some one to believe in him and provide the money needed for his plans.

When he came to a place near the town of Pa'los, he left Diego with an aunt, and set out alone to find the king and queen, Fer'di-nand and Is'a-bel-la. Columbus had a hard time getting them to listen to him, for at that time a war was going on in the south of Spain between the Span¬ iards and the Moors. At last they gave him a hearing. They had asked a number of wise men to be present. Some of them smiled at Columbus for saying that the earth was round like a globe. Others said: “He may be right.” But the king and queen would not help him. Sick at heart, therefore, he planned to leave Spain and go to France.

Thus far he had failed. Men called him a crazy dreamer. Even the boys made fun of him when he walked through a village with sad face and threadbare clothing. Yet not without hope, and with faith in himself, he started bravely for the court of France, again taking Diego with him.

On his way, Columbus met with a good prior of a con¬ vent who listened closely to his stoiy and to his plans and then wrote at once to Queen Isabella, who knew the prior and believed in him as a wise and good man. This letter proved a help to Columbus, for a little later the queen sent for him ; and promised to furnish men and vessels for the voyage.

COLUMBUS, THE COMMANDER OF THREE LITTLE VESSELS,

SAILS ON THE SANTA MARIA

Yet even with the queen’s help, he still had many trials before him. Sailors were hard to get, for they were afraid to go far out to sea. The ocean was unknown. But in

The First Voyage of Columbus, and Places of Interest in Connection with

His Later Voyages.

the course of time three small vessels with 120 men were

ready to start. The vessels were not larger than many of

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our fishing-boats to-day. The largest was the San'ta Ma-ri'a, upon which Columbus sailed.

A half-hour before sunrise on Friday morning, August 3, 1492, the little fleet put to sea from the port of Palos. It was a sorrowful time for the sailors and their friends. They believed that the vessels would be lost; that the sailors would never again see home and family; and when, a month later, the Canary Islands had faded from sight, the sailors cried like children.

Constant worries lay before them. Soon the compassneedle no longer pointed to the North Star. The sailors did not understand and were terrified. A few days later the fleet entered a vast stretch of seaweed. They feared that the vessels would stick fast in the grass or run upon rocks lying just below the surface of the water. But when the wind blew up a little stronger, the vessels passed on in safety.

Entering the belt of trade-winds, the ships were steadily driven westward. “We are lost! We can never see our friends again !” cried the sailors, and they begged Columbus to turn about and try for home. He refused. They be¬ came angry, called him crazy, and even wished to kill him. They talked of pushing him, overboard some night when he was looking at the stars.

Columbus knew his life was in danger, but he would not give up his high purpose. He still had faith and hope. The greater the danger, the more firmly he set himself to meet it.

At last, on October 11, birds and broken bits of trees, appeared. No one slept that night. Every one was straining his eyes to catch the first glimpse of land.

About ten o’clock in the evening Columbus himself saw a moving light in the distance. It looked like a torch in the hand of a man running along the shore.

COLUMBUS GOES ASHORE THE DISCOVERER OF A NEW WORLD

Early in the morning little boats were lowered, and everybody went ashore. Columbus was dressed in a robe

The Landing of Christopher Columbus.

of bright scarlet and carried in his hand the royal flag of Spain. As soon as he reached the land, he fell on his knees, and with tears in his eyes kissed the earth and thanked God for the safe voyage. He found a strange people, who worshipped the white men, believing they were beings from the sky and that the vessels with their spreading sails were huge white-winged birds. Columbus called the darkskinned natives Indians, because he supposed he was in the East Indies, and he named the island upon which he had landed San Salvador, which means Holy Saviour.

Sailing on, he reached the coast of Cuba, and thinking he was in Japan, he called the island Ci-pan'go (Japan). Here he landed and took up his search for the cities of Asia, which were said to be so rich in gold, spices, and jewels. But he found no cities; he found no gold, no jewels, and no spices.

On Christmas morning he had a serious mishap. While it was still dark, one of his little vessels ran ashore on a sand-bar and was knocked to pieces by the waves. An¬ other of his vessels had deserted the fleet, and now he had but one left. On January 4, 1493, therefore, he sailed for Spain. After a very stormy voyage, on March 15 he en¬ tered the harbor of Palos. A day of rejoicing followed. The people stopped all business to give him a welcome. His praise was now on every man’s lips.

Soon he went to Bar-ce-lo'na, where he was honored by a street parade. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent for him. When he came into their presence, they honored him by rising. As he knelt to kiss their hands, they com¬ manded him to rise and sit with them as an equal.

The idle dreamer had become a great man. Everybody was eager to share his honor and his fame. Many were now ready to join him on a second voyage.

In September, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen vessels and 1,500 men. Some of them were from leading families of Spain, for they expected to bring back much wealth from the “Indies” and then to live as grandees. They reached Hayti, but they did not find the gold and jewels they sought. After three years Columbus sailed back to Spain. He made two more voyages. Returning from the fourth voyage, he arrived only a short time before Queen Isabella died. He had suffered many hardships and disappointments, he was broken in health, and felt that he had little to live for.

On May 20, 1506, he died of a broken heart, not know¬ ing how great a work he had done. Up to the very last he believed he had only sailed to the Indies; he did not know that he had discovered a new world.

HOW THE NEW WORLD WAS NAMED

From what you have learned, you will probably think that the New World should have been named after Colum¬ bus. Why it was not, a few words will tell. After Colum¬ bus had led the way, many other explorers sailed for the West. Among them was Amer'i-cus Ves-pu'cius. How many voyages he made, and just when he made them, we do not know. But it is thought that he sailed along the coast of Bra-ziL, or perhaps along a part of the eastern coast of South America lying south of Brazil.

The descriptions that Vespucius wrote about what he had seen in his voyaging were read by German geographers.

who liked them because they were so interesting. One of these geographers, believing that Americus Vespucius was the first man to discover the New World, called it America after him. Thus it came about that the land discovered by Columbus was called America.

1. What was the problem of the age at the time when Columbus was

seeking aid from Spain?

2. Why was it so important to find an all-water route to India, China,

and Japan?

3. With a globe to help you, find out how Columbus came to believe that

he could reach the Far East by sailing west.

4. Why did many people laugh at him?

5. Imagine yourself one of the sailors with him on his first voyage and

tell your classmates about his trials.

6. How many days does it take for a steamship to cross the Atlantic to¬

day? How long did it take Columbus? How do you account for the difference?

7. Trace on the map or globe the voyage of Columbus and that of Vasco

da Gama. Which seemed to be the more important at that time ? Give reasons for your answer.

8. What was the great work of Columbus? Why was the New World

not named for him?

9. Give as many reasons as you can for believing that Columbus was a

great man.

Chapter II The American Indians: A Strange New People

AND HOW THEY LIVE

It took the white men a long time to find out the habits and customs of the Indians. But let us briefly notice a few things about them before going on with our story.

They did not live in close groups like the people in Europe, but were scattered in many groups all over the country. Yet many of them were related, so that really they formed five great families. Those we know most about were the three living east of the Mis'sis-sip'pi River. They were the Southern Indians, the Ir'o-quois, and the Al-gon'quins.

Although the Indians of the different tribes did not look alike, we may say that, as a rule, they had straight black hair, small black eyes, high cheek-bones, and copper-colored skins. Their dress was made largely of the skins of wild animals. Instead of leather shoes, like ours, they wore moc¬ casins made of skins.

Many of the Indian tribes lived in little villages made up of wigwams, each of which, small as it was, provided a home for one family. The wigwams were tents made of skins, mats, or bark. Sometimes a bear’s hide was used to cover

THE AMERICAN INDIANS the entrance. On the bare earth, in the centre of the wig¬ wam, the fire was built, and the smoke was let out through

In Each Wigwam Lived a Whole Family.

a hole at the top. There was no carpet, but soft skins kept the feet out of the mud or off the frozen ground.

Some tribes had other kinds of dwellings. The Iro¬ quois, for instance, built huge log cabins called “long houses,” with rooms along the sides screened off by skins.

Some of these houses were one hundred feet long, and as many as twenty families with all their relatives could live in one of them.

The Indians of the Southwest had the strangest dwell¬ ings of all. They were made of a-do'be, or clay baked in the sun, and were called pueblos. The chief ones wen;

many times larger than the “long houses/’ and the people of a good-sized town of to¬ day could live in a single pueblo. There

was one large enough to furnish homes for five thousand persons. Indeed, each pueblo was a kind of apartmenthouse, town, and fort all in one.

Some were two stories high, some were four, and others as high as seven stories. Each story was set back a little from the one below it, so that the roof of the first became the sidewalk, or street, of the second, and so on to the top.

Nobody ever called out, “ Don’t slam the door,” to the Indian boys and girls who lived in these pueblos. For ever} 7 one had to climb to the top of his home on a ladder

An Iroquois “Long House.”

THE AMERICAN INDIANS and let himself in through an opening in the roof. Can you guess why they chose such a strange way of getting into their houses? It was because they thought that if the en¬ trance was on top, it would not be easy for an enemy to surprise them.

Sometimes these strange pueblos were perched high on

From the American Museum of Natural History., New York.

Southwestern Indian Group

the cliffs to make it still harder for enemies to reach them. The people living in these strongholds were called cliffdwellers. They built on high places because they were weak and afraid of their enemies.

The strong tribes always built their pueblos close to a river or lake. In this fish could be caught, and in the gardens near by the squaws could till the soil.

THE INDIAN BRAVE AND THE SQUAW

You may sometimes hear it said that the squaw had to do all the work. People who say this believe that the In¬ dian brave was lazy, and wished to make a slave of his squaw.

This is not true, for the man had his own work just as the woman had hers. Hunt¬ ing and fishing were his share; and any tribe whose men did not keep them¬ selves trained for fighting and on the watch for foes would soon have

been killed or made slaves of by some other tribe.

The Indian brave made the arrows, bows, canoes, and other tools which he might need. But he felt too proud to do what he thought was a squaw’s work.

The squaw kept busy about the home. She cooked the

A Light Bark Canoe Easily Carried.

THE AMERICAN INDIANS food and made the clothing. She tended the patches of corn, melons, beans, squashes, and pumpkins. In doing this she scratched the ground with simple tools like pointed sticks, or stone spades, or hoes. She also gathered wood, made fires, and set up the wigwam.

THE INDIAN BOY HAS TO LEARN MANY THINGS

The Indian boy did not go to a school like yours. His lessons were learned out-of-doors, and his books were the woods and the lakes and the running streams about him. By watching, and listening, and trying, he learned to swim like a fish, to dive like a beaver, to climb trees like a squirrel, and to run like a deer. As soon as he could hold a bow and arrow, he was taught to shoot at a mark and to throw the tomahawk.

He had also to learn how to set traps for wild animals and how to hunt them. He learned to make the calls of wild birds and beasts. For if he could howl like a wolf, quack like a duck, and gobble like a turkey, he could get nearer his game when on the hunt. He had to learn how to track his enemies and how to conceal his own tracks when he wished to get away from his enemies. He had to become a brave, strong warrior, and be able to kill his foe and prevent his foe from killing him.

For, after all, the most important part of his work when he grew up was to fight the enemies of his tribe. If he did not make war upon them, they would attack him. So whether he wished or not, he had to fight.

HOW THE INDIAN TRAVELS

The Indian’s way of travelling from place to place was very simple. When he was looking for fresh hunting-grounds or new streams or lakes for fishing, or when he was with a war-party, as a rule he went on foot. Sometimes he took a forest path or trail, but it was much easier to travel by water. Then he found his light canoe very useful. Two men could easily carry it, and even one could carry it over his shoul¬ ders.

In the winter, when the lakes and rivers were frozen, the canoe was no longer useful. Then, if the Indian brave wished to go far, he used his snow-shoes. These were two or three feet long and a foot or more wide to keep him from sinking into the snow.

THE INDIANS AND THE WHITE MEN TEACH EACH OTHER

MANY THINGS

Before the white men came, most Indians lived very simple lives as hunters, fishermen, and warriors. They had dogs, but there were no native animals which they could tame to give them milk, like our cows, or to draw their loads, like our oxen and mules, or to carry them, like our horses.

Before the white men came, the Indian had never seen a sword, a gun, an iron axe, nor a knife made of metal.

THE AMERICAN INDIANS

But he soon learned how to use all these things. They made his life much easier, for he could get more food with a gun than with a bow and arrow, a stone tomahawk, or a hatchet.

You can see, then, that the coming of the white man greatly changed the red man’s life. But the Indian also changed the life of the white man. For when the early set¬ tler went out into the woods to live, he found it best to live much as the Indians did.

He had to learn how to track his foe and how to con¬ ceal his own trail through the forest. He even dressed like the Indian. He ate the same kind of food, and, like the Indians, he many times suffered for want of food.

Let us not forget, too, that more than once when food was scarce for all, the hungry settlers were kept from starv¬ ing by the food which friendly Indians shared with them.

1. How was an Indian wigwam made? Perhaps you can make a model

of a wigwam. What was the “long house”? Find out what kind of shelter the Indian used in your section of the United States.

2. What was the work of the Indian brave? of the squaw? Do you

think there was a fair division of labor between them?

3. Imagine yourself an Indian boy living in a wigwam, and tell where you

would learn your lessons and the things you would learn to do.

4. Tell all you can about the bark canoe and the snow-shoe and their use

by the Indian.

5. How did the white man change the life of the Indian, and how did the

Indian change the life of the white man?

6. Do you know of any Indians in America to-day? How do they live

and dress?

Chapter III Spain Sends Her Explorers And Leaders Into

THE NEW WORLD

A FEARLESS SEAMAN, FERDINAND MAGELLAN, FINDS A NEW ROUTE AND PROVES THAT THE WORLD IS ROUND

Even after Columbus discovered America, men did not know certainly that they could reach the land of silks and spices by sailing west. The honor of making sure of this belongs to Fer'di-nand Ma-gel'lan.

He was a Portuguese sea-captain. 'While a young man, he went to Lisbon, as Columbus had done. There he heard much talk about the great voyages in search of the Far East. One of these had been made by Vasco da Gama, who, you remember, in 1497 sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India.

For several years Magellan himself had been going to India by that route, but it took too long, and after study¬ ing maps and charts, he believed that a passage through America would be shorter.

The king of his country refusing to aid him, like Colum¬ bus he turned to Spain. That country, pleased with having helped Columbus, provided a fleet of 5 vessels and 280 men. With these in September, 1519, Magellan put to sea.

Many dangers awaited him. He had to face heavy

SPAIN SENDS HER EXPLORERS storms, the fear that food and water might not hold out, and angry sailors, who were only too ready to do him harm and make the voyage fail in order to get back home.

But the ships sailed forward, and at length the fleet en¬ tered what we now call the Strait of Magellan, at the southern end of South America. On every side were frown¬ ing mountains. The sailors begged him to return. “I will go on,” said Magellan, “if we have to eat the leather off the ship’s yards.” When, a little later, he passed out of the strait and beheld the ocean, he wept for joy. Still heading westward, at last they reached some islands, which are now part of the Phil'ip-pines. Here Magellan took part in a fight between some native tribes, and was slain.

The men who still remained, having lost their brave captain, pulled up the anchors and sailed westward for home. The voyage was a long one. Not until September, 1522, nearly three years after setting out with Magellan, did they arrive at the home port. Only one of the five vessels and eighteen starving sailors made a safe return.

Such was the sad end of the most wonderful voyage that had ever been made. Men knew now that the land discovered by Columbus was a great new world.

VASCO NUNEZ BALBOA CLIMBS A MOUNTAIN TO DISCOVER

THE PACIFIC OCEAN

Those who followed after Columbus found no spices, jewels, and precious stuffs, but they discovered rich mines of gold and silver, and new fruits and plants. So others kept coming to seek their fortunes as mine-owners and planters.

Among these fortune-hunters was Balboa, who settled on the Isthmus of Panama. He had heard from an Indian chief that beyond the mountains was a great sea, and far to the south a country rich in gold, and he started in search of them.