hence treaties with the English were always hard to enforce. Few Indians have come down in history as leaders of their people. Wahunsonacock, commonly called Powhatan by the Virginians, King Philip in New England, Pontiac and Corn Planter in the West, George Guess who invented a Cherokee alphabet, and later Tecumseh, Chief Joseph, and Geronimo the Apache, are almost the only great names.

12. REVIEW

Early American history was simply a part of the history of the nations of Europe that made discoveries and planted colonies in the western hemisphere. They were aroused by that inteliectual movement which we call the Renaissance, one phase of which was greater interest in seafaring. The interruption of trade with central Asia, caused by the invasion of the Turks, was an additional reason for trying to reach India by a new sea route.

Although the Europeans were not aware of it until some years later, the Atlantic coast of our country abounds in broad rivers and good harbors. From the water line the land rises to the summit of the Appalachian Mountains and then descends to the fertile St. Lawrence and Mississippi river basins. Westward the land again rises until it reaches the high Rockies, and the great upland beyond; and beyond the Sierra Nevada it slopes down to the Pacific coast. Easy divides and passes connect the various parts of the country with one another.

A good share of this broad land abounded in animal life, furnishing food and clothing to the natives. The Indians also had corn, potatoes, and tobacco, none of which were then known in Europe. Most of the tribes were still in the savage stage of civilization, though many of them lived in villages, and the Mexicans and Peruvians built stone cities and temples. The Indians provided themselves with tools and utensils. They were excellent warriors, but never understood how to unite in strong and numerous communities.

References and Topics

References Bearing on the Text and Topics

Geography and Maps.

17

See maps, pp. 3, 5, 6, II. Avery, U.S., I. 5, 10, 18, 78.- Coman, Indust. Hist., front., Epoch Maps, no. 1. Farrand, Basis of Am. Hist. Shepherd, Hist. Atlas, 187, 188.

– Bogart, Econ. Hist., 4, 3.

—

Secondary. Bassett, U.S., ch. i. - Becker, Beginnings, 1-17. Cheyney, Europ. Background. Farrand, Basis of Am. Hist. - Fiske, Discov. of Am., I. 1–147, 256–334, II: 294–364. Hodge, Handbook of Am. Indians. Morgan, Am. Aborigines. Powell, Physiographic Regions. Shaler, Nature and Man in Am., 166–283. — Winsor, America, IV. i-xxx.

-

Sources. Hart, Source Book, § 9; Source Readers, I. §§ 8, 19-33, 37-44, III. §§ 57-69. Old South Leaflets, nos. 30, 32.

See also New Engl. Hist. Teachers' Assoc., Hist. Sources, § 65; Syllabus, 167–168, 293. Illustrative. Leland, Algonquin Legends of New Engl. — Longfellow, Hiawatha. - Lummis, Strange Corners of Our Country. Bridal of Pennacook.

Pictures. Avery, U.S., I.

Whittier,

Catlin, North Am. Indians. — Mc

Mentor,

Kenney and Hall, Hist. and Biography of the Indian Tribes. serial nos. 7, 34, 60, 83, 92, 113, 116. — U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, Reports. Winsor, America, I.

(1) When and how was gunpowder first used in Europe? [§ 2] (2) What were the first books printed in America? [§ 2] — (3) How did the mariner's compass come into use in Europe? [§ 2] (4) What

five harbors of North America were first located by Europeans? [§ 5] (5) What are the best passes across the Rocky Mountains? [§ 6] (6) What were the best waterways (with portages) from the Atlantic to the Mississippi? [§ 8] — (7) Indian mounds. [§ 10] — (8) The Indian totem system. [§ 11]

(9) Adventures of Marco Polo. [§ 3] (10) Was there ever a Sir John Mandeville? [§ 3] — (11) Prince Henry the Navigator. [§ 4] (12) Introduction of corn, potatoes, and tobacco into Europe. [§ 9] (13) Indian remains in your neighborhood. [§ 10] — (14) Ancient buildings and monuments in Mexico and Central America. [§ 10] — (15) Peruvian roads and buildings. [§ 10] — (16) Account of one of the Indians mentioned in § 11.

CHAPTER II

THE CENTURY OF DISCOVERY (1492-1604)

13. FORERUNNINGS OF DISCOVERY (1000-1492)

UNTIL about 1500, the existence of any western continent was undreamed of in Europe, although in far-off Iceland there

LEIF ERICSON'S SHIP.

navigators.

were records of a

saga," or memorized tradition, telling how Leif Ericson- "Leif the Lucky"-reached the mainland, far south of Greenland, in the year IOOO. Another saga tells that in 1007 one Karlsefni landed there in a fine country, which has never been identified, abounding in flat stones and "wineberries" and fierce natives. No evidence has ever been found to show that Leif's discovery of North America was known to Italian or Spanish

Their incentive to western voyages was the hope of finding a direct western route to India, especially after Bartholomew Diaz of Portugal reached the Cape of Good Hope (1487)

Columbus the Discoverer

19

and saw a broad sea beyond, on which ships could undoubtedly sail to Asia, though by a long and roundabout route.

To Christopher Columbus, born (about 1451) in the Italian city of Genoa, is due the credit of applying the science of his time to this problem of reaching India. Before he was thirty years old he formed a plan of sailing westward to Asia, which he calculated to be not far from 2500 miles distant from Europe. Directly, or through his brother Bartholomew, he appealed to the kings of Portugal, Spain, England, and France to fit him out; and all declined the splendid opportunity. Finally, he turned again to Spain and appealed to the zeal of Queen Isabella in behalf of the distant heathen, and aroused her counselors by depicting rich results of conquest and power. Isabella at last agreed to fit out an expedition in behalf of her kingdom of Castile.

14. COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER (1492–1502)

Furnished with the queen's money, Columbus got together three little ships called caravels, the Santa Maria, Niña, and Pinta, carrying 90 men in all. He sailed from Palos early in August, 1492, and from the Canary Islands five weeks later; thenceforward his sole reliance was his own unconquerable will. When the crews threatened to mutiny unless he would turn back, he pleaded and threatened and even deceived them by underestimating the ship's daily run.

On Friday, October 12, 1492 (October 21 of our calendar), thirty-three days after losing sight of land, and then distant 3230 nautical miles from Palos, the caravels came upon an island, to which, says Columbus, "I gave the name of San Salvadore, in commemoration of his Divine Majesty who has wonderfully granted all this. The Indians call it Guanahani." This landfall was probably Watling Island of the Bahama group. A few days later Columbus reached the coast of Cuba, and then Hispaniola, now Haiti. He was deeply disappointed not to find towns and civilized communities, for to the day of