HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. PART I. VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. EXTENDING FROM THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, BY COLUMBUS, IN ANALYSIS. Subject of CHAPTER I. EARLY SPANISH VOYAGES, CONQUESTS, AND DISCOVERIES, of Chapter L IN THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF NORTH AMERICA. DIVISIONS. The Divis I Discovery of America by Columbus.—II. Juan Ponce de Leon in ter 1 of America by Columbus. a Oct. 12, 1492, Old Style; or, Oct 21. New I. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS.-1. "The 1. Discovery discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, may be regarded as the most important event that has ever resulted from individual genius and enterprise. Although other claims to the honor of discovering the Western hemisphere have been advanced, and with some appearance of probability, yet no clear historic evidence exists in their favor. It has been asserted that an Iceland* bark, in the early part of the eleventh century, having been driven southwest from Greenlandt by adverse winds, touched upon the coast of Labrador ;-that subsequent voyages were made; and that colonies were established in Nova Scotia,§ or in Newfoundland.|| claims to the Discovery. 3. Icelandic claim. b. 1001. * GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.-1. Iceland is an island in the Northern Ocean, remarkable for its boiling springs (the Geysers), and its flaming volcano, Mount Hecla. It was discovered by a Norwegian pirate, in the year 831, and was soon after settled by the Norwegians; but it is supposed that the English and the Irish had previously made settlements there, which were abandoned before the time of the Norwegian discovery. ↑ Greenland is an extensive tract of barren country, in the northern frozen regions; separated from the western continent by Baffin's Bay and Davis's Strait. It was discovered by the Norwegians thirty years after the discovery of Iceland, and a thriving colony was planted there; but from 1406 until after the discovery by Columbus, all correspondence with Greenland was cut off, and all knowledge of the country seemed to be buried in oblivion. Labrador, or New Britain, is that part of the American coast between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Hudson's Bay; a bleak and barren country, little known, and inhabited chiefly by Indians. Nova Scotia is a large peninsula, southeast from New Brunswick, separated from it by the Bay of Fundy, and connected with it by a narrow isthmus only nine miles across. Newfoundland is a hilly and mountainous island on the east side of the Gulf of St. Law ANALYSIS. merit of the claims of Columbus. 2. 'But even if it be admitted that such a discovery 1. Superior was made, it does not in the least detract from the honor so universally ascribed to Columbus. The Icelandic discovery, if real, resulted from chance,-was not even known to Europe,-was thought of little importance,and was soon forgotten; and the curtain of darkness again fell between the Old world and the New. The discovery by Columbus, on the contrary, was the result of a theory matured by long reflection and experience; opposed to the learning and the bigotry of the age; and brought to a successful demonstration, after years of toil against opposing difficulties and discouragements. 2. Prevalent error respecting the dis covery by Co. lumbus. his discov eries a. 1492 to 1499. 3. The nature of the great discovery, however, was long unknown; and it remained for subsequent adventurers to dispel the prevalent error, that the voyage of Columbus had only opened a new route to the wealthy, but then scarcely known regions of Eastern b Asia. 3. Extent of During several years, the discoveries of Columbus were confined to the islands of the West Indies ;* and it was not until August, 1498, six years after his first voyage, b. Aug. 10th. that he discovered the main land, near the mouth of the Orinoco;† and he was then ignorant that it was any thing more than an island. 4. The of Yucatan, ny on the 4. The principal islands of the West Indies,-Cuba,‡ W. Indies. St. Domingo, and Porto Rico, were soon colonized, 5. Discovery and subjected to Spanish authority. "In 1506 the eastern and first colo- coast of YucatanT was discovered; and in 1510 the first Continent. colony on the continent was planted on the Isthmus of Darien.** "Soon after, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, governor of the colony, crossed the Isthmus, and from a mountain on the other side of the Continent discovered an Ocean, which being seen in a southerly direction, at first received the name of the South Sea. 6. Discovery of the Pa cific. a. 1513. 7. De Leon. II. JUAN PONCE DE LEON IN FLORIDA.-1. In 1512 Juan Ponce de Leon, an aged veteran, and former govenor of Porto Rico, fitted out three ships, at his own ex rence; nearly a thousand miles in circumference, deriving all its importance from its extensive fisheries. *The West Indies consist of a large number of islands between North and South America, the most important of which are Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica, and Porto Rico. The Orinoco is a river on the northeast coast of South America. ↑ Cuba, one of the richest islands in the world, is the largest of the West Indies, being 760 miles in length from southeast to northwest, and about 50 miles in breadth. Its northern coast is 150 miles south from Florida. St. Domingo, or Hayti, formerly called Hispaniola, is a large island, lying between Cuba and Porto Rico, and about equally distant from each. Porto Rico is a fertile island of the West Indies, 60 miles southeast from St. Domingo. It is 140 miles long from east to west, and 36 broad. Yucatan, one of the States of Mexico, is an extensive peninsula, 150 miles S. W. from Cuba, and lying between the Bays of Honduras and Campeachy. **The Isthmus of Darien is that narrow neck of land which connects North and South America. It is about 300 miles in length, and, in the narrowest part, is only about 30 miles 1512. pense, for a voyage of discovery. 'A tradition prevailed among the natives of Porto Rico, that in a neighboring 1. Tradition island of the Bahamas* was a fountain which possessed of the Fun tain of Life the remarkable properties of restoring the youth, and of perpetuating the life of any one who should bathe in its stream, and drink of its waters. Nor was this fabulous 2. By whom tale credited by the uninstructed natives only. It was generally believed in Spain, and even by men distinguished for virtue and intelligence. 2. In quest of this fountain of youth Ponce de Leon 3 sailed from Porto Rico in March, 1512; and after cruising some time among the Bahamas, discovered an unknown country, to which, from the abundance of flowers that adorned the forests, and from its being first seen on Easter Sunday, (which the Spaniards call Pascua Florida,) he gave the name of Florida.‡ credited. Account of of Florida. a. March 13. b. April 6. the discovery 4. Extent of discoveries. e April 18. De Leon's 3. After landinge some miles north of the place where St. Augustine now stands, and taking formal possession of the country, he explored its coasts; and doubling its southern cape, continued his search among the group of islands which he named the Tortugas: but the chief object of the expedition was still unattained, and Ponce de Leon returned to Porto Rico, older than when he departed. A few years later, having been appointed 5. Result of governor of the country which he had discovered, he made a second voyage to its shores, with the design of selecting a site for a colony; but, in a contest with the natives, many of his followers were killed, and Ponce de Leon himself was mortally wounded. d the second voyage. d Pronoun ced Ail-yon. III. DE AYLLON IN CAROLINA.-1. About the time of 6. Enterprise of the defeat of Ponce de Leon in Florida, a company of De Ayllon. seven wealthy men of St. Domingo, at the head of whom was Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, judge of appeals of that island, despatched two vessels to the Bahamas, in quest of laborers for their plantations and mines. 'Being 7. Discovery driven northward from the Bahamas, by adverse winds, of Carolina. to the coast of Carolina, they anchored at the mouth of the Cambahee river, which they named the Jordan. The country they called Chicora. e. 1520. *The Bahamas are an extensive group of islands lying east and southeast from Florida. They have been estimated at about 600 in number, most of them mere cliffs and rocks, only 14 of them being of any considerable size. Easter day, a church festival observed in commemoration of our Savior's resurrection, is the Sunday following the first full moon that happens after the 20th of March. Florida, the most southern portion of the United States, is a large peninsula about two thirds of the size of Yucatan. The surface is level, and is intersected by numerous ponds, lakes, rivers, and marshes. See note and map, p. 130. The Tortugas, or Tortoise Islands, are about 100 miles southwest from the southern cape of Florida. The Cambahee is a small river in the southern part of South Carolina, emptying into S. Helena Sound, 35 miles southwest from Charleston. (See map, p. 129.) 1. Hospitality of the na ANALYSIS. 2. 'Here the natives treated the strangers with great kindness and hospitality, and being induced by curiosity, freely visited the ships; but when a sufficient number perfidy of the was below the decks, the perfidious Spaniards closed the hatches and set sail for St. Domingo. One of the returnthe entering ships was lost, and most of the Indian prisoners in the other, sullenly refusing food, died of famine and melancholy. Spaniards. 2. Result of Prise. 3. Account of the second its result. 3. Soon after this unprofitable enterprise, De Ayllon, voyage, and having obtained the appointment of governor of Chicora, sailed with three vessels for the conquest of the country. Arriving in the river Cambahee, the principal vessel was stranded and lost. Proceeding thence a little farther north, and being received with apparent friendship at their landing, many of his men were induced to visit a village, a short distance in the interior, where they were all treacherously cut off by the natives, in revenge for the wrongs which the Spaniards had before committed. De Ayllon himself was surprised and attacked in the harbor; the attempt to conquer the country was abandoned; and the few survivors, in dismay, hastened back to St. Domingo. 4. Yucatar explored. a. Note p. 112. b. March, 1517. 5. Wonder of the Spaniards IV. CONQUEST OF MEXICO.*-1. In 1517 Francisco Fernandez de Cordova, sailing from Cuba with three small vessels, explored the northern coast of Yucatan. 'As the Spaniards approached the shore, they were surprised to find, instead of naked savages, a people decently clad in cotton garments; and, on landing, their wonder was increased by beholding several large edifices built Character of stone. "The natives were much more bold and war. of the na tives like than those of the islands and the more southern coasts, and every where received the Spaniards with the most determined opposition. excited. 7 Result of the expedi tion. 2. At one place fifty-seven of the Spaniards were killed, and Cordova himself received a wound, of which 8 Discovery he died soon after his return to Cuba. But notwithstandof Mexico. ing the disastrous result of the expedition, another was planned in the following year; and under the direction of Juan de Grijalva, a portion of the southern coast of 6. May, June, Mexico was explored, and a large amount of treasure obtained by trafficking with the natives. 1518. conquest. 9. Designs of 3. 'Velasquez, governor of Cuba, under whose auspices the voyage of Grijalva had been made, enriched by the result, and elated with a success far beyond his ex Mexico is a large country southwest from the United States, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It is about two-thirds as large as the United States and their territories. The land on both coasts is dow, but in the interior is a large trac (See also page 569.) of table lands 6 or 8000 feet above the level of the sva. 'Not Account f the invasion of Mexico by Cortez. pectations, now determined to undertake the conquest of 1518. the wealthy countries that had been discovered, and hastily fitted out an armament for the purpose. being able to accompany the expedition in person, he gave the command to Fernando Cortez, who sailed with eleven vessels, having on board six hundred and seventeen men. In March, 1519, Cortez landed in Tabasco,* a southern province of Mexico, where he had several encounters with the natives, whom he routed with great slaughter. 2. Cortez re Montezuma. given, and 4. Proceeding thence farther westward, he landeda at a. April 12. San Juan de Ulloa,† where he was hospitably received, ceived by the and where two officers of a monarch who was called Monte-officers of zuma, come to inquire what his intentions were in visiting that coast, and to offer him what assistance he might need in order to continue his voyage. Cortez respect- 3. Assurances fully assured them that he came with the most friendly request made sentiments, but that he was intrusted with affairs of such moment by the king, his sovereign, that he could impart them to no one but to the emperor Montezuma himself, and therefore requested them to conduct him into the presence of their master. by Cortez. 4. Course pursued by the Mexican ambassadors. 5. The ambassadors of the Mexican monarch, knowing how disagreeable such a request would be, endeavored to dissuade Cortez from his intentions; at the same time making him some valuable presents, which only increased his avidity. Messengers were despatched to Montezuma, giving him an account of every thing that had occurred since the arrival of the Spaniards. Presents of great 5. By Montevalue and magnificence were returned by him, and repeated requests were made, and finally commands given, that the Spaniards should leave the country; but all to no purpose. zuma. Events that occurred on the march of Cortez 6. Cortez, after destroying his vessels, that his soldiers 6. By Cortes should be left without any resources but their own valor, commenced his march towards the Mexican capital. b. August 26. 'On his way thither, several nations, that were tributary to Montezuma, gladly threw off their allegiance and joined the Spaniards. Montezuma himself, alarmed and irresolute, continued to send messengers to Cortez, and as his hopes or his fears alternately prevailed, on one day gave him permission to advance, and, on the next, commanded him to depart. 7. As the vast plain of Mexico opened to the view of the Spaniards, they beheld numerous villages and culti 8. towards the Mexican, capital. Appearanc of Mexico of the plain and the city. • Tabasco, one of the southern Mexican States, adjoins Yucatan on the southwest. ↑ San Juan de Ulloa is a small island, opposite Vera Cruz, the principal eastern seaport of Mexico. It is 180 miles south of east from the Mexican capital, and contains a strong fortress. The old Spanish fort was built of coral rocks taken from the bottom of the sea. |