  There was also a geographical Renaissance. The revival of the exploring spirit led to the discovery of ocean routes to the Far East and the Americas. In consequence, commerce was vastly stimulated, and two continents, hitherto unknown, were opened up to civilization. The geographical Renaissance, which gave man a New World, thus cooperated with the other movements of the age in bringing about the transition from medieval to modern times. MEDIEVAL IGNORANCE OF GEOGRAPHYThe Greeks and Romans had become familiar with a large part of Europe and Asia, but much of their learning was either forgotten or perverted during the early Middle Ages. Even the wonderful discoveries of the Northmen in the North Atlantic gradually faded from memory. The Arabs, whose conquests and commerce extended over so much of the Orient, far surpassed the Christian peoples of Europe in knowledge of the world. GEOGRAPHICAL MYTHSThe alliance of medieval geography with theology led to curious results. Map makers, relying on a passage in the Old Testament, [2] usually placed Jerusalem in the center of the world. A Scriptural reference to the "four corners of the earth" [3] was sometimes thought to imply the existence of a rectangular world. From classical sources came stories of monstrous men, one-eyed, headless, or dog-headed, who were supposed to inhabit remote regions. Equally monstrous animals, such as the unicorn and dragon, [4] kept them company. Sailors' "yarns" must have been responsible for the belief that the ocean boiled at the equator and that in the Atlantic—the "Sea of Darkness"—lurked serpents huge enough to sink ships. To the real danger of travel by land and water people thus added imaginary terrors. THE COSMAS MAPMany maps prepared in the Middle Ages sum up the prevailing knowledge, or rather ignorance, of the world. One of the earliest specimens that has come down to us was made in the sixth century, by Cosmas, an Alexandrian monk. It exhibits the earth as a rectangle surrounded by an ocean with four deep gulfs. Beyond this ocean lies another world, the seat of Paradise and the place "where men dwelt before the Flood." The rivers which flow from the lakes of Paradise are also shown. Figures holding trumpets represent the four winds. [Illustration: GEOGRAPHICAL MONSTERS THE HEREFORD MAPA map made about seven hundred years later, and now preserved in Hereford Cathedral, shows the earth as a circular disk with the ocean surrounding it. In the extreme east—that is, at the top—lies Paradise, Jerusalem occupies the center, and below it comes the Mediterranean, liberally supplied with islands. The Black Sea appears as a narrow body of water, and even the British Isles are strangely distorted to fit the circle. Such a map could have been of little use to travelers; it simply satisfied a natural curiosity about the wonders of the world. OPENING UP OF ASIAThe crusades, more than anything else, first extended geographical knowledge. As a religious movement they led to pilgrimages and missions in Oriental lands. With the pilgrims and missionaries went hard-headed traders, who brought back to Europe the wealth of the East. The result, by 1300 A.D., was to open up countries beyond the Euphrates which had remained sealed to Europe for centuries. This discovery of the interior of Asia had only less importance than that of the New World two centuries later. LEGEND OF PRESTER JOHNWhat specially drew explorers eastward was the belief that somewhere in the center of Asia existed a great Christian kingdom which, if allied to European Christendom, might attack the Moslems from the rear. According to one form of the story the kingdom consisted of the Ten Tribes of Israel, [5] who had been converted to Christianity by Nestorian missionaries. [6] Over them reigned a priest-king named Prester (or Presbyter) John. The popes made several attempts to communicate with this mythical ruler. In the thirteenth century, however, Franciscan friars did penetrate to the heart of Asia. They returned to Europe with marvelous tales of the wealth and splendor of the East under the Mongol emperors. THE POLOS IN THE EAST, 1271-1295 A.D.The most famous of all medieval travelers were Nicolo and Maffeo Polo, and Nicolo's son, Marco. These Venetian merchants set out for Asia in 1271 A.D., and after an adventurous journey reached the court of Kublai Khan at Peking. [7] The Mongol ruler, who seems to have been anxious to introduce Christianity and European culture among his people, received them in a friendly manner, and they amassed much wealth by trade. Marco entered the khan's service and went on several expeditions to distant parts of the Mongol realm. Many years passed before Kublai would allow his useful guests to return to Europe. They sailed at length from Zaitun, a Chinese seaport, skirted the coast of southeastern Asia and India, and then made their way overland to the Mediterranean. When the travelers reached Venice after an absence of twenty-four years, their relatives were slow to recognize in them the long-lost Polos. [Illustration: GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES MARCO POLO'S BOOKThe story of the Polos, as written down at Marco's dictation, became one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages. In this book Europe read of far Cathay (China), with its wealth, its huge cities, and swarming population, of mysterious and secluded Tibet, of Burma, Siam, and Cochin- China, with their palaces and pagodas, of the East Indies, famed for spices, of Ceylon, abounding in pearls, and of India, little known since the days of Alexander the Great. Even Cipango (Japan) Marco described from hearsay as an island whose people were white, civilized, and so rich in gold that the royal palace was roofed and paved with that metal. The accounts of these countries naturally made Europeans more eager than ever to reach the East. 219. AIDS TO EXPLORATIONTHE COMPASSThe new knowledge gained by European peoples about the land routes of Asia was accompanied by much progress in the art of ocean navigation. First in importance came the compass to guide explorers across the waters of the world. The Chinese appear to have discovered that a needle, when rubbed with a lodestone, has the mysterious power of pointing to the north. The Arabs may have introduced this rude form of the compass among Mediterranean sailors. The instrument, improved by being balanced on a pivot so that it would not be affected by choppy seas, seems to have been generally used by Europeans as early as the thirteenth century. It greatly aided sailors by enabling them to find their bearings in murky weather and on starless nights. The compass, though useful, was not indispensable; without its help the Northmen had made their distant expeditions in the Atlantic. NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTSThe astrolabe, which the Greeks had invented and used for astronomical purposes, also came into Europe through the Arabs. It was employed to calculate latitudes by observation of the height of the sun above the horizon. Other instruments that found a place on shipboard were the hour- glass, minute-glass, and sun-dial. A rude form of the log was used as a means of estimating the speed of a vessel, and so of finding roughly the longitude. [Illustration: AN ASTROLABE] OTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN NAVIGATIONDuring the last centuries of the Middle Ages the charting of coasts became a science. A sailor might rely on the "handy maps" (portolani) which outlined with some approach to accuracy the bays, islands, and headlands of the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Manuals were prepared telling the manner about the tides, currents, and other features of the route he intended to follow. The increase in size of ships made navigation safer and permitted the storage of bulky cargoes. For long voyages the sailing vessel replaced the medieval galley rowed by oars. As the result of all these improvements navigators no longer found it necessary to keep close to the shore, but could push out dauntlessly into the open sea. MOTIVES FOR EXPLORATIONMany motives prompted exploration. Scientific curiosity, bred of the Renaissance spirit of free inquiry, led men to set forth on voyages of discovery. The crusading spirit, which had not died out in Europe, thrilled at the thought of spreading Christianity among heathen peoples. And in this age, as in all epochs of exploration, adventurers sought in distant lands opportunities to acquire wealth and fame and power. THE COMMERCIAL MOTIVECommerce formed perhaps the most powerful motive for exploration. Eastern spices—cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger—were used more freely in medieval times than now, when people lived on salt meat during the winter and salt fish during Lent. Even wine, ale, and medicines had a seasoning of spices. When John Ball [8] wished to contrast the easy life of the lords with the peasants' hard lot, he said, "They have wines, spices, and fine bread, while we have only rye and the refuse of the straw." [9] Besides spices, all kinds of precious stones, drugs, perfumes, gums, dyes, and fragrant woods came from the East. Since the time of the crusades these luxuries, after having been brought overland by water to Mediterranean ports, had been distributed by Venetian and Genoese merchants throughout Europe. [10] But now in the fifteenth century two other European peoples—the Portuguese and Spaniards—appeared as competitors for this Oriental trade. Their efforts to break through the monopoly enjoyed by the Italian cities led to the discovery of the sea routes to the Indies. The Portuguese were first in the field. 220. TO THE INDIES EASTWARD: PRINCE HENRY AND DA GAMAPRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR, 1394-1460 A.D.In the history of the fifteenth century few names rank higher than that of Prince Henry, commonly called the Navigator, because of his services to the cause of exploration. The son of a Portuguese king, he devoted himself during more than forty years to organizing scientific discovery. Under his direction better maps were made, the astrolabe was improved, the compass was placed on vessels, and seamen were instructed in all the nautical learning of the time. The problem which Prince Henry studied and which Portuguese sailors finally solved was the possibility of a maritime route around Africa to the Indies. EXPLORATION OF THE AFRICAN COASTThe expeditions sent out by Prince Henry began by rediscovering the Madeira and Azores Islands, first visited by Europeans in the fourteenth century. Then the Portuguese turned southward along the unchartered African coast. In 1445 A.D. they got as far as Cape Verde, or "Green Cape," so called because of its luxuriant vegetation. The discovery was important, for it disposed of the idea that the Sahara desert extended indefinitely to the south. Sierra Leone, which the Carthaginian Hanno [11] had probably visited, was reached in 1462 A.D., two years after Prince Henry's death. Soon Portuguese sailors found the great bend of the African coast formed by the gulf of Guinea. In 1471 A.D. they crossed the equator, without the scorching that some had feared. In 1482 A.D. they were at the mouth of the Congo. Six years later Bartholomew Diaz rounded the southern extremity of Africa. The story goes that he named it the Cape of Storms, and that the king of Portugal, recognizing its importance as a stage on the route to the East, rechristened it the Cape of Good Hope. DA GAMA'S VOYAGE, 1497-1499 A.D.A daring mariner, Vasco da Gama, opened the sea-gates to the Indies. With four tiny ships he set sail from Lisbon in July, 1497 A.D., and after leaving the Cape Verde Islands made a wide sweep into the South Atlantic. Five months passed before Africa was seen again. Having doubled the Cape of Good Hope in safety, Da Gama skirted the eastern shores of Africa and at length secured the services of a Moslem pilot to guide him across the Indian Ocean. In May, 1498 A.D., he reached Calicut, [12] an important commercial city on the southwest coast of India. When Da Gama returned to Lisbon, after an absence of over two years, he brought back a cargo which repaid sixty times the cost of the expedition. The Portuguese king received him with high honor and created him Admiral of the Indies. [Illustration: VASCO DA GAMA CAMOENS, 1524-1580 A.D., AND THE LUSIADSThe story of Da Gama's memorable voyage was sung by the Portuguese poet, Camoens, in the Lusiads. It is the most successful of all modern epics. The popularity of the Lusiads has done much to keep alive the sense of nationality among the Portuguese, and even to-day it forms a bond of union between Portugal and her daughter-nation across the Atlantic—Brazil. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MARITIME ROUTEThe discovery of an ocean passage to the East came at the right moment. Just at this time the Ottoman Turks were beginning to block up the old trade routes. [13] Their conquests in Asia Minor and southeastern Europe, during the fifteenth century, shut out the Italians from the northern route through the Aegean and the Black Sea. After Syria and Egypt were conquered, early in the sixteenth century, the central and southern routes also passed under Turkish control. The Ottoman advance struck a mortal blow at the prosperity of the Italian cities, which had so long monopolized Oriental trade. But the misfortune of Venice and Genoa was the opportunity of Portugal. 221. THE PORTUGUESE COLONIAL EMPIREPORTUGUESE ASCENDANCY IN THE EASTAfter Da Gama's voyage the Portuguese made haste to appropriate the wealth of the Indies. Fleet after fleet was sent out to establish trading stations upon the coasts of Africa and Asia. The great viceroy, Albuquerque, captured the city of Goa and made it the center of the Portuguese dominions in India. Goa still belongs to Portugal. Albuquerque also seized Malacca, at the end of the Malay Peninsula, and Ormuz, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. The possession of these strategic points enabled the Portuguese to control the commerce of the Indian Ocean. They also established trading relations with China, through the port of Macao, and with Japan, which was accidentally discovered in 1542 A.D. By the middle of the sixteenth century they had acquired almost complete ascendancy throughout southern Asia and the adjacent islands. [14] PORTUGUESE TRADE MONOPOLYThe Portuguese came to the East as the successors of the Arabs, who for centuries had carried on an extensive trade in the Indian Ocean. Having dispossessed the Arabs, the Portuguese took care to shut out all European trade competitors. Only their own merchants were allowed to bring goods from the Indies to Europe by the Cape route. For a time this policy made Portugal very prosperous. Lisbon, the capital, formed the chief depot for spices and other eastern commodities. The French, English, and Dutch came there to buy them and took the place of Italian merchants in distributing them throughout Europe. COLLAPSE OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIREBut the triumph of Portugal was short-lived. This small country, with a population of not more than a million, lacked the strength to defend her claims to a monopoly of the Oriental trade. During the seventeenth century the French and English broke the power of the Portuguese in India, while the Dutch drove them from Ceylon and the East Indies. Though the Portuguese lost most of their possessions so soon, they deserve a tribute of admiration for the energy, enthusiasm, and real heroism with which they built up the first of modern colonial empires. EUROPE IN ASIAThe new world in the East, thus entered by the Portuguese and later by other European peoples, was really an old world—rich, populous, and civilized. It held out alluring possibilities, not only for trade, but also as a field for missionary enterprise. Da Gama and Albuquerque began a movement, which still continues, to "westernize" Asia by opening it up to European influence. It remains to be seen, however, whether India, China, and Japan will allow their ancient culture to be extinguished by that of Europe. 222. TO THE INDIES WESTWARD: COLUMBUS AND MAGELLANTHE GLOBULAR THEORYSix years before Vasco da Gama cast anchor in the harbor of Calicut, another intrepid sailor, seeking the Indies by a western route, accidentally discovered America. It does not detract from the glory of Columbus to show that the way for his discovery had been long in preparation. In the first place, the theory that the earth was round had been familiar to the Greeks and Romans, and to some learned men even in the darkest period of the Middle Ages. By the opening of the thirteenth century it must have been commonly known, for Roger Bacon [15] refers to it, and Dante, in the Divine Comedy, [16] plans his Inferno on the supposition of a spherical world. The awakening of interest in Greek science, as a result of the Renaissance, naturally called renewed attention to the statements by ancient geographers. Eratosthenes, [17] for instance, had clearly recognized the possibility of reaching India by sailing westward on the same parallel of latitude. Especially after the revival of Ptolemy's [18] works in the fifteenth century, scholars accepted the globular theory; and they even went so far as to calculate the circumference of the earth. MYTH OF ATLANTISIn the second place, men had long believed that west of Europe, beyond the strait of Gibraltar, lay mysterious lands. This notion first appears in the writings of the Greek philosopher, Plato, [19] who repeats an old tradition concerning Atlantis. According to Plato, Atlantis had been an island continental in size, but more than nine thousand years before his time it had sunk beneath the sea. Medieval writers accepted this account as true and found support for it in traditions of other western islands, such as the Isles of the Blest, where Greek heroes went after death, and the Welsh Avalon, whither King Arthur, [20] after his last battle, was borne to heal his wounds. A widespread legend of the Middle Ages also described the visit made by St. Brandan, an Irish monk, to the "promised land of the Saints," an earthly paradise far out in the Atlantic. St. Brandan's Island was marked on early maps, and voyages in search of it were sometimes undertaken. BEHAIM'S GLOBEThe ideas of European geographers in the period just preceding the discovery of America are represented on a map, or rather a globe, which dates from 1492 A.D. It was made by a German navigator, Martin Behaim, for his native city of Nuremberg, where it is still preserved. Behaim shows the mythical island of St. Brandan, lying in mid-ocean, and beyond it Japan (Cipango) and the East Indies. It is clear that he greatly underestimated the distance westward between Europe and Asia. The error was natural enough, for Ptolemy had reckoned the earth's circumference to be about one-sixth less than it is, and Marco Polo had given an exaggerated idea of the distance to which Asia extended on the east. When Columbus set out on his voyage, he firmly believed that a journey of four thousand miles would bring him to Cipango. [Illustration: BEHAIM'S GLOBE The outlines of North America and South America do not appear on the original globe.] COLUMBUS, 1446(?)-1506 A.D.Christopher Columbus was a native of Genoa, where his father followed the humble trade of a weaver. He seems to have obtained some knowledge of astronomy and geography as a student in the university of Pavia, but at an early age he became a sailor. Columbus knew the Mediterranean by heart; he once went to the Guinea coast; and he may have visited Iceland. He settled at Lisbon as a map-maker and married a daughter of one of Prince Henry's sea-captains. As Columbus pored over his maps and charts and talked with seamen about their voyages, the idea came to him that much of the world remained undiscovered and that the distant East could be reached by a shorter route than that which led around Africa. [Illustration: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, (Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid) RESEARCHES OF COLUMBUSColumbus was a well-read man, and in Aristotle, Ptolemy, and other ancient authorities he found apparent confirmation of his grand idea. Columbus also owned a printed copy of Marco Polo's book, and from his comments, written on the margin, we know how interested he was in Polo's statements referring to Cathay and Cipango. Furthermore, Columbus brought together all the information he could get about the fabled islands of the Atlantic. If he ever went to Iceland, some vague traditions may have reached him there of Norse voyages to Greenland and Vinland. Such hints and rumors strengthened his purpose to sail toward the setting sun in quest of the Indies. [Illustration: ISABELLA] FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS, 1492 A.D.All know the story. How Columbus first laid his plans before the king of Portugal, only to meet with rebuffs; how he then went to Spain and after many discouragements found a patron in Queen Isabella; how with three small ships he set out from Palos, August 3, 1492 A.D.; how after leaving the Canaries he sailed week after week over an unknown sea; and how at last, on the early morning of October 12, he sighted in the moonlight the glittering coral strand of one of the Bahama Islands. [21] It was the New World. [Illustration: SHIP OF 1492 A.D.] SUBSEQUENT VOYAGES OF COLUMBUSColumbus made three other voyages to the New World, in the course of which he explored the Caribbean Sea, the mouth of the Orinoco River, and the eastern coast of Central America. He lived and died in the belief that he had actually reached the mainland of Asia and the realms of the Great Khan of Cathay. The name West Indies still remains as a testimony to this error. NAMING OF AMERICAThe New World was named for a Florentine navigator, Amerigo Vespucci. [22] While in the Spanish service he made several western voyages and printed an account of his discovery of the mainland of America in 1497 A.D. Scholars now generally reject his statements, but they found acceptance at the time, and it was soon suggested that the new continent should be called America, "because Americus discovered it." The name applied at first only to South America. After it became certain that South America joined another continent to the north, the name spread over the whole New World. [Illustration: THE NAME "AMERICA" THE DEMARCATION LINE, 1493 A.D.Shortly after the return of Columbus from his first voyage, Pope Alexander VI, in response to a request by Ferdinand and Isabella, issued a bull granting these sovereigns exclusive rights over the newly discovered lands. In order that the Spanish possessions should be clearly marked off from the Portuguese, the pope laid down an imaginary line of demarcation in the Atlantic, three hundred miles west of the Azores. All new discoveries west of the line were to belong to Spain; all those east of it, to Portugal. [23] But this arrangement, which excluded France, England, and other European countries from the New World, could not be long maintained. [Illustration: Map, PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRES IN THE FERDINAND MAGELLAN, 1480(?)-1521 A.D.The demarcation line had a good deal to do in bringing about the first voyage around the globe. So far no one had yet realized the dream of Columbus to reach the lands of spice and silk by sailing westward. Ferdinand Magellan, formerly one of Albuquerque's lieutenants but now in the service of Spain, believed that the Spice Islands lay within the Spanish sphere of influence and that an all-Spanish route, leading to them through some strait at the southern end of South America, could be discovered. CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE, 1519-1522 A.D.The Spanish ruler, Charles V, grandson of the Isabella who had supported Columbus, looked with favor upon Magellan's ideas and gave him a fleet of five vessels for the undertaking. After exploring the east coast of South America, Magellan came at length to the strait which bears his name. Through this channel he sailed boldly and found himself upon an ocean which he called the Pacific, because of its peaceful aspect. Magellan's sailors now begged him to return, for food was getting scarce, but the navigator replied that he would go on, "if he had to eat the leather off the rigging." He did go on, for ninety-eight days, until he reached the Ladrone Islands. [24] By a curious chance, in all this long trip across the Pacific, Magellan came upon only two islands, both of them uninhabited. He then proceeded to the Philippines, where he was killed in a fight with the natives. His men, however, managed to reach the Spice Islands, the goal of the journey. Afterwards a single ship, the Victoria, carried back to Spain the few sailors who had survived the hardships of a voyage lasting nearly three years. [Illustration: FERDINAND MAGELLAN MEANING OF THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION Magellan's voyage forms a landmark in the history of geography. It proved that America, at least on the south, had no connection with Asia; it showed the enormous extent of the Pacific Ocean; and it led to the discovery of many large islands in the East Indies. Henceforth men knew of a certainty that the earth was round and in the distance covered by Magellan they had a rough estimate of its size. The circumnavigation of the globe ranks with the discovery of America among the most significant events in history. In the company of great explorers Magellan stands beside Columbus. 223. THE INDIANSPEOPLING OF AMERICAThe first inhabitants of America probably came from the Old World. At a remote epoch a land-bridge connected northwest Europe with Greenland, and Iceland still remains a witness to its former existence. Over this bridge animals and men may have found their way into the New World. Another prehistoric route may have led from Asia. Only a narrow strait now separates Alaska from Siberia, and the Aleutian Islands form an almost complete series of stepping-stones across the most northerly part of the Pacific. THE AMERICAN ABORIGINESThe natives of America, whom Columbus called Indians, certainly resemble Asiatics in some physical features, such as the reddish-brown complexion, the hair, uniformly black and lank, the high cheek-bones, and short stature of many tribes. On the other hand, the large, aquiline nose, the straight eyes, never oblique, and the tall stature of some tribes are European traits. It seems safe to conclude that the American aborigines, whatever their origin, became thoroughly fused into a composite race during long centuries of isolation from the rest of mankind. INDIAN CULTUREBecause of their isolation the Indians had to work out by themselves many arts, inventions, and discoveries. They spoke over a thousand languages and dialects; and not one has yet been traced outside of America. Their implements consisted of polished stone, occasionally of unsmelted copper, and in Mexico and Peru, of bronze. They cultivated Indian corn, or maize, but lacked the other great cereals. They domesticated the dog and the llama of the Andes. They lived in clans and tribes, ruled by headmen or chiefs. Their religion probably did not involve a belief in a "Great Spirit," as is so often said, but rather recognized in all nature the abode of spiritual powers, mysterious and wonderful, whom man ought to conciliate by prayers and sacrifices. In short, most of the American Indians were not savages, but barbarians well advanced in culture. THE MAYASIndian culture attained its highest development in Mexico and Central America, especially among the Mayas of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras. The remains of their cities—the Ninevehs and Babylons of the New World— lie buried in the tropical jungle, where Europeans first saw them, four hundred years ago. The temples, shrines, altars, and statues in these ancient cities show that the Mayas had made much progress in the fine arts. They knew enough astronomy to frame a solar calendar of three hundred and sixty-five days, and enough mathematics to employ numbers exceeding a million. The writing of the Mayas had reached the rebus [25] stage and promised to become alphabetic. When their hieroglyphics have been completely deciphered, we shall learn much more about this gifted people. THE AZTECSSeveral centuries before the arrival of Europeans in America, the so- called Aztecs came down from the north and established themselves on the Mexican plateau. Here they formed a confederacy of many tribes, ruled over by a sort of king, whose capital was Tenochtitlan, on the site of the present city of Mexico. [Illustration: AZTEC SACRIFICIAL KNIFE British Museum, London. Length, twelve inches. The blade is of yellow, opalescent chalcedony, beautifully chipped and polished. The handle is of light-colored wood carved in the form of a man masked with a bird skin. Brilliant mosaic settings of turquoise, malachite, and shell embellish the figure.] [Illustration: AZTEC SACRIFICIAL STONE AZTEC CULTUREThe Aztecs appear to have borrowed much of their art, science, and knowledge of writing from their Maya neighbors. They built houses and temples of stone or sundried brick, constructed aqueducts, roads, and bridges, excelled in the dyeing, weaving, and spinning of cotton, and made most beautiful ornaments of silver and gold. They worshiped many gods, to which the priests offered prisoners of war as human sacrifices. In spite of these bloody rites, the Aztecs were a kind-hearted, honest people, respectful of the rights of property, brave in battle, and obedient to their native rulers. Aztec culture in some ways was scarcely inferior to that of the ancient Egyptians. THE INCASThe lofty table-lands of the Andes were also the seat of an advanced Indian culture. At the time of the Spanish conquest the greater part of what is now Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile had come under the sway of the Incas, the "people of the sun". The Inca power centered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco and on the shores of Lake Titicaca, which lies twelve thousand feet above sea-level. In this region of magnificent scenery the traveler views with astonishment the ruins of vast edifices, apparently never completed, which were raised either by the Incas or the Indians whom they conquered and displaced. Though the culture of the Incas resembled in many ways that of the Aztecs, the two peoples probably never had any intercourse and hence remained totally unaware of each other's existence. [Illustration: Map, WEST INDIES] 224. SPANISH EXPLORATIONS AND CONQUESTS IN AMERICAOBJECTS OF THE SPANIARDSThe discoverers of the New World were naturally the pioneers in its exploration. The first object of the Spaniards had been trade with the Indies, and for a number of years, until Magellan's voyage, they sought vainly for a passage through the mainland to the Spice Islands. When, however, the Spaniards learned that America was rich in deposits of gold and silver, these metals formed the principal objects of their expeditions. PONCE DE LEÓN AND BALBOA, 1513 A.D.The Spaniards at first had confined their settlements to the Greater Antilles in the West Indies, [26] but after the gold of these islands was exhausted, they began to penetrate the mainland. In 1513 A.D. Ponce de LeÓn, who had been with Columbus on his second voyage, discovered the country which he named Florida. It became the first Spanish possession in North America. In the same year Vasco NuÑez de Balboa, from the isthmus of Panama, sighted the Pacific. He entered its waters, sword in hand, and took formal possession in the name of the king of Spain. [Illustration: Map, AN EARLY MAP OF THE NEW WORLD (1540 A.D.)] CONQUEST OF MEXICO 1519-1521 A.D. AND PERU 1531-1537 A.D.The overthrow of the Aztec power was accomplished by Hernando CortÉs, with the aid of Indian allies. Many large towns and half a thousand villages, together with immense quantities of treasure, fell into the hands of the conquerors. Henceforth Mexico, or "New Spain," became the most important Spanish possession in America. Francisco Pizarro, who invaded Peru with a handful of soldiers, succeeded in overthrowing the Incas. Pizarro founded in Peru the city of Lima. It replaced Cuzco as the capital of the country and formed the seat of the Spanish government in South America. EL DORADOThe Spaniards, during the earlier part of the sixteenth century, heard much of a fabled king whom they called El Dorado. [27] This king, it was said, used to smear himself with gold dust at an annual religious ceremony. In time the idea arose that somewhere in South America existed a fabled country marvelously rich in precious metals and gems. These stories stirred the imagination of the Spaniards, who fitted out many expeditions to find the gilded man and his gilded realm. The quest for El Dorado opened up the valleys of the Amazon and Orinoco and the extensive forest region east of the Andes. Spanish explorers also tried to find El Dorado in North America. De Soto's expedition led to the discovery of the Mississippi in 1541 A.D., and Coronado's search for the "Seven Cities of Cibola" not only added greatly to geographical knowledge of the Southwest, but also resulted in the extension of Spanish dominion over this part of the American continent. About 1605 A.D. the Spaniards founded Santa FÉ and made it the capital of their government in New Mexico. * * * * * 225. THE SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRESPAIN IN THE NEW WORLDThe wonderful exploits of the conquistadores (conquerors) laid the foundations of the Spanish colonial empire. It included Florida, New Mexico, California, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and all South America except Brazil. [28] The rule of Spain over these dominions lasted nearly three hundred years. During this time she gave her language, her government, and her religion to half the New World. INTERMARRIAGE OF SPANIARDS AND INDIANSThe Spaniards brought few women with them and hence had to find their wives among the Indians. Intermarriage of the two peoples early became common. The result was the mixed race which one still finds throughout the greater part of Spanish America. In this race the Indian strain predominates, because almost everywhere the aborigines were far more numerous than the white settlers. TREATMENT OF THE INDIANSThe Spaniards treated the Indians of the West Indies most harshly and forced them to work in gold mines and on sugar plantations. The hard labor, to which the Indians were unaccustomed, broke down their health, and almost the entire native population disappeared within a few years after the coming of the whites. This terrible tragedy was not repeated on the mainland, for the Spanish government stepped in to preserve the aborigines from destruction. It prohibited their enslavement and gave them the protection of humane laws. Though these laws were not always well enforced, the Indians of Mexico and Peru increased in numbers under Spanish rule and often became prosperous traders, farmers, and artisans. CONVERSION OF THE INDIANSThe Spaniards succeeded in winning many of the Indians to Christianity. Devoted monks penetrated deep into the wilderness and brought to the aborigines, not only the Christian religion, but also European civilization. In many places the natives were gathered into permanent villages, or "missions," each one with its church and school. Converts who learned to read and write often became priests or entered the monastic orders. The monks also took much interest in the material welfare of the Indians and taught them how to farm, how to build houses, and how to spin and weave and cook by better methods than their own. THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONSThe most familiar examples of the Spanish missions are those in the state of California. During the last quarter of the eighteenth century Franciscan friars missions erected no less than eighteen mission stations along the Pacific coast from San Diego to San Francisco. The stations were connected by the "King's Road" [29] which still remains the principal highway of the state. Some of the mission buildings now lie in ruins and others have entirely disappeared. But such a well-preserved structure as the mission of Santa Barbara recalls a Benedictine monastery, [30] with its shady cloisters, secluded courtyard, and timbered roof covered with red tiles. It is a bit of the Old World transplanted to the New. SPANISH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONThe civilizing work of Spain in the New World is sometimes forgotten. Here were the earliest American hospitals and asylums, for the use of Indians and negroes as well as of Spaniards. Here were the earliest American schools and colleges. Twelve institutions of higher learning, all modeled upon the university of Salamanca, arose in Spanish America during the colonial period. Eight of these came into existence before the creation in 1636 A.D. of Harvard University, the oldest in the United States. The pioneer printing press in the Western Hemisphere was set up at Mexico City in 1535 A.D.; no printing press reached the English colonies till more than one hundred years later. To the valuable books by Spanish scholars we owe much of our knowledge of the Mayas, Aztecs, and other Indian tribes. The first American newspaper was published at Mexico City in 1693 A.D. The fine arts also flourished in the Spanish colonies, and architects of the United States have now begun to copy the beautiful churches and public buildings of Mexico and Peru. SPANISH COLONIAL POLICYThe government of Spain administered its colonial dominions in the spirit of monopoly. As far as possible it excluded French, English, and other foreigners from trading with Spanish America. It also discouraged ship- building, manufacturing, and even the cultivation of the vine and the olive, lest the colonists should compete with home industries. The colonies were regarded only as a workshop for the production of the precious metals and raw materials. This unwise policy very largely accounts for the economic backwardness of Mexico, Peru, and other Spanish- American countries at the present day. Their rich natural resources have as yet scarcely begun to be utilized. 226. ENGLISH AND FRENCH EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICATHE CABOT VOYAGES, 1497-1498 A.D.The English based their claim to the right to colonize North America on the discoveries of John Cabot, an Italian mariner in the service of the Tudor king, Henry VII. [31] In 1497 A.D. Cabot sailed from Bristol across the northern Atlantic and made land somewhere between Labrador and Nova Scotia. The following year he seems to have undertaken a second voyage and to have explored the coast of North America nearly as far as Florida. Cabot, like Columbus, believed he had reached Cathay and the dominions of the Great Khan. Because Cabot found neither gold nor opportunities for profitable trade, his expeditions were considered a failure, and for a long time the English took no further interest in exploring the New World. [Illustration: CABOT MEMORIAL TOWER Erected at Bristol, England, in memory of John Cabot and his sons. The foundation stone was laid on June 24, 1897 A.D., the four-hundredth anniversary of John Cabot's first sight of the continent of North America.] CARTIER'S VOYAGES, 1534-1542 A.D.The discovery by Magellan of a strait leading into the Pacific aroused hope that a similar passage, beyond the regions controlled by Spain, might exist in North America. In 1534 A.D. the French king, Francis I, sent Jacques Cartier to look for it. Cartier found the gulf and river which he named after St. Lawrence, and also tried to establish a settlement near where Quebec now stands. The venture was not successful, and the French did not undertake the colonization of Canada till the first decade of the seventeenth century. THE NORTHWEST PASSAGEEnglish sailors also sought a road to India by the so-called Northwest Passage. It was soon found to be an impossible route, for during half the year the seas were frozen and during the other half they were filled with icebergs. However, the search for the Northwest Passage added much to geographical knowledge. The names Frobisher Bay, Davis Strait, and Baffin Land still preserve the memory of the navigators who first explored the channels leading into the Arctic Ocean. THE ENGLISH "SEA DOGS"When the English realized how little profit was to be gained by voyages to the cold and desolate north, they turned southward to warmer waters. Here, of course, they came upon the Spaniards, who had no disposition to share with foreigners the profitable trade of the New World. Though England and Spain were not at war, the English "sea dogs," as they called themselves, did not scruple to ravage the Spanish colonies and to capture the huge, clumsy treasure-ships carrying gold and silver to Spain. The most famous of the "sea dogs," Sir Francis Drake, was the first Englishman to sail round the world (1577-1580 A.D.). THE RALEIGH COLONIES, 1584-1590 A.D.Four years after Drake had completed his voyage, another English seaman, Sir Walter Raleigh, sent out an expedition to find a good site for a settlement in North America. The explorers reached the coast of North Carolina and returned with glowing accounts of the country, which was named Virginia, in honor of Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen." But Raleigh's colonies in Virginia failed miserably, and the English made no further attempt to settle there till the reign of James I, early in the seventeenth century. 227. THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEWEXPANSION OF EUROPEThe New World contained two virgin continents, full of natural resources and capable in a high degree of colonization. The native peoples, comparatively few in number and barbarian in culture, could not offer much resistance to the explorers, missionaries, traders, and colonists from the Old World. The Spanish and Portuguese in the sixteenth century, followed by the French, English, and Dutch in the seventeenth century, repeopled America and brought to it European civilization. Europe expanded into a Greater Europe beyond the ocean. SHIFTING OF TRADE ROUTESIn the Middle Ages the Mediterranean and the Baltic had been the principal highways of commerce. The discovery of America, followed immediately by the opening of the Cape route to the Indies, shifted commercial activity from these enclosed seas to the Atlantic Ocean. Venice, Genoa, Hamburg, LÜbeck, and Bruges gradually gave way, as trading centers, to Lisbon and Cadiz, Bordeaux and Cherbourg, Antwerp and Amsterdam, London and Liverpool. One may say, therefore, that the year 1492 A.D. inaugurated the Atlantic period of European history. The time may come, perhaps even now it is dawning, when the center of gravity of the commercial world will shift still farther westward to the Pacific. INCREASED PRODUCTION OF THE PRECIOUS METALSThe discovery of America revealed to Europeans a new source of the precious metals. The Spaniards soon secured large quantities of gold by plundering the Indians of Mexico and Peru of their stored-up wealth. After the discovery in 1545 A.D. of the wonderfully rich silver mines of Potosi in Bolivia, the output of silver much exceeded that of gold. It is estimated that by the end of the sixteenth century the American mines had produced at least three times as much gold and silver as had been current in Europe at the beginning of the century. CONSEQUENCES OF THE ENLARGED MONEY SUPPLYThe Spaniards could not keep this new treasure. Having few industries themselves, they were obliged to send it out, as fast as they received it, in payment for their imports of European goods. Spain acted as a huge sieve through which the gold and silver of America entered all the countries of Europe. Money, now more plentiful, purchased far less than in former times; in other words, the prices of all commodities rose, wages advanced, and manufacturers and traders had additional capital to use in their undertakings. The Middle Ages had suffered from the lack of sufficient money with which to do business; [32] from the beginning of modern times the world has been better supplied with the indispensable medium of exchange. NEW COMMODITIES IMPORTEDBut America was much more than a treasury of the precious metals. Many commodities, hitherto unknown, soon found their way from the New World to the Old. Among these were maize, the potato, which, when cultivated in Europe, became the "bread of the poor," chocolate and cocoa made from the seeds of the cacao tree, Peruvian bark, or quinine, so useful in malarial fevers, cochineal, the dye-woods of Brazil, and the mahogany of the West Indies. America also sent large supplies of cane-sugar, molasses, fish, whale-oil, and furs. The use of tobacco, which Columbus first observed among the Indians, spread rapidly over Europe and thence extended to the rest of the world. All these new American products became common articles of consumption and so raised the standard of living in European countries. POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERIESTo the economic effects of the discoveries must be added their effects on politics. The Atlantic Ocean now formed, not only the commercial, but also the political center of the world. The Atlantic-facing countries, first Portugal and Spain, then Holland, France, and England, became the great powers of Europe. Their trade rivalries and contests for colonial possessions have been potent causes of European wars for the last four hundred years. EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERIES ON THOUGHTThe sudden disclosure of oceans, islands, and continents, covering one- third of the globe, worked a revolution in geographical ideas. The earth was found to be far larger than men had supposed it to be, and the imagination was stirred by the thought of other amazing discoveries which might be made. From the sixteenth century to the twentieth the work of exploration has continued, till now few regions of the world yet remain unmapped. At the same time came acquaintance with many strange plants, animals, and peoples, and so scientific knowledge replaced the quaint fancies of the Middle Ages. EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERIES UPON RELIGIONThe sixteenth century in Europe was the age of that revolt against the Roman Church called the Protestant Reformation. During this period, however, the Church won her victories over the American aborigines. What she lost of territory, wealth, and influence in Europe was more than offset by what she gained in America. Furthermore, the region now occupied by the United States furnished in the seventeenth century an asylum from religious persecution, as was proved when Puritans settled in New England, Roman Catholics in Maryland, and Quakers in Pennsylvania. The vacant spaces of America offered plenty of room for all who would worship God in their own way. Thus the New World became a refuge from the intolerance of the Old. STUDIES1. On an outline map indicate those parts of the world known in the time of Columbus (before 1492 A.D.). 2. On an outline map indicate the voyages of discovery of Vasco da Gama, Columbus (first voyage), John Cabot, and Magellan. 3. What particular discoveries were made by Cartier, Drake, Balboa, De Soto, Ponce de LeÓn, and Coronado? 4. Compare the Cosmas map (page 617) with the map of the world according to Homer (page 76). 5. Compare the Hereford map (page 617) with the map of the world according to Ptolemy (page 132). 6. Why has Marco Polo been called the "Columbus of the East Indies"? |
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