A Brief History of the United StatesSteele, Joel Dorman
History
A Brief History of the United States
Steele, Joel Dorman
United States -- History
At last, urged by his crew, he relinquished the search, and turned
his vessels homeward.
HIS RECEPTION, on his return, was flattering in the extreme. The
whole nation took a holiday. His appearance was hailed with shouts
and the ringing of bells. The king and queen were dazzled by their
new and sudden acquisition. As Columbus told them of the beautiful
land he had discovered, its brilliant birds, its tropical forests,
its delicious climate, and above all, its natives waiting to be
converted to the Christian faith, they sank upon their knees, and
gave God thanks for such a signal triumph.
[Illustration: TOMB OF COLUMBUS AT HAVANA]
[Footnote: The body of Columbus was deposited in the Convent of San
Francisco, Valladohd, Spain. It was thence transported, in 1513, to
the Carthusian Monastery of Seville where a handsome monument was
erected, by command of Ferdinand and Isabella with the simple
inscription--"To Castile and Leon, Colon gave a new world." In 1536
his body, and that of his son Diego, were removed to the city of
Saint Domingo, Hayti, and interned in the principal chapel. But
they were not permitted to rest even there, for in 1796 they were
brought to Havana with imposing ceremonies. His final resting place
in the Cathedral is marked by a slab elaborately carved, on which
is inscribed in Spanish,
"Oh, rest thou, image of the great Colon,
Thousand centuries remain, guarded in the urn,
And in the remembrance of our nation."]
SUBSEQUENT VOYAGES.--Columbus afterward made three voyages. In 1498
he discovered the mainland, near the Orinoco River. He never,
however, lost the delusion that it was the eastern coast of Asia,
and died ignorant of the grandeur of his discovery.
HOW THE CONTINENT WAS NAMED.--Americus Vesputius (a-mer-i-cus
ves-pu-she-us), a friend of Columbus, accompanied a subsequent
expedition to the new world. A German named Waldsee-Mueller
published an interesting account of his adventures, in which he
suggested that the country should be called America. This work,
being the first description of the new world, was very popular, and
the name was soon adopted by geographers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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