A Brief History of the United StatesMcMaster, John Bach
History
A Brief History of the United States
McMaster, John Bach
United States -- History
[12] Nobody knows just which of the Bahamas Columbus discovered. Three of
the group--Cat, Turks and Watling--each claim the honor. At present
Watling is believed to have been San Salvador. A good account of the
voyage is given in Irving's _Life and Voyages of Columbus_, Vol. I,
Book iii, and in Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I, pp. 408-442.
[13] When Columbus on his second voyage returned to Hispaniola, he found
that every one of the forty colonists had perished. They had been killed
by the natives.
[14] Despite the great thing he did for Spain. Columbus lost favor at
court. Evil men slandered him; his manner of governing the new lands was
falsely represented to the king and queen; a new governor was sent out,
and Columbus was brought back in chains. Though soon released, he was
never restored to his rights.
[15] Columbus was buried at Valladolid, in Spain, but in 1513 his body was
taken to a monastery at Seville. There it remained till 1536, when it was
carried to Santo Domingo in Haiti. In 1796 it was removed and buried with
imposing ceremonies at Havana in Cuba. In 1898, when Spain was driven from
Cuba, his bones were carried back to Seville.
CHAPTER II
THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED
THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE EXPLORED.--Columbus having shown the way, English,
Spanish, and Portuguese explorers followed. Some came in search of China
or the Spice Islands; some were in quest of gold and pearls. The result
was the exploration of the Atlantic coast line from Labrador to the end of
South America.
SOME FAMOUS VOYAGES.--In 1497 John Cabot, sailing from England, reached
Newfoundland, which he believed to be part of China. [1] In 1498 John
Cabot and his son Sebastian, while in search of the Spice Islands, sailed
along the coast from Newfoundland to what is now South Carolina. [2]
[Illustration: RECORD OF PAYMENT OF JOHN CABOT'S PENSION FOR 1499. [3]
Photographed from the original accounts of the Bristol customs collectors,
now in Westminster Abbey, London.]
[Illustration: DISCOVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA.]
Before 1500 Spaniards in search of gold, or pearls, or new lands had
explored the coast line from Central America to Cape St. Roque. [4]
In 1500 Cabral, while on his way from Portugal to India by Da Gama's route
(p. 11), sailed so far westward that he sighted the coast of the country
now called Brazil. Cabral went on his way; but sent back a ship to the
king of Portugal with the news that the new-found land lay east of the
Line of Demarcation. The king dispatched (1501) an expedition which
explored the coast southward nearly as far as the mouth of the Plata
River.
SOME RESULTS OF THESE VOYAGES.--The results of these voyages were many and
important. They furnished a better knowledge of the coast; they proved the
existence of a great mass of land called the New World, but still supposed
to be a part of Asia; they secured Brazil for Portugal, and led to the
naming of our continent.
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