A Brief History of the United StatesMcMaster, John Bach
History
A Brief History of the United States
McMaster, John Bach
United States -- History
The Spaniards also heard rumors of a golden kingdom to the southward where
the Incas ruled. After preliminary voyages of exploration Francisco
Pizarro sailed from Panama in 1531 with 200 men and 50 horses to conquer
Peru. Landing on the coast he marched inland to the camp of the Inca, a
young man who had just seized the throne. The sight of the white strangers
clad in shining armor, wielding thunder and lightning (firearms), and
riding unearthly beasts (horses were unknown to the Indians), caused
wonder and dread in Peru as it had in Mexico. The Inca was made prisoner
and hundreds of his followers were killed. He offered to fill his prison
room with gold as high as he could reach if Pizarro would set him free;
the offer was accepted and in 1533 some $15,000,000 in gold was divided
among the conquerors. The Inca, however, was put to death, and the
Spaniards took possession of the whole country.
[8] None of Magellan's vessels were as large as the _Santa Maria_, and
three were smaller than the _Niña_. The sailors demanded that Magellan
return to Spain. When he refused, the captains and crews of three
ships mutinied, and were put down with difficulty.
[9] Guam, which now belongs to our country, is one of the Ladrones.
[10] The Spaniards took possession of the Philippines a few years later,
and in 1571 founded Manila. The group was named after Philip II of Spain.
In 1555 a Spanish navigator discovered the Hawaiian Islands; but though
they were put down on the early Spanish charts, the Spaniards did not take
possession of them. Indeed, these islands were practically forgotten, and
two centuries passed before they were rediscovered by the English
explorer, Captain Cook, in 1778.
[11] Magellan was a very religious man, and after making an alliance with
the king of the island of Cebu, he set about converting the natives to
Christianity. The king, greatly impressed by the wonders the white man
did, consented. A bonfire was lighted, the idols were thrown in, a cross
was set up, and the natives were baptized. This done, the king called on
Magellan to help him attack the chief of a neighboring island; but in the
attack Magellan was killed and his men put to flight. This defeat so
angered the king that he invited thirty Spaniards to a feast, massacred
them, cut down the cross, and again turned pagan.
[12] Read the account in Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. II, pp.
190-211.
[13] Juan Ponce de Leon had sailed with Columbus on his second voyage, and
had settled in Haiti. Hearing that there was gold in Porto Rico, he
explored it for Spain, in 1509 was made its governor, and in 1511 founded
the city of San Juan (sahn hoo-ahn'). After he was removed from the
governorship, he obtained leave to search for the island of Bimini.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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