In the whole territorial history of the country, never has there been such a transition. The Philippines, which “Mr. Dooley” in 1898 thought might be canned goods, are now, according to the Supreme Court, in one sense “a part of the United States,” yet not an organic part in financial or governmental or legal relations. The country, which from 1850 to 1902 divided with Great Britain the responsibility for a future Isthmian canal, is now “making the dirt fly” in a canal strip which is virtually Federal territory. China, which a few years ago was one of the remotest parts of the earth, now lies but a few hundred miles from American possessions. The romantic era of annexations has gone by: the automobile trundles across the Great American Desert and stops for lunch at a railroad restaurant, and the South Sea Islands have lost their mystery since the trade-winds straighten out the American flag above some of those tiny land-spots. SYNOPSIS OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS, CHIEFLY MILITARY, IN THE HISTORY OF COLONIAL AMERICA BETWEEN THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS, 1492, AND CHAMPLAIN’S BATTLE WITH THE IROQUOIS, 1609 1492. Columbus discovers the western world. 1497. John Cabot reaches the mainland of North America. 1498. Columbus discovers the mainland of South America. 1512. Ponce de Leon lands in Florida. 1513. Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean. 1519. Entry of Cortez into the City of Mexico. 1521. Conquest of Mexico by Cortez. 1531–33. Conquest of Peru by Pizarro. 1534. Cartier’s first voyage to the St. Lawrence. 1535–36. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca crosses the continent from near the mouth of the Mississippi to Sinaloa in Mexico. 1541. The expedition of De Soto reaches the Mississippi River. Coronado, coming from Mexico, reaches the interior, probably northeastern Kansas. 1562. The Huguenots attempt a settlement on the coast of South Carolina. 1564. Huguenot settlement on the St. John’s River in Florida. 1565. Founding of St. Augustine by the Spanish. 1583. Sir Humphrey Gilbert takes possession of Newfoundland in the name of Queen Elizabeth. 1584. Raleigh’s expedition to North Carolina. The region is named Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth. 1585. Unsuccessful settlement by the English on Roanoke Island. 1602. Bartholomew Gosnold attempts a settlement on the coast of Massachusetts. 1606. James I. grants a patent to the London and Plymouth Companies. 1607. Foundation of Jamestown. 1608. Foundation of Quebec by the French. 1609. Champlain, with Algonquin Indians, defeats Mohawks, of the Iroquois Confederacy, near Ticonderoga. II A FIGHT FOR LIFE _The Hundred Years’ War Between Early Colonists and the Indians_