world the Pope gave Spain the entire continent of North America."1 Ferdinand and Isabella soon began to establish settlements in the West Indies and seized the natives as slaves. 9. What Columbus discovered; his death; greatness of his work. In the course of his three subsequent voyages (1493-1504) Columbus discovered the mainland of Central and South America, but never touched any part of what is now the mainland of the United States. He died in 1506 in the unshaken belief that he had discovered the eastern coast of Asia." He did not dream that by a happy accident, he had actually found a fourth continent a "new world." It has been well said: Nothing like it was ever done before, and nothing like it can ever be done again, for, save the island-continent of Australia, Columbus left no new worlds for a future explorer to reveal.

The true glory of the Genoese sailor is that he was the first civilized man who dared cross the Atlantic and thus lead the way to this fourth continent. His discovery stands forth the greatest secular event recorded in the history of the world, one-half of which had never suspected the existence of the other half.

10. John and Sebastian Cabot plan a rival route to the Indies. - When Columbus returned to Spain at the termination of his first voyage the news of his discovery created "great talk at the court of Henry VII. in England." John Cabot, an Italian merchant, was then living at the port of Bristol. His son Sebastian says that the report of what Columbus had achieved kindled in his own heart "a great flame of desire to attempt some notable thing." The "notable thing" developed itself into a project for reaching the spice islands of the Indies by sailing westward on an extreme northern course so as to pass round the "backside of Greenland."

John Cabot entered into his son's scheme with much enthusiasm, and hoped "to make London a greater place for spices than Alexandria." Henry VII issued a patent to the elder Cabot and his sons giving them authority to discover and take

possession of those heathen lands in the west "which before this time have been unknown to all Christians."

11. First voyage of the Cabots; second voyage; Newfoundland fisheries; results of the first voyage.- John Cabot, probably accompanied by Sebastian, sailed from Bristol in 1497. The chief results of the voyage were set forth on a map, bearing this inscription: "In the year of our Lord 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian, and his son, Sebastian, . . . discovered

claim, saying, "His Majesty (Henry VII.) has won a part of Asia without a stroke of the sword." 25

The next year (1498) the Cabots sailed westward again. They went much farther north in the hope of discovering a short passage to the Indies. At this point the elder Cabot disappears from history. Sebastian admits that the icebergs which blocked his way chilled his enthusiasm and made him turn southward. He coasted along the American mainland looking for a passage through to the East, until, as he says, he reached a point "almost equal in latitude with the Straits of Gibraltar." 11 26 He then set his face homeward.

The reports made by the Cabots of the vast quantities of codfish seen by them in the vicinity of Newfoundland opened

the way to the establishment by the English and French of the largest fisheries in the world. These fisheries had a very marked influence on American colonial history, and have since given rise to important international questions.

But the crowning result of John Cabot's voyage in 1497 was that he was the first European (since the days of the Northmen) who set foot on the continent of North America. He thus, as Burke declares, gave the English their claim to the mainland. This laid the foundation for the North American colonies which Sir Walter Raleigh began in the next century.

12. The voyages of Americus Vespucius to the "New World." In 1499 (after Columbus had made his third voyage and had discovered the mainland at the mouth of the Orinoco) Americus Vespucius, a Florentine, a friend of Columbus, sailed with a Spanish expedition which explored part of the same coast.27 Two years later (1501) he made another voyage and touched Brazil. On his return he suggested that the lands he had visited in the south should be called the "New World." 28 The next year (1503) Vespucius again visited South America and built a fort on the coast of Brazil. On his return he wrote a brief account of his voyages, but the original manuscript has never been found.

13. How America received its name.

account written by

Vespucius chanced

to fall into the hands of a German named Waldseemüller. He was a teacher of geography in the college of St. Dié a village of Lorraine

A copy of the

Se De

The Village of St. Dié, Eastern France.

now included in eastern France. The college owned a small press; on it in 1507 Waldseemüller printed a thin Latin pamphlet bearing the title "An Introduction to Geography." 29. In

it he described the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa; he then gave an account of the voyages of Americus Vespucius, and closed by saying, "The fourth part of the world having been discovered by Americus it may be called . . . the land of Americus or America." 30

The suggestion met with favor. On a German globe made in 1515 we find America standing out in capitals on what appears to be a great southern island in the western Atlantic. The name was at first confined to South America; later it was applied to both of the western continents.

31

14. How it was discovered that America was a continent; Magellan; Behring. But for a long time North America was laid down on the maps of that period as an island. The true continental character of the New World was discovered gradually. Cabot and Vespucius must have suspected it, but it was not until Magellan made his famous voyage round the globe (1519-1521) that the evidence became strong. The Spanish explorers of the Pacific coast, and Sir Francis Drake, in his voyage round the world (1577-1579), confirmed that evidence. But even then the actual breadth of North America was not clearly recognized, and as late as Henry Hudson's expedition (1609), European navigators thought that they might find a short passage through the northern continent to the Pacific. In the next century Vitus Behring, the Danish explorer (1728), sailed through the straits which have since borne his name and proved that America was not attached to Asia in that quarter. In 1856 the discovery of the Northwest Passage completed this process, and showed that America is absolutely disconnected from Asia.

-

15. Summary. In the year 1000 Leif Ericson, a Northman, discovered Vinland on the North American coast; but in the course of a few centuries all knowledge of Vinland was lost. In 1492 Columbus in searching for a new route to the Indies discovered the West India Islands. In 1497 John Cabot landed on the North American continent and claimed it

for the English Crown. England considered that this claim gave her the right to plant colonies in America. Between 1499 and 1503 Americus Vespucius made three voyages to the South American coast. His description of the New World suggested the name America which was given to South America, and later extended to the northern continent. The true character of North America was discovered by Magellan, Drake, the Spanish explorers of the Pacific coast, Captain Behring and his successors.