Brief History of the United States | Page 4

and soon beheld the island of Haiti; this so reminded him of Spain that he called it Hispaniola, or Little Spain.
THE FIRST SPANISH COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD.--When off the Cuban shore, the Pinta deserted Columbus. On the coast of Haiti the Santa Maria was wrecked. To carry all his men back to Spain in the little Nina was impossible. Such, therefore, as were willing were left at Haiti, and founded La Navidad, the first colony of Europeans in the New World. [13] This done, Columbus sailed for home, taking with him ten natives, and specimens of the products of the lands he had discovered.
THE VOYAGE HOME.--The Pinta was overtaken off the Haitian coast, but a dreadful storm parted the ships once more, and neither again saw the other till the day when, but a few hours apart, they dropped anchor in the haven of Palos, whence they had sailed seven months before. As the news spread, the people went wild with joy. The journey of Columbus to Barcelona was a triumphal procession. At Barcelona he was received with great ceremony by the king and queen, and soon afterward was sent back with many ships and men to found a colony and make further explorations in the Indies.
[Illustration: THE WEST INDIES--SHOWING THE DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS.]
OTHER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS.--In all Columbus made four voyages to the New World. On the second (1493) he discovered Porto Rico, Jamaica, and other islands. On the third (1498) he saw the mainland of South America at the mouth of the Orinoco River. [14] On the fourth (1502-4) he sailed along the shores of Central America. Returning to Spain, he died poor, neglected, and broken-hearted in 1506. [15]
COLUMBUS BELIEVED HE REACHED THE INDIES.--To his dying day Columbus was ignorant of the fact that he had led the way to a new continent. He supposed he had reached the Indies. The lands he discovered were therefore spoken of as the Indies, and their inhabitants were called Indians, a name given in time to the copper-colored natives of both North and South America.
SPAIN'S CLAIM TO NEW-FOUND LANDS.--One of the first results of the discoveries of Columbus was an appeal to the Pope for a bull securing to Spain the heathen lands discovered; for a bull had secured to Portugal the discoveries of her mariners along the coast of Africa. Pope Alexander VI accordingly drew a north and south line one hundred leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, and gave to Spain all she might discover to the west of it, reserving to Portugal all she might discover to the east. A year later (1494) Spain and Portugal by treaty moved the "Line of Demarcation" to three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands (map, p. 20), and on this agreement, approved by the Pope, Spain rested her claim to America.
SUMMARY
1. For many centuries before the discovery of America, Europe had been trading with the far East.
2. The routes of this trade were being closed by the Turks.
3. Columbus believed a new route could be found by sailing due westward from Europe.
4. After many years of fruitless effort to secure aid to test his plan, he obtained help from Spain.
5. On his first voyage westward Columbus discovered the Bahama Islands, Cuba, and Haiti; on his later voyages, various other lands about the Caribbean Sea.
6. In the belief that he had reached the Indies, the lands Columbus found were called the Indies, and their inhabitants Indians.
FOOTNOTES
[1] In the Middle Ages, when food was coarse and cookery poor, cinnamon and cloves, nutmeg and mace, allspice, ginger, and pepper were highly prized for spicing ale or seasoning food. But all these spices were very expensive in Europe because they had to be brought so far from the distant East. Even pepper, which is now used by every one, was then a fit gift from one king to another. Camphor and rhubarb, indigo, musk, sandalwood, Brazil wood, aloes wood, all came from the East. Muslin and damask bear the names of eastern cities whence they were first obtained. In the fifteenth century the churches, palaces, manor houses, and homes of rich merchants were adorned with the rugs and carpets of the East.
[2] Prince Henry was the fourth son of John I, king of Portugal. In 1419 he established his home on Cape St. Vincent, gathered about him a body of trained seamen, and during forty years sent out almost every year an exploring expedition. His pilots discovered the Azores and the Madeira Islands. He died in 1460. His great work was training seamen. Many men afterward famous as discoverers and navigators, as Dias (dee'ahss), Da Gama (dah gah'ma), Cabral (ca-brahl'), Magellan, and Columbus, served under Henry or his successors.
In those days there were neither steamships nor such sailing vessels