Early European History Part 111

CIRc.u.mNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE, 1519-1522 A.D.

The Spanish ruler, Charles V, grandson of the Isabella who had supported Columbus, looked with favor upon Magellan's ideas and gave him a fleet of five vessels for the undertaking. After exploring the east coast of South America, Magellan came at length to the strait which bears his name.

Through this channel he sailed boldly and found himself upon an ocean which he called the Pacific, because of its peaceful aspect. Magellan's sailors now begged him to return, for food was getting scarce, but the navigator replied that he would go on, "if he had to eat the leather off the rigging." He did go on, for ninety-eight days, until he reached the Ladrone Islands. [24] By a curious chance, in all this long trip across the Pacific, Magellan came upon only two islands, both of them uninhabited. He then proceeded to the Philippines, where he was killed in a fight with the natives. His men, however, managed to reach the Spice Islands, the goal of the journey. Afterwards a single ship, the _Victoria_, carried back to Spain the few sailors who had survived the hardships of a voyage lasting nearly three years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FERDINAND MAGELLAN From a portrait formerly in the Versailles Gallery, Paris.]

MEANING OF THE CIRc.u.mNAVIGATION Magellan's voyage forms a landmark in the history of geography. It proved that America, at least on the south, had no connection with Asia; it showed the enormous extent of the Pacific Ocean; and it led to the discovery of many large islands in the East Indies. Henceforth men knew of a certainty that the earth was round and in the distance covered by Magellan they had a rough estimate of its size. The circ.u.mnavigation of the globe ranks with the discovery of America among the most significant events in history. In the company of great explorers Magellan stands beside Columbus.

223. THE INDIANS

PEOPLING OF AMERICA

The first inhabitants of America probably came from the Old World. At a remote epoch a land-bridge connected northwest Europe with Greenland, and Iceland still remains a witness to its former existence. Over this bridge animals and men may have found their way into the New World. Another prehistoric route may have led from Asia. Only a narrow strait now separates Alaska from Siberia, and the Aleutian Islands form an almost complete series of stepping-stones across the most northerly part of the Pacific.

THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES

The natives of America, whom Columbus called Indians, certainly resemble Asiatics in some physical features, such as the reddish-brown complexion, the hair, uniformly black and lank, the high cheek-bones, and short stature of many tribes. On the other hand, the large, aquiline nose, the straight eyes, never oblique, and the tall stature of some tribes are European traits. It seems safe to conclude that the American aborigines, whatever their origin, became thoroughly fused into a composite race during long centuries of isolation from the rest of mankind.

INDIAN CULTURE

Because of their isolation the Indians had to work out by themselves many arts, inventions, and discoveries. They spoke over a thousand languages and dialects; and not one has yet been traced outside of America. Their implements consisted of polished stone, occasionally of unsmelted copper, and in Mexico and Peru, of bronze. They cultivated Indian corn, or maize, but lacked the other great cereals. They domesticated the dog and the llama of the Andes. They lived in clans and tribes, ruled by headmen or chiefs. Their religion probably did not involve a belief in a "Great Spirit," as is so often said, but rather recognized in all nature the abode of spiritual powers, mysterious and wonderful, whom man ought to conciliate by prayers and sacrifices. In short, most of the American Indians were not savages, but barbarians well advanced in culture.

THE MAYAS

Indian culture attained its highest development in Mexico and Central America, especially among the Mayas of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The remains of their cities--the Ninevehs and Babylons of the New World-- lie buried in the tropical jungle, where Europeans first saw them, four hundred years ago. The temples, shrines, altars, and statues in these ancient cities show that the Mayas had made much progress in the fine arts. They knew enough astronomy to frame a solar calendar of three hundred and sixty-five days, and enough mathematics to employ numbers exceeding a million. The writing of the Mayas had reached the rebus [25]

stage and promised to become alphabetic. When their hieroglyphics have been completely deciphered, we shall learn much more about this gifted people.

THE AZTECS

Several centuries before the arrival of Europeans in America, the so- called Aztecs came down from the north and established themselves on the Mexican plateau. Here they formed a confederacy of many tribes, ruled over by a sort of king, whose capital was Tenocht.i.tlan, on the site of the present city of Mexico.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AZTEC SACRIFICIAL KNIFE British Museum, London. Length, twelve inches. The blade is of yellow, opalescent chalcedony, beautifully chipped and polished. The handle is of light-colored wood carved in the form of a man masked with a bird skin.

Brilliant mosaic settings of turquoise, malachite, and sh.e.l.l embellish the figure.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: AZTEC SACRIFICIAL STONE Now in the National Museum in the City of Mexico.]

AZTEC CULTURE

The Aztecs appear to have borrowed much of their art, science, and knowledge of writing from their Maya neighbors. They built houses and temples of stone or sundried brick, constructed aqueducts, roads, and bridges, excelled in the dyeing, weaving, and spinning of cotton, and made most beautiful ornaments of silver and gold. They worshiped many G.o.ds, to which the priests offered prisoners of war as human sacrifices. In spite of these b.l.o.o.d.y rites, the Aztecs were a kind-hearted, honest people, respectful of the rights of property, brave in battle, and obedient to their native rulers. Aztec culture in some ways was scarcely inferior to that of the ancient Egyptians.

THE INCAS

The lofty table-lands of the Andes were also the seat of an advanced Indian culture. At the time of the Spanish conquest the greater part of what is now Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile had come under the sway of the Incas, the "people of the sun". The Inca power centered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco and on the sh.o.r.es of Lake t.i.ticaca, which lies twelve thousand feet above sea-level. In this region of magnificent scenery the traveler views with astonishment the ruins of vast edifices, apparently never completed, which were raised either by the Incas or the Indians whom they conquered and displaced. Though the culture of the Incas resembled in many ways that of the Aztecs, the two peoples probably never had any intercourse and hence remained totally unaware of each other's existence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, WEST INDIES]

224. SPANISH EXPLORATIONS AND CONQUESTS IN AMERICA

OBJECTS OF THE SPANIARDS

The discoverers of the New World were naturally the pioneers in its exploration. The first object of the Spaniards had been trade with the Indies, and for a number of years, until Magellan's voyage, they sought vainly for a pa.s.sage through the mainland to the Spice Islands. When, however, the Spaniards learned that America was rich in deposits of gold and silver, these metals formed the princ.i.p.al objects of their expeditions.

PONCE DE LEoN AND BALBOA, 1513 A.D.

The Spaniards at first had confined their settlements to the Greater Antilles in the West Indies, [26] but after the gold of these islands was exhausted, they began to penetrate the mainland. In 1513 A.D. Ponce de Leon, who had been with Columbus on his second voyage, discovered the country which he named Florida. It became the first Spanish possession in North America. In the same year Vasco Nunez de Balboa, from the isthmus of Panama, sighted the Pacific. He entered its waters, sword in hand, and took formal possession in the name of the king of Spain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, AN EARLY MAP OF THE NEW WORLD (1540 A.D.)]

CONQUEST OF MEXICO 1519-1521 A.D. AND PERU 1531-1537 A.D.

The overthrow of the Aztec power was accomplished by Hernando Cortes, with the aid of Indian allies. Many large towns and half a thousand villages, together with immense quant.i.ties of treasure, fell into the hands of the conquerors. Henceforth Mexico, or "New Spain," became the most important Spanish possession in America. Francisco Pizarro, who invaded Peru with a handful of soldiers, succeeded in overthrowing the Incas. Pizarro founded in Peru the city of Lima. It replaced Cuzco as the capital of the country and formed the seat of the Spanish government in South America.

EL DORADO

The Spaniards, during the earlier part of the sixteenth century, heard much of a fabled king whom they called El Dorado. [27] This king, it was said, used to smear himself with gold dust at an annual religious ceremony. In time the idea arose that somewhere in South America existed a fabled country marvelously rich in precious metals and gems. These stories stirred the imagination of the Spaniards, who fitted out many expeditions to find the gilded man and his gilded realm. The quest for El Dorado opened up the valleys of the Amazon and Orinoco and the extensive forest region east of the Andes. Spanish explorers also tried to find El Dorado in North America. De Soto's expedition led to the discovery of the Mississippi in 1541 A.D., and Coronado's search for the "Seven Cities of Cibola" not only added greatly to geographical knowledge of the Southwest, but also resulted in the extension of Spanish dominion over this part of the American continent. About 1605 A.D. the Spaniards founded Santa Fe and made it the capital of their government in New Mexico.

225. THE SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE

SPAIN IN THE NEW WORLD

The wonderful exploits of the _conquistadores_ (conquerors) laid the foundations of the Spanish colonial empire. It included Florida, New Mexico, California, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and all South America except Brazil. [28] The rule of Spain over these dominions lasted nearly three hundred years. During this time she gave her language, her government, and her religion to half the New World.

INTERMARRIAGE OF SPANIARDS AND INDIANS

The Spaniards brought few women with them and hence had to find their wives among the Indians. Intermarriage of the two peoples early became common. The result was the mixed race which one still finds throughout the greater part of Spanish America. In this race the Indian strain predominates, because almost everywhere the aborigines were far more numerous than the white settlers.

TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS

The Spaniards treated the Indians of the West Indies most harshly and forced them to work in gold mines and on sugar plantations. The hard labor, to which the Indians were unaccustomed, broke down their health, and almost the entire native population disappeared within a few years after the coming of the whites. This terrible tragedy was not repeated on the mainland, for the Spanish government stepped in to preserve the aborigines from destruction. It prohibited their enslavement and gave them the protection of humane laws. Though these laws were not always well enforced, the Indians of Mexico and Peru increased in numbers under Spanish rule and often became prosperous traders, farmers, and artisans.

CONVERSION OF THE INDIANS

The Spaniards succeeded in winning many of the Indians to Christianity.

Devoted monks penetrated deep into the wilderness and brought to the aborigines, not only the Christian religion, but also European civilization. In many places the natives were gathered into permanent villages, or "missions," each one with its church and school. Converts who learned to read and write often became priests or entered the monastic orders. The monks also took much interest in the material welfare of the Indians and taught them how to farm, how to build houses, and how to spin and weave and cook by better methods than their own.

THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS

The most familiar examples of the Spanish missions are those in the state of California. During the last quarter of the eighteenth century Franciscan friars missions erected no less than eighteen mission stations along the Pacific coast from San Diego to San Francisco. The stations were connected by the "King's Road" [29] which still remains the princ.i.p.al highway of the state. Some of the mission buildings now lie in ruins and others have entirely disappeared. But such a well-preserved structure as the mission of Santa Barbara recalls a Benedictine monastery, [30] with its shady cloisters, secluded courtyard, and timbered roof covered with red tiles. It is a bit of the Old World transplanted to the New.

SPANISH AMERICAN CIVILIZATION

The civilizing work of Spain in the New World is sometimes forgotten. Here were the earliest American hospitals and asylums, for the use of Indians and negroes as well as of Spaniards. Here were the earliest American schools and colleges. Twelve inst.i.tutions of higher learning, all modeled upon the university of Salamanca, arose in Spanish America during the colonial period. Eight of these came into existence before the creation in 1636 A.D. of Harvard University, the oldest in the United States. The pioneer printing press in the Western Hemisphere was set up at Mexico City in 1535 A.D.; no printing press reached the English colonies till more than one hundred years later. To the valuable books by Spanish scholars we owe much of our knowledge of the Mayas, Aztecs, and other Indian tribes.

The first American newspaper was published at Mexico City in 1693 A.D. The fine arts also flourished in the Spanish colonies, and architects of the United States have now begun to copy the beautiful churches and public buildings of Mexico and Peru.