CONTENTS. CHAP. I. Columbus's Origin: his Application II. State of Hispaniola, Cuba, Sc.: sionaries sent out. Las Casas's Conduct and Zeal. Origin of the III. A View of America; and of the IV. History of the Conquest of New V. History of the Conquest of Peru, Page VIII. History of the Discoveries and Set- tlements made by the English.- The Origin of the American War 204 IX. History of the American War conti- The Binder is requested to place the Map of North HISTORY OF AMERICA. CHAP. I. Introduction. Importance of the Discovery of Ame rica. Mariner's Compass. The Portuguese the first Adventurers in pursuit of foreign Countries. Birth and Education of Columbus. Enters the Service of Portugal. His Marriage. Conceives Hopes of reaching the East Indies by holding a westerly Course. His Theory on the Subject. His Application to different Courts. His Plans acceded to by the King and Queen of Spain. His Voyage of Discovery. Difficulties. Success. Lands at Guanahani. Sails to Cuba after Gold. To Hispaniola. Leaves a Colony there, and returns to Spain. The Difficulties of his Voyage Home. Astonishment and Joy of Mankind on the Discovery of the New World. His Reception at Court. The Reason of the Name West Indies. His second Voyage. Finds the Colony all destroyed. Builds a Town. His Followers mutimy. Builds the Fort St. Thomas. Sets sail. Discovers Jamaica. His Distresses. Returns to Hispaniola. War with the Indians. Tax imposed on them. Desolation of the Indians. Columbus returns to Spain. His Reception. Third Voyage. Discovers the Island Trinidad. Entangled in the River Orinoco. Discovers the Continent. Voyage of the Portuguese to the East Indies Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. The Reason of the Name America. Distresses of Columbus. Sails in Quest of the East Indies by a new Passage. Arrives at Hispaniola. His Treatment there. His Prediction of a Storm. The Consequences of neglecting it. His Distresses. Runs his Ship aground at Jamaica. Indians refuse him Assistance. Foretells an Eclipse of the Moon, and takes advantage of it. Returns to Spain. His Treatment and Death. A S individuals are protected in the enjoyment of their wealth and commerce by the power of the community, so the general body deduces equivalent advantages from the extensive trade and vast opulence of private persons. The grandeur of the state, and the happiness and security of its subjects, are, with respect to commerce, inseparable. That policy must ever be narrow and short-sighted which would aggrandize the state by the oppression of its members. Every thing is purchased by labour, which alone is infinitely more valuable than the richest mines of gold and silver. The possession of the latter has in many instances rendered nations poor and contemptible; but in no instance have affluence and felicity failed to accompany industry guided by prudence. A superfluity of labour is a real treasure to society, which may at any time be employed like money in the public service. Hence arise the great advantages of foreign commerce, which, by augmenting the labour, in effect increases the grandeur of the state and the wealth of the subject. By its imports it furnishes the materials of industry; and by its exports it affords encouragement for exertion. Thus the mind acquires additional vigour; it enlarges its powers and facul ties, and the spirit of improvement is, at length, seen in every art and science. If commerce be considered as essential to industry, and labour necessary to the opulence and happiness of society, we cannot but regard the discovery of the vast continent of America, and the islands with which it is on all sides surrounded, as one of the most important consequences of the discovery of the mariner's compass, and the improvements in navigation. Without a knowledge of the West Indies the intercourse with the East Indies would be of little advantage to Europe; it might even be pernicious, by draining it of its gold and silver: whereas we now purchase the commodities of the latter not only with European manufactures, but with the silver dug out of the mines of Potosi. To her possessions in Chili, Peru, Mexico, and the Antilles, Spain owes all her opulence. Great Britain, by means of her colonies, on the continent of America raised herself to a great and envied height of grandeur and importance. Portugal almost owes her existence to her possessions in Brazil. In short, every nation in Europe, either immediately or circuitously, has derived considerable advantages from the discovery of the western world. At the beginning of the fourteenth cenA. D. tury we date the discovery of the compass, 1302. which may, with great propriety, be said to have opened to man the dominion of the sea, and to have put him in full possession of the terrestrial globe, by enabling him to visit every part of it. The art of steering by this instrument was gradually acquired. Sailors, unaccustomed to quit sight of land, durst not launch out and commit themselves to unknown seas. The first appearance |