The discovery of America, and the Puritan experiment

LECTURE 12

12.1. The earlier history of America's discovery.

12.1.1. The question of the discovery of America is not a new one and it arose again some decades ago when an ancient map, called the Vinland Map, was found in London. According to the map, to the west of Greenland there is a great country the Norsemen called Vinland. The outlines of the coast of Vinland on the map correspond to those of the coast of Newfoundland and North America today.

12.1.2. The early people of Europe and the Near East were slow to disco­ver the West mainly because of their fear of the open sea. But the Icelandic sagas tell of a Norseman, Eric the Red, and his son, about the voyages they made. They discovered Vinland at the end of the 10th century, built houses, wintered there and returned to Greenland. The ancient Norsemen left sailing instructions behind them. It was Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red, who in AD 999 reached the south shore of the land known now under the name of New England and encamped there. An old Saga tells us that his men found there a lot of grape vines and grapes. The Norsemen filled their ship with grapes and a cargo of timber and sailed away, and Leif named the country Vinland (Wineland).

12.1.3. In the late 1400s Spain began searching for another water route to the East. Instead of it, Span­ish explorers found a new continent. A mapmaker called it the New World — the land across the At­lantic that was not part of Asia. Three ships headed by Christopher Columbus left Spain and sailed to the west. On October 12, 1492, Columbus stepped ashore, holding the Spanish flag. Columbus thought that he had reached a group of islands near the coasts of China and India which were called the Indies. That's why he called the people he saw Indians. Columbus made three more voyages to the New World. But he never knew that he had discovered a new world. He was sure that he had approached China and India from the east. But his name America got from another traveler, who proved that Columbus discovered the New World, Amerigo Vespucci.

12.1.4. In the early 1500s a num­ber of Spanish soldiers and adventurers went to Hispaniola and Cuba, islands in the West In­dies. From these islands they were planning to explore other parts of the New World. These ad­venturers called themselves conquistadors, which meant conquerors. One of the conquistadors was Hernando Cortes. In Mexico Cortes learnt about the rich and powerful Aztec In­dians. Cortes led an army to conquer the Aztecs. The Spaniards were amazed by the Aztec city, fine architecture and sculpture. They cap­tured Tenochtitlan, the capital, and took Montezuma, the Aztec leader, prisoner. In the end, the Spaniards defeated the Aztecs. They declared themselves masters of Mexico and sent shiploads of golf and silver to Spanish King Carlos I^. of Spar was pleased.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-07