1587]

The Ralegh Colonists

51

supplies. He found Roanoke Island abandoned and returned to England, leaving fifteen men, with two years' provisions, to hold the post for England's queen.

Ralegh's means were insufficient for these continual demands; he summoned to his aid a body of merchants and men of influence, some of whom belonged to the later Virginia Company. They fitted out a large expedition to make a settlement on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, as Roanoke Island seemed to be an undesirable spot (1587). Disaster attended the colonists from the moment they reached America. For some unexplained reason they were landed on Roanoke Island instead of on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, and John White, the governor of the colony, returned to England in the vessel which had brought him over. The need must have been urgent, since he left in Virginia his wife, his daughter, and his little granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first child born of English parents in America. He again reached Roanoke Island in 1590 and found scarcely a vestige of the colonists, -- only the abandoned houses and a word cut in the bark of a tree. They were never seen again, and all attempts to account for their disappearance have proved to be little more than bare conjectures. White's earlier return had been prevented by the necessity of defending England against the efforts of Philip of Spain to conquer the stronghold of aggressive seamen.

"The Lost Colony," 1587. Winsor's America, III, 113116; Higginson's Ex

plorers, 189

200.

contest with

Spain.

35. The Spanish Armada, 1588. The Spanish govern- Cause of the ment had good reason to be anxious. For years the indomitable sea dogs of England had attacked her colonies at a time when the two countries were at peace. Spain's existence as a sea power depended in great measure on the supply of treasure which she received from the mines of Peru and Mexico; the mariners of England were yearly becoming more and more active in America, and in Europe they were constantly threatening her communications between the Spanish peninsula and her armies fighting with her rebellious subjects in the Netherlands. Many of the

disputes between the two nations grew out of their religious differences, and the religious quarrel greatly complicated. their contests, even when it did not cause them. Philip II determined to send a great fleet - the Spanish Armada - against England; it was to convoy a body of veteran soldiers under the Prince of Parma from the Netherlands, and these, with the soldiers brought in the ships from Spain, were expected to be sufficient to conquer England. The fate of the Spanish monarchy on the one side, and of English freedom on the other, hung in the balance. In the presence of such mighty issues, the few English colonists in Virginia could receive scant attention, every man and every ship was required for the defense of the English nation and institutions.

The Spanish Armada should have left port in 1587, but Drake dashed into the harbors of Spain and burned the storeships, without which the Armada could not sail: Singeing the king of Spain's beard," he jocosely called it. At length, in 1588, the "Invincible Armada" appeared off the coast of England. The Spanish vessels were somewhat larger than the English ships, but not so much larger as was formerly supposed to have been the case; the most important difference in the vessels themselves was in the much greater manageableness of the English ships, - they were shorter and less encumbered above water. Moreover, the English vessels were much the heavier armed. The greatest difference, however, was in the crews of the two fleets: the Spanish vessels were manned chiefly by soldiers, and their officers, with few exceptions, had had little service at sea; the English ships, on the contrary, were manned largely by volunteers from the seafaring people of the coast towns; they were led by men who had been fighting and beating Spaniards for the last twenty years. The world has never seen better sea fighters than Hawkins and Drake, Frobisher and Grenville, Cavendish and Ralegh. Not only were the heavier guns of the English better served than was the lighter artillery of the Spaniards; the superior

1588]

The Spanish Armada

53

speed of the English vessels gave their commanders the power to take such distances as suited their own armament. The very winds blew in England's favor, and storms continued the work of destruction so hardily begun by Drake and his incomparable "Men of Devon." Some of the Spanish vessels which escaped the English guns were wrecked on the coast of Ireland, where their crews fell an easy prey to the Irishmen. Of the one hundred and twenty Spanish ships which entered the English Channel, only fifty-four returned to Spain. The sea power of England was established, and Englishmen might found colonies in the unoccupied parts of America in comparative security. The breaking of Spain's naval power is, therefore, an incident of the first importance in the history of the English colonies. The period of discovery and ex- history. ploration closes with this great achievement, and the period of English and French colonization begins.

Establish

ment of

England's

sea power. Importance

of this in

American

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

§ 11. THE NORTHMEN

a. Read the sagas and draw a parallel between them and the Grecian myths of the wanderers.

b. Discuss the credibility of both.

c. Compare the voyages of the Northmen with the early explorations of the Phoenicians.

§§ 13, 14. EARLY GEOGRAPHICAL IDEAS

a. What proofs that the earth was round were discovered by the ancients?

b. What further facts can you ascertain about Toscanelli and Behaim?

§§ 14, 15. COLUMBUS

a. In what did Columbus's greatness consist?

b. Name at least four important inventions or discoveries which

closed the Middle Ages, and show how each of them affected Columbus's undertaking.

c. Of what world changes were Columbus's discoveries the cause ? d. Represent in colors upon an Outline Map the tracks of Columbus's four voyages and the lands which he visited, putting dates upon each.

$ 17. THE CABOT VOYAGES

a. What event opened the way for England's colonial empire, and what events rendered its firm foundation possible?

b. Does the text of this history confirm or disprove the proposition: "History is a collection of problems, not a statement of facts"? Prove by quotations.

c. What is the chief task of the student of original material ?

§ 18. THE NAMING OF AMERICA

a. Is the name of a continent a matter of real importance? Give your reasons.

b. Represent in colors upon an Outline Map the tracks of all Italian seamen mentioned in this chapter, and the lands they discovered, putting upon every track and every region the name and date.

c. Explain fully (by recitation) the map that you have made.

§§ 19, 20. CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE

a. When did the Pacific Ocean first become important in the commerce of the world? Why?

b. What long voyages preceded the circumnavigation of the globe? What discovery was made by each voyager?

c. In what relation does each of these voyages stand to Columbus or to his actual achievement?

d. Represent in colors all these voyages upon an Outline Map with names and dates.

e. Explain fully (by recitation) the map that you have made.

§§ 21, 22. FLORIDA AND MEXICO

a. Keep in note-book a list of the different possessors of Florida from 1513 to present time, giving to each date and manner of acquisition.

b. What is meant by "strategic importance"? Has the peninsula of Florida strategic importance?

c. Represent in colors upon an Outline Map the territorial changes noted in answer to question a.

a. What effect did Verrazano's voyage have on the Spanish claim to Atlantic coast regions?

b. By whom, and when, were about the same things done, and with what results?

c. What further facts can you ascertain about Verrazano?

S$ 25-27. THE SOUTHWEST

a. How much of these sections is a connected story? Trace it upon an Outline Map and tell it.

b. Represent in colors upon an Outline Map the wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca, of Friar Marcos, of Coronado, of De Soto. Explain fully (by recitation) the map you have made.

c. What importance had each event mentioned in these sections in establishing the Spanish claim to North America?

a.

§§ 24, 28-30. THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA

"French history is always dramatic." Prove or disprove the truth of this assertion. Place this assertion as a heading in note-book, and enter under it the character of the various events in which the French are concerned as you meet them.

b. What American possession has France now? Draw inference, and support it by evidence.

c. Why has the English race supplanted the French and the Spanish race in America? Place this question in note-book, and enter each event bearing upon the question as you meet it.

d. Bring to class a brief topical analysis of French history, 14921550. Who were the Huguenots?

e. Select from this chapter what you deem to be the three most important subjects for special study. Give your reasons.

SS 17, 31-35. THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA

(See questions on § 17.)

a. Bring to class a brief topical analysis of English history from 1497 to 1558. Why was English maritime enterprise so languid in those years? b. Did John Hawkins begin the African slave trade?

c. If Magellan's ship circumnavigated the globe in 1520, why is so much said of Drake's voyage around the world?

d. Has the story of the Ralegh colonies any real importance in American history? Give reasons for your answer.

e. What issues did the defeat of the Spanish Armada settle? In what way?