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FOREWORD
We may read the first chapter of American history in the lives of the men who found America and settled it. History is not simply a record of happenings; it is the story of men who dreamed of doing great deeds and who had the pluck and perseverance to make their dreams come true. To read the life stories of these men will make the reader lift his chin a little higher and feel proud that there have been those who could do and dare, as the heroes of American discovery have done and dared. Some of them were not perfect men, but nearly all were brave and strong.
This book is not to be studied, but to be read for the joy of reading. Stories of adventure, of a wild new life in a wild new world, of hardships borne without complaint, of a fixed purpose never abandoned and in most cases accomplished in the end. Such tales should stir the imagination of the young and make them better for the reading. The book is easily within the reading ability of young people in the fifth school grade, though it should be enjoyed by all who love a good story. The words used are from the list prepared by Dr. Buckingham and Dr. Dolch, after many tests. The only exceptions are names of persons and places and about a hundred words necessary to describe the adventures of the explorers. Such words are uniformly simple, and their meaning, if not already known, will be easily recognized from the context.
The human element has been emphasized throughout, for it is this that makes the romance of history.
W.T.F.
CONTENTS:
- Introduction
BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN
- Leif Ericson
THE NORTHMAN WHO FOUND AND LOST AMERICA, ABOUT IOOO A.D.
- Marco Polo
THE MAN WHO FIRST TOLD EUROPE ABOUT THE FAR EAST, 1271- 1299
- Christopher Columbus
WHO DISCOVERED A NEW WORLD, 1480-1504
- John Cabot
WHO GAVE ENGLAND HER CLAIM TO NORTH AMERICA, 1497-1498
- Americus Vespucius
WHO GAVE HIS NAME TO THE NEW WORLD, 1497-1512
- Juan Ponce de Leon
WHO SOUGHT A MAGIC FOUNTAIN AND FOUND A CONTINENT, 1493-1521
- Vasco Nuñez de Balboa
THE FIRST WHITE MAN TO SEE THE PACIFIC OCEAN FROM AMERICA, 1510-1517
- Ferdinand Magellan
WHO FIRST FOUND A WAY AROUND THE WORLD, 1505-1521
- Hernando Cortes
THE CONQUEROR OF MEXICO, 1518-1547
- Francisco Pizarro
WHO CONQUERED AND ROBBED PERU, 1510-1541 vii
- Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca
THE FIRST JOURNEY ACROSS NORTH AMERICA, 1527-1536
- Hernando de Soto
THE EXPLORER OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA, 1537-1542
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
THE EXPLORER OF THE SOUTHWEST, 1539-1542
- Jacques Cartier
THE DISCOVERER OF CANADA, 1534-1557
- Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh
TWO BROTHERS WHO BEGAN THE COLONIZATION OF AMERICA, 1539-1618
- Sir Francis Drake
WHO SAILED AROUND THE WORLD AND BROKE THE POWER OF SPAIN, 1564-1596
- Bartholomew Gosnold and John Smith
EXPLORERS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST AND FOUNDERS OF VIRGINIA, 1602-1631
- Henry Hudson
WHO EXPLORED THE RIVER AND BAY CALLED BY HIS NAME, 1607-1611
- Miles Standish
THE PLYMOUTH CAPTAIN, 1620-1656
- Index
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