COLONIAL CLAIMS

America discovered by Columbus, 1492. Spain secures Florida, 1565. French in Canada, 1605. English at Jamestown, 1607. Dutch in New York, 1613. Swedes in Delaware, 1638. English conquer Dutch in New York, New Jersey, etc., 1664. French found New Orleans, 1718. Canada passes to England, 1763. Florida acquired by England, 1763. Independence declared, 1776

THE

CHAPTER I

COLONIAL CLAIMS

HE studies this year will have to do with the territorial development of the United States. The aim will be to make choice of such extracts as will tell the story of the formation of the original area, and its subsequent expansion to its present limits. Extracts from letters, from state papers, from diplomatic correspondence, and from speeches will give the results of wars, and of treaties which have had to do with determining acquisitions and boundaries.

In this first number an attempt will be made to give the basis for the claims of the various nations holding some portion of our present territory. Then a brief account will be presented of the struggle by the various European nations for the possession of what is now the United States. Some of the arguments for the various claims will follow. The importance of the different sections of the country as seen by contemporaries, will be of great interest to us as showing how far and well they could see into the future.

Matter for this first number is perhaps a little unsatisfactory. In the first place our ancestors were so prolific of words that it is

almost impossible to find a statement of the various claims that is condensed enough to be used in our little papers. In general even a grant of land, or a claim by a nation of a certain section will be so long drawn out that no use can be made of it, as a whole. But again their sentences were so long that they are rarely separable so as to quote the essential parts. Even treaties were so voluminous that only a little-very often too little to make it definitecan be used to advantage. In the second place much of the matter itself is vague, and whole documents have to be used to get at the essence, or even at the meaning at all. Finally some documents that I should like to use are inaccessible. It is a pleasure to say that for the remaining numbers the available material is not only abundant, but it is also of the greatest value and interest. It is hoped that even this first number may make the beginnings of our domain, while we were yet English subjects, more vivid than it has been when pupil and teacher were mainly or wholly confined to some mere statement of the early territorial claims.

Something will be found concerning Spanish, French, Dutch, Swedish and English discoveries and explorations, hence claims. Again there will appear before us those who were contending for mastery in the various sections of North America. The extensions and contractions of possessions will be called to our notice by extracts from those who were taking part in

the drama which finally decided that this continent should be held and developed under the guidance of the English race and language; that its institutions should be Teutonic rather than Celtic; that its religion should at first be Protestant, and then finally free for each man to decide according to his own conscience.

1. CLAIMANTS.

(1.) Spain.

BASIS,

-DISCOVERY AND

EXPLORATION.

Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella. Written 1492:

Your Highness, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above mentioned countries of India, . . to learn their dispositions and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and, furthermore, directed that I should not proceed by land to the East as is customary, but by a Westerly route.

Here

upon, I set sail from the port, on Friday the the third of August, half an hour before sunrise, and steered for the Canary Islands, thence to take my departure and proceed till I arrived at the Indies. -Ford, Writings of Columbus, pp. 27, 31. Columbus to Raphael Sanchez, 1493, Treasurer of Ferdinand and Isabella:

Knowing that it will afford you pleasure to learn that I have brought my undertakings to a successful termination, I have decided upon writing you this letter to acquaint you with all the events which have occurred in my voyage, and the discoveries which have resulted from it. Thirty-three days after my departure from Cadiz I reached the Indian sea, where I discovered many islands thickly peopled, of which I took possession without resistance, in the name of our most

illustrious monarch, by public proclamation and with -Ford, Life of Columbus

unfurled banner.

pp. 33, 34.

(2.) France.

The voyage of Verrazzano, 1524:

Since the tempests which we encountered on the northern coasts, I have not written to your most Serene and Christian Majesty concerning the four ships sent out by your orders to discover new lands.

On the 17th of last January we set sail from a desolate rock near the island of Madeira. . . . Sailing westward, we reached a new country which had never been seen by anyone, either in ancient or modern times.

Taking our departure as I before observed from the above mentioned desert rocks, . and in the latitute of 32 degress north from the equator, and steering a western course, we had run when we first made land a distance of 1200 leagues, or 4800 miles. But to return to ourselves; in the voyage which we have made by order of your Majesty, in addition to the 92 degress we run toward the west from our point of departure, before we reached land in the latitude of 34, we have to count 300 leagues which we ran north-eastwardly, and 400 nearly east along the coast before we reached the 50th parallel of north latitude, the point where we turned our course from the shore towards home. -Old South Leaflets No. 17

Discovery of the Mississippi.

Father James Marquette, 1673:

Account by

Be

I embarked with M. Joliet, who has been chosen to conduct this enterprise, on the 13th of May 1673, with five other Frenchmen in two bark canoes. fore embarking we all offered up prayers to the holy Virgin, which we continued to do every morning, placing ourselves and the events of the journey under her protection, and after having encouraged each other, we got into our canoes. The river upon which we embarked is called Mesconsin (Wisconsin) the river is very wide but the sand bars make it very difficult to