CHAPTER I

THE NEW WORLD FOUND


The New World, of which our country is the most important part, was
discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. When that great man set sail
from Spain on his voyage of discovery, he was seeking not only unknown
lands, but a new way to eastern Asia. Such a new way was badly needed.

THE ROUTES OF TRADE.--Long before Columbus was born, the people of Europe
had been trading with the far East. Spices, drugs, and precious stones,
silks, and other articles of luxury were brought, partly by vessels and
partly by camels, from India, the Spice Islands, and Cathay (China) by
various routes to Constantinople and the cities in Egypt and along the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean. There they were traded for the copper,
tin, and lead, coral, and woolens of Europe, and then carried to Venice
and Genoa, whence merchants spread them over all Europe. [1] The merchants
of Genoa traded chiefly with Constantinople, and those of Venice with
Egypt.

THE TURKS SEIZE THE ROUTES OF TRADE.--While this trade was at its height,
Asia Minor (from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean) was conquered by the
Turks, the caravan routes across that country were seized, and when
Constantinople was captured (in 1453), the trade of Genoa was ruined.
Should the Turkish conquests be extended southward to Egypt (as later they
were), the prosperity of Venice would likewise be destroyed, and all
existing trade routes to the Orient would be in Turkish hands.