第一部分
发现与探险（1000-1600年）
第1章?欧洲发现美洲
1．列夫·埃里克森发现美洲（1000年）
许多人自幼就会背诵的这两句诗：
公元一四九二，
哥伦布扬帆蓝海
许多人认为哥伦布是第一个到达美洲的欧洲人，但在他之前约500年，列夫·埃里克森就已发现了新大陆。列夫·埃里克森的父亲（北欧人雷德埃里克）在格陵兰岛建立了殖民地，因此他在公元1000年起航，“从挪威出发去拜访父亲”。他与自己的随员日复一日地在大海上颠簸航行，最后他们抵达一片长满葡萄藤的未知土地，并把这里命名为温兰德。之后他们一路北上，安全抵达格陵兰岛。温兰德的具体位置不得而知，但可以确信这就是美洲的一部分。因此，北欧人列夫·埃里克森是美洲的真正发现者。
2. 早期欧洲旅行家
欧洲人对亚洲的知识远远超过对温兰德的了解。几百年来传教士、商人、旅行家往返于远东与欧洲之间。他们不但把丝绸、香料以及金银饰品带回欧洲，而且宣讲东方的富有与王公贵族的伟大。其中意大利旅行家马可·波罗讲到了中国和日本。他说日本这个岛国的君主无比富有，连宫殿的地板都是纯金铺成的。土耳其突然控制了欧洲与富有的远东之间的领土，切断了东西方的陆路商旅通道，因此寻找到通往印度、中国和日本的新路径也就成了必然。
3. 早期葡萄牙航行家
通往东方的一条路看起来应该是在非洲的南端——如果非洲南部有这么一个尽头的话。1487年，葡萄牙船员沿非洲南端航行并返回本国，把这里称为“风暴角”，但葡萄牙国王认为有到达印度的希望了，因此把这里更名为“好望角”。十年之后，即1497年，勇敢的葡萄牙航行家达伽马经好望角抵达印度并安全返航。
4. 哥伦布
与此同时，意大利人哥伦布历经更加惊险的旅程安全返航。通过自己阅读，也经别人说教，他开始相信地球是圆的。如果真是这样，中国和日本在欧洲的东方，也在欧洲的西方。哥伦布还认为地球非常小——他认为的地球比真实的地球小得多，他觉得日本就在西班牙西方3000英里的位置。有很长一段时间，大家都嘲笑向西航行也可以抵达日本和中国的想法，但最终哥伦布还是筹足资金组建了一个小型舰队。
5. 1492年的航行
1492年8月，哥伦布离开西班牙，在加那利群岛补给充足后向西进入大西洋。1492年10月20号晚上10点，哥伦布在黑暗中看到了光线。船队很快停航，天亮后他们毫无疑问地发现了陆地。他们放下一只小船，哥伦布乘小船登陆，为西班牙国王费迪南德和王后伊莎贝拉占领了这块新领地。土著人来见这些开拓者。他们的红皮肤让哥伦布很感兴趣——因为这不就是远东的居民吗？因此他把他们称作印第安人。
6. 印第安人与印度群岛
这些印第安人跟马可波罗描述的中国人和日本人完全不同。他们不但没穿镶金的绸缎衣服，甚至根本就没衣服可言。显然这个岛不是日本，或许是日本周边的某个岛。因此哥伦布继续航行并发现了古巴，因为印第安人总说“古巴那昆”这个词，而哥伦布误以为这是他们说忽必烈可汗这位伟大君主时的特有发音，因此他确信古巴就是亚洲的一部分，并立即派出两名信使给这位伟大的君王送信。回到西班牙后哥伦布被当成海军司令欢迎。他又三次赴美航行，但他从没有深入美洲大陆。
7. 1497年，约翰·卡波特
哥伦布探索西印度群岛的时候，另一位意大利航海家约翰·卡波特穿越大西洋，比哥伦布的航行还要往北。经都铎王朝首位国王亨利七世的授权，约翰·卡波特从英格兰布里斯托尔大胆出发，穿越北大西洋，抵达美洲北部的新斯科舍海岸。跟哥伦布一样，他以为找到了忽必烈可汗的王国。英国皇室凭借他的发现，宣称对北美拥有殖民权。
8. 命名美洲
许多开拓者都来过这片新发现的陆地，其中有一位叫阿美里卡斯·韦斯普奇的意大利人，具体他到了那里不清楚，但他详述了自己的航行，出版后被广泛阅读，这一点很清楚。在他的叙述中他说我们所谓的南美洲并不是亚洲的一部分，因此他把这里命名为新大陆。哥伦布一直都宣称他发现的陆地是亚洲的一部分，因此人们一想到新大陆的时候就会想到阿美里卡斯，不久就有人建议新大陆应更名为美洲，以此纪念阿美里卡斯。之后，人们确信其他陆地也不是亚洲的一部分，便同样称之为美洲，这样整个大陆最后都叫美洲了。
9. 巴波亚和麦哲伦（1513，1520）
西班牙人巴波亚到圣多明哥寻求发迹，落魄后四处逃债，最终发现自己竟跑到了巴拿马海峡中部的一座高山上。向南望去他发现一片波光粼粼的新海域，他把这里叫做南海。往海里走到水深齐腰的时候，他挥舞着剑宣称为西班牙国王占领了这片领地，这是1513年的事儿。7年后，1520年，效忠西班牙国王的葡萄牙人麦哲伦经麦哲伦海峡航行至这片广阔的海域，他又称之为太平洋。他从那里一路向西北，历经数月航行后抵达菲律宾群岛。麦哲伦被当地人杀害，但船队中的一艘船经好望角回到了西班牙。
PART I
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION
1000-1600
CHAPTER 1
THE EUROPEAN DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
1. Leif Ericson discovers America, 1000.—In our early childhood many of us learned to repeat the lines:—
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
In fourteen hundred, ninety-two.
We thought that he was the first European to visit America. But nearly five hundred years before his time Leif Ericson had discovered the New World. He was a Northman and the son of Eric the Red. Eric had already founded a colony in Greenland, and Leif sailed from Norway to make him a visit. This was in the year 1000. Day after day Leif and his men were tossed about on the sea until they reached an unknown land where they found many grape-vines. They called it Vinland or Wineland. They Then sailed northward and reached Greenland in safety. Precisely where Vinland was is not known. But it certainly was part of North America. Leif Ericson, the Northman, was therefore the real discoverer of America.
2. Early European Travelers.—The people of Europe knew more of the lands of Asia than they knew of Vinland. For hundreds of years missionaries, traders, and travelers visited the Far East. They brought back to Europe silks and spices, and ornaments of gold and of silver. They told marvelous tales of rich lands and great princes. One of these travelers was a Venetian named Marco Polo. He told of Cathay or China and of Cipango or Japan. This last country was an island. Its king was so rich that even the floors of his palaces were of pure gold. Suddenly the Turks conquered the lands between Europe and the golden East. They put an end to this trading and traveling. New ways to India, China, and Japan must be found.
3. Early Portuguese Sailors.—One way to the East seemed to be around the southern end of Africa—if it should turn out that there was a southern end to that Dark Continent. In 1487 Portuguese seamen sailed around the southern end of Africa and, returning home, called that point the Cape of Storms. But the King of Portugal thought that now there was good hope of reaching India by sea. So he changed the name to Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later a brave Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama, actually reached India by the Cape of Good Hope, and returned safely to Portugal (1497).
4. Columbus.—Meantime Christopher Columbus, an Italian, had returned from an even more startling voyage. From what he had read, and from what other men had told him, he had come to believe that the earth was round. If this were really true, Cipango and Cathay were west of Europe as well as east of Europe. Columbus also believed that the earth was very much smaller than it really is, and that Cipango was only three thousand miles west of Spain. For a time people laughed at the idea of sailing westward to Cipango and Cathay. But at length Columbus secured enough money to fit out a little fleet.
5. The Voyage, 1492.—Columbus left Spain in August, 1492, and, refitting at the Canaries, sailed westward into the Sea of Darkness. At ten o'clock in the evening of October 20, 1492, looking out into the night, he saw a light in the distance. The fleet was soon stopped. When day broke, there, sure enough, was land. A boat was lowered, and Columbus, going ashore, took possession of the new land for Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Aragon and Castile. The natives came to see the discoverers. They were reddish in color and interested Columbus—for were they not inhabitants of the Far East? So he called them Indians.
6. The Indians and the Indies.—These Indians were not at all like those wonderful people of Cathay and Cipango whom Marco Polo had described. Instead of wearing clothes of silk and of gold embroidered satin, these people wore no clothes of any kind. But it was plain enough that the island they had found was not Cipango. It was probably some island off the coast of Cipango, so on Columbus sailed and discovered Cuba. He was certain that Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia, for the Indians kept saying“Cubanaquan.” Columbus thought that this was their way of pronouncing Kublai Khan—the name of a mighty eastern ruler. So he sent two messengers with a letter to that powerful monarch. Returning to Spain, Columbus was welcomed as a great admiral. He made three other voyages to America. But he never came within sight of the mainland of the United States.
7. John Cabot, 1497.—While Columbus explored the West Indies, another Italian sailed across the Sea of Darkness farther north. His name was John Cabot, and he sailed with a license from Henry VII of England, the first of the Tudor kings. Setting boldly forth from Bristol, England, he crossed the North Atlantic and reached the coast of America north of Nova Scotia. Like Columbus, he thought that he had found the country of the Grand Khan. Upon his discovery English kings based their claim to the right to colonize North America.
8. The Naming of America.—Many other explorers also visited the new-found lands. Among these was an Italian named Americus Vespucius. Precisely where he went is not clear. But it is clear that he wrote accounts of his voyages, which were printed and read by many persons. In these accounts he said that what we call South America was not a part of Asia. So he named it the New World. Columbus all the time was declaring that the lands he had found were a part of Asia. It was natural, therefore, that people in thinking of the New World should think of Americus Vespucius. Before long some one even suggested that the New World should be named America in his honor. This was done, and when it became certain that the other lands were not parts of Asia, the name America was given to them also until the whole continent came to be called America.
9. Balboa and Magellan, 1513, 1520.—Balboa was a Spaniard who came to San Domingo to seek his fortune. He became a pauper and fled away from those to whom he owed money. After long wanderings he found himself on a high mountain in the center of the Isthmus of Panama. To the southward sparkled the waters of a new sea. He called it the South Sea. Wading into it waist deep, he waved his sword in the air and took possession of it for his royal master, the King of Spain. This was in 1513. Seven years later, in 1520, Magellan, a Portuguese seaman in the service of the Spanish king, sailed through the Straits of Magellan and entered the same great ocean, which he called the Pacific. Thence northward and westward he sailed day after day, week after week, and month after month, until he reached the Philippine Islands. The natives killed Magellan. But one of his vessels found her way back to Spain around the Cape of Good Hope.
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