Book Description

Excerpt from New American History and Government Outlines History is the study of the life of a people. "History is the biography of a society." "History is the essence of innumerable biographies." "Through the ages one increasing purpose runs." "The present is the fruit of the past and the germs of the future." "History knows not if, and might have been is a form of words unwritten in her book of phrases." - Ridpath. Europe Before the Discovery of America Peoples supposed to have visited America before 1492: Chinese, Egyptians. Phoenicians and Greeks. Northmen, 1000. Events hindering further visits: Invasions of Goths, Vandals and Huns, 350 to 476. Establishment of new nations. Conquest among nations. Lack of geographical knowledge. Causes leading to a revival of interest in new lands: Commercial ambition. Religious zeal. The crusades. The renaissance. What ancient Europe sent to the East: Metals, wood, pitch, woolen cloth, linen, black lead, wine and glassware. What ancient Europe brought from the East: Silks, cotton cloth and other fine dry goods. Dye woods and drugs. Precious stones and ivory. Spices and perfumes. Cities which controlled trade with the East: Venice, by way of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian ocean. Genoa, by way of Bosporus and Black Sea, and then by caravan to the East. Antioch, by way of Euphrates valley and Persian gulf. What changed trade routes: In 1453 the Turks captured Constantinople and refused to let the ships of other nations pass through the Bosporus. This closed Genoa's route, gave Venice a monopoly and made a new route desirable. New routes tried: Passage around Africa by Diaz, a Portuguese sailor, who succeeded in sailing around the south cape, which he named Cape of Storms, but the name was changed to Cape of Good Hope by King John of Portugal. Columbus' plan: To sail west until he reached China or India. "The great canon of history is its continuity." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.