Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/750

Rh 708 AMERICA [COLONISATION. 1531, Peru invaded by Pizarro, and conquered in little more than one year, with a force of 1000 men. 1535. Jacques Cartier, a Frenchman, discovers the Gulf of St Lawrence. 1535. Mendoza, a Spaniard, with 2000 followers, founds Buenos Ayres, and conquers all the country as far as Potosi, at which silver mines were discovered nine years after. 1537. Cortes discovers California. 1541. Chili conquered; Santiago founded; Orellana sails from the sources of the Rio Napo down the Amazon to the Atlantic. 1578, New Albion, on the north-west coast of Ame rica, discovered by Sir Francis Drake. 1586. The Spaniards found St Thomas Island, in Guiana. 1587. Davis Straits and Cumberland Islands discovered by John Davis. 1604. De Monts, a Frenchman, founded the first set tlement in Nova Scotia, then called Acadie. 1607. After many ineffectual attempts during more than twenty years, the first permanent settlement of the English in North America was made this year, on the banks of the James River, in Virginia. 1 608. Quebec founded by the French, who had had a small neglected colony in Canada from 1542. 1611. Newfoundland colonised by the English ; a Dutch colony established at Hudson s River. 1614. New York founded. 1618. Baffin penetrates to the 78th degree of latitude, in the bay which bears his name. 1620. The first English colony established in New England at Plymouth. It was in 1619 that the first negroes were imported into Virginia. They were brought by a Dutch vessel. 1635. A French colony established in Guiana. 1655. Jamaica conquered by the English. 1664. The Dutch colonies on Hudson s River capitu late to the English. 1666. The Buccaneers begin their depredations on the Spanish colonies. 1682. William Penn establishes a colony in Pennsyl vania. La Salle takes possession of Louisiana in the name of the French king. 1698. A colony of 1200 Scots planted at Darien. In the following year the settlement was attacked by the Spaniards, and abandoned. 1733. Georgia colonised by the English. 1760. Canada and all the other French settlements in North America conquered by the English. &quot;We must pause at this point to give a very short ac count of the colonial system introduced by the principal European nations who occupied extensive tracts of the new world. The English settlements extended from the 31st to the 50th degree on the cast coast, and were divided into 1 5 or 16 provinces. The colonists had car ried the love of liberty characteristic of their country men with them ; and after many struggles with their Bri tish rulers, all the provinces, with one or two exceptions, were permitted to enjoy a form of government extremely popular. The executive power was vested in a governor appointed by the king. He was assisted by a council, which sometimes conjoined the functions of a Privy Council and a House of Peers. The people were represented by a House of Assembly, consisting of persons chosen by the freeholders in the country parts, and the householders or corporations of towns. The governor could levy no money without the consent of the House of Assembly : the British parliament, however, claimed, but scarcely ever exercised, the privilege of imposing taxes upon the colonists without consulting them. Against this assumption of power the local legislatures always protested as an in fringement of their rights. The vessels of foreign states were not permitted to trade with the colonies ; but the colonists were allowed to trade in their own ships with one another, with the mother country, and, to a limited extent, with foreign states. Their taxes, which were always small, were all consumed in defraying internal expenses ; and, compared with any other people in the new world, they enjoyed an unexampled degree of commer cial and political liberty. It was the growing prosperity of the colonies and the increasing debt of the mother country, which induced the British ministers, for the first time, in 1764, to attempt raising a revenue in America, for purposes not colonial. The experiment was made by imposing a stamp-duty on newspapers and commercial writings. The sum was trifling ; but the Americans, far-sighted and jealous of their rights, saw in it the introduction of a principle which deprived them of all security for their property. The people declared themselves against it r.y one man, in local assemblies, and by petitions and publi cations of all kinds. The ministers became uneasy, and repealed the tax ; but, as a salve to the pride of the mother country, a declaratory Act was passed, asserting IK r right &quot; to bind the colonies in all crises whatsoever.&quot; The idea of raising a revenue in America was not re nounced, but another mode was tu be tried. Duties were laid on glass, colours, paper, and tea, and were met by an opposition in the colonies still more zealous and determined. The British ministers, irritated, but waver ing in their purpose, dropped all the taxes but that on tea, and commenced at the same time a series of alarm ing innovations. They closed the port of Boston, changed the charter of the province, placed judges and juries on a footing to render them more subservient to the views of the government, and introduced a strong military force to overawe the people. On the other side, the colonist? passed resolutions not to import or consume any British goods, and hastened to supply themselves with powdei and arms. Blood was at length shed in April 1775, a1 the village of Lexington ; and in the following year the American Congress published their celebrated declaration of independence. We shall not enter into the details cf the war, which was closed in 1782. Suffice it to say that, on the part of the Americans, it rested on high grounds; it was a war to vindicate a principle for tho practical grievance was admitted to be slight ; and it was conducted with a regard to humanity of which there are few examples in history. The Spanish possessions in America before the revolu- Spani? tion formed nine distinct governments, all constructed colom on the same plan and independent of one another. Four of these, of the first rank, were vice-royalties, viz., Mexico, Peru, La Plata, and New Granada; and five were captain- generalships, viz., Yucatan, Guatemala, Chili, Venezuela, and the island of Cuba. The government was vested in the viceroy or captain-general, who was held to re] ire- sent the king, and to enjoy all his prerogatives within the colony. But in these countries, as in others where the supreme power is apparently unlimited, it was in directly restrained by the influence of the courts of jus tice, corporations, and other public bodies. The royal audiencias or supreme courts, composed of Spaniards nominated by the crown, had extensive judicial powers, and were independent of the viceroys. The cabildos or municipalities, and the fueros or corporations (similar to our guilds), also possessed considerable privileges, which derived security and importance from long prescrip tion. Lastly, the clergy, who were numerous and rich, necessarily possessed great influence among a supersti-