LESSON LV
OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY
PART I
The United States is one of the youngest nations of the world. Civilized men first went to England nearly twenty centuries ago, but since Columbus discovered America only four centuries have passed. Each of these four centuries has a character of its own and is quite unlike the others. The first was the time of exploring, the second of colonizing, the third of deciding who should rule in America, and the fourth of growth and development.
During the first century explorers from France, England, and Spain visited the New World, each claiming for his own country the part that he explored. Each hoped to find gold, but only the Spaniards, who went to Mexico and Peru, were successful. There was little thought of making settlements, and at the end of the first century the Spanish colonies of St. Augustine and Santa Fe were the only ones on the mainland of what is now the territory of the United States.
During the second century much colonizing was done. The French settled
chiefly along the Saint Lawrence River; the English settled along the
Atlantic coast of North America; the Spanish in Mexico and South
America; the Dutch by the Hudson River; the Swedes by the Delaware.
The European nations discovered that it was worth while to have
American colonies.
During the third century there was a long struggle to see which nation should rule in America. England and France were far ahead of the others, but which of them should it be? The French and Indian Wars gave the answer, "England." Then another question arose; should it be England or the Thirteen Colonies? The Revolutionary War answered, "The Colonies." At the end of the third century the United States had been established, and the land east of the Mississippi was under her rule.
In the last century there has been a great gain in people and in land. To-day there are thirty times as many people in this country as there were then.