THE UPPER LAKES AND THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Bolton, H.E., "The Location of La Salle's Colony on the Gulf of Mexico," in Mississippi Valley Historical Review, II, 165-182; Charlevoix, P.F.X., Histoire Générale de la Nouvelle France (J.G. Shea, trans.): Cox, I.J., Journeys of La Salle (Trail Makers' Series); Folwell, W.W., Minnesota, 59-65; Hamilton, P.J., The Colonization of the South, 187-196; Kellogg, L.P., ed., Early Narratives of the Northwest (Original Narratives Series): Le Sueur, W.D., Frontenac, 61-169; Ogg, F.A., The Opening of the Mississippi, 59-163; Parish, J.C., The Man with the Iron Hand; Parkman, Francis, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West; Phelps, Albert, Louisiana, 6-20; Shea, J.G., Exploration of the Mississippi Valley; Thwaites, R.G., France in America, 48-71; Wisconsin, 40-71; Winsor, Justin, Cartier to Frontenac, 183-295.
CHAPTER V
THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH EXPANSION (1485-1603)
THE TUDOR PERIOD
Periods of English activities.—While the French were colonizing Canada and the West Indies, and the Spaniards were opening mines and ranches in northern Mexico, the English were founding still more vigorous settlements on the Atlantic seaboard, in the islands, and in the region of Hudson Bay.
The history of English activities in America before 1783 may be divided into four periods: (1) The Tudor epoch (1485-1603), which was a period of commercial expansion, exploration, and attempted colonization; (2) the Stuart and Cromwellian era (1603-1689), the period of colony planting; (3) the international struggle for territory (1689-1763); and (4) the struggle of a part of the English colonists for independence (1763-1783).
Henry VII.—When Henry Tudor ascended the throne of England a new era was ushered in. The continental possessions except Calais had been swept away in the Hundred Years' War. The Wars of the Roses had broken the power of the feudal barony, and the middle class Englishman had become the most important political element in the nation. The general form of the constitution had become fixed, the functions of the three branches of the government, the king and his council, parliament, and the courts, having become fairly well defined. The work of Henry Tudor was to restore the finances, to build up commerce and industry, to keep England at peace, and at the same time, by a series of marriage alliances and by adroit diplomacy to raise England to her former position as a great European power. He also built up the kingship at the expense of a subservient parliament.