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2. Which of the following statements characterizes the relative military strengths of the
British and Patriot forces during the Revolutionary War?
A) The Patriots could count on more help from Indians than could the British.
B) The Americans relied mostly on a standing army of about 48,000 men.
C) Due to American shipbuilding, American naval strength roughly matched that of
the British Navy.
D) The British could expect support from thousands of Loyalists in the colonies and
many Indian tribes.
3. Which of these events occurred at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776?
A) General Howe and his British troops forced the Americans to retreat to Manhattan
Island.
B) General Washington and the Continental army won their first major victory over
British forces.
C) The Continental troops quickly surrendered and General Washington barely
escaped.
D) Benedict Arnold surrendered a strategic fort to the British, helping them to win the
battle.
4. What was significant about George Washington's leading of his troops across the
Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776?
A) It was the first time Washington had shown decisive leadership and it saved his
job.
B) Washington's action surprised the enemy and gave the Americans their first real
victory.
C) His failed effort to cross the frozen river resulted in the deaths of 200 American
troops.
D) The event allowed the Continental Army to retake New Jersey and most of Long
Island.
Page 1
5. Which of the following statements describes British military strategy during the first
two years of the Revolutionary War?
A) The British were content to demonstrate their superior power and tactics in the
hopes of convincing the rebels to surrender.
B) The British harassed the Continental army ruthlessly, but with great luck,
Washington and his troops repeatedly escaped.
C) With the Atlantic standing between them and their country, the British relied on the
Loyalists for supplies.
D) The British used guerrilla tactics instead of conventional warfare, attempting to
outmaneuver the rebels and force their surrender.
6. Which of the following describes the Continental army during the Revolutionary War?
A) Although it grew slowly, the force numbered 75,000 men at its peak.
B) It consisted mainly of yeomen farmers and well-to-do young Patriots.
C) Most of its recruits were poor native-born youths and older foreign-born men.
D) Its morale and discipline exceeded the British army's because it was fighting for a
patriotic cause.
9. Which of the following factors posed a major problem for the colonies during the
American Revolution?
A) The absence of allies
B) Slave insurrections
C) The high price and scarcity of goods
D) A depressed economy
Page 2
10. Which of the following statements describes the American Revolution's impact on
civilians in areas that saw military conflicts?
A) Wartime violence was limited to the battlefield and nearby civilians were left
unharmed.
B) British troops frequently attacked civilian targets despite Patriots' efforts to protect
them.
C) British troops followed the laws of war, but Americans frequently targeted Loyalist
civilians.
D) Both British and American troops were known to loot farms and harass and rape
civilian women.
11. To finance the war during its first two years, the new American state governments relied
primarily on
A) raising taxes to unprecedented levels.
B) forced requisitions from the wealthy.
C) selling public landholdings.
D) printing large quantities of paper money.
12. Which of the following was a consequence of the large increase in paper currency in
circulation in the states during the Revolutionary War years?
A) Paper currency made it easier for American families to buy goods.
B) It caused many Loyalists to switch their allegiance to the Patriot cause.
C) The printing of additional bills allowed most Americans to become very wealthy.
D) The paper bills quickly fell in value, becoming nearly worthless.
13. How did the finances of the Continental Congress compare to those of the states during
the first two years of the Revolutionary War?
A) While states suffered from the lack of funds, the Continental Congress achieved
financial solvency through tax collection.
B) Like the states, the Continental Congress lacked income and issued paper money in
an effort to sustain itself.
C) The states collected sufficient revenue through tax collection, but the Continental
Congress lacked the authority to tax.
D) Because they benefitted from both land and excise taxes, neither the states nor the
Continental Congress experienced financial burdens at this time.
Page 3
14. Which of the following statements characterizes events at Valley Forge in the winter of
1777–1778?
A) The Continental army was ill-equipped, but the British troops in nearby
Philadelphia also struggled to find adequate food and shelter during the harsh
winter.
B) Through the training of Baron von Steuben, the Continental army emerged as a
much tougher and better-disciplined force.
C) Of the 30,000 troops encamped at Valley Forge, one-third deserted and another
third died of malnutrition or disease before the winter was over.
D) The sufferings of the Continental army were largely a myth, disseminated to win
greater sympathy for the Patriot cause.
15. France gave serious consideration to an alliance with the rebel colonies primarily
because it regarded the war as an opportunity to
A) exact revenge on Britain for defeat in the French and Indian War and the loss of
Canada.
B) defend Catholics in Maryland and Quebec against the potentially hostile Protestant
Patriots.
C) annex Maine and regain the province of Quebec that it had lost during the Great
War for Empire.
D) persuade the Americans to accept King Louis XVI's younger brother as their new
constitutional monarch.
16. The Treaty of Alliance that the French and Americans signed in 1778 included which of
the following stipulations?
A) American generals would not interfere with French troops' weekly Catholic mass
attendance.
B) The French would aid the Americans but refrain from seeking new territory in the
West Indies.
C) If the Americans won, they would never interfere with French territory west of the
Mississippi.
D) Neither side would sign a separate peace that failed to recognize American
independence.
17. How did the British respond after their loss at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777?
A) The British doubled the size of its army in the colonies.
B) They tried to broker a negotiated settlement with the Americans.
C) Britain attempted to bolster its forces by a military alliance with Spain.
D) The British retreated to ships in New York Harbor to consider their options.
Page 4
18. What spurred the British Parliament to repeal the Tea Act in 1778?
A) The British East India Tea Company had resurged and the American market was
no longer needed.
B) British tea merchants finally succeeded in convincing members of Parliament that
they needed the American market.
C) The British blockade of the Atlantic coast prevented trade and the Tea Act was no
longer necessary.
D) Parliament hoped it would aid Britain's efforts to seek a negotiated peace with the
Continental Congress.
19. The British strategy in its military campaign in the South in 1778 relied on which of the
following factors?
A) A plan to use Loyalists to fight backcountry Patriots
B) Their refusal to exploit racial divisions, fearing that such a strategy might backfire
C) A plan to use Loyalists to administer the territories they expected to capture
D) Quick and easy victory in Virginia, which they viewed as the most important
southern colony
20. Through which of the following actions did Sir Henry Clinton launch his southern
campaign in 1778?
A) Capturing Savannah, Georgia, and mobilizing hundreds of blacks
B) Advancing his troops from Philadelphia toward Virginia to entrap Washington's
army
C) Issuing the Philipsburg Proclamation, promising freedom to rebel slaves
D) Fortifying his position at Philadelphia and daring Washington to attack him
21. Which event turned the tide of the war after Britain's series of victories in the South in
the late 1770s?
A) The American troops' seizure of Augusta, Georgia, in 1779
B) French troops' arrival in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1780
C) King Louis XVI's decision to embrace republican ideas
D) British troops' accidental killing of a group of slaves seeking refuge
22. Which of the following battles marked the end of the American Revolution in 1781?
A) Saratoga
B) New York
C) Yorktown
D) Quebec
Page 5
23. Which of the following factors made a critical contribution to the outcome of the Battle
of Yorktown in 1781?
A) The long-awaited arrival of Admiral Rochambeau's fleet in the Chesapeake Bay
B) Americans' discovery, capture, and execution of the traitor Benedict Arnold
C) Washington's feigned attack on Manhattan while French troops set out for Virginia
D) The arrival of General Nathanael Greene's Patriot troops from South Carolina
24. Why did the British surrender to the Americans in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781?
A) The British were outnumbered and cut off from reinforcement or retreat by sea.
B) The army was depleted after sending reinforcement troops to General Benedict
Arnold.
C) General Cornwallis had already suffered a number of defeats as his army moved
through Virginia.
D) The British planned to continue the war on the American mainland as soon as they
had additional supplies.
25. Which of the following statements explains the Patriots' successful revolution against
Great Britain?
A) British officers were inexperienced in combat and committed an incredible series
of blunders.
B) Guerrilla fighters in the Patriot militias wore down British troops, even though the
Continental army rarely won a battle.
C) About one-third of the population strongly supported the war and was willing to
finance the fighting through inflation.
D) The number of Loyalists and Indians who supported the British was never large
enough to provide critical support.
26. Which of the following factors explains George Washington's success as an American
military leader?
A) His ability to maintain the support and morale of the Continental Congress, state
governments, and the Continental army.
B) His strong personality, which enabled him to keep persistent pressure on the
Continental Congress to supply the army.
C) The advanced military training he gained during his years fighting with the British
Navy in the North Atlantic.
D) His willingness to overlook the actions of discontented soldiers, which endeared
him to his troops.
Page 6
27. Why did British and American diplomats take nearly two years to conclude a peace
treaty after the British surrendered at Yorktown?
A) American negotiators sought delays so that state governments could coordinate
their demands.
B) France and Spain stalled, hoping for some major naval victory or territorial
conquest before the official peace.
C) Members of Parliament could not reach agreement on the concessions that they
were willing to make.
D) The lengthy periods necessary for transatlantic travel and communications required
a long process.
28. Despite the favorable terms Americans achieved in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, they could
not ultimately secure which of the following?
A) The lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River
B) Rights to fish off the coast of British Newfoundland
C) Britain's formal recognition of the thirteen colonies' independence
D) Forgiveness of their debts to British merchants
30. Why was Abigail Adams a notable figure in the Revolutionary era?
A) She publicly denounced most Patriot leaders as tyrants because they held power
over women.
B) Adams was married to the Patriot John Adams and helped him with his work.
C) She criticized Patriots like her husband John and insisted on equal legal rights for
married women.
D) She became the only woman to take part in the deliberations of the Continental
Congress.
Page 7
31. Although women made few gains in the eighteenth century, they did achieve a degree of
progress in 1790 when they won which of the following?
A) Suffrage in New York State
B) Equal access to public education in Massachusetts
C) The right of entry into college in Virginia
D) The right to hold office in Rhode Island
33. Which of the following was true under the Articles of Confederation?
A) Bills required a unanimous vote to become laws.
B) Congress could tax the states and individuals, if necessary.
C) Amendments could be passed with a majority of states approving.
D) Most of the power remained with the states.
34. Why did it take the Continental Congress several years to ratify the Articles of
Confederation?
A) Fighting the war was a higher priority than creating a new national government.
B) Many Patriots feared that any national government, no matter how weak, would
eventually abuse its power.
C) There was disagreement over how many votes each state should have in the new
Congress.
D) Disputes over western land claims led some states to block ratification.
Page 8
36. Why were the land ordinances of the 1780s considered a great accomplishment of the
Confederation Congress?
A) The ordinances provided for orderly settlement and created a fair process for those
areas to eventually become fully equal states.
B) The laws funded the building of roads and canals to encourage white settlement
throughout the old Northwest.
C) They prevented the formation of larger western states that might one day dominate
smaller eastern states.
D) Ordinances limited foreign immigration to the West, ensuring that those areas
retained a traditional American culture.
37. Which of the following statements characterizes postwar trends in American trade?
A) The war had crippled American shipping, which reduced the export of tobacco and
other farm goods.
B) In the absence of British trade restrictions, the production of tobacco boomed.
C) Domestic industries supplied products unavailable from Britain during the war and
flourished after the war's end.
D) Economic growth spurred by western land sales stimulated American
manufacturing and increased exports.
38. Which of the following issues formed the basis for the major political and economic
challenges that faced postrevolutionary state governments in the 1780s?
A) Conflicts between property owners and those who had nothing
B) Plentiful but worthless paper currency and big debts
C) Wealthy citizens' demands for low taxes and the repudiation of state debts
D) Poor citizens' demands for government assistance in finding jobs
39. What did Shays's Rebellion, which took place in Massachusetts in the winter of
1786–1787, demonstrate to American political leaders?
A) The institution of slavery posed a threat to the American republic.
B) A stronger national government was needed to solve the nation's monetary
problems.
C) Patriots in Massachusetts had always been more radical than those in the other
states.
D) Unless they gained the right to vote, propertyless men would destroy the American
republic.
Page 9
40. For this question, refer to the following map, “Land Division in the Northwest
Territory.”
Page 10
D) states manifesting republican fears of both centralized power and excessive popular
influence.
Page 11
41. For this question, refer to the following map, “Land Division in the Northwest
Territory.”
The map above reflects most directly which of the following continuities in U.S.
history?
A) The concept of Manifest Destiny and the sense of a unique national mission
B) The tendency to cling to regional identities
C) Debates over the proper relationship between the federal and state governments
Page 12
D) The failure to define precisely the relationship between American Indian tribes and
the national government
43. The three-fifths compromise dealt with which of the following issues?
A) Interstate trade
B) Presidential terms
C) Slavery
D) Voting qualifications
44. The Constitution, as completed on September 17, 1787, gave the national government
which of the following?
A) Powers equal to those that were granted to the states
B) A weak chief executive with carefully limited powers
C) Fewer powers than those reserved to the states
D) Broad powers over taxation, military defense, and commerce
45. American Antifederalist Patrick Henry opposed the ratification of the Constitution for
which of the following reasons?
A) Henry objected to provisions that protected the interests of slaveholders.
B) He feared high taxes, a large bureaucracy, and a standing army.
C) As an American from Virginia, he objected to provisions that ran counter to the
interests of slaveholders.
D) He was concerned that it would deprive the central government of necessary
powers.
46. In Federalist No. 10, James Madison maintained that the constitutional government
would accomplish which of the following ends?
A) Eliminate the need for political parties
B) Protect the rights of individual states against abuses by the central government
C) Prevent any one faction from becoming dominant
D) Bring focus and order to American foreign policy
Page 13
47. To persuade Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York to ratify the Constitution, leading
Federalists promised that
A) George Washington would become the first president.
B) a bill of rights would be added to the Constitution.
C) New York City would be the national capital.
D) New York and Virginia would regain their former western claims.
Mr. Martin proposed to vary article 7, sect. 4 so as to allow a prohibition or tax on the
importation of slaves. . . . [He believed] it was inconsistent with the principles of the
Revolution, and dishonorable to the American character, to have such a feature
[promoting the slave trade] in the Constitution. . . .
Mr. [Oliver] Ellsworth [of Connecticut] was for leaving the clause as it stands. Let every
state import what it pleases. The morality or wisdom of slavery are considerations
belonging to the states themselves. . . .
Col. [George] Mason [of Virginia stated that] this infernal trade originated in the avarice
of British merchants. The British government constantly checked the attempts of
Virginia to put a stop to it. The Western people are already calling out for slaves for
their new lands, and will fill that country with slaves, if they can be got through South
Carolina and Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise
labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the immigration of whites, who really
enrich and strengthen a country. . . .
Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a
country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in
this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by
national calamities. . . . He held it essential, in every point of view, that the general
government should have power to prevent the increase of slavery. . . .
Gen. [Charles C.] Pinckney [argued that] South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without
slaves. . . . He contended that the importation of slaves would be for the interest of the
whole Union. The more slaves, the more produce to employ the carrying trade; the more
consumption also; and the more of this, the more revenue for the common treasury. . . .
Which of the following resulted most directly from the debate described in the passage
above?
A) Property qualifications were established for voting and citizenship.
B) Greater political democracy was called for in new state and national governments.
C) A solution to the slave issue was postponed, setting the stage for recurring
conflicts.
D) The ideals set forth in the excerpt had reverberations in France, Haiti, and Latin
America, inspiring future rebellions.
Page 14
49. For this question, refer to the following excerpt.
Mr. Martin proposed to vary article 7, sect. 4 so as to allow a prohibition or tax on the
importation of slaves. . . . [He believed] it was inconsistent with the principles of the
Revolution, and dishonorable to the American character, to have such a feature
[promoting the slave trade] in the Constitution. . . .
Mr. [Oliver] Ellsworth [of Connecticut] was for leaving the clause as it stands. Let every
state import what it pleases. The morality or wisdom of slavery are considerations
belonging to the states themselves. . . .
Col. [George] Mason [of Virginia stated that] this infernal trade originated in the avarice
of British merchants. The British government constantly checked the attempts of
Virginia to put a stop to it. The Western people are already calling out for slaves for
their new lands, and will fill that country with slaves, if they can be got through South
Carolina and Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise
labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the immigration of whites, who really
enrich and strengthen a country. . . .
Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a
country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in
this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by
national calamities. . . . He held it essential, in every point of view, that the general
government should have power to prevent the increase of slavery. . . .
Gen. [Charles C.] Pinckney [argued that] South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without
slaves. . . . He contended that the importation of slaves would be for the interest of the
whole Union. The more slaves, the more produce to employ the carrying trade; the more
consumption also; and the more of this, the more revenue for the common treasury. . . .
Page 15
50. For this question, refer to the following excerpt.
Mr. Martin proposed to vary article 7, sect. 4 so as to allow a prohibition or tax on the
importation of slaves. . . . [He believed] it was inconsistent with the principles of the
Revolution, and dishonorable to the American character, to have such a feature
[promoting the slave trade] in the Constitution. . . .
Mr. [Oliver] Ellsworth [of Connecticut] was for leaving the clause as it stands. Let every
state import what it pleases. The morality or wisdom of slavery are considerations
belonging to the states themselves. . . .
Col. [George] Mason [of Virginia stated that] this infernal trade originated in the avarice
of British merchants. The British government constantly checked the attempts of
Virginia to put a stop to it. The Western people are already calling out for slaves for
their new lands, and will fill that country with slaves, if they can be got through South
Carolina and Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise
labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the immigration of whites, who really
enrich and strengthen a country. . . .
Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a
country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in
this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by
national calamities. . . . He held it essential, in every point of view, that the general
government should have power to prevent the increase of slavery. . . .
Gen. [Charles C.] Pinckney [argued that] South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without
slaves. . . . He contended that the importation of slaves would be for the interest of the
whole Union. The more slaves, the more produce to employ the carrying trade; the more
consumption also; and the more of this, the more revenue for the common treasury. . . .
Page 16
Answer Key
1. D
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. C
7. B
8. A
9. C
10. D
11. D
12. D
13. B
14. B
15. A
16. D
17. B
18. D
19. C
20. A
21. B
22. C
23. C
24. A
25. C
26. A
27. B
28. D
29. D
30. C
31. B
32. D
33. D
34. D
35. C
36. A
37. A
38. B
39. B
40. B
41. D
42. A
43. C
44. D
Page 17
45. B
46. C
47. B
48. C
49. B
50. A
Page 18
Another random document with
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course this silence means something, and perhaps Christopher had
good reasons for never speaking of the voyage even to his son.
Probably he was deathly sea-sick, and in that condition was severely
kicked for not being able to lay his hand at a moment’s warning upon
the starboard main-top-gallant-studding-sail tripping-line, or other
abstruse rope. At all events, he always abstained from telling stories
beginning, “I reck’lect on my first v’yge;” and we may be sure that he
would never have put such an unseamanlike constraint upon his
tongue unless he knew that the less he said about that voyage the
better.
[Æt. 23; 1459–70]
IT is at Lisbon that we are able for the first time to put our finger
decisively upon Columbus. The stray glimpses which we catch of
him before that time, whether at Genoa, Pavia, Naples, or Cape
Carthagena, are fleeting and unsatisfactory; his trustworthy
biography begins with his residence at Lisbon. He reached there, we
do not know by what route, in the year 1470, having no money and
no visible means of support. Instead of borrowing money and buying
an organ, or calling on the leader of one of the Lisbon political “halls”
and obtaining through his influence permission to set up a peanut
stand, he took a far bolder course—he married. Let it not be
supposed that he represented himself to be an Italian count, and
thereby won the hand of an ambitious Portuguese girl. The fact that
he married the daughter of a deceased Italian navigator proves that
he did not resort to the commonplace devices of the modern Italian
exile. Doña Felipa di Perestrello was not only an Italian, and as such
could tell a real count from a Genoese sailor without the use of
litmus paper or any other chemical test, but she was entirely without
money and, viewed as a bride, was complicated with a mother-in-
law. Thus it is evident that Columbus did not engage in matrimony as
a fortune-hunter, and that he must have married Doña Felipa purely
because he loved her. We may explain in the same way her
acceptance of the penniless Genoese; and the fact that they lived
happily together—if Fernando Columbus is to be believed—makes it
clear that neither expected anything from the other, and hence
neither was disappointed.
The departed navigator, Di Perestrello, had been in the service
of the Portuguese king, and had accumulated a large quantity of
maps and charts, which his widow inherited. She does not appear to
have objected to her daughter’s marriage, but the depressed state of
Columbus’s fortunes at this period is shown by the fact that he and
his wife went to reside with his mother-in-law, where he doubtless
learned that fortitude and dignity when exposed to violence and
strong language for which he afterwards became renowned. Old
Madame Perestrello did him one really good turn by presenting him
with the maps, charts, and log-books of her departed husband, and
this probably suggested to him the idea which he proceeded to put
into practice, of making and selling maps.
Map-making at that time offered a fine field to an imaginative
man, and Columbus was not slow to cultivate it. He made beautiful
charts of the Atlantic Ocean, putting Japan, India, and other
desirable Asiatic countries on its western shore, and placing
quantities of useful islands where he considered that they would do
the most good. These maps may possibly have been somewhat
inferior in breadth of imagination to an average Herald map, but they
were far superior in beauty; and the array of novel animals with
which the various continents and large islands were sprinkled made
them extremely attractive. The man who bought one of Columbus’s
maps received his full money’s worth, and what with map-selling,
and occasional sea voyages to and from Guinea at times when
Madame Perestrello became rather too free in the use of the stove-
lid, Columbus managed to make a tolerably comfortable living.
The island of Porto Santo, then recently discovered, lay in the
track of vessels sailing between Portugal and Guinea, and must
have attracted the attention of Columbus while engaged in the
several voyages which he made early in his married life.
It so happened that Doña Felipa came into possession, by
inheritance, of a small property in Porto Santo, and Columbus
thereupon abandoned Lisbon and with his family took up his
residence on that island. Here he met one Pedro Correo, a bold
sailor and a former governor of Porto Santo, who was married to
Doña Felipa’s sister. Columbus and Correo soon became warm
friends, and would sit up together half the night, talking about the
progress of geographical discovery and the advantages of finding
some nice continent full of gold and at a great distance from the
widow Perestrello.
At that time there were certain unprincipled mariners who
professed to have discovered meritorious islands a few hundred
miles west of Portugal; and though we know that these imaginative
men told what was not true, Columbus may have supposed that their
stories were not entirely without a basis of truth. King Henry of
Portugal, who died three years after Columbus arrived at Lisbon, had
a passion for new countries, and the fashion which he set of fitting
out exploring expeditions continued to prevail after his death.
There is no doubt that there was a general feeling, at the period
when Columbus and Correo lived at Porto Santo, that the discovery
of either a continent on the western shore of the Atlantic, or a new
route to China, would meet a great popular want. Although the
Portuguese had sailed as far south as Cape Bojador, they believed
that no vessel could sail any further in that direction without meeting
with a temperature so great as to raise the water of the ocean to the
boiling-point, and it was thus assumed that all future navigators
desirous of new islands and continents must search for them in the
west. The more Columbus thought of the matter, the more firmly he
became convinced that he could either discover valuable islands by
sailing due west, or that at all events he could reach the coast of
Japan, China, or India; and that it was clearly the duty of somebody
to supply him with ships and money and put him in command of an
exploring expedition. With this view Correo fully coincided, and
Columbus made up his mind that he would call on a few respectable
kings and ask them to fit out such an expedition.
[Æt. 34; 1474]
During the same winter the King and Queen held their court at
Salamanca, after having made a very brilliant foray into the Moorish
territory, and having also suppressed a rebellion in their own
dominions. Columbus went to Salamanca, where he made the
acquaintance of Pedro Gonsalvez de Mendoza, the Cardinal-
Archbishop of Toledo, who was decidedly the most influential man in
the kingdom. When Columbus first mentioned his project, the
Cardinal told him the Scriptures asserted that the earth was flat, and
that it would be impious for him to prove it was round; but Columbus
soon convinced him that the Church would be greatly benefited by
the discovery of gold-mines all ready to be worked, and of heathen
clamoring to be converted, and thus successfully reconciled science
and religion. The Cardinal heartily entered into his scheme, and soon
obtained for him an audience with the King.
Columbus says that on this occasion he spoke with an
eloquence and zeal that he had never before displayed. The King
listened with great fortitude, and when Columbus temporarily paused
in his oration had still strength enough left to dismiss him with a
promise to refer the matter to a scientific council. In pursuance of this
promise he directed Fernando de Talavera, the Queen’s confessor,
to summon the most learned men of the kingdom to examine
Columbus thoroughly and decide upon the feasibility of his plan. As
for the Queen, she does not appear to have been present at the
audience given to Columbus, either because her royal husband
considered the female mind incapable of wrestling with geography,
or because he did not think her strong enough to endure Columbus’s
conversation.
The scientific Congress met at Salamanca without any
unnecessary delay, and as few people except priests had any
learning whatever at that period, the Congress consisted chiefly of
different kinds of priests. They courteously gave Columbus his
innings, and listened heroically to his interminable speech, after
which they proceeded to demonstrate to him that he was little better
than a combined heretic and madman. They quoted the Bible and
the opinions of the Fathers of the church in support of the theory that
the earth was flat instead of round.
When Columbus in his turn proved that the Bible and the Fathers
must be understood in a figurative sense, the priests then took the
ground that if the world was round, Columbus could not carry
enough provisions with him to enable him to sail around it, and that
he could not sail back from his alleged western continent unless his
vessels could sail up-hill.
Gradually the more sensible members of the congress came to
the conclusion that it would be better to agree to everything
Columbus might propose, rather than listen day after day to his
appalling eloquence. Still, the majority were men of ascetic lives and
great physical endurance, and they showed no disposition to yield to
argument or exhaustion. The sessions of the Congress were thus
prolonged from day to day, and Columbus was kept in a painful state
of suspense. Little did he imagine that in the land which he was
destined to discover, another Congress would meet, not quite four
hundred years later, and would even surpass the Congress of
Salamanca in the tediousness and uselessness of its debates.
CHAPTER IV.
HE RECEIVES HIS COMMISSION.
At last the day came when, the war being ended, Columbus was
summoned to meet a committee of which De Talavera appears to
have been the chairman. This time the feasibility of his scheme was
admitted, and it only remained to settle the terms upon which he
would agree to furnish Spain with new continents. Though Columbus