Basic HTML Version
venturers began to plunder the
Spanish treasurc ship . Of course.
Philip
lJ
of Spain
(1527-98)
didn't
appreciate this interference with his
lucrative ftow of wea lth from the
New World . Also. thi s very Catholic
monarch did not like the way reli–
gious matte rs were going in England
and Holland where Protesta nts were
ga ining the upper hand. Philip
thercfore decided to send his mighty
"i nvincibl e a rmada " a gain s t
England to subjugatc that tiny is–
land kingdom. After subduing the
English. he planncd to bring thc
Protestants of Holland to heel.
By th e summer of
1588.
Philip's
mighty armada was outfitted and
ready to sa il for England. About
28.000
Spaniards were in the attack
force. During the ensuing battle. the
greatly outnumbered and o ut–
gunncd British scamen - aided
greatly by the weather - defeated
the Spani ards. Only about half or
Philip's badly battered ships and
men limped back to Spain. From
tha t day forward, England knew she
could succcssfull y challenge the
Spanish navy on the high seas.
8
One of England's greatest histo–
rians. Sir Winston S. Churchill,
commented on the defeat of the ar–
mada: "To the English people as a
whole the defeat of the Armada
ca me as a miracle .. . . One of the
medals struck to commcmorate the
victory bears the inscription
'A.fjlavit
Deus et dissipantur'
-
'God blew
and they were scattered .' El izabeth
and her seamen knew how true this
was. The Armada had indeed been
bruised in battle. but it was demora–
li zed and se t on the run by the
weather. Yet the event was dec i–
sivc ..."
(A History o.f the Eng!ish –
Speak ing Peoples).
From that time forward. England
fclt she cou ld safely introduce settl e–
ments into Nonh Amcrica without
th e fear that Spain would be able to
dcstroy them. So in
1607.
the first
perman e nt English co lon y was
planted at Jamestown . Virginia. Be–
fore long
13
thriving colonies were
firml y established in North Amer–
ica.
Years before the English pla nta–
tion s in th e
ew Wo rld. the
Spaniards had colonies in Florida.
Texas and the southwestern pa rt of
North America. But those Spanish
co lonies never came into serious
conftict with the Brit ish ones to their
north. and it was wit h Fra nce that
Britai n was soon to be engaged in a
bloody struggle for supremacy in
North America .
Years be fore England com–
menced her first permanent colony
in
1607.
French explorers had sailed
up the St. Lawrence River deep into
what was to become Canada . Even–
tually those wide-ranging French
explorcrs navigated the Great Lakes
and down the Miss issi ppi Ri ve r -
cla iming all of Nort h Amcrica west
of lhe Mississ ippi 10 the Rocky
Mounla ins and all parts east lo lhe
Al lcghe ny (Appalachia n) Moun–
tains. This vasl. unbelievably fertile
la nd lying to the east and west of
lhe Mississ ippi was call ed " Louisi–
ana " afler the French Sun King.
Louis XIV.
Canada or Guadeloupe
The Br i1ish finally won the French
and lnd ian War and in
1763 .
the
Trea1y of París was signed . France
The
PLAIN TRUTH July 1976