Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/468

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416

AMERICA 416 AMERICA teacher, the Church, l)iit have also fostered a racial desire to return to primitive uncivilized conditions. Happily, the material development of many of these countries has counteracted these tendencies, and to a considerable extent holds them in check to-day. The break with Spain brought the Spanish American clergy into direct relations with the Holy See, and has proved greatly advantageous to religion. The regular orders, especially the Jesuits, have suffered in some Spanish American countries. In Mexico they have been oflicially suppressed, but such ex- treme measures last only as long as their authors remain in power. We have not sufficient data to determine the Catho- lic population of .merica. Even in the United States the number usually given, "about 14,000,000", is a conjecture more or loss accurate. Spanish-.4meri- can peoples may be classed as at least officially Catholics. The same applies to the Indians, but the numbers of the aborigines are but very imper- fectly ascertained. Still we shall probably not go far astray if we assume that nearly one-half of the population of America are Catholics at least in name. The United States of America alone contain fourteen archbishoprics, eighty-nine bishoprics, and two vicariates-Apostolic. The remainder of America divides into 150 dioceses, 54 of which are seats of metropolitans. There are to-day two American cardinals: James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore (created in 1886), and Joaquim Arcoverde de Albu- querque Cavalcanti, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (created in 1905). (For the achievements of the famous Catholic missionaries and explorers in the New World, see articles under their respective names. The alleged pre-Columbian discovery is also treated in a separate article.) Only general works on American ethnography and linguistics can tind place here. The literature on these subjects embodied in monographs lands place in the articles on Indian tribes, languages, and in the biographical articles. The great collec- tion of special monographs initiated by the late Major Powell, under the title of Reports of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washing- ton) now embraces some twenty-five volumes, and their con- tents are not restricted to North American topics. This collection should be carefully consulted. The Dominican Fray Gregorio Garcia presented more fully than any of his predecessors, and in the form of an inquiry into the origin of the Indians, a general " aper<;u " of American ethnography, with references to linguistics The first edition of the Orig'en de los Indiaa appeared at Madrid in 1G07, and a second edition was published by Barcia in 1729, much enlarged. In the sixteenth century a number of works on cosmography contain notices of the manners and customs of the American aborigines, but the information is scanty and mostly procured at second- hand (except on Spanish America). The compilation of I/iPKZ DE Vela.sco from 1571-74, Geografla y descnpcion universal de las Indias (Madrid, 1894), was made without critical judgment and is superficial. In the seventeenth century, the great work of Cobo, Historia del Nueio Mundo (16.')3, but printed only at the end of the past century) is highly important for the ethnology of Spanish America: the book of de IIoorn, De Originibus Americanis, is mostly con- troversial. The rare work of the Rabbi Manasse ben Tsrael on the Aborigines of the Neiv Continent is devoted to establish- ing the descent of the Indians from the Hebrews, and James Adair's History of the Ameriean Indians (London, 1775) even improves upon his Jewish predecessor, as does Boudinot, An Enquiry into the Language of the American Indians (Trenton, 181G). While such books are dedicated to the expounding of a favourite theory, they embrace a more extensive field of scattered data, and are not limited to specific tribes or regions. Systematic investigation of American ethnography and linguis- tics was begun in the pa-st century (Paris, 1724). It was soon seen that real progress could be made only by special researcli and a division of the whole field. So linguistics were separated from ethnography as early as the close of the eighteenth century. In 1773-S2 Court de Gi:;Br.LiN published the ijtai sur Irs Rapports des Mots, in nine volumes, at Paris. About the same time the Aubate Hervah wrote the Idea del Umverso (21 volumes, Ccsena, 1778-81). the 22d volume of which (Foligno, 1792) gives a catalogue of the languages known at the time, philologic dissection, polyglot vocubularv. arithmetics (numerals), etc. Vater'h Mithridoles (1809-17) continued the work begun by Adeluno in ISOfi under the same title. n 1815 he published also I.intiuarum lotius orbis Index Alphabrtinis quorum Grammatieam I.eiiea. etc (lier- lin IHl.'i), nCerinan edition of which appeared in 1847. I/Urratur drr (jrnmmalxkrn, Lenca und W Orlrrsommlungen nller bpraclum der hrde (2d edition, Ucrlin, 1847) In IS'Ci Adrien Balbi published Atlas Elhnographique du Globe (Paris,) in which the then known American languages are classified and tabulated. Not as complete as the preceding works, but still of a general character are: Worslev, .4 View of the American Indians (London, 1828): McCrLi.oH. Jr., Researches, etc. (1829): Pickering, Remarks on tite Indian Languages of North America (Philadelphia, 1830). With the rapid increase of material in modern times, general works on American languages became more and more hazardous and monographic treatment of special subjects and groups are, very properly, taking their place. This is also true of American ethnography. Systematic study of this branch, including, of course, linguistics, was begun in the United States by limit- ing it to tribes or groups. By degrees it has been combined with practical observation. Albert Gallatin, A Synopsis of the Indian Tribes wuhin the United States. East of the Rocky Mountains and in the British and Russian possessions of Norm America (Cambridge, 1836) was the first to initiate this sys- tematic study: the Archiologia Americana (Worcester. 1820, Cambridge. 1836) and the Transaetiojis of the American Ethno- logical Society (New York, 1845 and 1848) contain the early results of the improved method of stud,v. The works of Schoolcraft, especially the Historical and Statistical Informa- tion respecting the Histcni, Condition, and Prospects of the Itulian Tnbes of the United States (Philadelphia, 1851-55) extended the field. On Mexico, the work of Orozco y Berra, Geografl-i de las Lenguas y Carta etnogruflca de Mexico (Mexico. 18G4) is the most comprehensive and general work extant, and Alcide d'Orbigny. L'homme amCricoin (Paris, 18139) has treated of the Indians of the vast South- American regions and of their idioms, as far as was possible in his time. American anthropology as a whole, is treated in but few works. Waitz, Anthropologic der Naturrolker; Pe.schel, Volkerkunde (Leipzig, 1877, 4th edition; English tr. London and New York. 1876); and Ratzel, History of Mankind (English tr. London. 1896 and 1898); Anthropogeographie (Stuttgart. 1889 and 1891) show a lack of practical acquaintance with the countries and peoples they describe. The most important recent general works on the American aborigines are: Morgan, Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity in the Human Family (Washington, 1871): Ancient Society (New York, 1878); and especially Brinton, The American Race (New York, 1891). Thestudent, as well as the general reader will do well, however, to check these comprehensive works by a perusal of the constantly growing mono^aphic literature on the various groups and tribes of American Indians. Ad. F. Bandelier. America, Pre-Columbian Discovery of. — Of all the alleged discoveries of America before the time of Columbus, only the bold voyages of exploration of the fearless Vikings to Greenland and the American mainland can be considered historically certain. Al- though there is an inherent probability for the fact of other pre-Columbian discoveries of America, all ac- counts of such discoveries (Phoenician, Irish, Welsh, Chinese) rest on testimony too vague or too unrelia- ble to justify a serious defence of them. For the oldest written evidence of the discovery of Greenland and America by the Northmen we are indebted to Adam, a canon of the Church of Bremen, who about 1067 went to Bremen where he devoted himself -ery earnestly to the study of Norse history. Owing to the vigorous missionary activity of Archbishop Adal- bert of Bremen (1043-72), this " Rome of the North " offered "the best field for such work, being the much frequented centre of the great northern missions, which were spread over Norway and Sweden, Ice- land and Greenland". Moreover, Adam found a most trustworthy source of information in the Danish King, Sven Estrithson, who "preserved in his mem- ory, as though engraved, the entire history of the barbarians" (the northern peoples). Of the lands discovered by the Northmen in America, Adam men- tions only Greenland and Vinland. The former he describes as an island in the northern ocean, about as far from Norway as Iceland (five to seven days), and he expressly states that envoys from (ireenland and Iceland hai come to Bremen to ask for preachers of the Gospel. The Archbishop granted their retiiiest, even giving the Grccnlanders assurances of a speedy visit in person. Adam's information concerning Vinland was no less trustworthy than his knowledge of Greenland. According to him the land took its name from the excellent wild grapes that aboimded there. Gniin also flourished there without cultiva- tion, as King Sven and his subjects exjiressly a.ssured him. Adam's testimony is of tlic highest importance to us, not only as being the oldest written account of