If the European discovery had been delayed for a century or two, it is possible that the Aztec in Mexico or the Iroquois in North America would have established strong native states capable of adopting European war tactics and maintaining their independence to this day, as Japan kept her independence from China.
More Quotes from Samuel Eliot Morison:
On her first voyage, the Columbia had solved the riddle of the China trade. On her second, empire followed in the wake.Samuel Eliot Morison
A tough but nervous, tenacious but restless race the Yankees materially ambitious, yet prone to introspection, and subject to waves of religious emotion.... A race whose typical member is eternally torn between a passion for righteousness and a desire to get on in the world.
Samuel Eliot Morison
If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worth while.... The beauty and cogency of the preamble, reaching back to remotest antiquity and forward so an indefinite future, have lifted the hearts of millions of men and will continue to do.... These words are more revolutionary than anything written by Robespierre, Marx, or Lenin, more explosive than the atom, a continual challenge to ourselves as well as an inspiration to the oppressed of all the world.
Samuel Eliot Morison
An historian should yield himself to his subject, become immersed in the place and period of his choice, standing apart from it now and then for a fresh view.
Samuel Eliot Morison
A few hints as to literary craftsmanship may be useful to budding historians. First and foremost, get writing.
Samuel Eliot Morison
These clipper ships of the early 1850's were built of wood in shipyards from Rockland in Maine to Baltimore. These architects, like poets who transmute nature's message into song, obeyed what wind and wave had taught them, to create the noblest of all sailing vessels, and the most beautiful creations of man in America. With no extraneous ornament except a figurehead, a bit of carving and a few lines of gold leaf, their one purpose of speed over the great ocean routes was achieved by perfect balance of spars and sails to the curving lines of the smooth black hull and this harmony of mass, form and color was practiced to the music of dancing waves and of brave winds whistling in the rigging. These were our Gothic cathedrals, our Parthenon but monuments carved from snow. For a few brief years they flashed their splendor around the world, then disappeared with the finality of the wild pigeon.
Samuel Eliot Morison
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Based on Topics: America QuotesBased on Keywords: adopting, aztec, iroquois
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