Tropics Bound

Elizabeth's Seadogs on the Spanish Main

The forgotten century of English voyages to the Americas, 1518–1618 In the popular imagination, English colonization in the Americas began with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia in 1607. But the focus of English voyages to this side of the Atlantic for 100 years before that had been much further south, in defiance of Pope Alexander VI’s decree that South America would be divided between Spain and Portugal. Examining not only the oft-forgotten history of this period of English exploration between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, this history also looks at the voyages themselves, through the eyes of the sailors who faced that daunting journey. It is a story of adventure, hardship, and courage. Written by an historian with a practical knowledge of seamanship, this is an important contribution to an understanding of the early period of English attempts at colonization.