Download trading post empires webquest

TRADING POST EMPIRES WEBQUEST
Use the entry from New World Encyclopedia on the Portuguese Empire to answer these questions. Your responses
should focus on events from the period 1400-1750, although the website does address events from the 19th and 20th
centuries.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Portuguese_Empire
1. What factors facilitated the development of Portugal’s trading post empire?
2. To what regions did Portugal expand? Why did Portugal establish trading posts in those areas?
3. How did the trading post empire impact Portugal itself?
4. How did the trading posts impact natives in Southeast Asia and Africa?
5. How did other European nations and the Catholic Church influence Portugal’s empire?
6. How was Brazil different from Portuguese ports in the Eastern Hemisphere? What factors accounted for this
difference?
Key Concept 4.1: Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
AP World History
Primary Source Extensions
A. “With the Treaty of Tordesillas signed, Portugal assured exclusive navigation around Africa and in 1498 Vasco da
Gama reached India and established the first Portuguese outposts there. Soon Portugal become the center of the
commerce with the East.” The following is an excerpt from Vasco da Gama’s journal describing his arrival in Calicut,
India.
1498. Calicut. [Arrival.] That night (May 20) we anchored two leagues from the city of Calicut, and we did so because
our pilot mistook Capna, a town at that place, for Calicut. Still further there is another town called Pandarani. We
anchored about a league and a half from the shore. After we were at anchor, four boats (almadias) approached us
from the land, who asked of what nation we were. We told them, and they then pointed out Calicut to us.
On the following day (May 22) these same boats came again alongside, when the captain-major sent one of the
convicts to Calicut, and those with whom he went took him to two Moors from Tunis, who could speak Castilian and
Genoese. The first greeting that he received was in these words: "May the Devil take thee! What brought you
hither?" They asked what he sought so far away from home, and he told them that we came in search of Christians
and of spices. They said: "Why does not the King of Castile, the King of France, or the Signoria of Venice send
thither?" He said that the King of Portugal would not consent to their doing so, and they said he did the right thing.
After this conversation they took him to their lodgings and gave him wheaten bread and honey. When he had eaten
he returned to the ships, accompanied by one of the Moors, who was no sooner on board, than he said these words:
"A lucky venture, a lucky venture! Plenty of rubies, plenty of emeralds! You owe great thanks to God, for having
brought you to a country holding such riches!" We were greatly astonished to hear his talk, for we never expected to
hear our language spoken so far away from Portugal.
The city of Calicut is inhabited by Christians. [The first voyagers to India mistook the Hindus for Christians.] They are
of tawny complexion. Some of them have big beards and long hair, whilst others clip their hair short or shave the
head, merely allowing a tuft to remain on the crown as a sign that they are Christians. They also wear moustaches.
They pierce the ears and wear much gold in them. They go naked down to the waist, covering their lower
extremities with very fine cotton stuffs. But it is only the most respectable who do this, for the others manage as
best they are able. The women of this country, as a rule, are ugly and of small stature. They wear many jewels of
gold round the neck, numerous bracelets on their arms, and rings set with precious stones on their toes. All these
people are well-disposed and apparently of mild temper. At first sight they seem covetous and ignorant.
a. How was da Gama received in India? Why do you think that was?
b. Why would da Gama be interested in returning to India or establishing a trading post there? Discuss economic
and cultural factors.
Key Concept 4.1: Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
AP World History
B. “In East Africa, small Islamic states along the coast of Mozambique, Kilwa, Brava, Sofala, and Mombasa were
destroyed, or became either subjects or allies of Portugal.” The following excerpt is taken from an account by Dom
Francisco de Almeida, a Portuguese nobleman and explorer, regarding the siege of KIlwa and Mombasa.
On Tuesday, 22 July, they entered the harbour of 'Kilwa at noon, with a total of eight ships. Immediately on their
arrival the Grand-Captain, Dom Francisco d'Almeida, sent Bona Ajuta Veneziano to summon the king. He excused
himself from coming, but sent the Grand-Captain gifts instead; They were five goats, a small cow and a large number
of coconuts and other fruit.
At dawn on Thursday, 24 July, the vigil of the feast of St. James the Apostle, all went in their boats to the shore. The
first to land was the Grand-Captain, and he was followed by the others. They went straight to the royal palace, and
on the way only those Moors who did not fight were granted their lives. At the palace there was a Moor leaning out
of the window with a Portuguese flag in his hand, shouting: 'Portugal! Portugal!'This flag had been left behind by the
admiral [Vasco da Gamal when he had arranged for Kilwa to pay a tribute of 1,500 ounces of gold a year. The Moor
was asked to open the door, and, when he did not do so, the door was broken down with axes. They found neither
the Moor nor anyone else in the Palace, which was deserted.
In Kilwa there are many strong houses several storeys high. They are built of stone and mortar and plastered with
various designs. As soon as the town had been taken without opposition, the Vicar-General and some of the
Franciscan fathers came ashore carrying two crosses in procession and singing the Te Deum. They went to the
palace, and there the cross was put down and the Grand-Captain prayed. Then everyone started to plunder the
town of all its merchandise and provisions.
On 9 August the ships left Kilwa for Mombasa, sixty leagues up the coast. The ship Sam Rafael reached there on 14
August, but the Grand-Captain arrived with the other ten ships a day earlier.
The Moors of Mombasa had built a strongpoint with many guns at the entrance of the harbour, which is very
narrow. When we entered, the first ship, which was under the command of Gonzalo de Paiva, who was going in
front to explore the channel, was fired on by the Moors from both sides. We promptly replied to the fire, and with
such intensity that the gunpowder in their strongpoint caught fire. It started burning and the Moors fled, thus
allowing the whole fleet to enter and lie at anchor in front of the town. And on that day, the vigil of the feast of the
Assumption, the town was bombarded with all the guns on the ships, while the guns of the town replied to our fire.
The Grand-Captain met with the other captains and decided to bum the town that evening and to enter it the
following morning. But when they went to bum the town they were received by the Moors with a shower of arrows
and stones. The town has more than 600 houses which are thatched with palm leaves: these are collected green for
Key Concept 4.1: Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
AP World History
this purpose. In between the stone dwelling-houses there are wooden houses with porches and stables for cattle.
There are very few dwelling houses which have not these wooden houses attached.
Once the fire was started it raged all night long, and many houses collapsed and a large quantity of goods was
destroyed. For from this town trade is carried on with Sofala and with Cambay by sea. There were three ships from
Cambay and even these did not escape the fury of the attack. It was a moonless night.
The Grand-Captain went straight to the royal palace: he was led by the Moor who had been captured on the
previous day. He had ordered that no one should enter any of the houses, and that anyone who did so should die.
When the Grand-Captain arrived at the palace, Captain Verraudez immediately climbed up the wall and hoisted our
flag, shouting: Portugal, Portugal. And there were many Moors killed on the way there.
They saw from there some sixty Moors leaving the town, all dressed in gowns and turbans; they were going towards
a palm grove and did not seem in any huffy. Some said that the king was among them. The Christians, however, did
not follow them. All the people of the town were taken to this palm grove, and the entrance to it was guarded by
more than 500 archers. These archers were all negro slaves of the white Moors, and obedient to their masters in
their captivity like those of Kilwa.
The Grand-Captain ordered that the town should be sacked and that each man should carry off to his ship whatever
he found: so that at the end there would be a division of the spoil, each man to receive a twentieth of what he
found. The same rule was made for gold, silver, and pearls. Then everyone started to plunder the town and to
search the houses, forcing open the doors with axes and iron bars. There was a large quantity of cotton cloth for
Sofala in the town, for the whole coast gets its cotton cloth from here. So the Grand-Captain got a good share of the
trade of Sofala for himself. A large quantity of rich silk and gold embroidered clothes was seized, and carpets also;
one of these, which was without equal for beauty, was sent to the King of Portugal together with many other
valuables.
a. How did the Portuguese explorers interact with the Moors at Kilwa and Mombassa? What does this show about
Europeans’ point of view in the Age of Exploration?
Key Concept 4.1: Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
AP World History
b. How did the arrival of the Portuguese impact the people living in Kilwa and Mombassa? How will this set the
stage for future conflict?
Key Concept 4.1: Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
AP World History