Download European Exploration

I.
European Exploration
A. Reasons:
1. Wanted direct trade route with Asia (wanted
spices)
2. improved technology that enable them to
explore:
a. caravel ships with cannons
b. more accurate maps
c. astrolabe to determine latitude
3. Gold, glory & God
B. The Portuguese
1. Prince Henry the Navigator: explore W. Africa
in hopes of finding gold & to spread
Christianity
2. With the achievements of Dias and DaGama,
the Portuguese dominated the spice trade in
the Indian Ocean.
II. Conquest in
the Americas
A. Spain in the “New World”
1. 1492: Columbus
2. Conquistadors look for gold in the Americas
& enslave native peoples
a. pan for gold
b. Forced conversion to Christianity
c. Diseases: smallpox, influenza, & measles which
kill many
d. The conquistadors:
i. Hernan Cortes (1519): Conquers
Aztec Empire in Mexico
ii. Francisco Pizzarro (1532)
conquers Incan Empire in Peru
Aztecs and Incas
3. Reasons Spain conquered Central & South
Americas:
a. superior military technology
b. internal divisions in Native American Empires
c. weak resistance to European diseases
d. natives gave up
•
BUT many indigenous people resisted by
maintaining their own culture
III. Dispute between Portugal &
Spain
A. Rival claims to colonies
1. Pope Alexander VI solves with the Line of
Demarcation
a. west of the line: Spain
b. east of the
line: Portugal
IV. Spanish & Portuguese colonies
in the Americas:
A. Religion: Church authority expands with
the empire
B. Economics: Mercantilism
1.
Sugar, gold, & silver are the
main exports
2. Columbia Exchange
C. Social Hierarchy
1. Peninsulars: Spanish born. Held powerful
positions in the government & the Church
2. Creoles: American born descendents of Spanish
settlers. Owned most of the plantations, ranches, &
mines
3a. Mestizos: People of native American &
European descent.
3b. Mulattoes: People of African & European
decent.
4. Native American & African mix
a. When the enslavement of natives is outlawed and
many already died
of new diseases, begin to import & enslave Africans
i. Africans outnumber the Europeans
ii. many rebel, run away, or buy freedom
V. Atlantic Slave Trade (slavery existed
since ancient times)
A. From 1500s to the late 1800s over 10
million Africans were shipped to
Americas to use as slaves on
plantations (most used in Caribbean)
1. Many were captured & sold to
European slave traders by other
Africans for gold, guns, & rum
B. Triangular Trade
1. finished goods transported from Europe to the West
Coast of Africa
2. Slaves transported from west coast of Africa to the
Americas
3. goods produced on the plantation were sent to
Europe for sale in markets (tobacco, sugar, coffee,
etc.)
4. The route that slave ships took was called the Middle
Passage
5. Slaves suffered horrible conditions
a. very little food, fresh water, exercise during the passage
b. approximately 20% die along the way
c. worked in mines, fields, or as servants
6. some slaves would resist