Download WH Ch 2 an 3 The Age of Exploration Notes

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The Age of Exploration
1400-1800
Chapters 14 section 1 and Ch 15
Factors that Led to European Exploration
o Crusades introduced trade goods
o Most important was spices used for preserving meats and adding flavors
o Trade routes controlled by the Muslims and Italian Merchants
o Need to Spread Christianity/ Catholicism
Most Important Result
o diffusion of ideas and cultural forces that reshaped the global environment
Point of Origin
o India
 Textiles
 Spices (Black pepper)
 Tea ( introduced from China by Europeans )
 Opium ( for export to China )
o China
 Silk
 Porcelain (china)
 Tea
o Moluccan Islands
 Spices: Nutmeg, Cloves and Mace
o Java
 Coffee
 Tea
o Ceylon
 Cinnamon & Pearls
 Elephants for India
 Tea
Changes in Technology
o Magnetic compass, world maps, navigation charts, Astrolabe , lighter weight muskets and
artillery conquest made easier/effective
o Caravel
 A new ship design sturdier vessel with combination of square and triangle sails giving it the
ability to sail to windward
 It could withstand strong storms
 Carry large heavy cargos
Portugal
“One night as Prince Henry of Portugal lay in bed it was revealed to him that he would render a great service
to our Lord by the discovery of the said Ethiopias...in these lands so much gold and rich merchandise would be
found as would maintain the King and the people...of Portugal.
” Duarte Pachece Pereira, Portuguese Explorer, 1506
Prince Henry of Portugal 1394-1460
o As know as the Navigator
o set up a School of Navigation at Sagres, in the south of Portugal,
o started systematic exploration of the African coast.
Spain
o Isabella of Castile & Ferdinand of Aragon: ruled 2 major kingdoms of Spain
o Reconquista
o Catholic Inquisition
o Expensive
o Hoped that it would bring back wealth and prestige
Christopher Columbus 1451-1506
o Italian who sailed for Spain
o Was looking for a westward route to Asia
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o Under estimated the size of the earth Landed in the Caribbean
Ferdinand Magellan 1480-1521
o Portuguese explorer who sailed for Spain
o He lead an expedition of 237 men and 5 ships to complete the first circumnavigation of the Earth
o He died in the Philippines
o Only 1 ship and 18 men returned
Hernán Cortés 1485-1547
o Spanish conquistador
o 1519 led an expedition of 600 men 16 horses into Mexico
o He caused the fall of the Aztec Empire bring large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of
the King of Castile in the early 16th century
Francisco Pizarro 1471?-1541
o was a Spanish Conquistador
o He was an illegitimate son and second cousin once removed to Cortés
o sailed from Spain with the newly appointed Governor of Hispaniola in 1502
o conqueror of the Incan Empire, 1532
o and founder of the capital city of Lima
Competition for Colonies
o Conflict between Spain & Portugal
o Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
 This line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde Islands and the
islands discovered by Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Spain. The lands to the east
would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain
o Treaty of Saragossa (1529)
o England, France, & the Netherlands also joined in on the competition
Columbian Exchange
 dramatically widespread exchange of the animals, plants, culture and human populations
(including slaves), diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres (Old
World and New World).
Results of Columbian Exchange
o Native American civilizations destroyed
o European diseases killed millions of Native Americans
o European powers built extensive overseas empires
o Large numbers of Europeans migrated to the Americas
o Native American crops brought to Europe
o European plant diseases and rats infested the New World
o New World plantations required millions of African slaves
o Capitalism expanded with the growth of trade
o Cultural exchanges occurred
Triangular Trade Routes
o Trade between three major ports
o After the vast majority of their workforce in the New World was killed off by smallpox, the
Europeans turned to Africa for a new labor force.
o Slaves were bought in Africa using gold and sugar from America.
o Those slaves were used to produce raw materials and cash crops(sugar, cotton, tobacco) to be
shipped back to Europe.
o The factories produced manufactured goods (textiles, rum, etc.) to be sold to Africa and America.
Consequences of the Slave Trade
o African families torn apart
o African culture loses generations of members
o Through the skills & labor of African slaves, the economy of the Americas prospers
o Today’s populations of the Americas are multicultural
Mercantilism
o Colonies send raw materials (harvested by cheap local labor) back to the mother country
o Those raw materials are turned into manufactured goods in the mother country's factories.
Those manufactured goods are sold back to the colonies at a large profit.
The colony must trade only with the empire--they cannot trade with other empires or their
colonies. This created a kind of monopoly.
o Goods flow out…gold flow in
Human Tolls of Imperialism: Slavery & Mercantilism
o Imperialism=major effects on global pop.
o Disease & forced labor=decimated Native Americans
o Exploitation=killed @ 100,000 Incas & Aztecs
o Diseases (small pox/influenza)=killed millions
o Need help on plantations and in mines
The Encominenda System
o How Spain imposed rule
o Named viceroys
o Near-absolute power
o Ruled plantations & mining operations
o (native labor) Serfs to slaves
Life on the ecominenda
o Brutal, inhumane treatment
Classes
o Peninsulares : born in Spain
o Creoles: American born descendants
o Mestizos, Natives and European
o Mulattoes: African and European
o Indians,
o Africans
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