Download Age of European Exploration and Colonization

European Exploration and
Colonization
Prince Henry the Navigator
-Set up a
school for
navigators at
Sagres in 1419
-Helped
Portugal take
the lead in
overseas
exploration
The caravel and the astrolabe
Vasco da Gama and his discovery of a
new sea route to India
Reasons for European Exploration
1. To gain wealth (gold, etc.)
2. To gain fame
3. To spread Christianity
4. Scientific curiosity
5. Adventure
6. To get land
Competition among European powers (Spain,
Portugal, The Netherlands (the Dutch), England,
and France) for new trading routes, colonies
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
Christopher Columbus and his four voyages to the New World
Columbus: Hero or Villain?
Differing views:
1. Columbus as an
explorer and discoverer
first and foremost
(Boorstein)
2. Columbus as a nonAnglo hero (Morrison,
Bush)
3. Columbus as the
catalyst for genocide
(Kirkpatrick Sale)
Spanish colonies
• Conquistadors
• Reasons for conquests?
• System of government in New
Spain: Viceroy and calbidos
(advisory councils)
• The encomienda system –
a cheap labor source on
plantations
• Fr. Bartolome de Las Casas, O.P.
and the New Laws (1542) –
designed to end abuses
Portuguese colonies
• Alfonso Albuquerque and
the Far East (his forces
seized Goa in 1510 and
Malacca in 1511)
• Pedro Alvares Cabral and
Brazil
• Entrepreneurs
• Donatario = landowner
(cf. patroons in New
Netherlands)
Spices
The source of much of the cinnamon,
nutmeg, etc.?
Triangular Trade
Joint-stock companies
• What was their purpose?
Funding colonies, in the
Americas especially
• How did they work?
People pooled their resources for
a common purpose
• What are some historical
examples?
Virginia Company, East India
Company
• What modern-day institution
does it resemble?
The corporation
The Middle Passage
The Columbian Exchange
• From the Americas to
Europe/Africa/Asia:
Potatoes, corn, tobacco, squash,
quinine, peppers, beans, peanuts,
pumpkins, pineapples
. From Europe/Africa/Asia to the
Americas:
Sugarcane, bananas, grains (wheat,
rice), citrus fruits, cattle, sheep, pigs,
horses, various diseases (smallpox,
measles, malaria, diptheria)
Mercantilism
• What is it?
It concerns the balance of
trade between nations
• Goals of mercantilism =
gain more gold and silver,
achieve economic selfsufficiency
• Ways to achieve that end?
Export more than your
neighbor, establish colonies