Download The Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration
Harris – Modern World History
Unit 2
Why did people start to explore?
 As people grew more interested in learning
during the Renaissance, they began to ask more
questions. Some of these questions dealt with
what was out beyond their boarders. As
knowledge grew, technology advanced and
people were able to explore further and further
away from their shores.
 The 3 “G’s” of exploration – Most early explorers
were inspired by one or more of the following:
god, gold, or glory. In other words, religion,
money, or fame.
Portugal Starts Things
 Portugal was the first nation to really begin
exploring. In 1420, Prince Henry the Navigator
began exploring along the western coast of
Africa. He soon discovered gold and named this
part of the continent the Gold Coast.
 In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias rounded the tip of
Africa and named it the Cape of Good hope.
 In 1498, Vasco da Gama established a trading
route to Calicut, India. Despite losing most of his
ships and 75% of his crew, da Gama’s trip still
made a profit of 3000% off of the spice he
brought back.
Portugal Starts Things
 The Portuguese continued to return to the
area to fight the Muslims for control of the
spice trade. In 1510, Afonso de
Albuquerque established the first
European owned port in Asia, Goa. Soon
Albuquerque sailed to Melaka on the
Malay Peninsula. Once he took control of
this area, the Portuguese had control of
the spice trade in Asia. From here, the
Portuguese launched voyages to the
Spice Islands and China
Spain Joins the Race
 Spain grew concerned as their neighbor’s wealth
and power continued to increase.
 In Italy, a young man named Christopher
Columbus was certain that a sort cut existed
between Europe and Asia. He attempted to find
investors that would support a trip to find this
“Northwest Passage.” Italians were not
interested in funding such a venture. This was
because their were many investment
opportunities at home and it was felt that it was
too risky.
 Columbus realized Spain would be likely to back
his expedition and was able to persuade Queen
Isabella to finance the trip. In 1492 he set sail.
Spain Joins the Race
 With the money from the Queen,
Columbus set about gathering a crew. He
told people that the trip would make them
famous and rich, best of all it would be a
short trip. Unfortunately, Columbus was
making a mistake when he envisioned the
globe. Columbus knew the globe was
round, however he thought it was a strait
shot from Europe west to Asia. He didn’t
know that the Americas were in the way.
Spain Joins the Race
 After being on the ocean for much longer than
promised and barely avoiding mutiny, Columbus
and his men arrived on the islands of Cuba and
then Hispaniola. He thought he was in India,
which is why natives were referred to as Indians
and the area to this day is called the West
Indies. Through three subsequent voyages,
Columbus thought he was in Asia, however he
really had just explored all the major Caribbean
Islands and Honduras.
The Americas
 As Spain began to claim more and more in the Americas,
Portugal became interested in the area. In order to avoid
conflict, the two nations signed the Treaty of Tordesillas.
The treaty was drawn by the pope and established the
Line of Demarcation. This line divided the world into
Portuguese and Spanish parts.
The Americas
 Soon other countries were
sending explorers out to the
Americas. The British sent
John Cabot to explore the
coast of North America.
Portugal sent Pedro Cabral
to South America. A
Florentine named Amerigo
Vespucci, took many trips to
the Americas and his
descriptions written in letters
were used to produce one of
the first maps of the area.
This is how the region got its
name.
Spain Builds an Empire
 With the Line of Demarcation in place, the
Spanish went about securing their new territory.
The islands of Cuba and Hispaniola were taken
over and the natives were forced to become
citizens of the Spanish empire.
 As Spanish control of the area grew, native
products were taken back to Europe. Items such
as potatoes, cocoa, corn, and tobacco, all
became very popular in Europe. Spain also took
the opportunity to grow items in the tropical
climate. Products such as sugar, cotton, and
vanilla, were all very valuable but only grew in
tropical climates. This meant that they could not
be grown in Europe.
Cortes and the Aztecs
 By the early 1500’s, Spain had control of most of
the Caribbean islands and had begun to look at
invading Mexico next. The Cuban governor,
Diego Velazquez, had commissioned two trips to
Mexico to explore the coast. By 1518, a third trip
was planed and Velazquez chose Hernan
Cortes to lead it.
 Cortes arrived in Mexico in the year 1519.
Before he left he had made plans to conquer the
area and make a name for himself. Velazquez
had discovered this and attempted to prevent
him from going on the trip, Cortes discovered
this an left early. This meant that Cortes was an
outlaw and only a successful conquest of the
area could save his name.
 Upon arrival in Mexico, Cortes established
the city of Vera Cruz (True Cross). By
becoming leader of the city, he was able to
free himself from the legal control of
Velazquez.
 Cortes and his men were met by the Totonac people and
learned they were part of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs
controlled their empire through force and Cortes was
able to convince the Totonacs to help fight the Aztecs.
 As Cortes met with the Totonacs and built Vera Cruz,
word of his arrival reached the capital of the empire,
Tenochtitlan. The ruler of the empire, Moctezuma II, sent
a messenger to great Cortes with gifts of gold and ask
him to leave.
 Once Moctezuma’s messenger gave Cortes the gold,
Cortes knew that conquest of the Aztec empire would be
very profitable. He then set off for the capital but before
he left he ordered his ships burned. He felt that this
would show his men that success or death were the only
possible outcomes.
 Moctezuma’s
messenger returned
to the capital and
described the events
that had taken place.
Upon hearing this the
religious elders grew
concerned that Cortes
was actually,
Quetzalcoatl.
 Quetzalcoatl was an ancient Mesoamerican god,
who existed in many different cultures. It was
thought the he had lived with the Toltecs, who
were an ancient tribe that was the foundation of
the Aztecs. The story was that Quetzalcoatl was
a priest/god that was run off after he began to
oppose human sacrifice. He then prophesied
that he would return and the his return would
bring the end to the world.
 Cortes’s return seemed to correspond to this
story. The Aztec calendar is cyclical and has 52
years. Quetzalcoatl said that he would return in
the year one reed, 1519 happened to
correspond the that year. The location of his
arrival also matched up with were Quetzalcoatl
was to return. This combined with horses and
guns, made people believe Cortes was a god.
Cortes and the Aztecs
 As Cortes made his way to Tenochtitlan he
came across many different tribes. Some
of these tribes were part of the Aztec
empire and some were enemies of it. One
tribe, the Tlaxcalans, was a confederacy of
about 200 towns that had fought off and
on against the Aztecs. Cortes was able to
convince them to help him in his conquest
of the Aztecs. He was also able to
convince them to convert to Christianity
and the four leaders of the group were
baptized.
Tenochtitlan
Templo Mayor
 Cortes was warmly greeted in Tenochtitlan
by Moctezuma. Moctezuma had his
doubts that he was Quetzalcoatl, but could
take the risk of treating him as if he wasn’t.
This allowed Cortes and his men close
access to the ruler, this allowed the
Spanish to capture and imprison
Moctezuma.
 Shortly after this, Velazquez sent a unit of
soldiers to arrest Cortes. This forced
Cortes to leave a few men in charge of
Moctezuma and Tenochtitlan and take the
rest back to the beach.
 Cortes decided to attack the soldiers who
were sent to arrest him. After they were
defeated, Cortes told them of Tenochtitlan
and they decided to join him.
 While Cortes was away the Aztecs
attempted to revolt, this meant he was
returning to a city in chaos. Once back
Cortes force Moctezuma to speak to the
people from the palace, but the people
threw rocks at him. Cortes at this point
knows the leader is useless and kills him.
 With the growing chaos, the Spanish tried to flee
the city. As the left, many of the men attempted
to grab as much gold as they could. This made
them easy targets as many of the bridges had
been removed from the causeways that linked
the city to the mainland.
 Once on land, the remaining men followed
Cortes back to the Tlaxcalans. Once their they
regrouped and began to lay siege to
Tenochtitlan. At the same time the Tlaxcalans
and the other tribes that had agreed to support
Cortes began to fight the tribes loyal to the Aztec
empire. On August 13, 1521, the siege ended
and the remaining Aztecs surrendered.
How did the Spanish Win?
 Cortes left Cuba with about 600 men and was
able to defeat an empire of between 2 and 8
million people. How did he do it?
 Superior weapons – The Spanish had guns,
cannons, swords, and armor. The Aztecs main
weapon was the Macuahuitl. This was a weapon
that contained obsidian, which made the edge
sharp but brittle.
How did the Spanish Win?
 Help from the Natives – Because the Aztecs ruled with
fear, many of the tribes in their empire didn’t like them.
Cortes was able to convince these groups to join him.
This increased his fighting force while reducing the
numbers for the Aztecs.
 Disease – The Spanish brought with them colds, flu,
small pox, and syphilis. Some historians believe that
these new diseases killed over 1/3 of the population in
Tenochtitlan within 6 months.
 Some of the Aztecs just accepted it – Quetzalcoatl
prophesied that his return would end the fifth world (their
current age). Some people believed that everything was
the prophesy coming true. Since this was the case they
couldn’t fight to stop it and just gave up.
New Spain
 After the conquest of the Aztecs, the Spanish
continued to spread throughout Central and
South America.
 In South America, Francisco Pizarro, conquered
the remains of the Incan Empire. This gave them
access to the largest silver mines ever found up
to that time.
 Natives were turned into slaves, this resulted in
a decline in their numbers. In 1492, the Island of
Hispaniola had 250,000 natives, by 1538 there
were only 500. In Mexico the population fell from
25 million in 1519, to 1 million in 1630.
New Rivals Enter the Scene
 The Spanish laid claim to the Philippines when
Ferdinand Magellan landed their and claimed
them. Magellan became the first person to sail
around the world, although he was killed in the
Philippines.
 In 1595, the Dutch established the colony of
New Netherland, in what we would call New
York.
 In the 1600’s the English began to send trading
fleets to India to compete with the Portuguese.
 In the 1600’s the French established Quebec as
the first permanent French settlement in North
America
The Triangle Trade
 During this time something known as the
Triangle Trade also developed. This was trade
the went from the Americas to Europe to Africa
back to the Americas. Raw items were sent from
America to Europe. Europe sent manufactured
items to Africa. Africa sent slaves to the
Americas.
Mercantilism
 During the Age of Exploration, Mercantilism was
the dominate economic theory. This was the
idea that a countries wealth depended on the
amount of gold and silver they had in the bank.
In order to maintain this wealth, countries
accumulated colonies. These colonies were
sources of new products and markets for goods
from the home countries. This allowed the
countries establishing the colony to maintain a
positive balance of trade.
Asia
 China – In 1368, the Mongol dynasty was overthrown in
China and replaced by the Ming dynasty. This dynasty
rules China until 1644. During the early period of the
Ming dynasty, China greatly expanded its territory into
other Asian countries. After the death of the first Ming
emperor, Ming Hong Wu, his son, Yong Le, took over
and carried on the tradition of expansion.
 Great Ming Naval Expeditions – Under Yong Le, China
amassed the largest navy in the history of the world.
With this navy, China sent expeditions as far as India
and Africa. Much like early European trade expeditions,
these ships came back filled with treasures. Soon Yong
Le was sending out more ships in an attempt to gain
more wealth. These trips took place between 1405-1433.
Asia
 Chinese Isolation – Many government officials in China
grew concerned over the extravagant spending by
Emperor Yong Le. These people felt that this lifestyle
conflicted with traditional Confucian beliefs. After Yong
Le’s death, support for the expeditions was all but gone.
The seventh and final expedition took place between
1431-1433. On this trip, Zheng Huh, the leader of all
seven expeditions died at sea. With both Yong Le and
Zheng Huh dead, conservative politicians grounded the
fleet. Before the end of the century, no ship could be built
with more than two masts and in 1525 all ocean going
ships were destroyed.
 While China was no longer active in exploration, goods
from their country were still desirable in Europe. This
meant that European countries continued to seek trade
relations with China. In response China allowed limited
European access to one part of their country.
Asia
 Japan – From 14671573, Japan was a
country at war with
itself. Strong feudal
lords battled with each
other for control of the
country. By the end of
the 1500’s, three
powerful leaders had
taken over, Odo
Nobunaga, Toyotomi
Hideyoshi, and
Tokugawa Ieyasu. Of
these three,
Tokugawa was able to
unify the entire
country and
established the
Tokugawa Shogunate.
Asia
 Arrival of Europe – Portugal had made contact with
Japan in 1543. Initially, the Europeans were welcomed
and trade developed between the two countries.
However, after few years Catholic missionaries began to
descend on the island. Concern over the intentions of
the missionaries grew as the Japanese show what the
Spanish missionaries did in the Philippines. In 1636,
Japan issues the Act of Seclusion which made it illegal
for Japanese trading ships to leave the Island and only
allowed trade with other Asian countries and the Dutch. If
they wanted to trade with Japan, these countries had to
go there.
Magellan’s Trip
Carrack
Carrack