Download Age of Exploration*or Age of Invasion?

Age of Exploration…or
Age of Invasion?
Pre-Columbian Societies,
Transatlantic Encounters and
Colonial Beginnings
1492-1690
In the beginning…
Small Diomede islands
are all that remain
above sea level today
Beringia: mankind’s gateway to America
Early inhabitants of the Americas
► Who
were the earliest Americans?
► What/who do you know?
► Pre-conceived notions?
► Civilized societies? (GREEL)
Early inhabitants of the Americas
► Civilizations
in Central/South/North
a) MIA’s (Mayans, Incas, Aztecs)
b) Mound Builders (MS Valley)-Cahokia
c) Great Plains-nomadic (Sioux, Pawnee)
d) NE-Iroquois (League of the Iroquois)
e) SW-Pueblo (intricate irrigation,
stone/mud buildings)
► 1490s pop. in the Americas=50-75 million;
1492 U.S/Canada=10 million
Mayans: Yucatan rainforests
Incas: Peru
Mayans: A.D. 300 &
800
Centuries later: I&A
•Extensive trade
•Calendars
•Extensive size
Aztecs: central
Mexico
Capital:
Tenochtitlan
Cortes/Aztecs
► Tenochtitlan-over
200,000 inhabitants when
Cortes invades
► Makes Montezuma II his puppet
► Took Aztec gold, forced Indians to provide
labor to mine more
► Disgruntled Aztecs stoned Montezuma to
death and attacked Cortes
► Smallpox infected Aztecs and led to their
demise; leaders were hung and devoured by
Cortes, per his orders
Cahokia/mound builders
Sioux/nomadic Plains
Pueblo
Iroquois/longhouses
Etowah-local site
Etowah-cont.
Indirect Discoveries
► Norse
(Vikings)
985: Eric the Red, Greenland
1000 AD: son, Leif Ericsson, Newfoundland;
probably first European to reach N.A.
► Marco
Polo
1275-1292, Italy
Explored China, opened up trade in the Far
East
► Norwegian
legends say Leif was followed by
another expedition that stayed in
Newfoundland for 3 years until being driven
out by Natives. The colonists didn’t return
and for the next 4 ¾ centuries, there was
no known contact between Europeans and
North Americans, until the late 1400s-1500s
when a series of voyages took place.
► Why was this accomplished in the late 15th
century and not before?
Moves toward exploration
► Renaissance:
intellectual, artistic, scientific,
creativity, technological change, attitudes,
religious zeal/conflict (1350-1600, height
late 1400s, early 1500s)
► Technological growth
gunpowder (Chinese)
sailing compass (Chinese)
improvements in shipbuilding, mapmaking
printing press-1450, Johannes Gutenberg
Reasons To Sail
►
Political power (centralized nation states: common
culture/loyalty)-provide means to finance/support
exploration (Portugal, France, Spain, Netherlands,
England), bring in revenue
Urbanization
Economic (competition for trade: Africa, India, China),
greed, NW Passage?
Religious zeal (Catholic vs. Protestant) (Protestant
Reformation, Calvinism-1500s vs. Catholic Spain)
Curiosity
Advances in technology and knowledge
►
BUT…Expensive, dangerous and time consuming
►
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Early Explorations
Columbus’ Legacy
► Seeking
sea route to the Indies
► Desiring success: enrich family, gain honor/fame,
convert people to Catholicism, trade spices and
herbs (food, medicine), rivalry with Portugal
(better route)
► 1492-Isabella and Ferdinand (Spain)
► Landed October 12-San Salvador in the Bahamas
► Brought gifts, including “Indians” back
► 3 subsequent trips
► Died believing he found a western route to Asia
Columbus’ Legacy
► Positives
vs. Negatives?
►
►
Negatives:
failure-didn’t find a new route, found a “New World”
erroneously named “Indians”
land discovered not even named after him, but rather
another Italian, Amerigo Vespucci
exchanges-germs/diseases
Positives:
skills as a navigator
daring/commitment
permanent interaction between Europeans and Native
Americans
exchanges: new era of trade (Columbian Exchange)
Columbian Exchange
Americas to E,A,A: syphillis; from E,A,A: wheel, guns
When worlds collide
Spain and Portugal-1st to lay
claim to New World territory
► 1493-Pope in Rome asked to
help settle the dispute (moved
line few degrees to the westTreaty of Tordesillas, 1494)
► Line of Demarcation
► Divide all other lands on Earth
not claimed by other Christians
► Laid groundwork for SP.
Wealth/success in New World
►
Spanish Successes
► Owed
power in the New World to explorers
and conquistadores (conquerors)-see h.o.
► Secured initial supremacy
► Gold supply up 500%; richest and most
powerful nation in Europe=competition
► 1565-first city in present day U.S.-St.
Augustine-had over 100 shops and homes,
a fort, church, fish market, etc.
Spanish Successes
► Used
religion as an instrument of control
► Catholic missions taught Christianity to
Indians
San Francisco
Missions
Spanish Successes
► The
spread of the horse in America
► “horses changed everything”
French Successes
► 1st
to pose a threat to the Spanish
► Canada/Great Lakes region
► Quebec
► Fur trapping
And the English…to come