Download Exploration

Exploration
1492-1700
Theme
Europe's growing demand for Eastern
luxuries prompted exploration in the
hopes of reducing the expense of those
goods with new trade routes. Exploration
occurred incrementally, beginning with the
Portuguese moving around the coast of
Africa and establishing trading posts.
Awareness of the New World and its
wealth pushed exploration across the
Atlantic. Spanish exploration continued in
the same fashion, first in the Caribbean
islands then expanding into South and
North America.
North America
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Population 1-10 million people
Roles: Men—hunting; women—crops
Some tribes nomadic
Some complex societies
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Pueblos--multistoried buildings/irrigation
Mound builders—east of Mississippi
Cahokia—settlement of 30,000
League of Iroquois—political confederacy
North American Exploration
Central/South America
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Between 300-800 a.d.—Mayans in
Central America
Aztecs in Mexico (1300s-1521)
Incas in Peru (1200s-1533)
All highly organized societies with
extensive trade organizations and
scientific achievements
Native Americans
European History
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Renaissance (rebirth of learning,
arts, sciences, etc)
Protestant Reformation
Edit of 1492 and Reconquista
Protestant Reformation
European Trade
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Grew out of fierce competition
among Europeans to increase trade
with Africa, India, and China
Land route to Asia became blocked in
1453 by Turks’ control of
Constantinople
Prince Henry the Navigator
(Portugal) aided in improving ship
building and navigation
Early Exploration
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1492—Christopher Columbus sailed
west (died in 1506 thinking he had
found Asia)
1498—Vasco da Gama sailed around
Cape of Good Hope in Africa to
reach India
Columbus’
Legacy
Skillful navigator
 Adventuresome
 Permanent interaction between
Europeans and Native Americans
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Columbian Exchange
Triangular Trade
Spain & Portugal
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1494 Treaty of Tordesillas
• Portugal--Brazil & Africa
• Spain--Americas
Claims
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Spanish Supremacy—gold, silver, land
(encomienda), labor
English Claims-North America—primarily
land and attacking the Spanish,
Newfoundland, Roanoke Island
French Claims—”New York”, St. Lawrence
River, need to Christianize “New World”,
Quebec, Mississippi River, Louisiana
Dutch Claims—seeking northwest passage,
Hudson River, New Amsterdam, Dutch
West India Co.
Colonization of North America
Timeline of Conquistadors
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http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistado
rs/home.htm
Questions for Discussion
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What role did disease and forced labor (including slavery) play in
the early settlement of America? Is the view of the Spanish and
Portuguese as especially harsh conquerors and exploiters valid—or
is this image just another version of the English “black legend”
concerning the Spanish role in the Americas?
Are the differences between Latin America and North America due
primarily to the differences between the respective Indian
societies that existed in the two places, or to the disparity
between Spanish and English culture? What would have happened
if the English had conquered densely settled Mexico and Peru, and
the Spanish had settled more thinly populated North America?
Why was the Old World able to dominate the New World? What
were the strengths and weaknesses of the Old World? What were
the strengths and weaknesses of the New World?