Download File - AP European 2016

1400s-1800s
Period of history when Europeans expanded and explored beyond the boundaries of Europe,
European countries bordering the Atlantic rose in power, and Europe as a whole transitioned from an
agrarian economy to an industrial, capitalistic, and commercial system.
Motives (Why?)

Europeans were confined to one geographic area for nearly a millenium

European attempts at expanding (ex. the Crusades) largely failed

contact with non-European civilizations remained limited

Europeans were intrigued by stories of foreign lands

Marco Polo’s Travels was the most informative description of Asia by a European traveler

merchants, adventurers, and government officials hoped to find precious metals and new
trading opportunities in the East

Arab merchants sold outrageously overpriced goods

religious zeal and a desire to spread Christianity throughout the world contributed to
exploration

explorers sought glory for themselves and their countries

overall: GOD, GLORY, and GOLD
Means (How?)

centralization of government allowed countries to devote money to causes such as exploration

advances in cartography allowed mathematicians and navigators to make more precise maps of
the world

Ptolemy’s Geography, first available in 1477, contained the most accurate map of the world at
the time

increases in technology allowed ship-builders to make ships called caravels that were mobile
enough to sail against the wind and engage in battle and also large enough to carry substantial
amounts of goods over long distances

the use of the compass and the astrolabe increased confidence among sailors

knowledge of wind patterns made it easier for sailors to cross the Atlantic Ocean
The Portuguese Empire…

the Portuguese led European expansionism
…in Africa

Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) sponsored the exploration of Africa in the hope that
he would be able to acquire new trading opportunities, seek a Christian kingdom allied
against Islam, and spread Christianity

Prince Henry founded his navigation school in 1419 and, shortly afterwards, Portuguese fleets
began probing the west coast of Africa in search of gold

Portuguese fleets brought cargoes of black Africans back to Portugal, where they were sold as
slaves

new gold sources (found in the present-day Gold Coast) , ivory, and slaves pushed Portuguese
fleets further down western Africa

the Portuguese leased land from local rulers and built stone forts along the coast
…in India

in 1488, Bartholemeu Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope (southern Africa)

Vasco da Gama rounded Africa in 1498, stopping at Muslim ports along Africa’s east coast
before reaching Calicut, India

da Gama found exotic spices such as ginger and cinnamon in India that he brought back to
Portugal and sold for a huge profit

Portuguese fleets wished to destroy Arabic shipping and establish a monopoly on spice trade

in 1509, a Portuguese armada defeated a combined Turkish and Indian fleet near India and
created a blockade of the Red Sea to cut off spice trading to Ottoman Muslims in Egypt

Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque, leader of the Portuguese fleet, set up port facilities at Goa
on the western coast of India, which later became the headquarters for Portuguese operations
throughout the region, in 1510

Indian merchants were permitted to continue trading, but the Portuguese occasionally raided
Arab shippers
…in the East Indies

Albuquerque seized the harbor of Malacca on the Malay peninsula in 1511 after a short but
bloody battle in which the Portuguese slaughtered the local Arab population

seizing Malacca helped destroy the Arab spice trade and provided the Portuguese with a way
station on the route to the Spice Islands (Moluccas)

from Malacca, the Portuguese launched expeditions to China and the Spice Islands

although the Portuguese were able to establish numerous trading posts, obtain substantial
profits, and seize control of spice trade from Muslim traders, they lacked the power,
population, and desire to colonize Asia

the effective use of naval technology gave the Portuguese military superiority in the Indian
and Pacific Oceans until the arrival of other European forces years later
Voyages to the New World

the Spanish wished to find a trade route to the East by sailing westward from Europe across
the Atlantic Ocean

knowledgeable Europeans were aware that the earth was round but had little understanding of
its circumference or the size of Asia
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

Italian-born explorer and navigator

felt that Asia could be reached by sailing west instead of around Africa

persuaded Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his expedition after being rejected by the
Portuguese monarchy

set sail on August 3, 1492 with three ships, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, and a crew of
ninety men

landed in the Bahamas on October 12 and then went on to explore the coastline of Cuba and
northern Hispaniola before returning to Spain

believed he had reached Asia and assured the king and queen that he would not only find gold
but also convert the natives, whom he called “Indians”, to Christianity

went on three additional voyages in the hope of finding a route to the Asian mainland

in his four voyages he landed on all of the major islands of the Caribbean and the mainland of
Central America, still convinced that he reached the East Indies
Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

sailed for Spain after being rejected by the king of Portugal

passed through the strait later named after him at the southern tip of South America before
sailing across the Pacific and landing in the Philippines

met his death in the Philippines at the hands of the natives

although only one of his original five ships returned to Spain, he was credited for leading the
first known circumnavigation of the earth
John Cabot - Venetian; explored the New England coastline of America under a license from King Henry
VII of England
Pedro Cabral – Portuguese; discovered South America accidentally in 1500
Amerigo Vespucci – Florentine; published a series of letters describing the geography of the New World
that led to the use of the name “America”
Vasco Nuñez de Balboa – Spanish; led an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama and reached the
Pacific Ocean in 1513
The Treaty of Tordesilles in 1494 divided the New World into
two spheres of influence. Land west of the Line of Demarcation was reserved for the Spanish, and
land east of the line for the Portuguese. According to the treaty, most land fell within the Spanish
sphere.
Civilizations in the New World

Mesoamerica=modern-day Mexico and Central America
The Mayans

began around 300 A.D.

located on the Yucatan Peninsula

built temples and pyramids, were skilled artists, and developed an accurate calendar

were agrarian people who cleared the dense rainforests to farm

organized into a network of city-states

began declining around 800 A.D. and collapsed less than one hundred years later
The Aztecs

rose in early 1100s

established capital at Tenochtitlan, on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco

constructed temples, public buildings, houses, and causeways that linked the islands to the
mainland

built an aqueduct at the beginning of the fifteenth century that brought water from 4 miles
away

became leading city-state by the early fifteenth century

had a strong army that they used to conquer surrounding land

had loose political organization, with self-governing territories that paid tribute to the Aztec
ruler
The Incas

in the late 14th century, the Incas were a small community in Cuzco, southern Peru

Incan leader Panchakuti created a highly centralized government and expanded Incan control to
as far as Ecuador and Chile (about 12 million people)

great builders that constructed a road system of 24,800 miles, advanced bridges, and storage
depots
The Spanish Empire
Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs
(1519-1522)

Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519

Cortes and his small troop of about 550 soldiers marched to Tenochtitlan, making alliances with
Aztec enemies along the way

Cortes received a friendly welcome and gifts of gold from the Aztec leader Moctezuma (a.k.a.
Montezuma) in Tenochtitlan, who believed the Spaniards were representatives of the Aztec god
Quetzalcoatl

the Spaniards took Moctezuma hostage and pillaged Tenochtitlan

the Aztecs revolted against the Spaniards in 1520 and drove them out of the city

the Aztecs, with no immunity to European diseases, suffered a major population loss as the
natives died from smallpox

Cortes and his native allies recaptured Tenochtitlan

the Spanish destroyed Aztec temples and leveled pyramids
Spanish Conquest of the Incas (1530-1535)

Francisco Pizarro landed in South America in 1530 with a group of around 180 men

the Incas were thriving, but smallpox and a civil war weakened them

Pizarro seized Incan leader Atahualpa using superior military technology and had him executed

Pizarro, aided by native allies, captured Cuzco and established a Spanish capital at Lima in 1535
The Spanish were successful in conquering natives because they had (1) superior military technology,
(2) help from natives, and (3)immunity to diseases like smallpox.
Cortes and Pizarro are examples of conquistadores, leaders in the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
Encomienda System

the encomienda system permitted conquering Spaniards to collect tribute from natives and use
them as laborers in return for protection, wages, and spiritual guidance

Spaniards in the New World ignored their government and used the natives to pursue their
own economic interests by forcing them to work on plantations and mine for precious metals

30%-40% of all natives died from such things as starvation, over-working, and diseases like
smallpox and measles

in 1545 the encomienda system was abolished, largely due to the works of such church officials
as Anton Montecino and Bartolome de Las Casas
Administration

Spanish possessions were divided into New Spain (Mexico, Central America, and the
Caribbean islands) and Peru (western South America)

each administration was ruled by a viceroy that was aided by judicial groups called audencias

Catholic missionaries converted and baptized hundreds of thousands of Indians

schools, churches, and parishes were established, making the New World more like Europe
Africa and the Slave Trade

the Portuguese built forts on the western and eastern coasts and desired to control gold trading

the Dutch seized some Portuguese ports on the West Coast during the mid-seventeenth century
(at the same time taking control of trading in the Indian Ocean)

the Dutch East India Company set up a settlement in southern Africa at the Cape of Good Hope

European exploration of the African coastline did not affect most Africans in the interior of the
continent, but those living near the coast where often forced into slavery and shipped to the
New World
Slave Trade…
…Origins

slavery was practiced in Africa since ancient times

primary market for slaves in the 1400s was the Middle East

at first, the Portuguese replaced European slaves with African ones (about 1,000 slaves were
sent each year)

discovery of the Americas in the 1490s led to the establishment of sugar cane plantations

plantations needed skillful laborers (Africans were skilled in agriculture)

the small Native American population, weakened by disease, was not sufficient enough to work
the plantations

the first boatload of African slaves to leave directly from Africa to the New World left in 1518
…Growth

slave trade grew and became part of the triangular trade

European merchant ships sent manufactured goods (guns, gin, cloth, etc.) to Africa–>Africans
shipped slaves to the New World–>European merchants shipped tobacco, molasses, sugar,
rum, coffee, and raw cotton from the Americas to Europe

about 10 million African slaves were shipped to the Americas between the sixteenth and
nineteenth centuries (about half via British ships)

slave ships were packed and unsanitary

the journey of the slaves from Africa to the Americas, the Middle Passage, was dangerous, with
as many as 10% of slaves dying en route and even more dying from diseases in the New World

some African rulers, such as King Affonso of the Congo, were concerned with the effects of
depopulization on their societies

Europeans ignored African complaints, even raiding defenseless villages in search of new slaves

African merchants, rulers, and elites, as well as Europeans, dictated prices and were active in the
process of slavery