Download Portugal and Spain Took the Lead in Exploration

Dividing the New Lands ~j_//
Portugal and
Spain Took the
Lead in Exploration
ExplO~ers sailing under the flags of Portugal and
Spain made the first European voyages into
unknown waters. Driven by curiosity and by religious and economic aims, and backed by their governments, they made discoveries throughout the
world. The ventures of these early pioneers served
as the foundation for future empire-building.
Portugal and Prince Henry
Perched at the southwestern corner of Europe, the
small nation of ~as one of the first to
become seriously interested in exploration. P....daxce
~e Navigator, a member of the Portuguese
royal family, was largely responsible for this interest. Henry wanted to start a crusade in Africa-in
which he would join forces with Prester John, the
king of a legendary Christian kingdom-to encircle
and outflank the Muslims. He aim wanted to
acquire a share of the African slave trade, then
controlled by the Muslims, and to begin trading
L~arning from Pictures The Ciboney Indians
with Asia.
To help accomplish these goals, Prince Henry welcome Christopher Columbus to Cuba in 1492.
founded a school that trained navigators- After What country sponsored Columbus’s voyage?
1418 his navigators began a series of explorations
westward into the Atlantic and southward along because they could buy goods directly
the west coast of Africa. As they slowly worked rather than from Arab traders or
their way south, they claimed for Portugal a num- who charged very high prices. Ships
ber of islands, including th~ Azores in the Atlanticcarry cargoes more cheaply than could
Ocean. Farther to the south, below the desert animals traveling overland. In addition,
region of the Sahara, the Portuguese began to trade not have to pay the mils that frequently were
for slaves, gold, and ivory.
on overland transportationFurther explorations brought the Portuguese
even greater gains. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias
(DEE" ahsh) sailed around the Cape of Good Hope Christopher Columbus
at the southern tip of Africa. Then in 1498 Vasco Spain, too, became interested in t
da Gama sailed beyond the Cape of Good Hope pc, trade routes. Its rulers, King Ferdinand
eastward across the Indian Ocean to India (see"Isabella, decided to finance a x[oyage
map, pages 360-6!). He returned home with a fab- pher Columbus, a Ge~oan navigator.
ulous cargo of spices and jewels that paid for his trip the writings of Marco-Polo and
Ptolemy’s description of the round
60 times over.
Da Gama’s successful voyage represenmd a tre- believed he could reach Asia quickly
mendous stroke of good fortune for the Portuguese. westward.
Their ships could now sail to India and the East--~gust 1492 Columbus
Indies and bring back rich cargoes of Asian goods. Spain, with three small ships-the
Q The direct ocean route saved the Portuguese money
~62
~ , ~tio~,~,"qSpain and Portugal
often
claimed
settle
and the Santa Marfa-and crossed the Atlantic.
t pogc__Alexander
In
the early
daystheotsa~2
exDOranewly
discovered VI
landS.
On
October
12,
1492,
his
small
fleet
landed
on
the
tiny island that Columbus named San Salvador
v~b~Id map
they agreed to
(see map, pages 360-61). After exploring other Finally,
their disputes. In 1493 he drew on a
Atlantic Ocean, from the North pole to the South
islands
in the area,
Columbus
returned
trium"
of the
erieS. Because
believed
thetoislands
laydiscovoff the a lit3e of demarcation down the middle disphantly
to Spainhe
early
in 1493
report his
called them the Pole. He granted Spain the rights to all newly
of India, Columbus, a’-ns ,, He had covered lands west of the line. Portugal could claim
east .coast
,, ~h:hi:( inhabitants mm~ ¯
all those to the east of the line. A year later,
,’In&es ~n
ands that were later
to be known
.~ - .u-s (tawrd" uh" ¯SEE" yuhs)
Columbus
made
discover~* ~
he Treaty of torOesma
~
as the West Indies. Although
~isd-P~’ugal moved the hne farther
three more voyages to the "Indies" between 1493 west (see map, pages 360-36!).
Obviously, because the earth is round, if either
and 1504, he believed until his death that he had
Spain or portugal had continued to explore and
landed off the coast of Asia.
uallv
overlapped
on the other
claim lands in the
direction
allowed,
their side
claims
e
Impact
of
Columbus’s
Voyages
would
have
event
"
-’~i
,,urnoses,
however,
the
the years after Columbus’S voyages, a massive
of the world. For pract~-’* v
pope’s line of demarcation worked well. For examthe interaction,
New Worldoften
and the
Old ple, a Portuguese captain, pedro Alvares Cabral
tookbetween
place. This
referred
the Columbian Exchange, involved the moveBRAHL), reached the east coast of South
of produc~s, plants, animals, and even (kuho
America by accident in 1500. He had sailed for
between the western and eastern hemi- India along da Gama’s route, but strong winds had
For example, gold and silver mined in blown him far off course, forcing him westward.
America was shipped eastward to Spain. At When he claimed what is now Brazil for Portugal,.
Spanish honored his claim because he had
of the Spanish Empire, bullion ships left the
made landfall east of the line fixed by the Treaty of
for Spain at the rate of one every four
] Oortu~al agreed to extend
American precious metals helped Spain Tordesillas.
1529 S.pa ,
a ~he dobe. Thus Spare
ai~erch;nge
orld nower.between the New World and theIn
line compteteiy arounu ~- ~, South Ameraffected
the way
people
lived.foods,
European
markedly
after
American
such took control of most of Central and
tomatoes, beans, and corn were lntro- ica, while Portugal exploited Asia.
cattle, brought
Americas
aheted to
thethe
life
style of Ve~spucci, Balboa, and Magellan
Horses andgreatly
Spanish, especially in what today is Mex- Other explorers followed Columbus westward.
the southwest United States. Other Between 1497 and 1503, Amerigo Vespucci
.... were less beneficial. For example, small- (vehoSpOO¯ chee), a navigator from Florence,
other diseases carried westward by took part in several SpaniSh and Portuguese expedi"
nearly destroyed the native population tions acrOSS the AtlantiC. Unlike other explorers,
Vespucci was convinced that the land he saw was
America.
not part of Asia but was instead what he called a
"New World." After reading Vespucci’s writings
¯ ¯ ~:~ new land, a German geographer
.7
,~ describing tttt~ -- ~ Ve~,cci" (whose first name,
!If
~amed it America atter v’ ~"*
in Latin, is Americus).
In 1513 a Spaniard named VascO Nfinez de.Balr~adl~ i the ~rnerieas and
Isthmus of Panama and looked out
he diSCOvered iOr spainl HOW
boa crossed the which he called the South Sea and
.~ WOrld have be~n diiforent if
on a vast ocean,
seemed dear that the
a relX~niati9~
0{ th0
claimed for Spain. It now
paniSh m0na~ch?
363
from the plantations. To complete the triangle,
merchants used the plantations’ products, such as
As they did in Asia, the Portuguese went to Africa molasses and sugar, to make rum. The triangular
to trade. At first the Portuguese, largely at the trade began anew when they used the rum as well as
request of Christian missionaries who wanted to cloth, metal, and guns to buy more African slaves.
convert the continent’s inhabitants, maintained Middle Passage. The Middle Passage had a
friendly relations with the Africans. The Por-brutal and dehumanizing effect on all involved.
tuguese treated the monarch of the Kongo kingdom The traders chained the slaves in the overcrowded
as a legitimate and "brother" king to the Portuguese hold of the ship to prevent them from jumping
ruler. In turn, the king of the Kongo welcomed the overboard or organizing a rebellion aboard ship.
newcomers and accepted baptism. His advisers The slaves had little food or water and no provision
adopted European dress and manners. Envoys from for sanitation. Many died before they ever reached
the Kongo traveled to Europe, and the king corm- their destination.
In the 1500s slave traders transported about
sponded with the pope. The cordial relations, how2,000
slaves a year from Africa. At the height of
ever, soon collapsed when the economic interests
the trade in the 1780s, they seized as many as
economic interests in Africa cen- 80,000 slaves a year. Histo~:ians estimate that a
largely on slavery, holding people in servi- total of 11 million to 14 million Africans lived
ude. Slavery had been practiced since the earliest through the horrible journey of the Middle Passage
Europeans themselves had been used as to become slaves in the Americas. Possibly as many
the Byzantine Empire and in the Arab and died during the process of enslavement by fellow
empires. During the 1500s, however, the Africans and on the hard trip from the interior of
~verseas empires of the Europeans began to Africa to the coast, where stil! other Africans sold
the slaves to Europeans for shipment overseas.
ire slave labor.
The trade grew very gradually, beginning in This tragic loss meant that Africa’s population
when the Portuguese set up sugar planta- did not increase between I650 and 1800, when Euon the islands of Pr~ncipe and S~o Tom{ off rope’s population grew rapidly. Despite the tragedy
,f West Africa. To operate efficiently and of the slave trade, strong states arose that helped to
these plantations required large numbers protect their own people from slave raiders. In time
Plantation owners acquired their slaves these states conquered large areas of West Africa
As plantation agricul- where most of the slave trade was centered.
In the late 1600s, for example, the Ashanti
~ Brazil and the Caribbean islands, the
slaves increased. By the early i600s, state developed on the Gold Coast bordering the
trade served as the chief purpose of Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. At about this time
the economy of the Gold Coast experienced rapid
with Africa.
growth of the slave trade. The Por- change. The Europeans who had arrived in the late
began to lose their grip on international 1400s had been interested primarily in gold. But by
when Spain annexed Portugal in 1580. the 1700s the traders actively engaged in the slave
emerged as the leading naval power and trade. Ashanti rulers responded to this trade by
over some of Portugal’s colonies, most notably limiting the slaves traded to prisoners of war, and
In addition, the slave trade came Ashanti flourished throughout the 1700s and 1800s.
To the east of Ashanti two other kingdomstheir control. Later, the English and the
Benin and Dahomey-arose. These kingdoms purbecame involved in the slave trade.
trade. The transatlantic slave sued completely different policies toward the slave
s just one aspect of a system known as the tra&. Benin took little part in the trade afte~c the
In the first stage of this system, early 1500s when the ruler outlawed the export of
shipped cotton goods, weapons, and male slaves.
Since the Europeans were almost exclusively
in exchange for slaves or gold. The
.~-called the Middle Passage-was the interested in male slaves to do manual work on
to the Ameri- colonial plantations, the ban effectively mednt that
sold the slaves for produce Benin had nothing to do with the slave trade.
The Slave Trade
Learning from Pictures
Vasco Ng*’~ez de Balboa,
the discoverer of the
Ocean, later lost the favo
of the Royal Governor o
Panama, who had him
executed for treason.
The Portuguese in the East.
"~g New World really was a distinct landmass, separate
from Asia. ~and Magellan, a Por~u~guese_~navi- Portuguese conquered part of the
of India, making the port of Goa (GO" uh)
gator sailing for S~’dqt. ......
In 1519, with five ships, Magellan set out from administrative center. From India they
Spain, crossed the Atlantic to South America, and the East Indies (see map, pages 360-61
sailed along its eastern shore until he roached the quered Malacca (muh. LAHK- uh) on the
southernmost tip. After passing through the strait west coast of the" Malay Peninsula. Then
now named for him, Magellan found himself in amoved east to take a group of islands
great ocean. Because it appeared to be very calm, Moluccas (muh¯ LUHK ¯ uhz). Europeans
he named it the Pacific Ocean, from the Latin word these the Spice Islands, because spices grew t
pacificus, meaning "peaceful." This was the same in abundance.
The Portuguese next
ocean Balboa had named the South Sea.
Magellan sailed westward across the Pacific and Japan. They then
and reached the Philippine Islands, daiming them for island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka),
Spain. There, in 1521, he died in a fight with the coast of India, adding it to their chain of
islanders. The crow, led by Juan Sebastian de bases. With its key location between
Elcano, sailed on. Only one ship and !8 crew mem- Malacca and its tea and spices,
bers completed this first round-the-world voyage, Portuguese dominate trade with the East
The Portuguese in the New Worldi
returning to Spain in 1522.
gai’s colonies in Asia, though
smal! trading bases. In the New World, ~r
Portuguese Expansion
the Portuguese founded a much
After the voyages of Dias and da Gama, the Por- Brazil. They divided this huge country
tuguese pursued Henry the Navigator’s dream of mous agricultural estates on which
do~ninating trade with Asia.
for export.
364
365
the crew lost to accident or disease. Each year
Although the ban was eased in the 1700% the slave Portugal sent out its strongest, most daring young
trade never became an important part of Benin’s men as sailors or traders. Sometimes only half of
economy. In contrast, Dahomey based its economy those who set out returned. Because Portugal had a
small population to begin with, the losses could not
in large part on the slave trade.
African slavery. Not all Africans participated easily be replaced.
in the slave trade with Europeans, but many
Third, Spain annexed Portugal in 1580, and
Africans had practiced slavery well before the Portugal did not regain its independence until
arrival of the Europeans. African slavery was very 1640. In the meantime Spain limited Portuguese
trade and neglected the colonies that the Pordifferent from that of the Americas, however.
African slavery included a wide range of rela- tuguese had established.
Taking advantage of these weaknesses, the
tionships, from voluntary service to enforced captivity of prisoners of war. While the slavers sold Dutch and English captured much of the Asian
children captured in raids, Africans usually consid- trade from the Portuguese in the 1600s.
ered the children born to enslaved women as free
because their fathers were often free men. Most
slaves sold in the international Slave trade were wealth. Only Brazil and Angola remained major
adult males, whose labor would be productive on Portuguese colonies.
plantations. African societies generally allowed
slaves to buy back their freedom, and they treated
slaves as people with a role in society. Europeans,
on the other hand, considered slaves as property to 1 Define triangular trade, M ddle Passage
2. Identify Prince Henry the Nav gator, Prester
be bought or sold for profit.
John, Bartholomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Treaty
Because Europeans rarely ventured beyond
oi Tordesillas, Pedro ~Jvares Cabral, Amengo
Africa’s coast, they needed the help of Africans in
Veseucci, Vasce N0~ez de Balboa, Ferdinand
gathering and transporting slaves. Some African
Magellan
societies and individuals willingly joined in the 3, Locate Azores, Cape of Good Hope, San
slave trade to obtain arms and other goods
Salvador, Brazil, Isthmus of Panama, Strait ol
Magellan, philippine Islands, Malacca, Moluccas,
from Europe. In turn, neighboring groups either
Ceylon
had to participate in the trade or become its wc- 4. InterPreting
How d d Christopher
, s Ideas
waYeople
lived
Columbus
voyages affect the
P
tiros. The demand for slaves led to increased slave
?
raiding
the cycle of
violence
in
Africanthat
lifeaccelerated
and had a disastrous
effect
on the
future of the continent.
Weakness of the Portuguese Empire
n Europe
the Americas? lave trade affect
.........
- "[n
5. ~,nalyzing
Ideas
~tow o~o mu ~
the future of Africa?
S nthesizingmade
Ideasbetween
Which of
voyages1520s
of
6¯ exY~loration
thethe
1480sand
contributed most to people’s understanding of
the world? Explain your answer.
Portugal rapidly acquired wealth and a vast empire,
but the empire declined almost as swiftly as it rose.
Three main factors hastened this decline. First, the
Portuguese government, neither strong nor well
Spain Created
organized, had difficulty controlling its officials at
home and found it impossible to control them in its
a Vast Empire in
colonies.
Europe and Over.seas
Second, transporting products home from the
colonies drastically reduced Portugal’s population. Throughout the 1500s Spain, the most
Portuguese ships made enormous profits in trade, nation in Europe, had the largest
but they carried so much cargo that they were top- However, within just 150 years, Spain’s
heavy and thus dangerous to sail. The voyage from declined. The reasons for the ri
Portugal to India took six to eight months. The of the Spanish Empire are wove’
ships, often manned by inexperienced sailors and cam network of historical events.
usually in bad repair, might be beset by storms and