Download THE AGE OF EXPLORATION

THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
Motives for Exploration
Need a route by sea to Asia (India and China)
The Ottoman Empire, due to its conquests, controls the
land route to Asia
Motives for European exploration:
God – spread their faith to new lands
Glory – want fame and adventure
Gold – search for wealth
Able to expand due to new technologies:
Better ships and cartography (map-making)
New technologies from the Arabs, such as the compass
and astrolabe
Portugal Takes the Lead
Portugal was the first country to launch large-scale
voyages of exploration
In 1420 Prince Henry the Navigator sponsors expeditions
to sail along the western coast of Africa
His ultimate goal was to find a water route around
Africa to India
Portuguese sailors learned that both gold and slaves
were available on Africa’s west coast
Bartholomeu Dias was the first European to sail around
the tip of Africa looking for a route to India in 1488
Vasco da Gama set out for India in 1497 and ten months
later he became the first European to reach India by sea
Brings back a cargo of spice, makes a profit of several
thousand percent
The Portuguese were interested in setting up trading
centers, not interested in conquering
They took the spice trade from the Muslims by force
Had the advantage since they put cannons on their
ships
Spain Sails West
While the Portuguese sailed east to reach the source of
the spice trade, the Spanish sailed west
Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain financed
Christopher Columbus to sail west to reach Asia in 1492
Columbus thinks that the circumference of the world is
not as large as others thought it was
Reaches Cuba in 1492, but thinks he is in Asia, on
islands known as the Indies
Sails a total of four missions – explores many Caribbean
islands and Honduras, which he names the Indies and
calls the people Indians
The Spanish call Columbus a hero since they think he
has found a new route to Asia
In 1502 Amerigo Vespucci sailed along the coast of South
America and he finally realized that this wasn’t Asia, but
a new land
It is later named America in his honor and the Spanish
set out to explore it
Vasco Nunez de Balboa led an expedition across the
Isthmus of Panama and became the first European to
view the Pacific Ocean
Ferdinand Magellan decided to sail west around the
world in 1519 with five ships and 250 men
Magellan was killed in a fight in the Philippines against
the native people but his men continued on
In 1522 18 survivors from Magellan’s expedition
arrived back in Spain, the first people to ever
circumnavigate the world
Treaty of Tordesillas – signed by both Spain and Portugal
in 1494 that gives a line of demarcation dividing their
new territories
The treaty gives an imaginary north-to-south line
through the Atlantic Ocean and the easternmost part
of South America
Everything west of this line went to Spain and
Portugal got everything east of the line
Other Explorers
Henry Hudson explored parts of eastern America and had
a river and a bay named after him
Jacques Cartier sailed past the island of Newfoundland
into the St. Lawrence river
He claimed all the land along the river as the province
of New France (Canada)
Explorers and their Routes
Chapter 16, section 1, pages 472-473
The Spanish Empire
The Spanish don’t just settle for a trading empire, they
are going to conquer and colonize
Conquistadors = Spanish conquerors of the Americas
Had incredible success due to guns, horses, and disease
Hernan Cortez arrived with 600 men to take on the
Aztec empire
Other Native American groups joined them since they
hated the Aztec
Around 1520 Cortez defeats the Aztec empire
Ten years later Francisco Pizarro arrives with 200 men
to take on the Inca empire
Pizarro took the new Inca emperor prisoner and killed
him although they received lots of gold for ransom
He then conquered the Inca empire
By 1550 Spain controlled northern Mexico and the
western part of South America
Catholic missionaries convert and baptize hundreds of
thousands of natives
Drop in population among the Native Americans caused
by forced labor, starvation, and disease
European diseases caused much death to the native
populations who lacked immunity to such diseases,
such as smallpox
Haiti went from a population of 100,000 when
Columbus arrived to only 300 by 1570
Mexico’s population dropped from 25 million to 3
million
The Inca Empire decreased from 13 million in 1492 to 2
million by 1600
Other Colonies
Portugal colonized Brazil
France established several colonies in New France or
Canada
The French also did not enslave Native Americans, in
fact many traders married Native American women
Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec
Rene-Robert La Salle claimed the enormous Mississippi
region for France and named it Louisiana in honor of
Louis XIV
The Dutch established New Netherlands and bought the
island of Manhattan from Native Americans, founding
the city of New Amsterdam
The Dutch were more interested in the spice trade and
they eventually lost New Netherlands to the English,
who renamed it New York
The first English colony established was the settlement
of Jamestown in Virginia
The English soon established the thirteen colonies
The Columbian Exchange and Economic
Concepts
The Columbian Exchange = global transfer that happened
when large-scale contact between European and American
societies led to the widespread exchange of plants,
animals, and disease
Plants such as potatoes and tomatoes were introduced
into Europe, while animals such as horses and pigs were
introduced into the Americas
Colony = a settlement of people living in a new territory,
linked with the parent country by trade and direct gov’t
control
Played a role in the theory of mercantilism
Mercantilism is an economic theory that the prosperity of
a nation depends on a large supply of gold and silver
A nation’s strength depended on its wealth, which was
measured by the amount of gold and silver it possessed
Mercantilists believed that there was a fixed amount of
wealth in the world – had to take wealth and power
away from other nations
Could build wealth in two ways:
Extract gold and silver from mines
Have a favorable balance of trade (Goal of most
nations)
Balance of trade = the difference in value between what
a nation imports and exports over time
Favorable = export more than import
Establishing colonies was also essential to the mercantilist
system since colonies were useful as:
Sources of raw materials for the parent country
Markets for finished goods from the parent country
In the mercantilist view, colonies existed only to benefit
the home country
Capitalism = economic system in which most economic
activity is carried on by private individuals or
organizations in order to seek a profit
Joint-stock companies = investors pooled their money to
fund business ventures in which investors bought shares
of stock in the company
Idea of shared risk
Each shareholder receives a portion of the profit based
on the number of shares owned
In 1607 the Virginia Company of London (a joint stock
company) established Jamestown
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Colonization greatly increased the slave trade
Plantations = large agricultural estates
Shortage of labor in the Americas due to the death of
millions of Native Americans
Triangular Trade = pattern of trade connecting Europe,
Africa, and the Americas
Europe
America
Africa
Middle Passage
Middle Passage = journey of slaves from Africa to the
Americas, usually lasted three to six weeks
Horrible conditions and high death rate – 20% did not
survive
Number of slaves imported
16th century – 275,000
17th century – over one million
18th century – six million
Sources of slaves – Africa
Prisoners of war prior to the arrival of Europeans
Local merchants at slave markets on coast – exchange
slaves for gold and guns
Some Europeans organized slave raids
Effects of the slave trade
Separated families
Depopulation in some areas
Strongest men and women taken, the future leaders of
the villages
Increased warfare