Download The Age of Exploration - Saint Francis High School

The Age of Exploration,
1450-1650
Motives – the 3 “G’s”
God
Gold
Glory
More Motives

government
sponsorship

Renaissance
curiosity

spices
Which motive played the
most important role?
Technology





cannon
caravel (vs. galley)
0
magnetic compass
astrolabe
improved maps; portolans
galley
caravel
Portugal takes the lead!
1415 – Portugal takes Ceuta, Morocco
Prince Henry “the Navigator”
Explorers
Explorer
Discovery
Bartholomew Diaz
1488 – round Cape of Good Hope (S. Africa)
Christopher Columbus 1492 – reach W. Indies in “New World”
Vasco de Gama
1498 – reach India by sailing around
southernmost tip of Africa
Pedro Alvares Cabral
1500 – claim Brazil for Portugal en route to
India
Amerigo Vespucci
1501-1502 – explore S. America & first to
realize “New World” was separate from Asia
Ferdinand Magellan
1519-1522 – first circumnavigation of the world
Hernando Cortés
1519 – conquest of Aztecs in Mexico
Francisco Pizarro
1531-1536 – conquest of Incas in Peru
Chris Columbus: good or bad?
Good (old scholarship)
- discovered the New World
- hero (has his own US
holiday)
- so influential that the history
of the Americas before 1492
is “pre-Columbian”
In fourteen hundred and ninetytwo, Columbus sailed the ocean
blue.
Bad (new scholarship)
- not the first to “discover”
the New World
- exploitation of indigenous
peoples
In fourteen hundred and ninetythree, Columbus stole all he could
see.
Columbian Exchange
place of
origin/item
OLD
WORLD
(EUROPE)
CULTIVATED CROPS









wheat rye
oat
rice
soybeans
chickpeas
peas
cabbage
lettuce
radish










DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
onion
olive
melons
oranges
lemons
grapes (for wine)
bananas
coffee
sugarcane
almonds, nuts









horses
cows
pigs
sheep
goats
donkeys
dogs
cats
chickens
pineapple
papaya
guava
avocado
peanut
cocoa
vanilla
tobacco





llama
alpaca
guinea pig
turkey
dog
smallpox, influenza, gunpowder
NEW
WORLD
(AMERICAS)








potato
sweet potato
corn
beans
green pepper
chili pepper
squashes, pumpkin
tomato








spain’s Golden aGe (16th c.)



Major cause: gold & silver from New World
Why it ended: price revolution = inflation
Debate over reason for inflation:

Unable to keep up with rising demand
pop.  (demand )
 new American colonies (demand )
 expulsion of Jewish & Muslim farmers/businessmen
(supply )



Influx of American silver bullion
Price revolution spreads to all Europe (1560-1600)
Mercantilism




economic system, ca. 1500-1800 or 1776
wealth is based on nation’s supply of bullion
exports > imports
colonies exist for benefit of mother country

quinto = Spanish Crown receives 1/5 of precious
metals mined in South America
Spanish colonial administration

16th c. Spanish New World possessions
divided into 4 viceroyalties, or administrative
divisions
Spanish colonial administration