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Columbus Discovers the
Americas
1492 - 1607
Reasons for European
Exploration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Crusades
Emergence of Strong Central States
The Renaissance
New Technology
Expanding Horizons
The Crusades (1095 – 1291)
Brought Europeans
into contact with the
Middle East
Europeans wanted
spices and luxury
items from China and
India
Emergence of Strong States
France, England,
Spain, Italy,
Portugal
By 1300s feudalism
was declining
Kings were
becoming more
powerful
Trade was
booming
The Renaissance (1350 – 1600)
Rebirth of learning
Read Greek, Roman & Arab texts
New Technology
Compass
Astrolabe
Improved ships
(sails, masts, etc.)
Expanding Horizons
Portuguese
explore African
coast
Reach India
Import gold, ivory,
pepper and palm
oil
Christopher Columbus
Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451
Worked as a map maker
1470s – began looking for financial
backing to find a western route to India
Wanted:
Title of Admiral of the Oceans
10 % of all the loot
Governorship to his heirs
1492 – Queen Isabella of Spain gave
him three ships
Died in 1506, at age 55
Tobacco
Columbus and other explorers brought
back tobacco seeds to Spain
Europeans believed it was a miracle herb
which could:
Ward off the plague
Cure sword wounds
Clear congested lungs!!
Columbian Exchange
Other European Explorers
 John Cabot (England)
 Vasco Nunez de Balboa (Spain)
 Ferdinand Magellan (Spain)
 Giovanni Verranzo (France)
 Jacques Cartier (France)
 Francisco Coronado (Spain)
 Sir Francis Drake (England)
 Sir Walter Raleigh (England)
 Juan de Onate (Spain)
 Samuel de Champlain (France)
 Henry Hudson (Netherlands)
 Juan Ponce de Leon (Spain)
 Hernán Cortez (Spain)
 Francisco Pizarro (Spain)
 Hernando de Soto (Spain)
Amerigo Vespucci
European Explorers
Spain and the Three G’s
God
Gold
Glory
What about the Natives?
Indian Slavery
Encomeinda – a land owner had the right to
the labor of all natives who lived on the land
Created by Columbus
Gold Tax
War
Native Population of Hispaniola
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1492
1510
1550
Priests
Priests and missionaries regularly traveled with
the explorers
Tried to convert the natives to Christianity
Most were good and honestly tried to help the natives
Others used the cross to justify bad treatment
1514, Pope Leo X declared, “not
only the Christian religion but
Nature cries out against the slavery
and the slave trade.”
Bartolome de las Casas
Priest who tried protecting the rights
of Native Americans
Disease
Disease was the Europeans most
formidable weapon
The Indians’ immune system had no
defense against diseases such as measles
and smallpox
Spread via the trade routes of Indians
Disease killed thousand times more Indians
than guns or swords
African Slave Trade
Once Native populations had been
decimated, the Europeans began turning
to Africa for their labor
Treaty of Tordesillas
Black Legend
French Territories
The French claimed the land around the
Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes
Also claimed the land all along the
Mississippi River down to New Orleans
Fishing and trapping for fur were their
main enterprises
English Territories
The English claimed the land along
America’s Eastern coast
They were most interested in settling the
land
The Lost Colony
1587 – Sir Walter Raleigh sent
a group of colonists to what is
now Virginia
89 men, 7 women, 11 children
Called their colony Roanoke
1590 – a relief expedition
arrived to find no remains of
the colony
Jamestown