Download File

The Age of
Exploration
EQ- Who were the
influential explorers of
exploration?
Later Portuguese
Exploration
Portugal’s main interest was Africa and Asia,
and trade rather than colonization.
 Led by Pedro Alvares Cabral , the
Portuguese defeated a large Arab fleet to take
control of the Indian Ocean.

Pedro Alvares Cabral
Later Portuguese
Exploration



They expanded trade east. Ports were set up with China
and Japan.
Pedro Cabral also set up colonies in Brazil in
1500. Sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, and cotton
were grown there.
Because of this slaves had to be brought in.
Later Spanish
Exploration



A Conquistador means
conqueror. Most conquistadors
were after Gold, God and Glory.
Hernando Cortes landed in
Mexico in 1519. He had 600
men and 16 horses and
cannons with him.
“We Spaniards know a sickness
of the heart that only gold can
cure.”
Hernando Cortez
The Aztec



Montezuma II, ruler of Aztecs, was convinced Cortes
was a god wearing armor. Agrees to give him share of
empire’s gold. Cortes was not satisfied.
He had allied with local enemies of the Aztec who took
him to Tenochititlan.
Within 3 years, thousands of Aztec had been
slaughtered and Cortes ruled.
3 reasons Spain defeats Aztecs:
1. Better weapons
2. The help of other
natives. they were
tired of the Aztecs,
and their human
sacrifices.
3. Disease
Francisco Pizarro



In 1537, Francisco
Pizarro invaded the
Inca Empire in Peru.
The Spanish had 200
against 30,000.
Thousands of Incans were
massacred.
A ransom was paid for
leader, Atahualpa. The
Spanish took the ransom,
and killed him anyway.
Building of an Empire




Spain had 2 goals, wealth and Christianity. (Plantations
and mines and Missionaries)
In 1515, they started St. Augustine, the first colony in the New
World.
The Spanish enslaved the natives, and forced them to
work. This system became known as the encomienda
system. Thousands of Mestizos were also born. These are
Spanish native mixes.
Some natives were converted to Christianity. Millions would die
within the first 50 years due to disease.
Mayans
Reforms


A few priests like Bartolomew de la Casas,
tried to help the natives by getting laws passed
to end abuse. These laws were never enforced
until 1542, when the encomienda system ended.
Africans were brought over to work.
Netherlands
In 1602, the Dutch set up the East India
Company. It was to keep good relation with the
empires in Asia. By 1619, is in present day
Indonesia.
 By 1641, they had pushed the Portuguese
and the English out of Asia as serious
traders. (They controlled trade.)

Netherlands




In 1621, an English navigator, Henry Hudson, set out
to claim land for the Dutch along the North American
coast of the Atlantic.
He founded New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.
The West India Company was set up. It was to establish
colonies in the Americas.
The Dutch also set up a port on the Cape of Good Hope. It
provided fresh food and water for ships.
Dutch profit from fur trade, but fail to attract settlers
France
In 1524, the French
hired Giovanni da
Verrazano to try to
find the North
West Passage
through America to
Asia.
 He had no success.

Jacques Cartier



In 1534, Jacques Cartier
looked for the Northwest
Passage.
He sailed up the St.
Lawrence River where he
named a mountain Mount
Real. (Mount Royal) This
would later be Montreal.
claims most of eastern
Canada.
Samuel de Champlain
 In
1608, Samuel
de Champlain
founded
Quebec. (First
French
Settlement)
Jacques Marquette and
Louis Joliet

In 1673, Jacques
Marquette and
Louis Joliet, 2
Jesuit missionaries
explored the
Mississippi River
Valley.
Robert Cavalier


Later, Robert
Cavalier claimed the
entire inland region
surrounding the
Mississippi River for
France.
The French set up
missionaries and
traded (Fur) with the
natives.
England






In 1497, John Cabot explored the coast of present day
Newfoundland.
Sir Francis Drake, raided Spanish ships for gold and
silver.
In 1600, the English East India Company was established. It set up
ports in India and Southeast Asia.
In 1607, Jamestown was founded. (Earliest English
colony.) They also had Sugarcane plantations in Jamaica.
The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact and settled
Plymouth in 1620. Puritans come 10 years later.
A series of colonies was getting set up that would move westward and
eventually collide with the French and Dutch.


James Cook claimed New Zealand and Australia for
England in 1770.
England established Australia into a penal colony.
John Cabot and Sir Francis
Drake
Edward B. Teach