The Age of Exploration

1. The Age of Exploration 1588 – British defeat Spanish Armada 1415 – Portugal captures Ceuta 1620 – Plymouth Colony founded 1542 – New Laws of the Indies enacted 1494– Treaty of Torsedillas 1521– Cortés conquers the Aztecs 1602 – Dutch East India Company forms 1492 – Columbus discovers the Americas 1498 – Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut 1522 – Magellan killed in the Philippines 1565 – First permanent settlement at St. Augustine 1641 – Dutch seize Malacca

2. Background • World connected through long distance trade for centuries • Silk Road • Indian Ocean Trade Routes • Difficult, lengthy, dangerous journey to travel for spices and luxury goods • New travel technology appeared in the Middle Ages & Renaissance • Caravel – sturdier ship with triangular sales • Astrolabe – used to determine latitude with the stars • Perfected by Muslims • European-Muslim trade since Crusades • Magnetic compass – perfected by the Chinese

3. Motivation for Exploration • Renaissance curiosity in the 1400s • Desire for luxury gods • Spices • Tea • Porcelain • Silk • Access to trade • Trade controlled by Italians & Muslims • Wanted direct routes to have cheaper access to goods • Missionary work • Spread of Christianity • Jesuits in particular • Competition • Glory God, Glory, Gold

4. Portugal First • Portuguese first to establish trading outposts on the west coast of Africa & into the Indian Ocean basin • Henry the Navigator – Portuguese prince with enthusiasm for exploration • Founded navigation schools for mapmakers, instrument makers, shipbuilders, and captains • 1415 – Captured Ceuta • Series of trading outposts on African coast by 1460 (Henry’s death) • Traded with Africans for gold & ivory • Eventually traded for slaves

5. Reaching Asia • Believed they must sail around Africa to reach spices in Asia • 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias – ventured to the Cape of Good Hope • Turned around • Shortage of supplies • 1497 – Vasco da Gama – began exploring African coast • 1498 – reached Calicut (India) • 1499 – returned to Portugal with silks, spices, and gems • Cargo worth 60X the cost of voyage! • Gave Portugal a direct sea route to India

6. The Portuguese Method • Established ports & forts along the coast • Called a “trading empire” • Differences from the traditional notion of an empire • No vast land holding • Few settlers • Main purpose: hold cargo for trade & trade with locals • Their Trading Empire • Took control of spice trade from Muslim merchants • Brought goods back at 1/5 old prices • More people could afford luxury goods • Posts in Mughal Empire • Promised aid to princes against other European powers • 1510 – captured Goa • 1511 – captured Malacca

7. Competition - Spain • Competed with Portugal for direct route to Asia • 1492 – Ferdinand and Isabella hired Christopher Columbus to find a route to Asia by sailing west • Big reason – F&I purged the Jews and lost many intellectuals & influential people, so they needed help! • Genoese captain • Knew world was round since Greek times • Underestimated size of world • Didn’t know other continents were there • Set out August 3, 1492 • Reached Caribbean October 12, 1492 • Thought he’d reached the Indies  called people Indians

8. Rivaling Claims to Land • After Columbus’s voyage, more explorers sailed west • Portugal & Spain held claims in the New World • 1493 – F&I wanted Pope Alexander VI to support their claims • Set up Line of Demarcation, dividing non-European world into 2 zones • Spain in the West • Portugal in the East (claimed Brazil in 1500) • 1494 – Line agreed to at the Treaty of Torsedillas • Basically told other countries they needed to move fast to keep up • Did not take into consideration native peoples’ claims to lands

9. Other Nations Join In • ~1600 the British & Dutch entered • Dutch Republic – The Netherlands – was small country along the North Sea in Europe • Ruled by Spain since early 1500s • Declared independent in 1581 • Leading sea power in short time • Largest fleet by 1600 with 20,000 vessels • Seized Malacca from Portugal • Valuable spice islands • Controlled Cape of Good Hope • Dutch East India Company – company founded in 1602 by wealthy merchants, which had sovereign powers, that grew to have a monopoly on the spice islands • Could wage war, govern territory, and build an army • Used military force – BUT preferred to forge close ties with local rulers • Declined as power of Britain & France grew • British also had an East India Company • Eroded Portuguese control in the Indian Ocean

10. British & French Traders • Britain & France had foothold in the Mediterranean by 1700 • English East India Company focused on establishing outposts in India • Developed successful business trading cloth in Europe • Gained way into the Mughal Empire • France’s East India Company founded 1664 • Struggled at first • Attacked by the Dutch • Eventually est. outpost in India in 1720s • Not very profitable

11. Review – Exploration • What were the 6 motivations for exploration in the 15th century? • What country was the first to embark on exploration? • What settled the Portugal-Spain dispute in 1494? • What were the main objectives in exploration? • What groups traded with Europeans, and were eventually subject to their rule?

12. Spain Builds an Empire • Motivation – fierce competition for wealth in Europe  wanted GOLD • 1492: Columbus reached the West Indies on behalf of the Spanish crown • F&I financed 3 more trips • Intended to turn Caribbean lands into colonies – lands controlled by another nation • Conquistadors – conquerors – would soon arrive in Central & South America • Claimed lands for Spain • Sought silver & gold

13. Cortés Conquers Mexico • Landed in Mexico in 1519 • Encountered native Aztecs • Reached capital Tenochtitlan • Montezuma II – Is Cortés a god? • Agreed to give gold • Killed many Aztecs in 1521 • Conquered Tenochtitlan (and the Aztecs in general) in 1521 • Spanish weapons superior • Other native groups helped Cortés • Disease – measles, mumps, smallpox, & typhus – killed off many natives

14. Pizarro in Peru • 1532- Francisco Pizarro reached Peru & conquered Incan Empire • Met ruler Atahualpa near city Cajamarca • Spanish: 200 man army; Incan: 30,000 man army • Spanish ambushed & kidnapped Atahualpa • Received ransom of gold and silver • But, killed Atahualpa anyway • Incans retreated • Captured capital Cuzco without a struggle in 1533 • Other Regions • Maya in the Yucatan & Guatemala

15. Spanish Empire by mid-16th Century • 4 Viceroyalties • New Spain • New Granada • Peru • Rio de la Plata

16. Spanish Patterns of Conquest • Used techniques of the reconquista (conquering Muslims) • Live among them • Impose culture on them • Relations between Spanish and natives common  creation of Mestizo population • Oppressed natives • Encomienda system – forced labor of natives on farms, ranches, or in mines • Effectively put natives at bottom of social hierarchy • Spoken against by Bartolome de lasCasas  new laws forbade enslavement in 1542 • Too far from Spain to be enforced • Imposed culture • Close control on trade, esp. silver & gold • Sugar cane profitable  need workers • Slaves from Africa by 1530s • # Descendents from Africans outnumbered Europeans within a few generations • Laws prohibited trade with other nations • Spread authority of Catholic Church

17. Spanish Colonial Society • Blended Spanish, African, and Amerindian cultures • Native styles of buildings, foods, and use of canoes • Christianity and horses present • African cooking, farming, dance, and song • Social Hierarchy • Spanish-born Europeans • Creoles (Spanish born in the colonies) • Mestizos (Spanish + Native) • Mulattos (Native + African) • Natives (Amerindian) • Africans (Descendents of slaves) • Valued education – role fulfilled by the Church

18. Pushing North • 1540 – empire stretched from Mexico to Peru • 1540-41 – Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led expedition through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas • Little gold • Mostly priests settled to explore & colonize • MANY Christian missionaries sought converts

19. Effects of Conquistadors • Conquered millions of natives with guns and disease • Seized valuable goods, esp. gold and silver • Sent abroad to the Philippines for trade • Made Spain wealthy & powerful… • But quickly led to rapid inflation & declined the empire • Natives – split • Stop resisting & convert to Christianity • Still fight & protect culture • Changed patterns of global encounters • Map connected by sea routes for trade (not just land routes)

20. Remember: • Conquered the Aztecs, Incas, and other natives easily with guns and disease • Empire spread from California to Chile in the Americas • Social hierarchy ranged from Africans (slaves) at the bottom to Spanish-born whites at the top • Placement of mixed people on the scale indicates the commonality of interbreeding that was still seen as less-acceptable • Economy focused on treasures (gold, silver) and later plantations (sugar, tobacco)

21. The Columbian Exchange • Interaction between Europe, Africa, and the Americas beginning in the late 15th century (and Asia) • Important – it’s not a trade route • Describes exchange of plants, animals, people, and diseases among different areas of the world

23. Shocking Facts about the Columbian Exchange • Plants native to the Americas • Tomatoes (not Italy) • Potatoes (not Ireland) • Corn • Things introduced to the Americas • Onions • Olives • Coffee • Peaches • Wheat, Barley, & Rice • Cattle, sheep, pigs, horses • Lots of people died • Europeans brought diseases (smallpox, influenza, typhus, measles, malaria, diphtheria, & whooping cough) • Amerindians had no immunities against the diseases • Lots of people lived • New, easily grown crops introduced to Europe and Asia • Population BOOMED!

24. Columbian Exchange Crash Course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPA5oNpfM4