Chapter 15European Exploration and

ConquestBy Barbara Cross

Why Exploration?

• “God, glory and gold” were primary motives• People of the church sought to convert

the pagan “savages” of the New World to Christianity

• The desire for silk, cotton, incense, cloves, nutmeg, sugar, weapons, dyes, opium, pepper, copper, and woven tapestries evoked trade

• Aftermath of the Renaissance= strong desire for knowledge

• Scientific advancement in watercraft, and cartography as well as the magnetic compass, quadrant, astrolabe and the cross staff.

Portugal’s Explorers

• Bartholomew Dias (1450-1500): Sailed around

the Cape of Good Hope

• Vasco de Gama (1469-1525): Expanded on Dais's and found an all-water expedition to India

• Prince Henry the Navigator—the younger son of the King of Portugal.

• Did not actually do any exploring himself, but funded and supported explorers because of his great interest in exploration.

Result of Exploration

• Indian goods such as spices and silk were highly prized and widely sought.

• Now that Vasco de Gama could get to India by water, so could anyone else. Italy’s monopoly of trade with Asia was completely jeopardized now that there was more competition in the trade market= prices rise

• Italy no longer got deals from India now that competition forced prices to increase= was the beginning of the economic and political decline of the Italian city-states.

Technology Advancement-Galleys were transformed into much sturdier ships that could withstand the rough waters of the Atlantic= Caravels-Caravels had three masts and carried significantly more cargo than galleys

-Ptolemy's geography combined all of the geographical knowledge in the classical world including the idea of latitude and longitude and the existence of the Americas.

-After being perfected by the Muslims, the magnetic compass was used to determine the altitude of the sun and other celestial bodies.

-Iron was cheaper than bronze, and by 1350 cannons were fully developed.

Spanish Explorers

• Christopher Columbus (1451-1506): Born in Italy but sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Columbus charted many of the Caribbean islands and Honduras in Central America.

• Columbus was a catalyst for the age of exploration and domination of the New World.

• Bartholomew de las Casas (1474-1566): wrote “A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies” (1552).

• Writings spread the “black legend” in places where Spain was accused of using Christianity to kill natives.

• Spain, along with Protestant England were just as guilty of the decimation of the Amerindian populations = indigenous peoples of the Americas.

A “Solution”

• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Pope Leo V drew and imaginary line down the middle of the Atlantic in order to “divide” the New World. Spain got whatever was West of the line and Portugal received the East portion…of the KNOWN world.

Other Explorers

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1517): Crossed the Isthmus of Panama and later discovered the Pacific Ocean.

• Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521): First to circumnavigate the globe and charted the Pacific.

• Hernando Cortes (1485-1547): Crossed from Hispaniola to the mainland of Mexico, landed in Vera Cruz in 1519, entered Tenochtitlan and overtook the Aztecs in Mesoamerica in 1521

• Francisco Pizarro (1478- 1541): Conquered the Inca Empire in 1532

The French

• Jacques Cartier (1491-1557): Main goal—to find the Northwest Passage. Instead, he discovered the St. Lawrence River and other parts of Canada.

• Quebec was France’s first settlement in the New World but it was not founded until 1608.

The English

• John Cabot (1425-1500): Explored the northeast coast of North America.

• Jamestown (1607)-- First permanent settlement in the New World

• Far more English came to the New World than France, Spain, and Portugal combined.

The Golden Age of Spain

• During The Golden Age of Spain, colonies existed for the soul benefit of the mother country in order to claim territory and power.

• Gold and silver were greatly desired and a main motive for exploring the New World.

• Spain shipped manufactured goods to America and tried to deter native industries from taking root as to avoid competition with Spanish merchants.

• The Encomienda System mainly employed citizens of the Spanish crown to regulate Native American labor. Because the crown exercised the right to employ groups of Amerindians, slavery was practically legalized.

The Golden Age

• “Old Imperialism” of Africa and Asia differed from Spanish Imperialism in the New World in that it was characterized by the establishment of ports and forts on the coastal regions instead of penetrating inland and conquering existing peoples.

• Francis Xavier (1506-1552): led the Jesuit missionaries to Asia where thousands of natives had been converted to Christianity in India, Indonesia, and Japan.

• The Dutch East India Trading Company (founded 1602)—was the major force behind Dutch Imperialism

• The Dutch Republic (Netherlands) expelled the Portuguese form Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Indonesia

The Slave Trade(asiento)

• First introduced in Brazil by the Portuguese

• After 1621, the Dutch West India Company transported slaves to the New World.

• Later in the 17th century, England’s own Royal African Company entered into the slave trade.

The Columbian Exchange

• Europe received:• Syphilis, potatoes, corn, tomatoes,

pineapples, tobacco, beans, vanilla, chocolate, turkeys, gold and silver

• The New World received:• Small pox, measles, bubonic plague,

influenza, typhus, wheat, sugar, rice, coffee, horses, cows pigs, sheep, goats, chickens.

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