I. What led to the Age of

Exploration?

The Crusades led to a

market for Asian goods in

Europe.

Marco Polo – was a 13th

century Italian who

travelled through Asia to

China. This sparked

interest in Asia.

Economics and trade- Europeans wanted spices from

Asia; Arab middlemen (traders) charged high prices.

This led Europeans to seek cheaper sources.

“God, glory, and gold” –

European countries and

explorers also wanted to

achieve glory and spread

the Christian faith outside

Europe.

(Hernán Cortés said the

native Americans must be

“introduced into the holy

Catholic faith”)

Bottom line - Europeans sought a water route to

Asia

Technological advances made exploration possible

The caravel was a faster ship. Its triangular sails

allowed explorers to sail into the wind. Square-

rigged vessels had to be rowed into the wind.

An English Crusader ship

Evolution of sailing ships

OLD square rigged cog and carrack NEW lateen (triangular) rigged ships

The astrolabe and magnetic compass - Both were

used for navigational purposes. The astrolabe

was a Greek invention improved by the Arabs;

the compass was a Chinese invention.

What is it called when technology spreads from

one culture to another through trade?

II. Explorers

Leif Erikson – an Icelander - was probably the first European to land in the Americas about 1,000 A.D. Named it “Vinland.” (Archaeologists found the remains of a Norse (Viking) settlement in Canada in 1960.)

Viking Exploration

Viking ships

Spain and Portugal

• In the 1400’s, Portuguese explorers began

to explore further into the Atlantic. They

sailed East around Africa.

• Educated Europeans knew the world was

spherical. The Spanish sailed to the west,

hoping to reach Asia.

Portugal

Prince Henry the Navigator - In the 15th century, he

set up a navigation school in Portugal. He

sponsored Portuguese voyages, mostly to West

Africa. The Portuguese called West Africa the

“Gold Coast.”

Bartholomeu Dias discovered the southern tip of

Africa, the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

What is the name of the

southern tip of South

America?

What is the city located at the

Cape of Good Hope?

Vasco da Gama discovered a trade route across the

Indian Ocean and landed in India in 1498. He

took on spices, sold them in Portugal, and made a

profit of several thousand percent!

Spain

Columbus : Convinced he could reach Asia by sailing

west instead of east, Columbus persuaded Queen

Isabella to finance an expedition. Columbus

explored Caribbean islands in 1492.

Ferdinand Magellan: In 1519, sailed around South

America into the Pacific. One of his ships (without

Magellan) circumnavigated the globe.

Amerigo Vespucci (Florentine)– sailed with a

Portuguese voyage to New England. His letters

about voyage led to use of “America.”

An early map of the New World

II. The Spanish Empire

Conquistadors – Spanish

explorers/military men

who conquered the Inca

and Aztec civilizations.

Hernán Cortes defeated the Aztec leader

Montezuma with only 550 soldiers. Spanish

were aided by native allies. Spanish

dismantled Aztec pyramids and temples to

build government buildings and churches.

Spanish colonial architecture

National Cathedral of Mexico – built on site of

Tenochtitlan Mexican church built with

dismantled Mayan architecture

Spanish advantages (Guns, germs, steel)

1. Superior technology: cannon, muskets, steel

swords

2. Indian exposure to diseases, especially smallpox

Conquest of the Inca

In December 1530, Francisco Pizzaro landed on the

Pacific coast of South America with only 180 men.

Within 5 years, Pizzaro executed Atahualpa, the Inca

leader, and established a new capital at Lima for

a new colony of the Spanish Empire.

Random review

Using the vocab item, make an

informative sentence • Age of Exploration

• Marco Polo

• Spices

• Asia

• “God, glory, and gold”

• The caravel

• Triangular sails

• astrolabe

• magnetic compass

• Leif Erikson

• Vinland

• Prince Henry the Navigator

• Bartholomeu Dias

• Vasco da Gama

• Spain

• Columbus

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Conquistadors

• Hernán Cortes

• Spanish colonial architecture

• Spanish advantages in war

• smallpox

• Francisco Pizzaro

Dividing up the world

Spain and Portugal divided up the world in the

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) and Zaragoza (1529)

Port. took Brazil; Spain much of S. and N. America

The Spanish Empire

The encomienda system of forced labor

• Spain granted Spanish settlers an encomienda (land)

• The Indios were made Spanish subjects and forced to work

• Forced labor, starvation, disease killed off native populations

• Later, the encomienda system was replaced by the repartimento system

• (E.g. Mexico: 1500, 25 million; by 1630, only 1 million inhabitants)

Spanish Colonial Social Class System

Peninsulares - Spanish (Portuguese) officials who

had been born in Europe and held all

governmental positions.

Creoles - Descendants of Europeans born in Latin

America, creoles controlled land and business.

Mestizos and Mulattoes –Mestizos were offspring of

Europeans and Native Americans. Mulattoes

were offspring of Europeans and Africans

Native Americans and Africans were at the bottom.

The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange - Exchange of plants,

animals, and diseases between Europe and the

Americas.

Flora diffusion – Plants

Fauna diffusion – animals

Disease diffusion

The native population was nearly wiped out by

European disease.

Aztec smallpox

victims from

Historia De Las

Casas de Nueva

Espana

Europeans received potatoes, corn, tomatoes, tobacco…

Native Americans received diseases, horses, cattle, wheat…

A New World Economy

Mercantilism – Economic system favorable to the

European mother countries

1. The colonies exist to benefit the mother country

2. Colonies give mother country raw materials; on

the other hand, the mother country exports

manufactured goods

3. Favorable trading relationship was established

when exports are greater than imports

4. Wealth was based on the amount of gold in a

nation’s treasury

Triangular Trade - between Africa, the Americans, and Europe.

Slaves were imported to the Americas because there was a low number of Native Americans to work the land.

The Middle Passage – the journey Africans endured

from Africa to the Americas.

1498

1492

What did Columbus discover this

year? Be specific.

Why does Columbus’s reputation

suffer in the eyes of historians?

1488 1425

1000 1453 1507

Vikings discover Vinland

Where was Vinland? Be

specific.

Many historians argue the

Vikings had little influence on

modern Europe, offer one

theory that disputes this

claim.

Henry the Navigator influences the

Portuguese

How did Henry the Navigator

influence navigation?

Where did the Portuguese explore?

Why?

Constantinople fell

What was the

significance of this

event from a western

European perspective?

Describe the goods that

interested traders

during the 15th century.

What did Dias discover?

Why did it achieve its name?

What did Vasco da Gama discover

in 1498?

Why was this more profitable for

Portuguese merchants?

In 1507, a German mapmaker

suggested that the name of the

New World should be named

after? Why?

Why did western Europeans

receive credit for the discovery

of the Americas, whereas the

Vikings receive little to no

credit?