Europe Encounters America
Hitting The Road…Or The Water At Least!
Vikings, Scandinavia, first in Americas used longboats for excursions
Leif Ericson, 1000, 35 Vikings, Labrador & Newfoundland colonies failed, Native Americans unsophisticated weapons
Labrador
auroras in Labrador
Newfoundland
Gros Morne National Park Newfoundland, Canada
Spanish-Portuguese disputes 1493 – Pope Alexander VI, line of demarcation – Spain west of line, Portugal east of line King John II of Portugal wanted line moved further west 1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas (Spanish town), moved line 1000 miles to the west (Brazil)
Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer, sailed under Spanish flag, concluded lands that Columbus explored were not part of Asia (America)
1513 – Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon, sailed north “Fountain of Youth” Florida – “land of flowers”
1510 – Vasco de Balboa, colony on the Isthmus of Panama tales of empires of gold in the “south sea” 1513 – first European to reach Pacific coast of America
1520 – Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese mariner (Spain), strait peaceful waters…Pacific Ocean died in the Philippines crew arrived in Spain in 1522, first to circumnavigate the globe
The Voyages of Christopher Columbus
CChristopher Columbus – Portuguese backing, denied because of his underestimation of the distance to Asia (Dias, tip of Africa) 11492 – Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to finance him; Portuguese success Barcelona
Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria – left Spain, August 1492 Canary Islands for supplies landed on San Salvador Island
encountered the Taino people, part of the Arawak people called them Indians – thought he had reached the Indies SE of China people had small pieces of gold hanging from holes in their noses headed deeper into Caribbean in search for gold
found Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) thought Cuba was China & Hispaniola was Japan Christmas Eve, Santa Maria (flagship) struck a reef, broke apart built fort called La Navidad, left 40 crew, headed home
March 1493, returned to Spanish court gold, spices, Native Americans “Admiral of the Ocean Sea” “Viceroy and Governor of the Indies”
1493, across Atlantic again, 17 ships, 1200 Spanish colonists men he left killed, fort destroyed, new colony called Isabella 1496 Columbus went back to Spain 3 rd voyage in 1498 – Orinoco River, South America 1502 – final voyage – coastline from Guatemala to Panama
America to Europe – corn, tobacco, squash, tomatoes, potatoes (important) Europe to America – wheat, barley, horses, sheep, smallpox, measles “Guns, Germs, and Steel”