In 1469, Isabella and Ferdinand, heirs to the thrones of Castile and Aragon married in secret

The Sea Voyage – Christopher Columbus After 10 yrs of campaigning, Queen Isabella funded Columbus’ trip westward. Between 1492 and 1502 Columbus made 4 voyages

3 Ships: Nina, Pinta, & Santa Maria. 90 sailors The Ships 3 Ships: Nina, Pinta, & Santa Maria. 90 sailors The first journey took 5 weeks. Land cited on Oct. 12, 1492 Columbus and crew first hit the Bahamas and Cuba before heading back to Spain. Area was called the “West Indies” because Columbus at first thought he was in the “East Indies”. Natives looked “Indian”.

His First Account Columbus insisted to royal court in Spain that he reached Asia (it was Cuba) and an island off the coast of China (Hispaniola). His descriptions: “Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful...the harbors are unbelievably good and there are many wide rivers of which the majority contain gold...There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals.”

The 2nd Voyage of Columbus

Tainos return to Spain Columbus captured 550 Tainos on Hispaniola and carried them to Spain as slaves. Only 350 survived the voyage.

His Legacy Columbus always insisted that he found Asian islands, not a new continent Amerigo Vespucci traveled to America between 1502-1504 and documented a “New Continent”. It was named America after Amerigo.

Burial of Columbus When Columbus died in 1507 his body underwent excarnation - flesh was removed so that only his bones remained. He was buried in Spain but his body was moved to Hispaniola in 1542.

Era of Reconnaissance RECONNAISSANCE: a preliminary survey to gain information; especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory Printing allowed for the rapid spread of ideas and maps In the 1500s, Catholicism was challenged and criticized. Shift to “Protestantism” led by Martin Luther, a German monk. Catholics: Authority resided in the Pope Protestants: Bible was sole authority; God’s grace does not require church mediation

Calvinism John Calvin (French) pushed for more individual godliness than Luther, humans as “saints” Calvinism Spread among merchants, nobility First monarch to break from Catholic Church was Henry VIII in 1525, declared himself head of the “Church of England”. Spain & Portugal remained immune to the Protestant Reformation – Catholicism swept their American colonies in the 1500s

St. Augustine After Ponce de Leon led expeditions through Florida (1515-1521), the Spaniards sought to convert Indians to Catholicism and begin trades. St. Augustine began as a fort in 1565, the center of Spain’s NE frontier. It is the oldest European settlement in the USA

Queen Elizabeth I Ruled England: 1558-1603, Protestant Great tensions w/ Pope. By 1580s, she provided covert aid to the Protestant Dutch revolt against Catholics. 1588 “Religious Wars” – English/Dutch defeated Spanish armada off coast of England Protestantism spread & English/Dutch found seas more open to their interests. Never married, no children, her virginity was honored by the naming of “Virginia”

King James I Succeeded his great aunt Elizabeth in 1603. Elizabeth I had his mother, Mary of Scotland, beheaded. Temporarily united Scotland, England, & Ireland Founded Jamestown in Colony of Virginia in 1607 Son, Charles I, took power at his death in 1625