Aim: How successful was the Age of Exploration? Do Now: If it were possible, would you want to explore a distant galaxy? Why or why not?

I What was the Age of Exploration? A) From the 15 - 17th centuries, Western Europe increased its exploration of the world. B) This was due to: 1. The Renaissance and Scientific Revolution increasing Europeans curiosity about the world 2. The Ottoman Turks blocked access to the Silk Road. 3. Newly formed European nation states competed for colonies overseas. This led to the new economic system of mercantilism. Mercantilism is an economic system where the parent nation exploits the resources of its colonies.

II Improved Technology Portolan Maps Magnetic Compass Caravel Ships Astrolabe Lines on portolan maps radiated out from compass points. An improvement on the Chinese compass. Used an iron needle that aligns with the Earth’s north-south magnetic poles. Built by the Portuguese and Spanish. Unlike medieval ships, they could go against the wind, and long distances. Astrolabes were used since ancient times. Navigators looked through it at the sun or a star and determined its angle using the degrees marked on the instrument to find the ship’s latitude.

Caravel Ships Triangular sails enabled the caravel ship to sail into the wind. The smooth, rounded hull handled high seas well. The large center rudder allowed for quick turns.

III Portugal and Spain’s 1st Explorers Portuguese and Spanish explorers were the earliest European nations to voyage into the Atlantic ocean during the Age of Exploration. Mediterranean Sea The Atlantic Ocean

Portugal and Spain’s 1st Explorers Continued… Henry “The Navigator” (1394 – 1460) Bartolomeu Dias (1451 – 1500) Vasco de Gama (1460 – 1524) 1. Created a naval school to make better maps & ships, and train for long voyages 2. Began exploring West Coast of Africa & establishing colonies. In 1488 he sailed around the Cape of Good Hope (the southern tip of Africa). Due to the intense winds he turned back. In 1497 he sailed east from Europe, around Africa, then went on to India.

Excerpt from Vasco de Gama’s Journal … 14 or 15 natives came to where our ship lay. The captain… showed them a variety of merchandise… included cinnamon, cloves, gold, and many other things, but it was evident that they had no knowledge whatever of such articles, and they were consequently given round bells and tin rings…

Portugal and Spain’s 1st Explorers Continued… Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) To be discussed later in this lesson! Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 1521) 1. From Portugal. His goal was to circumnavigate (sail around) the world. 2. He set sail August 10, 1519 with 5 ships and 251 men. 3. In 1521 Magellan was killed in the Philippines. 4. In 1522 one ship returned with 18 survivors. His name in Italian is Christophero Colombo.

IV The life of a Sailor Life was difficult! Journeys could take years; ships only covered about 100 miles a day. The pay was poor. Beatings and floggings were common for disobedience, and mutineers were put to death. 16 was the minimum age for sailors, but some boys started working on ships as young as 7 or 8. Some ships used slaves. A sailor’s diet consisted mostly of salted beef or pork and hardtack (biscuits that are so dry they can break your teeth), often infested with bugs. Sailors drank ale or hard liquor, leading to alcoholism. Vitamin deficiencies from a lack of fruits and vegetables gave men scurvy, rotted teeth and gums. Lice, rodents and foul drinking water spread typhoid fever. Captains didn’t have it much better than their crews. Magellan didn’t make it around the world with his ships; he was killed in the Philippines. A fight over stolen boats ended Cook’s life in Hawaii. Hudson’s crew set him adrift in what is now Hudson’s Bay; he was never heard from again.

V Christopher Columbus A) Born 1451 in Genoa (an Italian city-state). He was a sea captain, explorer, and colonizer. B) Educated, Columbus knew the world was round. He wanted to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to East Asia, to avoid the Ottoman controlled Silk Road. Columbus’s mistake was believing the Earth’s circumference to be smaller than it is. He probably did not know that the Americas existed. C) He was rejected by England, Portugal, and the Italian city-states before securing funding from Spain’s Queen Isabella in 1492. Columbus demanded 10% of any new wealth, to be knighted, made viceroy (governor) of any new lands.

Christopher Columbus Continued… Queen Isabella of Castile had married King Ferdinand of Aragon. Their marriage united these two Spanish kingdoms. In 1492 they conquered Granada (in southern Spain), and began the Inquisition; they drove all non-Catholics out of Spain. Columbus’s voyage was another way to increase the power of a newly unified Spain.

Christopher Columbus Continued… D) Aug 3, 1492, Columbus led an expedition of 3 ships: Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria (captained by Columbus). E) Oct 11, 1492 he spotted islands in the Caribbean. He landed on an island in the Bahamas. Columbus named it San Salvador. He was met by the native Taino. F) Columbus explored Cuba & Hispaniola before sailing back to Europe. He had to leave 39 men behind on the island of Hispaniola when the Santa Maria ran into a reef and sank on Christmas Eve. Columbus arrived back in Spain in the Nina on March 15, 1493. G) Columbus returned to the New World 3 more times. It wasn’t until his 3rd voyage that he reached South America (modern Venezuela). He died, convinced he had reached East Asia. H) In 1502, after his 3rd voyage, Columbus was charged with poor administration, including the use of torture against the natives. He was taken to Spain in chains, but was never convicted. However, he was stripped of his title of governor of New Spain.

Christopher Columbus Continued… Positives Negatives While the Vikings had “discovered” the Americas prior to Columbus, Columbus opened up trade and immigration across the Atlantic Ocean between the “Old” and “New” Worlds… which is still going on today! “Every ship that comes to America got its chart from Columbus.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Columbus and his men brought European diseases. Columbus enslaved thousands of natives. “…They ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat very quickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians, for they seem to have no religion...” – Christopher Columbus

VI Consequences of the Age of Exploration Positive Negative ? New food crops such as potatoes and corn led to a vast global exchange of goods. (Columbian Exchange) Millions of Europeans settled in New World colonies, escaping religious persecution or seeking a better life. European sailors died from syphilis and scurvy. Millions of Native Americans died of European diseases such as smallpox. Europeans began the global slave trade. Triangular trade was established. Mercantilism became the economic policy of colonizing European nations. Europeans brought Christianity to the New World.

Consequences of the Age of Exploration Continued… Syphilis is a deadly STD that was spread by Natives of the New World to European explorers. Scurvy is a disease due to a lack of vitamin C. Sailors prevented it by eating limes or lemons.

VII The Global Slave Trade Slavery in ancient times was not based on racism. Instead, you became a slave if you owed a debt, were captured in war, or were born into it. Europeans used African slaves when millions of Native Americans died from European diseases. Europeans relied on African slave traders to seize captives and bring them to coastal trading forts. The slaves were exchanged for manufactured European goods. Africans enslaved Africans of rival tribes. Slaves were considered to be property. To justify the harsh treatment of slaves, Europeans adopted the belief that Africans were biologically inferior (racism). E) Muslim Arabs controlled the slave trade in East Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Slave Fortress, Ghana, West Africa

Slave Holding Chamber, Zanzibar, East Africa

Triangular trade was a pattern of colonial trade between ports in Africa, the American colonies, and Europe. It was based on mercantilism; usually the mother country benefited the most.

Indian Ocean African Slave Trade 1500 – 1900 controlled by Muslim Arabs

The Global Slave Trade Continued… F) The Middle Passage was the 3 leg voyage of a European slave ship during the Age of Exploration. Thousands of slaves died during the Middle Passage from disease, starvation, or even murder.

The Global Slave Trade Continued… G) Olaudah Equiano was sold into slavery at age 11, later acquired his freedom, learned to write, and, in 1789, wrote his autobiography. “… the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations [sweat], so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died... This was again aggravated by the gaffing of the chains… and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable...” Equiano, 1789

HW Questions Why did Western Europeans wan to find alternative routes to India and East Asia? Describe 2 new technologies that allowed the Portuguese and Spanish to explore Africa and India during the Age of Exploration. List 2 Portuguese or Spanish explorers (NOT Columbus). Where did they go and why? Were they successful? In at least 2 paragraphs: Why did Columbus go to the New World? What were his accomplishments? Why do some people view him negatively? How do YOU think he should be remembered and WHY? List at least 2 positive and 2 negative consequences of the Age of Exploration. Do you think the Age of Exploration was more positive or negative and WHY? Describe the Middle Passage. *Use evidence from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography. Why do you think that the Europeans explored and colonized the New World, rather than Native Americans exploring and colonizing Europe?

Key Vocabulary Age of Exploration Portolan Map Astrolabe Queen Isabella Bartolomeu Dias Scurvy Caravel Ship Syphilis Christopher Columbus Triangular Trade Columbian Exchange Vasco de Gama Ferdinand Magellan Viceroy Hispaniola San Salvador King Henry the Navigator Taino Magnetic Compass Mercantilism Middle Passage Olaudah Equiano Ottoman Turks