Columbus and Columbian Exchange Chapter Two, Section 2.5

Why Explore the New World? People in Europe were fond of silks, spices, porcelain, ivory, glass, and carpets from Asia. The trip from Asia to Europe was long and oftentimes consisted of trips across the Arabian Desert and then a sail across the Mediterranean Sea. This trip was EXPENSIVE!!

Columbus’s Journey Explorers began to search for a new way to obtain these popular goods. Christopher Columbus was an Italian sailor who made the first attempt. He believed that China and the Indies could be reached by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. He had studied maps and globes that showed the earth to be smaller than it actually is.

Claiming Land for Spain King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to pay for Columbus’s expedition. After six weeks at sea, Columbus’s crew spotted land. Since he thought that he had landed in the Indies, Columbus called these people Indians. Columbus traveled back to Spain promising riches.

The Tainos On his second trip back to the New World, Columbus realized that he would not find the riches he promised. Instead, he kidnapped hundreds of the Tainos tribe and sold them into slavery. On his return voyages, he enslaved thousands more natives.

Two Cultures Meet Columbus proved that the world was a much bigger place than originally thought. He found two new continents inhabited by millions of people the Europeans did not know existed. Columbus opened the way for others to come to America.

Two Cultures Meet The Europeans brought horses, metal tools, weapons, wheat, and Sugar to the native Americans. Priests brought Christianity. The Indians showed Europeans things like tomatoes, potatoes, and corn. Trade items started to go back and forth across the Atlantic. This became known as the Columbian Exchange.

The Columbian Exchange