Exploration and Exploitation

Although the world has been inhabited for some time extensive exploration is a relatively new phenomenon Would drive the Europeans to colonize the world was the desire for “gold, God, and glory” One of the first attempts at colonization was by the Vikings who set out from rugged Scandinavia in search land They reached as far as Iceland, Greenland, and North America. However they did not maintain contact with the colonies which soon disappeared

The next great European explorer was Marco Polo who traveled overland from Venice to China returning to Italy in 1295 The overland route was long, dangerous, costly and controlled by warring tribes A sea route to India and Asia would obviously be more desirable but as yet one did not exist The first country to look for sea routes to Asia was Portugal - strategically located on the Iberian Peninsula In 1415 the Portuguese captured Cuerta from the Muslims and opened the door to exploration

The Portuguese king, Henry the Navigator, opened a school to study geography and exploration at Sagres He sent ships out to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa, the Azores, and the Canary Islands In 1441 the first black slaves were brought back to Portugal Bartholomew Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa, but in the face of mutiny he was forced to return home He called the area the Cape of Storms, but this was later changed to the Cape of Good Hope Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa and arrived at Calicut in 1498

In 1597-8 John Cabot and his son Sebastian explored Newfoundland and New England for Henry VII of England The claim would wait for almost a century before the English would exercise their rights In 1500 the Portuguese sailor Pedro Cabral was blown off course and landed in Brazil, thus claiming that country for Portugal In 1513 the Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered the Pacific Between 1519 and 1522 Ferdinand Magellan led a the first circumnavigation of the world. Unfortunately Magellan was killed in the Philippines but some of his men did complete the voyage

Spanish explorers in the New World were called conquistadors and Spanish policy was based upon exploitation In just three years starting in 1519 Hernán Cortés and a small group conquered the huge Aztec empire of central Mexico Between 1531 and 1536 Francisco Pizarro and another group of conquistadors toppled the mighty Inca empire The greatest success came not with technology but diseases which wiped out the natives of the New World

In the 1580s the English tried to settle Virginia 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent the first settlers but they returned home In 1587 another group was sent to Roanoke and they completely disappeared without trace The next real attempt was by the Virginia Company in 1606. They sent hundreds of settlers and in April 1607 they founded Jamestown The relationship between the Indians and the settlers was volatile from the start, but the English were determined to stay As much as the settlers espoused Christianity their treatment of the Indians was far removed from a Christian approach

In 1619 the first shipment of slaves arrived at Virginia In 1619 the first shipment of slaves arrived at Virginia. By 1620 the sale of tobacco guaranteed the success of the colony In 1624 King James made Virginia a royal colony. As the settlers became more independent so the survival rate increased. With the European economy in a shambles the risks involved in North America now seemed much less The English moved to America in the Great Migration looking for land and religious freedom In 1620 the second permanent English settlement was being formed in New England

The Pilgrims sailed to the New World looking to escape the Old World The Pilgrims sailed to the New World looking to escape the Old World. But it was not until the 1630s that they arrived in any great number The Massachusetts Bay Colony included settlements all around Boston However religious disagreements forced some to leave and found the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut

In 1634 another southern colony was founded, this time it was Maryland In 1634 another southern colony was founded, this time it was Maryland. In 1632 George Calvert had obtained a proprietary grant from the English government which made the colony almost his personal property Calvert hoped to make the colony a refuge for Catholics, but Protestants always made up the majority While the colony had little initial success, Calvert did make lots of money selling the land